An ideal way to share your passion for family history with loved ones is to give the gifts that somehow reflect the discoveries you have made about your family's past. Whether it's framing a copy of the family tree, refurbishing a pocketwatch or restoring a turn-of-the-century photograph, there are numerous way to turn attic treasures, family documents and cherished memories into gifts.
"The secret to giving great gifts is to give something that will be meaningful to the other person," according to Leah Ingram, author of You Shouldn't Have: How to Give Gifts They'll Never Forget.
"Gifts that reflect family history have lots of meaning because they're personal in nature," she says. "One of the best gifts my mother ever gave to her brother and sister was a set of notecards featuring a 1940's picture of her with her siblings and parents in the apple orchard her family once owned up in Maine. Whenever you can give a gift that reflects a person's heritage, that's a gift that can touch someone at a deeper level."
"Family history gifts are gifts from the heart," adds Kimberly Powell, who is the "Guide: to genelogy at About.com and an avid giver of family history gifts." "Gifts from the heart are usually much more appreciated because they show that you put time, effort and thought into them. "The holiday season is an especially good time to give family history gifts because the holidays are all about celebrating the family," Ms. Powell says.
Here are some creative ways you can turn your family's past into gifts that will enrich and enlighten for years to come:
Artistically Rendered Family Trees
Let's face it. A black-and-white printout of genealogical information isn't the sort of thing most people want to hang on the wall. But a colorful, visually stimulating representation of the family tree is something that can be displayed proudly.
Saundra Diehl, a Park City, Utah-based artist, specializes in creating customized watercolor paintings of family trees for clients all over the country through her company, Family Tree (fmlytree.com). These works of art are painted on aged parchment and feature an oak, maple or pine tree laden with name filled branches and flanked by images of signifiance in the family's life.
"For a descendent of Stephen Hopkins, who sailed on the