Gifts from the heart: Memory album

Graphic design by daughter Alexis

Today is March 31. We are officially well into spring, and yet are on a winter storm warning, looking at the very real  possibility of 6-10” of heavy wet snow by tomorrow night.

**Sigh.**

Rather than retreating to the attic to gaze wistfully at my warmer weather clothes, I will take this time to look ahead to Christmas.

Just kidding. Sort of.

Today, we will start with events such as birthdays, then in later posts we will tackle Christmas. I love creating gifts that are rich in meaning and easy on the pocketbook, especially as opposed to rushing through the malls maxing out credit cards. Speaking of which, for those of you still reeling from overspending in December, please stay with me for this series. You can prepare gifts that you will love to give that will go a long way towards a much more thoughtful and much less expensive holiday.

There are gifts you can do yourself, that seemingly require very little of yourself and practically no actual financial cost, such as writing a letter straight from your heart. You can read here about the letter my husband wrote many years ago to his dad as a Father’s Day gift. This deceptively simple idea of the power of the written word packs a huge punch, as you will read when you follow that link.

At the other end of the spectrum there are gifts that require more time and effort, and also the talents and cooperation of other family members. I think sometimes when my six siblings receive my emails that suggest some form of cooperative gift giving project, they-oops!-delete my email by mistake, or they go into radio silence mode in the hopes that I will glide by and forget I asked them to join me.

As they well know, no such luck.

The gift idea today is one that requires the participation of others. It is the Memory Album, and cost is truly minimal for the wealth of entertainment, sentimentality and laughter and love that it provides. This treasure is made up of single pages, crafted in some fashion by individuals in your circle, and then put together for safe-keeping into a binder, creating unique glimpses of a life’s story.

Ingredients: One three ring binder, clear sheet protectors, paper
These can be straight out of your local department store, or you can purchase archival supplies online. I used Archival Methods and have been thrilled with the quality. They cost more than regular materials, but this album was worth the additional expense, as I wanted to make sure this gift would stand the test of time.

Preparation: Determine the focus of your album and the time frame you will need to complete it. The focus can be on the celebration of a birthday, graduation, anniversary, or the reminiscence about growing up in the family home, an especially appropriate and welcome remembrance when a couple is moving after decades of living in the same place.

Take a blank page, and write a prompt for folks. For instance, for my dear hubbie’s fiftieth birthday, I chose a font I like and printed across the top of a page the phrase, “Keith, you’re 50?!! I remember….”. I then ran this master through the copier so that all the pages were identical (saved wear and tear on my hand, and was much neater than my own handwriting!). This prompt, pre-printed on the chosen paper would determine the theme for the book, and would unite the pages with this singular purpose.
Allow enough time to get the blanks out to people, have them work their magic, and then get them back.

Gaining the cooperation of family and friends: Since I was also holding a surprise party for Keith, I had emailed everyone to let them know to “save the date”. I also explained that they weren’t to buy any gifts, but instead would be receiving a page and a prompt in the mail that they could fill out any way they wanted.

The implementation: I wrote a simple cover letter, reiterating the idea behind the album, and gave examples of how the pages could be filled out. I suggested that they could just stick photos on and write captions. They could write a short piece about a funny event or a poignant moment in their relationship. They could attach old letters or notes or scrapbooking materials to dress up a page. I told them to do whatever they wanted to do for Keith. Some folks just did the one page, others asked for additional paper to do more.

Here are a couple of samples that were turned in by the moms, who did multiple pages:

The gift: We surprised Keith with his party-well, he said we did, the sweetie!-and had a great time together, as always, and gave dear hubbie his album. He was moved to tears, and we all enjoyed reading the fruits of our labor, which ranged from serious and moving to very, very funny.

Priceless. Absolutely priceless.

Will you share a thoughtful gift idea you have used for a loved one?