beyond mountains: homemade gifts

Do you get crafty when giving gifts to loved ones? Homemade gifts tend to be cheaper, but at the same time, the most precious. With the recent passing of both my dad's brother and father, I wanted to make something for him that could honor them and remind him of the good memories. I thought of making coasters like these, but after seeing the plethora of coasters that my parents have in their basement, I decided to take a more traditional route and just frame a few pictures.

My dad's two older brothers- Chuck and Hank in PopPop's old football gear

To keep a common theme, I collected and made copies of old photographs of my dad, grandfather (PopPop), and two uncles playing different sports in their youth. I also scripted a sports-related Vince Lombardi quote- I wanted the gift to not be too emotional, but still sentimental.

PopPop in high school

The most fun part was looking through all of my grandmother's (Grammy) photo albums and imagining what life was like back then, and what my family members might have been like as kids and teenagers. I may have grabbed a couple pictures for myself :) She has so many wonderful photographs; I told her that I call dibs on inheriting them all on day ;) I absolutely love (any) old photographs, and having them be of my dashing PopPop makes them even more amazing.