Family Memory Game

A few weeks before last Christmas I decided that I absolutely NEEDED to make Family Memory Games for my kids AND the kids in our extended family.

You know how when you are just going along, minding your own business, and all of a sudden an idea hits you and you HAVE to do it? And there's just no getting around it?

That's what happened. I wish this idea had struck me in July, because then I would have been able to complete the project at a leisurely pace. Instead, I was up all hours of the night figuring out all the little details and printing and cutting and gluing and laminating and cutting some more. But I'm so glad I did it. I absolutely love my finished products.

I customized each family's game so that it matched them.

It's like this:

For Peyton and Ella's Family Memory Game I included pictures of us, all their grandparents, all their aunts and uncles, and all their cousins. I tried to have Peyton and Ella in as many pictures as possible - like a picture of Peyton with his cousin Jack instead of just a picture of Jack. To bring it on home, you know?

But then for cousins Noah and Hayden's Family Memory Game, I had their mom, my sister-in-law, email pictures of her side of the family. So she sent me pictures of Noah and Hayden's grandparents and aunt and uncle from her side. And then I combined those with pictures of grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins from our side. Because this game is all about each child's family, not just my side of the family.

And I tried to make sure that each person was equally represented - I didn't want five pictures of Peyton and only one picture of Ella, that sort of thing.

I made 16 pairs of photos for my games. I wasn't thinking about how to make a perfect game square with all the finished laid out cards. So if you want a perfect game square, you will want to make 18 pairs. And the picture below only has 15 pairs because my kids have stolen a couple pictures for their rooms.

Here's what you will need:

18 Sets of double-printed pictures

Pretty scrapbook paper

2 Colors of matching cardstock

Paper cutter

(you can use regular scissors if you want to be a cutting martyr)

Regular scissors

Scalloped-edge scissors

Glue stick

Wine

(what? how did that get in there?)

Acrylic box

(mine is 4" x 4" x 2" from Hobby Lobby)

An extra little photo of each family member

(for the game box lid)

4 Glue dots

The Memory Cards:

Cut with Paper Cutter:

Pretty scrapbook paper to 2.5" x 2.5".

One color of cardstock to 2.5" x 2.5".

The other color of cardstock to 2.25" x 2.25".

Wine:

Drink a glass of wine while you cut your paper. Because you will most likely be cutting for HOURS. (optional)

Glue Stick:

The 2.5" cardstock squares to the back of the scrapbook paper squares. This will make the memory cards sturdier.

The 2.25" cardstock squares onto the 2.5" cardstock squares.

Cut with Scalloped-Edge Scissors:

The photos along the outside edge. You just need to trim enough so that you can see the smaller cardstock underneath when you glue them together.

(I used my iphoto program and printed my pictures to size 2.25" square. If you can't do that, print them as small as possible and cut them into 2.25" squares. As you choose pictures, remember that you'll be cutting them - super big faces won't work - unless you want a memory card with two eyes and part of a nose.)

Glue Stick:

The photos to the small cardstock squares.

Here's the front (large blue cardstock, small green cardstock, picture):

Here's the back (scrapbook paper):

Comparison Shop and Travel:

Find the cheapest laminating service around. I found that the companies that used large laminating machines (at least 3 feet wide) were more inexpensive than the companies that used smaller machines (8.5" x 11" laminated sheets). For all the cards for the multiple families that I had laminated, it cost me about $12. All of these are on a single laminated sheet: