Creative Ways to Celebrate Family History Month

October is Family History Month, so why not take the time to do something creative or fun with your favorite hobby? Many families are lucky to have inherited family heirlooms, but, as we have seen in the aftermath of recent hurricanes, sometimes those objects don’t last. Photos get thrown away, glassware breaks, and many young people don’t seem to have much appreciation for antiques.

What can you do if your family is short on heirlooms? Have you thought about making some? Among the people who regularly volunteer at the St. Louis Genealogical Society office are several expert quilters and knitters, a woodworker, a potter, a talented photographer, a number of excellent chefs and bakers, and some greeting card makers. Each of those people has created special items that are treasured by their families and friends. 

If those skills are a bit too complicated, how about gathering family recipes into cookbooks or printing them on card stock to hand down to younger generations? Can you paint in water colors or oils? Do you know how to do embroidery, needlepoint, or counted cross stitch? Can you sew? Think of how you can parlay any of those talents into meaningful keepsakes for your loved ones.

(Photo above: Knitted blankets go to all new babies in one volunteer's family and those of her close friends. Photo by Ilene Murray; used with permission.)

One of the participants in our society’s Facebook group recently shared a wonderful collage he made of his ancestors’ signatures, framed, and hung in a place of honor in his home. All it took was collecting the signatures from documents, mounting them on acid-free paper, and then having the final product attractively framed so it could be displayed.

With just a little bit of work, you can design and print a variety of attractive family trees. If you don't want to design your own, StLGS can do one for you. We offer inexpensive, full-color fan charts suitable for framing. You can send or bring in a GEDCOM file for seven or nine generations, and we will do the rest. All the information you need for ordering is on our website. 

Of course, you can use your computer, but if you have some additional skill, you can build family trees from all kinds of media, only limited by your imagination. Think about migration maps for your ancestors or collages of photos of people or family homes. Kits are available online for those who just want to color or label, and there are many people who develop unique family trees for a fee. Many cultures cherish story quilts, and they can be made even more meaningful by using fabrics worn by family members. Take some of your old ties and tee shirts or even baby clothes and start cutting and stitching! 

How about scrapbooking? Grab some of those old family photos and start organizing them into attractive books that can be handed down to family members with relatives and locations identified. Or take those photos and make other kinds of framed wall arrangements. We all know that photos sitting in boxes are likely doomed to oblivion! And with websites like Shutterfly or Walgreens or CVS photo printing at our fingertips, the process is super-easy.

Got knick-knacks or souvenirs? You can arrange them in shadow boxes or on shelving units with explanations included on why they are special.

Ready for some inspiration? Try these websites for starters:

“10 Gifts That Preserve a Loved One’s Handwriting,” Roxanna Coldiron, 19 April 2019, https://www.marthastewart.com/1538670/handmade-gifts-that-preserve-handwriting

There are hundreds of ideas for quilts. Here is one for a family tree quilt with step-by-step instructions: “Quilted Delights,” 30 July 2013, http://www.quilteddelights.com/2013/07/

Templates for family trees, free and easy to use: “Free Printable Family Tree Templates and Online Family Tree Ideas,” Jessica Grimaud, 24 November 2020, https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/family-tree-templates-family-tree-make

And, if you get started now, you could even have your new heirlooms ready for holiday gift-giving!