The Genealogy Journal You Should Try Today: Organize and Share 12 Generations of Your Tree
*This post may have affiliate links, which means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). All opinions remain my own. Financial compensation was not received for this post. A sample product was gifted from House Elves Anonymous. All opinions are my own.
I’ve been thinking lately about how so many genealogy projects and gifts are now online-based, from DNA tests to database subscriptions to simply maintaining our family tree software.
There aren’t as many options for print genealogy products that you let you work with a lot of ancestors.
So, imagine my excitement when I saw that House Elves Anonymous had created the Our Family Tree: A 12 Generation Genealogy Notebook!
I was already a fan of House Elves Anonymous’ products so when this book came out, I jumped at my chance to get a copy.
Not only do they sell beautiful family tree templates, pedigree charts, and other products created with vintage art, their business name comes from a Harry Potter book. What’s not to love?
About the Our Family Tree notebook
The Our Family Tree notebook is US letter size – 8.5 x 11 inches. It holds 12 generations of people, which comes out to 4095 ancestors!
In the front, there’s a numbered chart, which makes it much easier to keep track of where on the tree you are and match the place to the correct page to fill out. Along with this, there are instructions on how to follow the chart and complete the book.
House Elves Anonymous also made sure that the notebook is inclusive to the LGBTQ and gender-neutral communities. Instead of labeling the 2nd generation as “Mother” and “Father”, these pages are labeled “Parent”.
The notebook is beautifully laid out, with simple ornamentation on each page that doesn’t distract from the information you record.
For the first few generations, each person gets their own page. For generations 6-8, the layouts allow from two to eight people per page.
For the final 9th through 12th generations, the pages are in a pedigree chart style.
Through the first 10 generations of your tree, there are fields for the person’s name, where they were born, married, and died, and any notes you’d like to include. There is space to note more than one marriage.
For the last two generations, there is space for names and when they lived.
There are also five pages at the end for any extra notes you’d like to include.
What I loved about the Our Family Tree notebook
I really like the notebook for its simplicity and clean layout. You can fill out as much of the notes section as you’d like, and the rest of the page is quick to complete.
Sometimes genealogy projects can feel overwhelming from the sheer number of people in our tree, but this was a fun project that you can take as much time as you need on.
I loved that for each generation, there are pages where you can note the historic events they experienced. Such a fun reminder to learn about what they went through and put their day-to-day lives into more context!
The numbered chart was very helpful for keeping everyone straight when filling out the generations, especially the further along in the book you get.
I also loved that working on the notebook was incredibly valuable for reviewing what I already knew about each ancestor.
I came up with so many more to-do items while filling this out. I wasn’t always great at noting tasks to look into in the past, but this project helped me spot the information gaps.
It also made me realize how much more I know about the men in my family tree than the women, which I need to fix.
This notebook is not only a great project for yourself but would also make a lovely gift for a family member or other loved one.
Some tips on filling out the notebook
I’m a secret office supply junkie/hoarder. I have collections of Sharpies, Sakura Microns, and everything else. Even calligraphy pointed pens!
For this project, I knew I wanted to use my current favorite pen, Paper Mate Flair felt tips. They come in a lot of fun shades, and I wanted to use a variety of colors to differentiate between people and events.
But I’m very particular about choosing pens that won’t bleed through paper.
I mean, how many of us have tried to read old documents where the ink has bled through to the other side?
I used the last page of the notebook to test out a variety of Paper Mate Flair colors to see how the paper handled them. (Bullet journalers feel me on this!)
I also tested my second favorite pen, the Pilot G-2 fine point.
I was happy to see that none of the Flairs ghosted through the paper and the Pilot G-2 had only very faint bleeding through to the other page.
It's good quality paper, but if you're picky like me, do a pen test.
Once my pens were chosen, I filled out the events with the traditional genealogy format of day-month-year for each event, since that's a habit now.
I used the notes sections as a timeline of events for each person.
I might go back and color in the decorative leaves on the pages to add even more color (I’m a more is more type of person).
Where you can get a copy
You can pick up your own copy in the House Elves Anonymous shop. There are paperback and hardcover versions.
There are also digital versions for 12 generation and 8 generation notebooks for people who prefer that.
Image courtesy of House Elves Anonymous
Final thoughts
If you’re looking for a fun genealogy project or an heirloom gift, I recommend picking up a copy of the Our Family Tree notebook!