“Say It” With Your Own Photo Cards

I met my siblings this past week to finalize paperwork for a legacy passed down from our grandmother to our mother and now to us. I wanted to bring a memory of these two wonderful women with me as I traveled to our meeting.

As I thought about grandma and mom, I searched for a picture that reflected the bond they shared and their prairie roots. Once I found the picture, I ordered copies of the print and considered how to make something special to commemorate the event.

Mom taught us the importance of giving and sending cards. Every Monday morning, mom would sit at the dining room table and write letters and cards to family and friends. She grew up in a tradition of letter writing which she maintained throughout her life. Using the photo of grandma and mom, I created a Photo Card using their picture on the front cover and a memory quote typed inside. I placed a copy of the same photo and a handwritten note within each card.

Greeting cards were an important form of communication when mom was growing up. While email and social media have largely replaced the need for cards, sometimes “saying it with a greeting card” is still the most personal way to share your thoughts and feelings.

If you are interested in creating your own Photo Cards here are the steps I followed:

1. Scan your picture.
2. Open Walgreens Photo on the web.
   I use Walgreens Photo because they have discount coupons
   I can place my order using my home computer and the web
   I can choose same day pickup which is important because I usually do things at the last minute and
   I can pay at the store since I do not like to type credit card information on the web
3. Log into Walgreens Photo with user name and password. You get a user name and password by registering for a free account.
4. Click on upload photos to upload scanned picture into an online photo album.
5. Click on Cards and select a 5″ by 7″ Full Photo Folded Card, click on the Portrait Photo Layout and then click on Create Now.
6. Click on Get Photo to open Online Photo Albums. Click on your photo and click done.
7. Drag photo onto the front of online card. Click on inside tab to view the inside of online card. Type text. I used a memory quote I found on the web: “Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose.” ~ Kevin Arnold
8. Edit text and picture then click on Order.
9. The last step didn’t involve me at all. I had my husband pick up the cards that same day on his way home from work. Couldn’t have been simpler!

Preserving Picture Memories

Grandma was a gadget gear-head before the term was coined. She had cameras, record players, slide and movie projectors, tape players, sewing machines and could often be found with her hands in the farm machinery (sometimes literally, but that is a story for another day).

When grandma was getting on in years, mom and I would pack my kids in the car and travel to her home for a week of cleaning, nurturing, cooking, fixing and organizing. Grandma had albums full of pictures. As I looked at the black and white photos, I realized I didn’t recognize many of the faces. When I asked mom, she didn’t remember some of the people either. So an idea bloomed. Each day we would sit with grandma and go through the pictures.

We were making great progress. As she reminisced, I would write the names on the back of the photos along with any other details grandma shared. Brilliant plan. About the third day I began to seriously question this plan. It started out when I handed another picture to grandma.

Me: “Grandma, tell me about this picture.”
The picture was small, so she held it close to her face, looking carefully. She began pointing to faces and said, “That is your Uncle Lester and that is Uncle Randolph.”
Then she paused, pushed her glasses on top of her head and viewed the picture at arms length. After a while she put her glasses back into place and once more drew the picture close to her eyes. I had my pencil in hand, ready to write the details she was going to impart when she dropped her arm holding the picture on the table, looked at me and said “I don’t know who that man in the middle is.”
What? I looked incredulously at her and blurted “Grandma, that’s not a man, that’s a dog!”

There was a moment of stunned silence then mom, grandma and I burst into laughter. My young daughter came into the room and asked, “What’s so funny?” Later mom and I looked through the labeled pictures to make sure we had not inadvertently attributed family names to some other farm animals.