Recently, Picture This Organized published a post about Mother’s Day celebrations and how they would look different in 2020. Well, June is the month to pay tribute to our fathers, and we are in the same predicament. How do we make Father’s Day special this year? Despite social distancing requirements, here are several ideas from having backyard barbeques to getting involved in community activities.
Dad’s don’t always enjoy the spotlight but take some time to let them know that their efforts to support and provide for their families are forever appreciated.
Things Dad might enjoy
- a small gathering to show off his grilling skills
- a family golf outing
- a surprise delivery from the local whiskey distillery, including monogrammed whiskey glasses
- a fundraiser in his name for a favorite community event that has been impacted by COVID-19
- a travel gift card for a bucket list destination at a future date of his choice
Each one of these ideas is “pandemic friendly.” You don’t have to go shopping for the perfect gift for Dad. Ultimately, it’s all about spending meaningful time together. Whatever you plan, save images to preserve this event and enjoy them over and over again.
Preserving moments from Dad’s past with a slideshow
Gather Dad’s childhood pictures and videos from family members and have them converted into digital form. See these tips for guidelines on scanning prints and digitizing home movies. Your collection of memories over the years makes a meaningful tribute. Siblings will have fun pulling all the media and memorabilia together. I know mine did.
Step 1: Go over the things you and your father enjoyed doing together like family trips, learning to ride a bike and swim, camping, or telling stories. Remember the advice Dad gave, the things he taught, and fun times you all shared.
Step 2: Sort the pictures, notes, film, and other memorabilia by activity to create themes. Each vacation, holiday, and unique memory creates a timeline for the slideshow. Select songs from Dad’s childhood or use family favorites to set your slideshow to music.
Step 3: Organize your themed collection of photos and videos into folders that are sorted in the sequence you want to display them.
Step 4: Now, you are ready to create a video! If you’re a Mac user, iMovie is a good tool for this. If you’re a PC user, Animoto is an easy app to use. See our memorial tribute post for suggestions on the many programs you can use.
Step 5: Share your video with family and friends. One of our favorite sites for online sharing is Vimeo.
Storing memories for the future
Once your images, film, music clips, and more, are scanned and transferred to a digital form, including your video, they can be securely stored and found for future events, such as milestone birthdays, anniversaries, and memorials. You will thank yourself for doing this later!
My personal experience is that the entire family is grateful for the love and effort it takes to put these extraordinary gifts together, not just Dad. You’ll see reactions from smiles to tears. And to give you a taste of a finished product, enjoy this slideshow I created for my husband a few years ago!
Getting photo management help
If you don’t know how to put your slideshow together or don’t have time to sort and organize photos, videos, and other media, Picture This Organized is there for you. Reach out anytime to schedule a phone or video call, and let us guide you through the project and assemble it for you. I’ll ask a few questions about your goals to highlight your amazing Dad’s stories and personality.
Father’s Day will be more exciting than ever as we discover new ways to celebrate our relationships and history together in 2020. Bring it on!