I don’t want this blog to be a place for showing off my
crafty side. I want to share what I
create and hopefully inspire others to get out their glue gun as well. For that reason, I am writing my very first
tutorial. How crazy is that?
Plagiarizing is one of my talents. I an not an “idea” person, but I love to seek
out inspiration and carry it to fruition.
I’m sure I saw this idea somewhere in The Friend or Family Fun and
should give credit where it’s due, but it was before Pinterest, so who knows where
it originated!
Before a recent (and rare) trip to visit relatives out west,
I wanted my kids to feel more comfortable around my cousins, aunts, uncles,
grandparents, etc. So I made a deck of
cards with photos of them (Thanks, Facebook) and we played games and I told my
kids interesting facts about them. Apparently,
it worked, because while in Utah, Emily Jr. met my cousin Eric and said “is he
the one that break-dances?” And we got a
demonstration! When she met my aunt
Lori, she said “is she the one that stacks rocks?” Why, yes, she is! It helps that Emily has a great memory.
Well, my grandmother spied my cards and wished aloud for a
deck of her own as her great-grandchildren now number around 55. I “borrowed” a lot of pics from Facebook and
even solicited some updated ones from my cousins. Here are the steps involved if you want to
make your own deck…
1] attain photos by whatever means necessary and save to
your hard drive in a folder created just for this purpose (mine is called Grandma
G)
2] using your favorite photo editing software (mine being
Picasa), crop them and add text with their name (and relation)
3] from Windows Explorer (or My Computer), open one of the
photos by right-clicking on it and selecting “open with windows picture and fax
viewer”
4] click on the print icon and the Photo Printing Wizard
should pop up. click on Next
5] click on “Select All” so all of your pics will
print. Click on Next twice
6] scroll down to the bottom and select “Wallet Prints”. This will print 9 photos per page.
7] put some cardstock in your printer (or photo paper). Total pics ÷ 9 = # sheets. (No, I don’t think you’re stupid, but I just
want to cover everything)
8] Click next and voila – here they come!
9] I created a table in Microsoft Publisher and put “My
Great Grandkids” in each cell to print
on the back of the cards. This is unnecessary,
but a nice touch. For my own deck, the back
says “Who Am I?” top & bottom margin: .5", side margins: .4"
10] I did spray them with an acrylic sealer to keep the ink
from the backs of the cards from rubbing onto their cute faces. It smells awful, but who wants their
relatives to have black noses!? If you use photo paper, you don't need this step.
11] cut apart with a paper cutter along the edges of the
pictures. I also used a corner rounder.
12] whip up a cute little fabric pouch to put them in so
grandma can carry them everywhere she goes and brag about her adorable posterity.
Now wouldn’t that make a great Christmas gift? I think so.
By the way, my Grandma called me today and gushed nonstop
about how much she loved them. It was
the highlight of my day.
There! My first
tutorial.
