Family Sunday

Posted on July 20, 2012 by admin

How long has it been since your family last spent time together over the weekend? Here are some new ideas to keep things fresh this Family Sunday!

  1. Family Fun Morning: Catch the sunrise together.  Get up early and grab some donuts and coffee.  Head to a spot where you can see the sun rise.  My favorite spot when I was growing up was the beach.
  2. Family Charades:  After dinner one night sit down and play an old fashioned game of charades.  This is fun for all ages!
  3. Family  Camp:  Keep it close to home.  Set up a tent in the backyard!  Don’t forget the s’mores and campfire stories!
  4. Family Puzzle: If the weather is keeping you indoors, pull out a puzzle.  Make hot cocoa and sit around the puzzle table together!

Want to save some of these ideas for the future? Write them on the Family Fun Pad and file them in your Family Fun Box so you don’t forget!

–Jennifer King

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Two Ways to Preserve Memories

Posted on July 6, 2012 by admin

Preserving memories is a very important part of creating a strong family.  Preserving memories is proof that we spent time together as a family.  It reminds us of all the fun times we had together.  Odds are that most of you are already preserving memories by taking photos and journaling.  Good Job!! Creating ways to go back and revisit those photos and journals is the key.

A very simple idea that you can do for your family, is to hang a bulletin board of sorts in your family room or kitchen.  Somewhere your family gathers often.  As you take photos, hang one on the board.  Do this all throughout the year.  The constant reminder of your family spending time together is very powerful.  At the end of the year you can take them down and put them in an album, or even transfer some of them to a photo collage frame.

A more state of the art approach is purchasing one of those electronic photo frames that scroll through the photos that you download onto the frame.  I actually do this at the end of every year.  I think I have 4 years now scrolling through the frame.  I even gave one to the grandparents that I update every year with a new memory chip.  It is so much fun to see what we did throughout the years.  Believe me….time flies!  I will catch my kids standing at our end table watching all the photos run through.

There are so many other ways to preserve memories and create that close family you desire.  I will share more with you next time.  Until then, pull out some of those old photos!!

–Jennifer King

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Two Ways to Record Family Memories

Posted on June 29, 2012 by admin

Journaling is a great way to preserve family memories. Not only does it help you reflect on a recent experience, but it also captures the specific details that are so valuable in later reflection. This video showcases two products, the Dates with Dad and Our Time Together memory books, both of which provide a lifelong resource for remembering your moments together.

Need inspiration for some Dates with Dad? Check out our video with some great daddy daughter date ideas!

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Summer Time with Your Family

Posted on June 27, 2012 by admin

Summer is such a great time to focus on your family. Here are some fun ideas you can try to create some memories and traditions:

1. Pirate Booty! Beach weather, or lake weather, is upon us. Mom and dad need to build or buy a box of some sort and fill it with goodies. Create a treasure map with dashes and a big red X. Make it look authentic by burning the edges. Go to your local beach or lake and bury your box of goodies. The kids can spend the day searching for the buried treasure. My mom and dad did this for us when we were kids. I have never forgotten how much fun we had!

2. Outdoor night adventure! Kids love to explore. How about a flashlight scavenger hunt? Create a list of items for the kids to find and set out on a night time walk. The warm evenings are my favorite part of summer. Why not get out and enjoy them!

3. Backyard movie night! Stay close to home and keep costs down. Lay out the blankets and get out the lawn chairs. Set up your TV and VCR in the backyard and put on a movie. Don’t forget the s’mores over the bbq!
What does your family do during the summer months? We would love to hear your family fun ideas!!

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Mother’s Day Blog

Posted on May 9, 2012 by admin

Mother’s Day….Personally, I feel like Mother’s day is a contrived Holiday created by Hallmark, causing guilt for children and families everywhere if they don’t celebrate this day on the appointed Sunday in May. Because of this, my philosophy has always been….Why not celebrate Mother’s Day all month!  Here are some ideas that revolve around this concept. 

  1. Leave mom a love note every day up to Mother’s Day. Or present mom with jar full of words of affirmation.  Mom can draw out of it any time she needs some love!
  2. Make an effort to make coffee for mom in the mornings and serve it with a flower.
  3. If going out to brunch or dinner is something your mom loves to do, go on another day besides Sunday. It will be less crowded and the service will be much better!
  4. Surprise mom with a movie.  Wow!  Uninterrupted time in a theater.  What a concept.
  5. My favorite is the Mother’s Day breakfast my kids cook for me! This isn’t that original, but it sure does make me feel loved.

What are some creative ways your family celebrates mom?  Please share them with us!

– Jennifer King

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Gifts for Grandmothers to Be

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

Being a grandparent is a wonderful time in a person’s life, and the transition can be honored with gifts for grandmothers to be. If a friend or family member will soon be calling herself grandma, you can make this time even more special by offering her gifts for grandmothers. Here are some gift ideas for grandmothers to inspire you. Gifts for Grandmothers to Be

  • Family tree picture: Personal wall art make wonderful gifts for grandmothers to be. This idea gives new grandmothers a place to document and cherish the birth of each grandchild by placing a picture of the child on a “leaf” that is attached to the family tree. The pictures in this gift for grandmother can be easily swapped out as the child grows.
  • Mini picture album: Large photo albums are fun to flip through, but they aren’t very portable. This is one of the gifts for grandmothers to be that the loving grandma can carry around with her and show off to co-workers and friends, since it’s small enough to fit in her purse.
  • Journal: Grandmothers want to document the time they enjoy with their grandbabies, and this gift for grandma is the perfect way to do it. She can write down memories of funny things her grandchildren say as well as touching moments she never wants to forget.
  • Recipe box or album: Cooking with grandma is a memory that many grandkids cherish. This gift for grandmother allows her to compile her best recipes so she can share them and eventually pass them down to the younger generation.
  • Memory book: Documenting the young life of a grandchild is important to grandmothers. This can be done through scrapbooks, photo albums, or a handprint book, where the grandchild prints their hand on a page and grandma writes out something important to them during that time in their life, such as a favorite song, book, or hobby. Through the years, personal gifts for grandmothers to be become precious heirlooms.

These gifts for grandmothers to be and more are available from Once Upon a Family. Every gift for grandma we make is designed with quality craftsmanship. Shop with us today to find the perfect gifts for new grandmothers!

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What is the Right Gift for Brides?

Posted on May 3, 2012 by admin

If you are planning to attend a bridal shower or wedding reception soon, you need to find the perfect gift for brides to take with you. Some gifts for brides are more appreciated than others, so your goal should be to find the best gifts for bride to be that she can cherish for years to come. Here are 4 bridal shower gifts for the bride that you can consider. Gift for Brides

Photo Album for Special Occasions

Present the bride to be with a silk photo album at her bridal shower that she can fill with all her favorite memories from her wedding day. We think this is a great gift for brides because it serves as a treasured keepsake that the bride can fondly display in her home. Our special occasion albums come with 25 acid-free removable pages so the bride can customize her gift from you. The cover is made of 100% pure hand-woven silk for a top-quality product.

Wedding Keepsakes Box

Brides will have several mementoes from her wedding day that she wants to keep forever. A decorative memories box gives her a way to safely store keepsakes, such as a wedding invitation, photos, the wedding program, candles, the cake knife and more. This gift for brides is covered with silk fabric for a soft interior lining to protect all the bride’s keepsakes.

Photo Album & Journal

The honeymoon is often one of the most memorable parts of the wedding. You want the bride to cherish her memories, and with this beautiful gift for brides, you provide her with a way to do that. Encourage her and her husband to take “min-moons” throughout their marriage to keep the love alive, recording photos and memories in this journal with every trip they take together.

Advice Cards for the Bride and Groom

In honor of the upcoming nuptials, give this gift for brides so she has something encouraging to look back on when things get hard down the road. Ask for permission to pass the cards around at the bridal shower or engagement party for guests to write down their best advice for a long and happy marriage. The set includes 50 cards.

These wedding gifts for the bride and more are available from Once Upon a Family. Everything we make is designed with quality and beauty in mind. Shop with us today to find the perfect gifts for a bride!

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What is the Right Gift for Grooms?

Posted on May 2, 2012 by admin

If your son, nephew, brother, or best friend is getting married soon, you need to find the best gift for grooms! Here are a few ideas to inspire you. It’s also appropriate for there to be a gift for groom from bride, and these wedding gift ideas for groom are suitable for that situation as well. Gift for Grooms

If you’re looking for the perfect gift for grooms, consider giving him:

  • An album to keep all the pictures from the wedding day. Men can be just as nostalgic as women, so photo albums make great grooms gifts. With acid-free removable pages, you can rest assured that the groom’s favorite memories will be well-preserved within an album purchased from Once Upon a Family.
  • A memory box to store keepsakes from the wedding. The groom will want a safe place to store champagne flutes, the cake knife, candles, wedding invitations, and the wedding program. A memory box from Once Upon a Family is the perfect gift for grooms when storage of physical memorabilia is a must.
  • A journal/photo album to record pictures and memories from the honeymoon. This gift for grooms provides him with a way to record his favorite memories as a newlywed. Plus, an album is large enough to record several vacations or “mini-moons” within its pages. There’s no better wedding gift for groom if you want to provide a way for him to memorialize his love.
  • Advice cards from friends and family. Marriages are imperfect things, but with a compilation of advice cards to look through, husbands and wives can work through their problems together. This gift for grooms provides a decorative way to store advice cards. The groom will love smiling to himself as he reads through the advice his friends and family gave him for a successful marriage.
  • A vow holder. This offers a beautiful way for the bride and groom to store their vows along with a few wedding pictures. With accordion-style pockets, the groom can place anything he likes within the pockets for easy retrieval in the years to come.

These wedding gift ideas for groom and more are available from Once Upon a Family. Every product we make is designed with quality craftsmanship. Shop with us today to find the perfect wedding gifts for the groom!

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Ideas for Graduation Gifts

Posted on April 27, 2012 by admin

Personal ideas for graduation gifts are getting harder to come by these days. Without good graduation gift ideas for him and her, graduates are getting impersonal gifts such as gift cards. However, with the following graduation gift ideas, you’ll have some inspiration to draw from. ideas for graduation gifts

If you have a friend or relative graduating this spring, consider giving them:

  • A bulletin board. This is among the best ideas for graduation gifts because it can serve as a place for graduates to display pictures of their favorite college memories, newspaper clippings, awards, documents and other memorabilia they’ve collected over their college years. You can give the graduate an empty bulletin board for them to fill themselves or you can include pictures of their family as part of the graduation gift.
  • An oversized memory box or trunk. With large enough dimensions, memory boxes and trunks can be cool graduation gifts used to store diplomas, large pieces of artwork, oversized prints and more. By giving a decorative, safe place to store these items, you offer personalized graduation gifts to the proud graduate.
  • A photo box. It’s impossible to scrapbook all your memories, so photo boxes are good ideas for graduation gifts that give grads a safe, organized way to store extra prints. With multiple boxes labeled properly, graduates can store thousands of photos without fear of damaging the precious memories.
  • A portable planner. School is done, and it’s time for the graduate to move on with life. Good ideas for graduation gifts like a planner keep grads looking forward. A portable planner can be for practical use, such as scheduling events, but it can also be a place for grads to keep track of their goals and dreams. The best graduation gift ideas are personal and creative, so this gift certainly fits the bill!

These graduation gift ideas and more are available from Once Upon a Family. Every graduation gift we make is designed with quality craftsmanship. Shop with us today to find the perfect ideas for graduation gifts!

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How To Start A Family Tree with Once Upon a Family, pt. 2

Posted on April 27, 2012 by admin

Starting a family tree is important to understand and preserve your family memories. With these tips, your family trees will be a success! Watch this video for a tutorial on our products and how they can help you start and finish your family tree.

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