Gift Ideas for the Whole Family

It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Have you started thinking about gift-giving?  Whether you’re like me and started thinking about Christmas gift-giving on Halloween or you’re still weeks away from giving it a thought, I can help.  I love sharing gift ideas in November because I’m convinced it makes for a happier December.  

And, of course, these make great gifts any time of the year!

As you might guess, since this is #familyhistoryfriday, all the gift ideas here are family-related.  Today I’ll share gift ideas for the whole family, and in coming weeks I’ll share ideas for kids, teenagers, and adults.  Since they’re all family-related, though, ideas you’ll see in all of November’s #familyhistoryfriday posts can easily be gifts for the whole family, too.

FAMILY HISTORY AND GENEALOGY IDEAS

Whether you are new at learning your family history or an experienced genealogist, here are some great ideas for the whole family to get to know their ancestors and see how they’re all connected.

• You can create a pedigree chart on a wall canvas. 
• Create{a life story book}–yourself or a parent, grandparent or ancestor (These make wonderful gifts because they connect generations!)
• I have to say, I adore this idea.  These are {blankets made from a family tree fan chart}!!  Roots Gifts makes these, and there are several styles and colors to choose from.
• {Family Tree Prints} (pictured below) is a great option for creating your own family tree chart to save as a high-resolution JPEG file for printing.  They have suggestions for printing {here}, or you can do what I’m doing with a wrapped canvas (pictured below).
• These are nice family tree charts you can fill in by hand:  {family history tree chart} and {branches-themed genealogy chart poster}
• {300 Questions to Ask Your Parents} (book)
• {15-generation single pedigree chart} (I have one of these–they are so neat!)

Read about my experience making this special canvas {right here}.

Thanks to Aleah Ingram of LDS Bookstore for many of these ideas.

FAMILY MEMBERS AWAY FROM HOME

For family members spending holidays away from home, heart-warming gifts are especially appreciated.  Think about turning your family traditions into something you can mail.  Last year, my son stayed at college for Thanksgiving (because his break was so short, and he was coming home for a month the following week anyway).  We made him a box of “Thanksgiving dinner.”  We sent instant mashed potatoes, sticks of turkey jerky, apple pie cookies, a package of biscuit mix, etc.  I’m sure he’d be the first to tell you that it wasn’t a real Thanksgiving dinner, but he loved the box because he knew we were thinking about and loving him from far away.

Here are a few other ideas for great gifts to send family members who are away from home:

• send {a fold-able Christmas tree} (a poster, really–so cool)
• a {recipe book of favorite family recipes}
• {quote bundles from The Gifty Girl} have “thoughts of the day” to brighten the day
• a photo blanket like this one

Update 2023:  My daughter not only graduated from college, but did it impressively, so we wanted to give her a vacation as a gift!  She chose Ireland, and I had no idea how much *I* would love it!  It's the most beautiful place.  When we got home, I just had to make her a plush blanket with pictures from our trip.  It turned out so beautifully!

Note: There are many awesome blanket templates in Design & Print, 
Forever's free software, but I created this using Artisan, Forever's 
digital scrapbooking software so I could use my own font for Ireland. 

This is the preview of my blanket before printing.

AROUND THE HOUSE

Did you have a special event in your family this year?  Do you live far away from cousins or grandparents?  Home decor is a simple way to showcase special photos or keep faraway family members close.  From gallery-wrapped canvases to metal prints and posters, creating your own home decor with family photos is a beautiful, meaningful gift.  Make photo gifts (like the blanket above and the canvas below) by following the steps here.

Other gift ideas for the whole family that they can see or use every day include:

• {mousepads, coasters, mugs, water bottles, ornaments}
• a playing card deck with family photos (shown above--contact me for more information)
• {family calendars} -- these are cool because you can tear off the bottom calendar portion and then you're left with a 12x12 scrapbook page to save!

MORE IDEAS TO COME

I’ve done a lot of looking and asking around to find some great family-oriented gift ideas to share with you this month on #familyhistoryfriday.  (Here’s one for history buffs:  {a book and CD of the Nativity story experienced by those in the ancient Americas})  I’m looking forward to sharing many family-oriented gifts, things (and experiences) that create connections and family interaction.  Next week’s post will have ideas for kids.  See you then.

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This post was originally published at www.livegrowgive.org on November 3, 2017, by Jennifer Wise.  More #familyhistoryfriday posts can be found below by clicking the hashtag next to Labels.