Family History Baseball Cards - Front of Cards

A few years ago, I saw this post about a lady making Ancestor Trading Cards. I loved the idea and decided to make my own Family History Baseball cards. It has been an amazing experience as I have tried to find information about my ancestors. I have felt led to things (especially pictures and signatures) that I could not have found on my own.
Although I loved the idea of the baseball cards, I wanted to make them a little larger so it was easier to see the information. Also as I was making them, I decided that I wanted to share highlights from their lives so that we could learn more about our ancestors. I decided to make them 4x6 size because it is an standard size for photos in the U.S. It made printing them a breeze. Then I just put the front and back together in a photo album.

Each card front includes (top to bottom): 

• Full name as well as any nicknames
• If they served in the military, then that information is included as well as a symbol
• If they served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, then that information is included along with a symbol and possibly a map of their mission. 
• I try to include 4 pictures - as a child, as a young adult, a wedding picture or couple picture, and as an older person. 
• Their signature or some other writing that they have created. This is something that they have created and it's cool to see something that is personally connected to them. 
• Birth, and Death date
• Marriage date & location as well as age at time of marriage and spouse's name and age are included
• For the women, I include a buggy with the number of children that they had, along with any that they may have helped raise. 

Here are some tips if you would like to try making them on your own. I created them in Photo shop, but there are other programs you could make them in as well.

Tips:

1. Make a spreadsheet that includes all of the information that you want to include. It can become a checklist as you do each card. 
2. Then gather any pictures or signatures you want and put them all into a digital file together. (Example: For Ruth Rowe her file was names "Ruth Rowe" and then I put a copy of anything I wanted to include on her baseball card in that folder)
3. Set up a template in your preferred program 
4. Choose a different background color for each family line. My mom's line have a red background, my dad's family has blue for the background. My husband's parents lines have purple (mother) and green (father). Then if you decide to put them all in one book you can easily see who belongs to who. 
5. Include some kind of pedigree or list so you can see how everyone is related. 
6. Make a key for the book so people know what information is included. 
7. Finding a signature can be tricky. Look for military registration cards, driver's license, death or birth certificates, immigration papers, old family books, or other family letters or cards. 
8. If you don't have all of the information, still make a card and include what you have. Sometimes you can do a husband and wife on one card if you don't have a lot of information 

In the next post, I'll talk about what is included on the back of the cards. 

I hope this helps you get started on this amazing project. You can purchase the templates for these in my etsy shop. If you would me to help put them together, send me a message, and I can help you for a fee.