How to Make a Back to School Photo Project
It’s that time of year again, the days are getting shorter and the kiddos are heading back to school. We are showing you how to make a back to school photo project that will preserve those precious moments for years to come!
Many of you already know Karen Horvath of MG Creations by Karen. She is a fabulous resin artist and amazing teacher. Karen is always eager and willing to teach us about new projects. She came up with this fabulous idea for her own family and is showing us how to make a back to school photo project.
This is a great way to protect and display all of the first day of school pictures we have of your kids. Whether they’re saved on your phone, hanging out in a shoe box, or yet to be taken; this is a great way to make the most of those first day smiles!
How to Make a Back to School Photo Project
The month of August always begins the flood of back to school pics on our social media feeds. And there is good reason for that! As any parent can tell you, that first day each year feels like a big milestone. We can’t help but think back to the very first day that our kids went to school.
It is a bittersweet day full of so many mixed emotions. We are so excited to see how much fun they will have and how much they will learn and grow. We are proud that they are ready to take part in this important right of passage. But we are also terrified. For some of us it is the first time we watch them walk into the world without us. It’s a big step for both parent and child.
That day and each year after it, we take a picture of the first day and compare it to last year’s photo. We see how much they’ve grown and changed and love the person they’ve become. But we also miss the version of themselves they were last year. That’s why we keep each picture. To remind ourselves of every amazing version of our child that we have loved. And to see just how much they change from year to year.
Displaying your back to school photo project
This project can be displayed in so many ways. You are sure to find one that will work well with your decor. We love what Karen did with the photos of her daughter! They have a life sized ruler hanging on the wall where they have tracked her daughter’s height through the years.
Continually, Karen adds new pictures grouped around where her daughter’s height mark is for that time. What a great way to literally chart her growth! And it all looks absolutely adorable on display.
If you don’t have the life sized ruler there are other ways to display your photos. You could mount them to a canvas and leave room to add your pics from future years. Another cute idea would be to attach them to an enlarged ruler (not wall sized but large enough to hold 12 pictures).
You could put each first day of school photo at its corresponding number on the ruler with kindergarten at the very edge of beginning side and graduation at the other. You could also hang up a piece of jute string or twine and use clothes pins to hang the photos to it.
These are just a couple of display ideas, we are sure you will come up with some great ones too!
Watch the Video Tutorial Here!
How to Make a Back to School Photo Project
Materials
- 3x3 canvas panels from Michaels
- Rick's Mix Heavy Black
- Counter Culture DIY Quick Coat
- Glossy mod podge or choice of sealer liquid or spray
- Foam brush
- Protective gloves
- Photos
Instructions
- Start by painting the canvas with the Rick's Mix and then let it dry for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Cut your pictures to fit the canvas.
- Use Quick Coat as an adhesive to glue the photos to the canvas. Use a gloved finger to spread it.
- Using your gloved finger again spread the Quick Coat to seal the picture.
- Add a layer of glossy mod podge or your choice of liquid or spray sealer.
The Wrap Up!
Back to school is a fun time full of lots of emotions. Excitement, nervousness, and hope. It is a time of new beginnings and a chance for us to see how much our children grow from year to year. Our kids change before our eyes and it is so wonderful to be able to document those changes and look back on them. This photo project is the perfect way to do that!
If you enjoyed learning from Karen you can often find her doing tutorials in our Counter Culture DIY Artist Support page on Facebook. You can check out all of her amazing work by following her on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and her Etsy shop!
You can find more awesome video tutorials like this one on our YouTube channel!
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If you want more inspiration and information we have a Facebook group for that. Join us in Counter Culture DIY Artist Support where we, and other artists, offer ideas, answer questions, and support each other!
Do you have an art project using any of our products that you want to share? Send it to us at support@counterculturediy.com, and we can feature them here!