June 24th, 2008
I like finding creative memorable ways to celebrate special occasions. I think people appreciate the thought and effort and often remember the celebration long after the date’s done. I’ve decided to share some of what I’ve done over the years in hopes that it will inspire others to look for unique and creative ways to celebrate with their friends and family.
These ideas can be applied to birthdays or any other milestone occasions like graduations, weddings or anniversaries. They are fairly simple to do (if you’re just a little bit tech savvy!) and often cost nothing but your time and creative juices!
So here’s the first:
Creative Captioning
Tools: PowerPoint or other Presentation type software, Laptop, Projector
Time: 1 - 2 hours
Steps:
1) Send an email out to the person’s friends and family asking them to share a special wish for the person, a special memory or what they admire about the person. Give them a deadline that is sooner than later.
2) While you’re waiting for the emails, you can create a template for your presentation. Yes, you can use the design templates that come pre-built but why be boring when you can be unique? Here’s how I do mine.
- I draw a large rectangle that covers the entire slide and then choose a color. I make sure that each slide has a different color (You can stick to about 5 colors and then repeat the pattern)
- Then using the word art tools I draw a giant white speech bubble that covers most of the slide.
- I do this for each slide making sure to change the position of the speech bubble slightly so it creates interest. If you have time you could actually put photos of people to go with their comments.
3) Copy the wishes from the email into your slides. Use a nice clean font (not Times New Roman or Arial!!). I personally like one called Rockwell but there are dozens out there. You can use different fonts but I prefer to use 1 or 2 at the most.
4) Do a quick test run to make sure everything works OK. You can add music if you like but I’ve had some issues with this because if you’re projecting in a large room you’ll need speakers. I prefer to just have some music in the background.
5) Your slideshow is ready to present! Gather everyone around, do a little intro and then project your slideshow onto a blank wall. Watch the reactions!
I’ve done this several times and it’s been an absolute hit! Just be ready with a copy on CD so that the person can take it home with them. Trust me, this is something they’ll treasure for a long time!
Don’t forget to print out a certificate and have everyone sign it 
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