Record all those special moments and events in your life so you create beautiful memories that remind you of your happiest times.
Here are some suggestions of how and where to record events to make lasting memories that remind you of special times.
Taking a holiday is one of the nicest ways to make beautiful memories that remind you of carefree, family times.
Photo books
These are probably one of the most popular forms of displaying photos as they are quick and easy for busy moms to set up. At 24hourphotobooks.co.za you can download and install the software you need. Then, choose a predefined layout or custom make your own theme, auto-flow or drag-and-drop the pictures from your folder until you are happy with the layout. After that, you simply hit “order”. You will get a hard copy, but you can also share the digital version with faraway family and friends via various social networking sites.
At rapidstudio.co.za, you create and design your keepsake online in one of the following downloadable templates: the birthday calendar, a photo diary, a photo calendar, a wall or desk calendar or a photo flipper. You then buy it and Rapid Studio will print and deliver your chosen product to you.
Journalling
Evernote.com is a free online journalling app enabled for Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac. It can be accessed on your desktop or via your cellphone, making it quick to write and upload when you have the time. If you’re using Evernote as your personal journal, you can influence the text recognition and tagging to make your journal entries available to family and friends.
MyMemoir is a journalling app designed for iPad. You can import images into your journal entries and then export your journalling into an e-book format, transforming each of the entries into chapters. The e-book includes a tool that enables quick navigation through the book. This can be a creative way of making a big deal of any special occasion. MyMemoir can also export your journal entries to PDF, making the recorded chronicle easy to email to loved ones.
Slideshow
Make a slideshow or create a collage for free with kizoa.com, an online platform for photo creativity. Once you’ve created the slideshow, build unique text, music, animation and other special effects around it. Then, share your slideshow with family and friends through email, or add it to your blog or post it to Facebook or Twitter. You can even make and cut a DVD so everyone can enjoy the fun.
Blogging
Create a blog site with WordPress and Tumblr, easy-to-use, web-based micro-blogging platforms. The sites can feed your posts directly to social networking sites. Or, you can opt to keep entries completely private.
Facebook album
Create a Facebook album, which can be accessed by friends and family. Your Facebook profile can be used to chronicle your children’s growing up through photo uploads. It offers an immediate and easy way to keep faraway family in touch.
Birthday Keepsake Journal
If you want to make memories of your child’s development, then Your Birthday Book: A Keepsake Journal (Potter Style) is ideal. The journal starts the first birthday and ends with their 18th celebration. This novel book provides fun, fast and casual birthday activities for each year as well as space to stick birthday photos and other pictures. There is also a time-capsule envelope for stashing away odds and ends such as artwork, school papers, hand tracings, birthday cards, invitations, and other memorabilia.
Video recording
Bring a special event to life and record it on video. Make sure you have a tripod so you can get everyone in for some special moments, for instance, singing “Happy Birthday”. Do a good edit on the recording so that the party montage flows. Then, copy it to DVD to send to friends and family. You can also upload the video so techno-savvy relatives can access it online, on sites such as Facebook or YouTube, or via email.
Scrapbooking
There is always the good, old-fashioned chronicling of scrapbooking. For many creative people, scrapbooking is a most rewarding, time-honoured tradition. For others, it just takes too much time and can be intimidating as you can’t edit your mistakes as easily. Never fear, if you are determined to create such a treasure, unleash your creative side effectively by planning each spread before you start gluing anything and keep the end result in mind as you progress. The finished product is a memory of a special occasion that is full of texture and your personal touch. Typical memorabilia include photographs, printed media, artwork, and the scribbling of poems, quotes and photo captions.
A party box
Keeping photos and mementos from a special event is a wonderful way to record the memory. You could include the invitation, some of the decorations or any keepsakes. For the sentimental parent, a party box is a special way of recording their child’s birthday milestones. To make it extra special, decorate and label the box.
Lucille Kemp
