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in Blog on December 7, 2019 by Sarah Powers

HOW TO: Make Notecards From Kids’ Artwork

I posted a brief mention of my annual kids’ artwork gift project on my personal Instagram this week and got a ton of questions on how to make notecards from the paintings and drawings your child makes throughout the year. So here’s how I do it!

1. Save Your Kids’ Artwork

This might sound obvious, but the whole project starts by knowing where to look for the kids’ best artwork over the past year. I use these accordion folder style portfolios from Lakeshore Learning to store artwork from each school year. Since I do the project at Christmastime, I’m combing through the fall season of this year plus anything created after January of last year.

2. Choose The Artwork To Make Into Notecards

I have found that the bold, bright pieces that fill an entire page work best for this project. I do sometimes choose pieces with white space, but they’re my second choice for sure. I also try to avoid writing or words in the pieces I choose – I like the look of art only.

Here are this year’s scanned pieces–aren’t they awesome?!

3. Scan Your Child’s Artwork (Or Photograph If Necessary)

I use my home printer/scanner to scan each piece and save to a folder on my computer (helps to name the files something like Reid-Butterfly or Violet-Flowers for when you’re making the cards later on). If your scanner allows you the choice, scan at a higher resolution (at least 300dpi) and make sure the files are saving as a .jpg or .png (as opposed to a .pdf).

Don’t be afraid to scan pieces that are slightly 3D due to collage work or other elements. My scanner did great with Violet’s spring branches this year, and those were actually little balls of tissue paper!

This guy had to be photographed because he was too big for the scanner.

For those pieces too big to fit into my scanner, I photograph them. If you’re going to do this, lay the piece flat on a surface that is well lit but not too bright (you want to avoid any contrast from bright light and shadow patterns, including shadows from the camera overhead). Hold your phone or camera directly over the piece, parallel to the surface it’s lying on, so you’re capturing it at the same angle. Crop or adjust rotation as necessary, and save the photo file to the same location as the scanned artwork.

4. Upload Artwork & Design Note Cards

I have used VistaPrint to make my notecards the last few years because it’s very affordable and I have a ton of design control. I start with the blank folded 5.5″ x 4″ cards.

Follow the instructions to personalize the cards by uploading your scanned artwork as the front of the card. You can rotate, crop, etc., within the design platform. I prefer for the artwork to fill the entire space, but you can choose what looks best.

As you move through the design options, you’ll want to delete the templated design elements that VistaPrint offers (frames, graphic elements, sample text) so that you’re working with a completely blank card on the inside.

For the back of the card, I put “Art by [Child’s Name]” in a small font on the bottom (if you start with one of their templates for the back that includes text, you can then shrink and move the text from there).

A Note For The Spatially Challenged!

This card style defaults to a horizontal orientation, which means it opens from the bottom up and the artwork is landscape-style. If you’re leaving the inside blank, you can easily use the same design for portrait-style artwork–you just have to mentally rotate the design to make sure it won’t come back upside down! (As you look at the card, the top of your art would be on the right side of the horizontal-looking card.)

This also means that the “Art by….” text on the back will need to move and rotate for portrait-oriented designs. This is advanced-level mental object rotation! When you look at the back of the card in the preview, the text should be on the right side, with the bottom of the letters closest to the card edge.

5. Add To Cart & Repeat

The first time you go through the process, everything will take longer. Good news! Once you finish the first card and add it to your cart, you can work from that first design to make the next and it’s much faster.

You’ll have choices as you move through the ordering process. I choose the free white envelopes and the standard matte card stock. Once the first card is in your cart, navigate to My Account > My Portfolio and then Edit a Copy of your first card. From there you can modify the first design and order a second.

I typically create 2-3 card designs per kid and order a set of 10 or 20. Then, when the sets arrive, I create “variety packs” from a mix of the designs to give as gifts. I tie them up in kitchen twine (with the corresponding number of envelopes), wrap, and gift to relatives and loved ones.

This is not at all sponsored by VistaPrint – I’ve chosen them because I’ve had good luck with their design platform and find them very affordable. We always disclose when we make any affiliate or advertising income from recommending a product or service, and in this case I get nothin’–just wanted to share my process! -S

Related

Filed Under: Blog

About Sarah Powers

Sarah Powers is co-host and Executive Producer of The Mom Hour podcast. She lives in Santa Barbara, CA with her husband and three kids, ages 9, 11, and 13.

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Comments

  1. Mike Sears says

    November 15, 2022 at 1:48 pm

    Thanks for the step by step, and the recommendation to use Vistaprint. Much appreciated.

    Reply

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Want more help and tips, plus reassurance that you’re doing a great job? (You are.) Search for The Mom Hour in your favorite podcast app and hit subscribe!

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Here’s your January reminder to save shoeboxes f Here’s your January reminder to save shoeboxes for February and March classroom projects! Valentine boxes and leprechaun traps are around the corner, and shoe boxes are so much harder to come by these days. Consider this a friendly head’s up from a mom who’s been there.

Want more help and tips, plus reassurance that you’re doing a great job? (You are.) Search for The Mom Hour in your favorite podcast app and hit subscribe!

#kindergarten #firstgrade #valentinebox #leprechauntrap #shoeboxcraft #roomparent #roommom #classroomvalentines #parenting #momlife #parentingtip #tipsformoms
Looking to implement daily "quiet time" for presch Looking to implement daily "quiet time" for preschoolers? Even for kids who want to GO GO GO all day long, having a built-in pause in the day can help develop independent play skills, encourage rest, and - of course - give caregivers a chance to reset as well.

Since this week's podcast episode is all about kids and alone time, we thought we'd revisit this resource on the blog by Sandy Hsu:

👉 How To Encourage Independence In Preschoolers With A “Quiet Time” Routine. 👈 

Sandy (@hopefulsmiles) give tips for implementing a successful quiet time routine AND rounds up products and activities that help make independent play more likely - even in young preschoolers. Check it out by clicking this image at the link in our bio!

#quiettime #parentingtoddlers #parentingpreschoolers #momoflittles #stayathomemom #stayathomeparent #activitiesforpreschoolers #activitiesfortoddlers #threeyearolds #fouryearolds #fiveyearolds #momlife #sahm #sahmlife
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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
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Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
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Shoutout to our NEW sponsors:
🍳 @caraway_home (10% off gorgeous, non-toxic cookware!)
💪 @futurefitapp (risk-free trial of 1-on-1 personal training!)
🔪 @prepdish (2 weeks free of healthy, prep-ahead meal plans!)
🎨 @minted (design marketplace with art, bags, gifts & more!)
📚 @chatbooks (deals on the easiest photo books ever!)
😍 @fabletics (2 stylish workout bottoms for $24!)

And welcome back . . . 
⭐️ @stitchfix ($20 off your 1st purchase!)
⭐️ @theessentialcalendar (10% off full-season calendars!)
⭐️ @hiyahealth (50% off 1st order!)
⭐️ @kiwico_inc (50% off your 1st mo!)
⭐️ @athleticgreens (1yr of Vit.D + 5 travel packs!)
⭐️ @vionicshoes (free shipping on cute, comfy shoes!)
Braces on, braces off. First phones, driver's ed, Braces on, braces off. First phones, driver's ed, high school registration. As we discussed in this week's episode, we still get all the feels when older kids meet cultural or developmental milestones - even if they cringe when we celebrate and share.

Would love to hear what you're celebrating about your older kids! Everything from learning a new skill to blossoming independence - leave us a comment! 

PS - Listen to the episode in your favorite podcast app, or by clicking this image at the link in our bio!

#parenting #parentingbigkids #parentingteens #parentingtweens #bigkidmilestone #teenagers #tweens #momoftweens #momofteens #momofteenagers
Turns out, when your last baby approaches double-d Turns out, when your last baby approaches double-digits, you find yourself staring a different milestone right in the (puffy) face:

It's been a decade since I was pregnant for the last time. 

This photo was taken the morning of my scheduled c-section, just a few hours before we'd meet our third and last babe. It's hard to remember, but I'm SURE I was ready to be done. Constant braxton-hicks, heartburn I hadn't experienced with the other two, food aversions that lasted the whole 39w5d, and physical exhaustion trying to keep up with a 2- and 4-year old: all part of an otherwise uncomplicated pregnancy, but still nobody's idea of easy.

I don't miss it - being pregnant. Grateful to have had the experience, absolutely. But I've never really pined for another go-around, at least not seriously. Still, a whole decade removed feels as significant a milestone to me as does the notion that that double-dimpled babe will blow out ten candles this weekend.

Time, like, whoa. 

-Sarah
If you're looking at school options for Fall 2023, If you're looking at school options for Fall 2023, you might be feeling overwhelmed by school tours, open houses, registration deadlines, or the all-too-common "red shirting question". That's why today we're revisiting an enormously detailed resource on our site: 

➡️ What Teachers & Educators Wish Parents Knew About Making School Decisions ⬅️

This piece is a collaboration between four educators on our team whose careers span preschool through middle school. They weigh in what what they wish parents knew about things like...

...choosing “the right school” 
...what it means to be “ready for kindergarten” 
...visiting a school for a tour or open house 
...learning to read 
...kids and friendships; playground politics
...making school decisions for a special needs student 
...becoming part of a classroom or school community 
 
Click this image at the link in our bio to get the guide. Bookmark it, send it to your co-parent or mom friends, and use it as a starting place as you wade through this tricky time of year! 

@lisaapayne4 @ashleydawn519 @thepaperdart @cafedumartin
C-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e good times, come on! Today’s e C-e-l-e-b-r-a-t-e good times, come on! Today’s episode is number 400! We can’t think of a better way to celebrate hitting a big podcast milestone than talking about how we honor birthdays and milestone celebrations in our families – especially as kids get older. Join Meagan and Sarah as we offer insight into making birthdays special for big kids, tweens and teens; how kids getting older hits us differently as moms, too; and how honoring big kid milestones gets tricker, but still gives us all the feels. 

Find the episode wherever you get your podcasts, or click this image at the link in our bio!

#themomhour #motherhood #mompodcast #podcastsformoms #parenting #parentingpodcast #podcastlove #trypod #podcastersofinstagram #shepodcasts
Y'all's reaction to our entire catalog now being a Y'all's reaction to our entire catalog now being available has been so fun! Listeners have told us that they're now able to re-listen to old favorites, or - amazing for us - share them directly with friends.

(If you missed it, previously, podcast apps showed only our most recent 300 episodes – less than half our catalog. The rest were only available on our website.)

Just for fun, we rounded up a few more of our team's favorite episodes from the early days of the podcast. Here are five MORE oldies that have stood the test of time, and that make for great entry-points to our early catalog.

You can listen from our website by clicking this image at the link in our bio – but EVEN BETTER, you can find the episodes in your favorite podcast app - just search by episode title, or keep on scrolling until you find them!

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