12 Christmas Gifts for a Genealogist

Here's a list of a dozen gifts your favourite genealogist might like for Christmas. Maybe you could even sneak one or two for yourself!

1. Ancestry.com subscription
2. DNA Kit 10% off AncestryDNA Nov 29-Dec 14 in U.S.A. or Ancestry DNA in Canada
3. Echo Smart Pen by Live Scribe for recording Family Stories and Memories. I love my SmartPen which I bought on Amazon. I use it to record my 93 year old auntie's stories of her childhood, then I plug it into my laptop and the digital record transfers. Using the pen while auntie speaks, I make jot notes in the special notebooks. Then I can play the recorded stories by touching any word in the notebook. Very cool!
4. Legacy Family Tree Webinars subscription
5. Rootstech 2017 Registration
6. A loupe for magnification so you can scrutinize old photos and documents for clues.
7. A Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, Nook, or other e-reader so you can purchase genealogy books and read them in airports, waiting rooms, on the beach or pretty much anywhere
8. A subscription to the Genealogy Magazine of your choice. I like Family Tree Magazine, but the one you drool over could be very different.
9. A beautiful journal for writing your own memoirs. I love Iona Handcrafted Books and have asked my hubby to buy me another one this Christmas as I'm on my last one. Tip: If the checkout won't accept a non-USA order, just email or phone as they do accept international orders.
10. A Shutterfly gift certificate  I love Shutterfly for creating family photo books or calendars. It's also great for simply getting copies of your family photos so you can share them with family members
11. Acid Free Storage boxes for your treasured family photos and original documents
12. A copy of the Genealogical Mystery Novel "Death Finds a Way: A Janie Riley Mystery" by Lorine McGinnis Schulze, available in Paperback or E-Book. In this debut novel, middle-aged Janie Riley is off to Salt Lake City to research her ancestors. Little does she know that murder and mysteries await her!

Such a Great Idea - Father Gives Daughter Priceless Gift

This is an inspiring story about a loving and creative dad! What a wonderful gift he gave his daughter the day she graduated from High School. 

He started with the Dr. Seuss book "Oh The Places You'll Go" which he took to her teachers and coaches at the end of every school year. As he put it

"Every year, for the past 13 years, since the day you started kindergarten I’ve gotten every teacher, coach, and principal to write a little something about you inside this book."

Such a great idea! Please take a moment and read the whole story Father Gives Graduating Daughter a Priceless Gift

Original Historic Newspapers Make Great Gifts!

Recently I was sent two original newspapers from Historic Newspapers UK. This company sells genuine original newspapers dating back as far as the 1800’s. 

These are sourced from the world’s largest private archive of over 7 million editions from all over the world. To date UK titles have been catalogued as far back as 1900 by date and title, there are also lots of US and regional issues, as well as many from the Victorian era.  

I admit that when the company first approached me and offered to send me two (free) original newspapers, I was a bit skeptical. First, why would I want them? And were they actually originals or were they copies? 

Nevertheless I agreed and chose two specific dates and newspapers:

15 May 1912 (my father's birthday) from The Times or Daily Mirror

29 May 1913 (grandparents set sail for Canada from UK) from The Times or Daily Mirror 

The company informed me that there were very few original issues for 15 May 1912 due to it following the Titantic disaster. They offered another date or a quality reproduction of that May 15th issue. I opted for the reproduction since I wanted it to be the paper from the day my father was born.

When the box arrived at my door I was pleasantly surprised! The presentation box is lovely -  a nice blue box with "A Day to Remember" printed on the lid.

 Inside were the newspapers, carefully wrapped in tissue. Each newspaper came with a seal of authenticity including the information I submitted online to be printed on the seal. The certificate for my reproduction paper stated very clearly that it was not an original. 

Quality Reproduction Newpaper 1912

 This is the front page of the 1912 newspaper which the company reproduced for me. I'm quite happy with the quality.

 I love being able to see the headlines on the day my father was born!

Original Newspaper 1913

 This is the front page of the original newspaper I ordered for 1913 - the day my grandparents left England for Canada.

It is really interesting reading through it, and quite obviously an original. It has yellowed slightly and even has a slight "old" smell! I am quite impressed with these newspapers and think they would make wonderful gifts.

I'm planning to give mine to my sons at some point. I think they will really enjoy them.

Disclaimer: Historic Newspapers offered me two free original newspapers in exchange for a link to their site. I was not paid for this review nor was I told what to say. The opinions are entirely my own. 

GIve the Gift of RootsTech 2013

Need the perfect gift for someone who has everything? Or have a "hard to shop for" person on your list? Give a gift they'll always treasure-an opportunity to connect with their family!
 

RootsTech, a Family History and Technology Conference hosted by FamilySearch, provides a unique opportunity for anyone to find, organize, preserve, and share their family's connections and history. And with passes starting at only $19, it's a great gift to give everyone on your list!

 

With world-class content from speakers all over the country, a large and exciting exhibitor hall, and great keynote speakers, RootsTech is for young and old alike, regardless of expertise.

New in 2013! A full track of over 30 Getting Started classes and labs will help those new to family history learn things like where to start, how to build your family tree, and how to use technology to explore your connections. Learn More

 
Registration Options

Full 3-Day Pass Access to over 250 classes and everything RootsTech has to offer.	$219 $149 (Early bird discount)
Full One-Day Only Pass Full admission for just one day.	$89
Student 3-Day Pass Student ID required.	$39
NEW! Getting Started 3-Day Pass Beginner track with access to over 30 classes.	$49 $39 (Early bird discount)
Getting Started One-Day Only Pass A selection of fundamental classes to help you get started.	$19
Developer Day Pass (March 22) A full day technology program just for developers.	$89

Register today!

Creating a Genealogy Gift for under $50.00!

Poster of Charles Fuller 1910

Recently hubs and I created a cool genealogy gift for one of my sons for under $50.00. And it took less than 30 minutes to make.

My youngest son is in the Canadian military and we wanted to surprise him with a military inspired photo for his basement rec room. I have several photos of ancestors in military uniforms but wanted one that could be enlarged without too much fuzziness.

First I took a slightly-creased 4x6 photo of my grandfather Charles Henry Fuller in his military uniform circa 1910. I uploaded the photo to Shutterfly and ordered a poster-size print. Poster prints are less than $25.00 normally but I actually got it for free during a special thank-you offer.

Next hubs purchased a $20.00 black frame from Wal-Mart. It is a 2 foot by 3 foot frame, large enough to allow room for a small border or matte around the poster.

The next step was the most difficult. Hubs removed the paper insert from the purchased frame and turned it over so that only the white backing showed. Then he carefully centered the poster print on the white backing. Once the print was centered he used packing tape which he folded so that it had two sticky sides and tape each corner of the print to the backing. Voila! A lovely poster with a nice white matte. 

Charles Fuller Bio

Next came a brief bio of Charles. I printed out his name, dates and locations of birth and death, and added a brief summary of his immigration from England to Canada in 1913 and marriage to my grandmother Ruth in Toronto in 1914. Using packing tape, hubs fastened it to the back of the frame.

I deliberately did this bio by hand rather than typing it even though it would be much neater in typed format. But I wanted to personalize the bio with my handwriting and at the end, the date and my signature. I did that for descendants as I'm hoping the poster will be passed on to one of my son's three sons and continue on in the family as long as it lasts.

More great Christmas Gift Ideas!

Readers have been suggesting other Christmas gift ideas to me and I like them! Here's a few I think are real winners:

Buy a subscription to Footnote.com for that special someone. Includes NARA records, Civil War records, Revolutionary War Records, Naturalization and much much more

Wallet Pix Digital Photo Album

Kodak Easyshare SV-710 7-Inch Digital Picture Frame

Digital Photo Frame Keychain

Genealogy Christmas Idea

My husband and I were trying to figure out what to give his elderly grandmother for Christmas. It occurred to us that she might love seeing the old family photos. So hubby scanned them and we transferred them to a digital photo frame

If you haven't seen those, check them out. You can get one that takes your camera memory stick or one that allows you to transfer photos using a flash drive

There are even some that allow you to upload photos to a website, then the frame automatically dials in nightly using a phone line to download new photos that you have put there.

We chose the simpler and less pricey frame, simply because it has fewer buttons and gadgets. We didn't want Gramma to be confused by any technology. With this one we leave our camera memory stick in, and the frame rotates through the photos. We'll be able to switch out memory sticks by sending a new one which can be switched for the first one. Then the first one can be sent back to us for new photos. That way she will have new photos every so often.

It's also a great way to preserve your family photos from the 1800s or early 1900s if you have any. We're even thinking about scanning some of the documents we have found in our research and adding those to the photo display.