Personalized Alphabet Flashcards

(My husband valiantly spent many hours yesterday and today trying to clean up the virus that had infected my computer, and we think it's mostly gone -- please excuse the lateness of this posting!)

JHill from the Mad in Crafts blog posted one of the best do it yourself stocking stuffers I've ever seen: personalized alphabet flashcards, using digital photos you've taken yourself. Apart from being warm, fun, and personal, these have the advantage of being able to featuring photos of people and pets your child already knows, giving them something familiar to attach to those mysterious letters! JHill gives detailed instructions here using picnik.com, a free photo editing software. I was able to whip up the above cat flashcard in about two minutes using Publisher and then SnagIt to grab the image and change it to a jpg, although I haven't tested it for printing yet.

So, putting together a whole set would take a little time, but if you can steal a few minutes here and there over the next two days and get them printed at Walgreens on the 24th, you could a very impressive last minute stocking stuffer! My only concern is that photo paper is a bit flimsy, so you might want to mount them on something a little sturdier, and of course that would take more time and more supplies. (JHill also points out that you could have fun putting together something for a bachelorette party or some other event.)

What: Personalized Alphabet Flashcards
Where: Mad in Crafts blog
How much (as of today's post): maximum $5.20 for photo printing at a drugstore, plus supplies for mounting if desired