Do-It-Yourself Goes Digital

Holiday Gifts at Your Fingertips

For The Journal

Published 06:00 a.m., September 27, 2008

Whether you are crafty or not, creating personalized and professional gifts this holiday season is simple. All it takes is a few photos, clips of your favorite home movies and a pinch of do-it-yourself digital magic to make memorable gifts the whole family will treasure.

Picture Perfect:

Digital cameras take great photos. Instead of sharing one or two framed photos as a gift, share dozens with a digital frame. It is possible to upload hundreds of photos to the frame, producing a virtual photo gallery.

• Wireless digital photo frames, such as the Samsung SPF-85V and SPF-105V, sync directly with Windows Live Spaces and update any new photos to the frame automatically, so there is no need for a memory card.

• Windows-based PCs work beautifully with many types of digital cameras and provide users with a step-by-step process for saving, editing and organizing photos.

You can also turn photos into other shareable gifts.

Photo Books:

Self-publish the story of a vacation, a baby’s first year or favorite family memories with a hardbound photo book. At SmileBooks.com, create a custom book with pictures and captions. It’s simple to download the free software, create the layout and then place an order.

Calendars:

Create an entire year of smiles with a photo calendar. Online sites enable you to design calendars that showcase the grandkids or celebrate the family tree with photos and images from the past. Or customize your calendar with birthday and anniversary reminders — and even place a photo of the birthday girl on her birth date to ensure it won’t be missed.

Accessories:

Show off your photos on mugs, mouse pads, T-shirts, purses, totes and stationery. It’s easy to upload pictures to online sharing sites and put an image on just about any accessory imaginable.

Works of Art:

Your little one’s artwork is priceless. Make sure these creations last forever by scanning each piece and uploading it to your PC.

• For two-dimensional artwork, such as drawings, paintings or construction paper creations, you’ll need to scan them on a flatbed scanner.

• Once they are scanned, you can import and manage the images.

• For three-dimensional creations, you’ll need to take a photo. Put the artwork on a flat surface in a room with lots of natural light. If possible, mount the camera on a tripod and shoot straight down. (You’ll usually get a better image without a flash.) If you have to shoot at an angle, try to avoid flare, shadows and reflections.

Movies:

Believe it or not, you can make a digital movie — even if all you have is video tape footage. Both Windows Vista Home Premium and Ultimate allow you to use DVD Maker to burn home videos to a DVD-Video disc. Edit the footage and add music with software such as Windows Movie Maker to produce a gift friends and family can enjoy while relaxing at home.

Another way to share your movies is to visit a video-sharing Web site. Upload your creation and e-mail the link to as many people as you want, or post it to your blog.

Other Ideas:

You can use your computer to create other kinds of gifts, too.

“The computer can be a great creative resource,” says Microsoft Corp. spokesperson Danielle Adams, savvy mom and crafter. “I’m not a digital wizard, but I’ve been able to make some very special gifts with just a few clicks.”

Adams recommends the following:

• Let the kids turn their school pictures and artwork into holiday cards or ornaments to share with family.

• Use recipe card templates to save family favorites. Print them and put them in recipe holders so that everyone knows just how to make Mom’s famous spaghetti.

• Create a family cookbook, complete with photos, recipes and stories about the food and the people who made it. You can share your cookbook online or have it printed in a hardbound photo book.

Making your own digital gifts is not just a budget saver, it’s a memory saver. Unique holiday gifts are just a few clicks away.

Stay connected even when you’re far apart:

Just because the whole family can’t get together, it doesn’t mean you can’t share the holidays with each other.

With Windows Live, you can stay in close contact in several different ways:

• Let everyone in on the holiday fun through Web-based e-mail and easy photo sharing via your computer or phone.

• Compare gift ideas and share funny stories instantly with Messenger. You can chat in text, hear their voices on a PC call or see each other in video.*

• Create a family holiday blog. Keep everyone current on your holiday activities, share photos and post video for the whole family to see.

For more information on the services listed above, visit www.windowslive.com.

*To place a PC-to-PC call, both users must have Windows Live Messenger installed, a compatible microphone and speakers or a headset, and Internet access. (A webcam and broadband are required for video.)

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---