$27 or less: Christmas gift ideas

(Prices quoted below are RETAIL price--you'll pay less with discounted publishing points!!  Projects are just a few of the many examples.)

Want an EASY Christmas gift?  Simply use a pre-designed template.  All the creative elements are already there.  Swap out the pictures and text for your own!


COST:  21-page wirebound book... $25 ($18.75 or less with Club HM)

Make a cookbook


or a personalized yearly planner


COST:  12x12 scrapbook page suitable for framing...  $4 ($3 or less with Club HM)
(Even with a frame, this would cost about $10-$15 total.)



COST:  8.5x11 calendar...  $30  ($22.50 or less with Club HM)

Two-year calendar


One-year calendar


Any of these projects can be done in no time.  Deadline for Christmas gift-giving is Dec. 2.  If you need to then turn around and mail the gift, I suggest ordering around Thanksgiving.

A great deal just in time for Christmas!

The flexibility of the new Heritage Makers "points" system means that you can use your pre-paid points towards anything you want.  Plus, points are good for two whole years, so you can use some this year and some next year!  There are so many fantastic Heritage Makers gifts to give!!

If you want to take advantage of this great special, e-mail me at jennifer@lifetalesbooks.com.

BRAND NEW post-bound album!

This is exciting news for scrapbookers!  Heritage Makers' brand new product is a post-bound album!  Here's the press release:

12 x 12 Post-Bound Album

$49.95

For those special projects that require removable pages, try the new post bound album! Your scrap pages can easily be added or removed to create the perfect sized book for you. Plus, our covers are completely customizable to match any occasion or event.

• Completely customizable cover
• Includes posts and page covers
• Comes in standard 12x12 size

AND it's the perfect home for individual scrap pages like this!!  (Don't forget--$49.95 is RETAIL price, and you can get it cheaper!!)

last chance for jewelry...August only

This jewelry is so popular (at least where I live) that I'm surprised that Heritage Makers is going to be discontinuing it, but it's true--Heritage Makers is going to stop offering jewelry at the end of August.

So both bracelets and necklaces are on sale this month. Bracelets have space for 6 pictures and are $33.95.  Necklaces have a single pendant with one picture in it and are $27.95.

Heritage Makers won't offer jewelry after August 31, but you still have until October 28 to "create" the jewelry (by adding the photos online).  It's really fast, so the October 28 deadline is very do-able, although if it's not possible for some reason, you can use the points toward another item.*

*When you purchase something with Heritage Makers, you get the dollar equivalent in points, so that means you can create a different item if you change your mind.

Flip Books

Check out the new Flip Books! They're small wire-bound books! The square books are 5.75 inches square, and the rectangle ones are 5.75" x 3.5". The rectangle size books are $15.95, and the square size books (a little larger) are $17.95.  (That's RETAIL price--you'll pay less!)

Cute Flip Books I've seen are a child's ABC book, a recipe book, and a perpetual calendar (with family birthdays & etc.)

(See more ideas at the template gallery: http://www.heritagemakers.com/templategallery.cfm?page=1&sort=numProjectsUsedInWeek&series=61&category=all&membershipType=all&searchQuery=)

Wouldn't these be fun summer projects for kids?!

dads and grads

Fathers Day is coming up!  There are some really great gift ideas for dads and grandpas too.  Just click {here} and then click "template gallery" to have a look at the possibilities.  Click the blue "browse the gallery," then type in "dad" or "father" in the search field."  Scroll down and down and down....  Use one of the templates you find, or make your own!  Contact me (click the "contact me" tab above in red) for questions or even suggestions and ideas!

And don't forget grads you know!  Get a personalized card at Heritage Makers for the same price as a traditional store-bought card.  Other good graduation gift ideas include posters or canvases (use a "through the years" theme with pictures as the child grows up) and memory books (think "make your own yearbook")!  These can also be found in the template gallery as described above.  Here's one example of many:  {"A Look Back" path to graduation book}

Mothers Day gifts

Give your mom a Mothers Day gift she'll never forget.

Click {here}
then click "template gallery" to have a look at the possibilities.  Click the blue "browse the gallery," then type in "mother" in the search field."  Scroll down and down and down....  Use one of the templates you find, or make your own!  Contact me (click the "contact me" tab above in red) for questions or even suggestions and ideas!

CHEAPEST & EASIEST beautiful family photo albums!

My sister-in-law just finished a Heritage Makers book that I am SO impressed with!  She got a YEAR'S WORTH of scrapbooking done in a fraction of the time and for a fraction of the cost of traditional paper-and-scissors scrapbooking.

Price is big on everybody's mind, so let's break down the price and talk about the convenience later! 

My sister-in-law made an 8.5x11-inch book.  Books come with 21 pages, and an 8.5x11 book costs $60 at retail price (you can get a better price than that, but for the sake of argument, let's do the math using the retail price.)  That's  $2.86 per page, if you're assuming that the hardcover library binding is free!  (And again, that's at retail price, which you never have to pay.)  With this size book, you can fit about 6-8 pictures per page.

A traditional scrapbook page the same size would cost roughly:

• 20 cents per printed picture x 7 pictures = $1.40
• one sheet of cute scrapbooking paper = $0.59-$1.59 (though people usually use more than one sheet on a page)
• various embellishments (stickers, brads, buttons, vellum, etc.) = $0.50-$2.00 (that's pro-rated...don't forget you have to buy whole packages of these things; this also doesn't include other items such as pens and glue)
• some kind of page protector or sleeve for the page to go in = $0.15-$0.40 (depending on size & style)
• a book or binder for all the pages to go in = $12.00-$40.00

So let's estimate about $3.45-$3.90 for an average page, not including another $12-$40 for the book or binder that holds all the pages, or the glue/pens and other supplies that need to be replenished.  

Now the way my sister-in-law did her book was GENIUS.  She wanted to put all the pictures from the year into one book.  The book came with 21 pages, but you can add extra pages (maximum 99 pages total).  EXTRA PAGES ARE ONLY $1.25 EACH!!!  If she'd made a bigger 12x12 book or 13x11 book, extra pages would only be $2 each!  That's less than what you'd pay to just print the pictures, with NO paper, stickers, etc.!!  So she really got a DEAL on her beautiful book.

The convenience factor was big for her as well, as it is for most people.  When you have scrapbooking supplies, you need a place to store them AND you need a place to spread them all out when you want to put your scrapbooks together.  She just had her 4th baby, so she really appreciated the fact that her Heritage Makers book was done all online.  She could work on it for 15 minutes here and there as she had time, and she didn't have to drag out boxes of supplies and materials every time she wanted to work on her book.

It was the cheapest and most convenient way I've ever seen a scrapbook done!  It was gorgeous, too!

one-of-a-kind valentines!

For the same cost as a store-bought card, here are some examples of the unique valentines you can make at www.heritagemakers.com/jenniferwise.

Just follow the link above, click "template gallery" at the upper right, find a card you like, and you're on your way.  Or you can design your own card if you prefer.  Cards are $2-$3.50 RETAIL (depending on size), which is cheaper than most store-bought cards these days!  Of course, you don't need to pay retail price for Heritage Makers cards, either!  

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine cards should be submitted for publishing before January 30 for delivery by Valentine's Day.  Cards with envelopes can be direct-shipped!!!