Homemade Christmas Presents - Family Calendar

We've had a family tradition for years that we make our presents for one another at Christmas time. My present to everyone this year was a family history themed calendar. I'm attaching the whole calendar, for my record and in case anyone else is interested. (I think you can read each page if you click on the photo, which should enlarge it.)

I began with the intention of doing condensed, straight biographies, but tweaked the concept a little to highlight some of our ancestor's character traits instead. I particularly like the story of 'The Twenty Australians' in one of the newspaper clippings, but all the stories are so wonderful to know, that I really love them all. I wanted us to remember them.

(Each calendar page also incorporated some goal charts for those in the family who were interested. I printed them off and bound them at home, with clear acetate sheeting to protect the front and back covers. Each calendar page included a quote about goal-setting at the top of the page. Neil and I each wrote a page with some personal thoughts for our family, that we called the Forward and the Preface. These were on the first two inside pages, but I haven't attached them. On the back inside cover was a list of all the home and mobile phone numbers and addresses, for everyone in our immediate and extended family.)

Front cover.