Cousin Concentration

I love the Christmas time. It's my favorite! I love how it makes me feel but really love getting things for people. I'm not a "What's on your list?" kind of person. I liked to give gifts that made me think of that person. Or sometimes I just like to do something homemade. I always hope that they feel the love from the gift and excited about receiving as I was giving (because that's not always the case). ANYWAY...

This year I wanted to do something for my siblings' families and Jarom's siblings' families. WE are all spread out and I love any kind of genealogy family thing so I came up with COUSIN CONCENTRATION. A memory game of all the cousins. I figured this way our kids could know each other a little better even though they don't get to visit often.

My first words of advice if interested in doing something like this for your fam is START NOW. It takes time and if the family is large it takes MORE time. We total 43 cousins plus my 3 boys=45!
What you need:

Pictures of every cousin/family member (a good head shot)

A list of 3 of each person's favorite things (color, food, activity, etc.)

a laminator

a good color copier or access to one (unless you wanted them in black or white...the options are endless)

email (optional)

access to a photo program ( I used picnik.com)

paper cutter

Microsoft Word or anything that makes a table

1. Unless you already have pictures of all the cousins you will need ask for a picture of each child. A good head shot.

2. Download them into your photo program and crop/resize your pictures. This part can take time because each picture is different. You will need each picture to be pretty small (around 300x400) to make a 2.5 x 3.5 playing card. When finished then create the cards how ever you want. I framed them, put their name in bold letters, and their favorite items in small letters.

3. Go into your Word program and create a table 3 x 3. Add picture from file into each window. Double click the picture and it will bring up a box that says format picture. Click on the size tab. Take the check mark off the lock aspect ratio. Then put in the width 2.5 and height 3.5. Do this for every picture. If it looks stretched go back to step 2 and resize.

4. Print on card stock or photo paper. Remember to print two of every picture so that they have a match for the game.

5. Cut each out. Be sure to measure during the process so that each card is the same size. The printer does not always print each picture straight.

6. Go into word again and create a back for the cards and glue to each card. I glued Cousin Concentration on the back of each card.

7. Laminate.

8. Cut out again adding an additional 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch around the edges.

9. Voila! You now have your game.

Be sure to allow at least a month to complete this project. I did a little bit at a time but I would say it totalled about 40 hours. But hey, some people may manage their time better than me and I was real particular about cutting everything to size perfectly.

If you want to forgo the game you can just make cute little photo books for the families too. I have lots of other ideas too. Maybe someday I will write a little book on keeping the family in touch.