I just spent most of the day at the LDS Family History center in Oakland helping a friend track down her ancestors. She’s going on a trip next month to Germany and wanted to know more about her heritage before embarking on the journey.

Online tools

Although the real help we received came from the genealogist at the center who helped us crack the code, the tools we used are available to everyone online. Primarily, we used Ancestry.com and FamilySearch.org. Both have online tutorials to get you started.

Make History a Gift

I hadn’t thought about giving the gift of history as a bon voyage present until today. But watching my friend gather information that will ultimately shape her journey, help her decide where to visit, and move churches and gravesites to the top of a list previously filled only with tourist attractions inspired me. Now I think a kickstart into family history would be a wonderful gift for anyone taking a trip or starting an even bigger journey.

Consider a gift subscription to Ancestry.com for the following:

• Family Vacation – maybe they’ll find new places to visit.
• Newly Married – for the merging of family trees.
• New Baby – learn more about the gene pool you’re drawing from.
• Graduation – he passed world history, now it’s time for personal study.
• Significant birthday – find out who you really are.
• Anniversary – genealogy is more fun to do in pairs.
• Bereavement – maybe not immediately, but it can be therapeutic to find out more about the people waiting for us on the other side.

Make it Personal

While at the Family History center, the computers were abuzz with people searching, pondering, and digging for clues. And there was no shortage of personal stories either. Consider delivering a gift of history with a personal narrative of your own. Tell about the first time you met this person, character traits you admire about him, or your hope for the future in finding his past. Tie the gift card and your thoughts onto branches of a potted tree that can be planted to commemorate this occasion.

Fun Valentine Gift idea from Michaels

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!

Sephora Gift Card Winner Announced!

My view of Valentine’s Day has forever changed thanks to the comments in this contest. Once thought only to be an opportunity for special someone’s to tell each other how they feel, I’ve widened my view. I’m especially touched by the dads who give their daughter a Valentine each year so no matter whom she pines for, there will always be at least one guy who loves her for who she is. I’m going to suggest (insist) my husband start doing this for our daughter.

Also noted is that amidst all the grand gestures this holiday often evokes, most of you said your favorite Valentine gifts have been homemade, inexpensive, and simply heartfelt. I love that.

My thoughts are now turning to spring, Teacher Appreciation, and birthdays. Did you know that birthdays are the number one gift card occassion? It’s true.

Pop over to Gift Card Girlfriend to get some birthday ideas and go to our blog to find out who won the Sephora Valentine’s Day Gift Card Giveaway!

Treat a family to a trip around the rink.

Tired of nagging my kids to pick up their shoes, stop fighting, talk nice, get ready for school, clear the dishes, flush the toilet, and so forth, I plunked a jelly jar on the counter one day and blurted out, “Fill this jar with beans before holiday break and I’ll take you ice skating.”

I laid out a fairly simple reward structure–do what I say without negotiating, earn a bean. Do me a favor (e.g. let your brother go first), earn a bonus bean. Tell me something nice a sibling did instead of a tattle-tale, earn five beans. Having never been ice skating, the kids snapped to attention and filled the jar before school got out and just before their interest in the whole gimmick ended. (Rumor has it Dad abused the system and awarded a fistful of beans in exchange for a Saturday afternoon nap at some point.) Nonetheless, the kids filled the jar so we took them ice skating this week for the very first time. 

Family Fun for Everyone!

We had so much fun, I couldn’t help but add ice skating to the list of family gift card ideas. To give the gift of ice skating, I would get a gift card to a nearby rink and download the public skating schedule. Then I’d get either an inexpensive set of gloves or a pair of warm, tall socks for everyone in the family. You could also add a travel bottle of hand sanitizer, hot chocolate mix, or matching beanies as well.  Love that.

Extreme Birthday Basket

My girlfriends are the best.  They recently showered me with all sorts of treats for my birthday.  I threw everything in this basket so you could see how wonderful these gals are and how well they know me. The assortment might look random, but this basket tells a story. 

Of course, you know those gift cards poking out of the back are a particular favorite.  Movie tickets are always a treat and the Extreme Pizza certificates didn’t last 24-hours in my house.  As I trudged through stacks of work today, I kept thinking, ”Thank goodness I don’t have to cook dinner tonight!”  As a bonus, I found an Extreme Pizza coupon in the mail, allowing us to stretch the value even further.

Birthday gifts appreciated. Girlfriends adored. Dinner I didn’t have to make or buy…EXTREMELY great.

Extremely good deal: Gift card, coupon, and handsome delivery boy.

Extreme is a great name for clever gift carding. Purchase an Extreme Pizza gift card, tie it to a pack of Extreme Sour candy and add an “Extreme” comment:

• “Hope you have an EXTREMELY good birthday”
• “You’re an EXTREMELY awesome teacher.” 
• Thanks for going to the EXTREME to help us this year.

I love these ideas.  I’m going to use it to kick off the Teacher Appreciation section I’ve been thinking about.

(P.S. That was my first Extreme Pizza.  It won’t be my last. Yum!)