Read moreWant to make a family cookbook that preserves your recipes AND looks professionally done? Follow these easy tips from professional food stylists and editors.
It’s never too late to solve your adoption mystery
My client, Jan (left) was frustrated by his early efforts to discover his birth family. But after we sussed out the data—a combination of DNA evidence and good old-fashioned genealogical sleuthing—he ultimately met members of his birth family in Florida.
Read moreThinking of searching for your birth family? The story of Jan’s genealogy quest at 80 years old proves that it is never too late to solve an adoption mystery.
How to turn family artifacts into a book
The author’s hand-embroidered tablecloth and napkins, made by her grandmother in the 1950s. Even if family artifacts don’t have a story of their own, they can still be useful and allow us to revisit the memories we associate with them, as Clémence Scouten does each time she hosts a dinner party.
Read moreDon’t let your family heirlooms and mementos sit in boxes collecting dust—use these expert tips to curate them and preserve their stories in a book.
Have you inherited a messy box of family photos?
Read moreWhen a parent dies and leaves behind a mess of family photos, where does one even begin to sort through it all? Find a (thoughtful, healing) plan here.
Start capturing your family stories with this 10-step plan
Don’t let worry about how you will finish stop you from starting your family history project—just take one step at a time.
Read moreDon’t be paralyzed by overwhelm: Follow these 10 actionable steps (check them off as you go!) to get your family history interview project underway with ease.
Telling the family business story
Telling the stories behind your family-run business should ideally involve researching the documentation and talking to the people who worked there—and if you’ve got some historic photos of the place, all the better. This photograph of the proprietor of a family-run tailor shop in 1936 New York City was taken by Lee Russell; courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Digital Collection.
Read morePreserving the history of your family-run business will involve both some formal research and oral history interviews. Here's how to tell your family biz story.
“Dear Mama”: Storytelling through letter writing
Read moreHandwritten letters can be a treasure trove of family stories. Adding context and photos to the correspondence to preserve in a book makes for a precious gift.