Collage Prints out of Kids' Artwork

Twinboy and Twingirl came home at the end of the school year with all their artwork. Adorable? Yes. But also huge and unwieldy. They each brought home over a dozen pieces that were at least 14 by 14. We don't exactly have a lot of bare wallspace, and even the fridge couldn't handle more than two of those pieces at a time. I tried to roll them up and put them in a tube, but they were too bulky even for that. How was I going to save their beautiful work?

They sat in one of those huge plastic tubs for a few weeks until I came up with this idea.

First, I decided that from here on out I was going to take a digital image of each piece of art as it came home, and create a special folder for each kid on my computer where I would store the photos. I found something we had made out of posterboard, flipped it over to the empty side, and put it on the floor. Then I had the kids lay out each piece one at a time against the white background while I stood above, snapping away.

But I wanted to do more than just keep the photos on my computer. So I decided to make and print a collage that I could hang in the kids' playroom.

I used Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 to make my collage. If you have this, you can follow this process:

1. Click on "Create" on the right hand side, then click "photo collage." I chose the 12 x 12 size so I could enlarge it and still be able to have a somewhat standard size for printing.
2, The basic template gives you eight photos. I wanted nine, but I quickly figured out that the preset photo slots included a white border, while ones you added manually did not. To keep everything the same, I wound up deleting all the preset slots (hover the cursor on top of the photo slot and his the DELETE button).
3. I import my photos by clicking "File" and then "Open." Then I navigated to the photo I wanted and clicked it. The photos I importedshowed up in the project bin at the bottom of the screen.
4. Once my photos were in the project bin, I clicked back on the empty background so it appeared on the main screen. Then I simply "dragged and dropped" my photos onto the background. One caveat: the photos drop in at full size, so I needed to shrink them to the approximate size I wanted using the little boxes on the corners. Once a photo was at the right size, I clicked on the green check box to save it.

5. Once I had all nine photos on the background, I spend some time rearranging, resizing, bringing forward, bringing backward, and tilting the photos until they were organized the way I wanted them. Then I saved it as a JPEG file.

I wanted this puppy blown up to 24 x 24 (in retrospect, I wish I had gone a little bigger) and I found PrintKeg, an online print shop that was the least expensive option I found that would print such an unusual size. It said "poster prints," and I was a little afraid I would get a super thin papery print, but it was not that at all.  It was regular, thick photo paper.

Meanwhile, I got two pieces of 24 x 24 inch plywood, a quarter inch thick. I could have used poster board, but I couldn't easily find the size I needed. I got the plywood from D & D plywood online but you can also get plywood at places like Home Depot.

The poster prints came in a tube, so I had to flatten them out somewhat before adhering them to the wood. I unrolled them and put them good side to good side, then placed the boards and some heavy books on top for a day or two.

Meanwhile, I sanded the edges of the plywood and then painted the edges with green poster paint.

When I was ready to attach the prints to the boards, I used binder clips to place the prints in the exact place I wanted them. They were slightly bigger than the plywood. I used eight clips - one in each corner and one on the middle of each side.

Once the print was positioned where I wanted it, I removed the three clips along the left side and pulled the print to I held it out of the way with one hand while I used the other hand to apply an even layer of Mod Podge to the exposed wood with a foam brush. Once the Mod Podge was applied, I started at the center of the print and slowly smoothed the print down against the board. I moved my hand up and down to push out any air bubbles, and smoothed the print down from the center to the left side. Then I put the clips back on the left side and repeated the process on the right side.

I tried to smooth out any air bubbles I could, then I put the clips back on to hold everything in place, and let the Mod Podge dry for about a half an hour.

Once the Mod Podge was dry, I flipped the board over on a cutting mat and used a rotary cutter to cut the two edges where the print was slightly bigger than the board.

Then I applied a layer of Mod Podge to the top of the print.  I made sure to keep my brush strokes going in only one direction (up and down OR left to right).

I put about three coats of Mod Podge on top in all. I also made sure to coat the sides. I alternated brush strokes for each coat to give it a canvas-type look. I made sure to let each coat dry completely in between.

I used velco picture hangers to attach the boards to the wall in the kids' playroom when I was done.

Crafts for Kids: Cement Garden Stones

This is one of my kids' favorite crafts.  It's messy, they get to dump stuff in a big bucket, and they can be as creative as they want to be.

Don't be intimidated by the cement.  It's super easy.

You can buy a pre-packaged kit at AC Moore or Michael's, but personally, I like to just buy the cement (also from AC Moore or Michael's) and then use whatever we have lying around for decoration. The first time we did this I bought some plastic hexagon-shaped molds and letter stamps just for this purpose.  The molds also come in handy for stuff like play doh and moon sand (you know, keeping the mess contained) and the letter stamps can be used for play doh and clay creations, so you really can't go wrong.

I got a little bag of river rocks, plus Cavegirl picked out two bags of colored stones (she calls them "gems,") Plus a couple little rocks that had words like "Love" and "Trust" printed on them.

Caveboy mixing it up

Use a bucket to mix the concrete.  Be careful dumping the dry mix into the bucket because it tends to "cloud". Use exactly the amount of water it calls for.  It says to add more if needed, but I never need to.  If anything, the cement is a little TOO wet, but I usually don't notice that until it's in the mold. I mix and pour one at a time.  I only have one set of letters, so it works out better for that reason, too.



I put the mold on an old cookie sheet that we use just for crafts. Smooth it out with a wooden spoon, then lift the cookie sheet a little and kind of bang it down on the table a couple times.  This will help spread and smooth out the concrete.  If you get water pooling on top, use a paper towel to soak it up and re-bang. If it's too wet, it won't hold a handprint or the letters.

Cavegirl, creating.

If you want a handprint, do that first.  It might not turn out, and then you might have to smooth the cement over and start again. Depending on the age of your kid and the size of your mold, you might only be able to fit in one hand. Make sure it's in deep enough...impressions tend to shrink a little as they dry. If it's barely pressed in, you might not be able to see it at all once the cement has hardened.


Letters next. Arrange and space them the way you want before pressing any in.  Leave them in for a little while, so the impression sets.  If you pull the letter out and a pool of water forms at the bottom, put it back in for a little while.

Let the kids put in their stones, shells, sticks, whatever treasures and trinkets they want. Again, I suggest they "arrange" them all the way they want them, THEN push them all into the cement once they have them the way they want them. It's really tough to pick something out and smooth the cement over without having it look like you picked something out and tried to smooth the cement over. Push the stones and whatnot in so that they are about level with the cement. As the cement dries, they will push up a little, so you want them in deep enough that they won't be hanging out once the stone has hardened.

This one is a tad wet.  The green things at the top are the letter stamps. Don't pull them out until you don't see any water shining on the surface. Otherwise, the cement is too wet to hold the shape of the letters.

I let these puppies dry for at least a day. They will be hard to the touch in a few hours, but just to be safe......Then gently turn it over and pull the mold away.  It will want to stay in...you have to kind of break the suction.  Then stand back and marvel at your beautiful creations, and then find a spot in your garden or flowerbed where you can see these lovelies every day.

Sweet!