I love the idea of giving an Ancestry.com Gift Membership this holiday season. I started doing genealogy about a year ago. And though I don’t have much time to devote to the activity, I feel compelled to nurture my family tree whenever I can.

Who would enjoy this gift?

Give an Ancestry.com Gift Membership to:

• An Individual. Great idea for someone interested in family, in need of a new hobby, or who likes to use the computer.
• A Teenager. Kids are better at computers than adults, and genealogy can be interesting and addictive. It’s better than video games! An activity like this could bring the whole family together.
• A Family. This would make a great family gift from you or from your entire family. (“From our extended family to yours”)
• Blended Family. All of our families are blended in one way or another. Start researching the family tree and see how alike we all are.
• Newlyweds. What a fun way for the new couple to merge tree branches and start a family tree of their own.
• New Parents. Researching our family tree took on new meaning when I put my children at the beginning. This would make a great baby shower gift.
• Someone in Mourning. Researching family lines might help him deal with the future by connecting to the past.

This gift would also be a wonderful sentiment on Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, or Grandparents Day.

Make the Gift Membership Fun

My ideas for making a genealogy gift membership more personal:

• Christmas Tree. Attach the gift membership to a mini-Christmas tree. Tie it on with a bow or make it into an ornament.
• Tree for the yard. Attach the gift membership to a tree that is ready to plant. They can grow both trees at the same time.
• Garden tools. They can use both tools for cultivating.
• Seed packet. Smaller than a tree, easier to mail. Deliver a gift membership for growing a family tree plus seeds to grow a real tree or plant.
• Family picture. Doing genealogy is about connecting families and finding out who you are. Deliver a gift membership with a picture of your family or their family. Or find a picture frame that says, “Family.” (I’ve seen several).
• Miracle Grow. Using Ancestry.com is like putting Miracle Grow in your garden. With the tools on this site, growing your family has never been faster, easier, or produced better results.
• Book on Genealogy. Deliver the membership with a book or a list of websites to help the recipient get started.
• Time. Volunteer to help with the effort. Doing genealogy together is like solving a mystery or putting together a puzzle. You’ll have fun as a team.

Through a series of events this past year, family has become increasingly important to me. And not just my own family. I’m compelled to bridge the gap with my in-laws, step relations, and distant relatives. We may not see each other daily. but we are all part of the same family tree. Ancestry.com is helping me see that–both literally and figuratively.

Gift Card Girlfriend is getting a makeover!

In addition to sharing our creative gift card ideas, we’re converting each gift card vignette to a “Get it Done” shopping option as well. We’ll scour the net to find everything you need to make a gift card more personal. All you have to do is click the pieces and buy. (The convenient gift card–just got easier to give!)

Mother’s Day First

The site redesign will launch officially in a few weeks, but for now – check out the Mother’s Day section. You’ll find great ideas to kickstart your own creativity plus “Get it Done” deals to buy today. Below is one of my favorites!

Feet Retreat

Get Inspired: Stamp the kids’ feet or take a picture of their piggy toes and put it in a keepsake frame. Add a pedicure gift card and a note that reads, “From our feet to yours!” Or pair the gift card with a pedicure accessory or lotion like the ones shown in our “Get it Done” deal below:

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• SpaFinder GC
  Amazon.com
• Flip Flop Pedi Set
  Amazon.com
• “I Love You” lotion
  Amazon.com

Michaels posted this video on their Facebook page and I wanted to share it with you. Several little gifts are tied together with a ribbon, all stuffed neatly into a shipping tube. As the recipient pulls the ribbon, the presents are revealed, leading up to a big gift at the end. Jo’s finale is a crafty Valentine t-shirt, but I suggest topping things off with a gift card instead.

My Version

I love what Jo has done, but for my taste (and time constraints), I’d probably get a smaller tube and tie just two or three items en route to the gift card. You’d get the same effect without the added expense and effort.

Fun Themes

You could adapt this idea to any occasion–a baby shower, bridal gift, teacher appreciation, or birthday. I see a theme tube as well–maybe a group gift of several gift cards tied to the ribbon. Or a movie gift card tube including snacks and movie tickets with theater wrapping paper on the tube itself. A baseball themed tube with sports page wrapping and baseball cards, sunflower seeds, cracker jacks, and an MLB gift card inside. Oh, a tennis ball canister would work great here as well. Uh-oh, I’m starting to trip over myself with gift card ideas! Seriously, who doesn’t want to open a string of goodies to get to a gift card??! So many possibilities.

Speaking of Michaels

Speaking of Michaels, don’t forget to answer the Valentine’s Day poll to be entered in the $25 Michaels Gift Card drawing. You just might win and then you can march yourself down to Michaels to make your own Valentine’s Day tube! Good stuff!

Can you believe we’ve never taken a formal family picture? I’ve got a million snapshots (some of which include everybody), but no perfectly posed, matching outfits, five smiling faces photos. I have two excuses–one valid and the other just lazy.

The not-so-good reason we’ve never taken a family picture is because I dread moments where my children are expected to be, “on.” I know from too many days in the motherhood trenches that it is nearly impossible to make everybody happy at the same time. I can barely put a dinner on the table that meets with total approval much less get the entire clan dressed in clothes I pick out. Plus I have recurring flashbacks of the family picture I ruined as a kid because I had to stand while my brother and sister got to sit on a lap. (A total injustice for which I still remember the tantrum I threw. Sorry Mom.) So reason number one for not taking a family photo: justifiable fear.

Reason number two: We are on a tight budget and I always figured the cost of getting a formal sitting would be even greater than the emotional toll. But that’s where I was wrong. In a quick hour, Barry Zundel made us look like the family we strive to be. And rather than obligate us to buy expensive prints from him, he gave us a CD of digital photos I can print whenever and wherever I want. That will save me a bundle and has me thinking what a great idea it would be to give the gift of pictures. Here are a few of my thoughts:

• Photography: Get a gift card to a studio or a gift certificate from a local photographer. It doesn’t have to be plastic to be legit. If you know someone who takes pictures, pay in advance and deliver the gift certificate so there is no excuse for not capturing the moment.
• Prints: Get a gift card for photo development from a store or from one of the many online services such as Shutterfly or my favorite, blurb.
• Fashion: I did spend more hours than I wanted to looking for clothes we could all wear. With a gift card, I might have been able to get the job done faster because I would have focused more on the “look” and less on the price.
• Frames: Sometimes the frame costs more than the actual picture. With a gift card to the frame store, the recipient can turn a nice photo into a piece of art at a fraction of the cost.

Though I’m thinking right now about family photos, these gift card ideas would be great for graduation, new baby, wedding, or even a significant birthday. Come to think of it, do you need a good reason to take a picture at any time of year? Not really. All I needed was the right photographer and a little courage. I’m so glad we finally did this.

My mom made a scrapbook for all seven of us kids. So when I had my first child, I too embarked on the memory making journey. Within six months, Ally’s book was so full of photos and quotes, I had to buy her a second scrapbook. (You know where this is headed.) Baby number two has half a book. Baby number three has a box. No book.

Blurb.com Saved Me

As the pile of unscrapped photos, school papers, and artwork increases, so does my guilt. I swear (swear, SWEAR), one day I’ll get those scrapbooks caught up. Until then, I’ve been saved by Blurb.com.

With Blurb’s Booksmart software, every month I add pictures and stories to a family memory book. The pages are not as “pretty” as scrapbooked pages, but they aren’t as time-consuming either. And at year’s end, I order a copy of the family book for each child.

I do have a long range goal to give each child an individual scrapbook of their first years, but for now Blurb.com is helping me avoid the feeling that these precious days are flying by unrecorded.

Save Someone Else

Blurb.com also offers gift cards. If you know a mom suffering from scrapbook anxiety, why not give her this time-saving gift as well? A gift card to Blurb.com or any photo book service (e.g. Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc.) would also be great for New Baby, Wedding, Graduation, and other life events where you know photos taken are likely to end up in a pile after the party is over.

Would you expect to receive a car maintenance gift card at your baby shower? Probably not. But DolphinV27 is the winner of the Jiffy Lube gift card contest because I loved her idea for turning the unexpected Jiffy Lube gift card into the perfect gift for an expectant mother.

I’m partial to baby thoughts right now because my little sister, designer of this site, just delivered her first child. Seeing her drive around with the empty car seat in anticipation of the baby’s arrival, reminded me that getting the car ready to safely transport a newborn is just as important as preparing the nursery. (Perhaps even more important!) A Jiffy Lube gift card can help parents do just that.

Another reason I picked this idea is because it’s scalable—you can make the gift elaborate or something quite simple. Dolphin suggests nestling a Jiffy Lube gift card into a new car seat along with a baby blanket and a variety of toddler travel items. Then add a note that reads, “Because you never know where life will take you,” which applies both to cars and to the adventures of parenting.

So that’s a big gift. But a Jiffy Lube gift card accompanied by a single baby travel item (e.g. car shade, sippy cup, travel wipes, etc.) would be less expensive and just as thoughtful.

Thanks DolphinV27 for helping us turn a Jiffy Lube gift card into a thoughtful gift. I’m adding your idea to the New Baby section and will be sending the Jiffy Lube Graduation gift card packet shortly!

Don’t miss the Mother’s Day give away to be announced shortly! Subscribe to this blog or follow us on Facebook and Twitter so you don’t miss the announcement.