30 Sep Creating Calendars for 2019
It’s hard to believe that 2018 is almost over!! It seems that this year just started.
What better way to remember 2018 than to create a calendar for 2019! Calendars could be created to remember birthdays, to remember a special trip taken, or special events.
In my family, I’m the calendar creator. I gather all the cute pictures of the grandchildren and great-grandchildren and create a calendar to help everyone in the family remember all the birthdays.
Gathering the pictures is not as easy as it sounds. My family is spread across the country from Seattle, to Houston, to Pennsylvania. Try as we might, it seems to be impossible to gather everyone together in one place at the same time, at any time of the year. But one of the most cherished pictures is to have all nine grandchildren stand in a row, by height.
I have resorted to Photoshop to achieve my goal. I ask each family to take pictures of their kids, in height order, with spaces between them. I then cut out the kids and paste them into one big picture. This allows the great-grandma’s to see how the kids are growing.
Finding the cutest pictures is also a challenge. There are so many to choose from! What selection criteria should be used? I try to find pictures that tell a story or prompt recollection of a story or event. For instance, the picture of grandpa spooning the first taste of ice cream to the newest grandchild, or the picture of you and hubby in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Rex and Amira
Gathering and sorting through the pictures is the most time-consuming part of the Calendar Creation process. But going through the Gathering and Sorting allows me to relive the memories of the current year, and carry the memories forward to the next year. I always try to give myself plenty of time for these activities. I start in October.
Once the pictures have been selected, the fun part begins! The person, or persons, whose birthday is in the given month are featured on the top page of the calendar. The birthday person is featured on their birthday.
There are certainly other calendar ideas. If you have been on a trip over the year, you could feature some of the great sights you’ve seen. We went to Africa a few years ago and saw some amazing animals – lions, elephants, rhinoceros, zebras, hippos – you name it!
There are many online publishers who could print your calendar, most are reasonably priced. Calendars make a fun gift for parents and grandparents who already have everything and don’t really want to accumulate more stuff.
What do I do with the old calendars? I cannot bring myself to toss them. It’s a history of the children’s and grandchildren’s achievements, activities, and growth. I see the grandchildren grow from infants to toddlers to little kids, teenagers, and so on. See the wonderful trips taken over the years and the friends and family I spent time with.
If you would like help or guidance in creating a calendar for your family, please contact me at amira@PreciousMemsPhoto.com
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