As usual, I was poking around on the internet looking for a great new idea to share with you for scrapbooking your family history, and I think I found one that will be super cool as a gift, as a project to keep for yourself, or something to put on your coffee table. Sound intriguing?
I ran across this post on making this beautiful rolodex using scrapbooking papers, a little mod podge, and some creativity. While living in the digital age, we may think a rolodex is a thing of the past, I think it is something that would be perfect for creating a little collage of your family history that you can organize, beautify, and keep all in one place. Here’s the link to the blogpost on creating a tiny scrapbook out of a rolodex. But, I want to give you an idea, that I want to try myself. Soon.
What if you created this beautiful, vintage looking rolodex for keeping up with your relatives? I think it would be amazing to take this same idea, and create a tiny little bio/scrapbook page for a relative on each card. To give you more room, you could dedicate one card to each person, that way you could use both the front and back of each card. Alphabetizing your relatives is an easy way to put your finger on the person you want to think about, or remember. If too many have the same last name, think about placing the card under first names. For odd letters like Q and X where you may not have a relative with that name, do a fun card like Quirky facts about the Ethington family, or Xtraordinary things the Ethingtons did.
I think this idea is so fun. It would be a project that would take time for sure, but it would be a project that could grow over time too. As you’re doing your family history, and you discover a new relative, simply pull out a new card and start scrapping about that relative. Shrink down old photos to include on one side of the card, and then print out interesting facts on the other side. Beautify the cards with your scrapbooking supplies!
If you are an avid family history researcher, you could also use this idea to have a quick way to go back to a file on your computer. List the file location of more information on this relative, so you can find them easier.
Having something like this on your coffee table would be another great way to share your own family history with friends and family alike. I would love it if someone gave me something like this as a gift. My children would love thumbing through the cards and looking at their relatives over and over again. The mod podge will help protect the cards from sticky fingers!
The possibilities are endless with this project, and I can’t wait to go find a rolodex to start mine. How about you?
Meredith Ethington is the author of this blog. To learn more about Meredith, and her history with Scrapbooking and Genealogy, go here. < Return To Scrapbooking