Back-to-School Photo Scrapbooking and Faith-Booking

Whether your child started school, or preschool this year, whether you homeschool or not, documenting a first day of school can be a memory-making craft for kids and parents alike. You can arrange your child's pictures onto large templates as I do, for a variety of fun back-to-school presentations available to print out.

Yellow School Bus Scrapbook Page

A large yellow, school bus template can be printed out online from "Play 2 Learn Printables" at http://www.play2learnprintables.com/schoolbuscolouroutline.pdf and your children's photos can be arranged, and placed along the side of the bus for windows. Your picture (or child's school bus driver) could be placed in the driver's seat window.

Yellow School Bus Photo Book

To make a photo album book in this shape simply print several school bus pages, in yellow (as above) or black outlined shape at http://www.play2learnprintables.com/schoolbusblackandwhiteoutline.pdf . Mount and glue the covers onto cardboard, and bind decorated scrapbook pages together. To bind into book form, hole-punch and tie with ribbons, or staple on one side to create a back-to-school yellow-bus photo album.

Old School House Scrapbook Page

ScrapItDigi.blogspot.com shows a wonderful example of an old fashioned red school house, utilizing digital scrapbook software templates at http://scrapitdigi.blogspot.com/2010/01/school.html . You can use small-print fabrics or paper scraps, and glue your child's pictures as shown, within the school house.

Sports-Theme Scrapbook Page

Sports-theme scrapbook pages can be created to highlight your child's school or team-sports photos. Sports such as basketball, soccer or baseball can feature pictures of the sports balls, gloves, bat, or basketball hoop, with hand-written notes inside, around your child's photo.

Border your sports scrapbook pages with star stickers, signifying a star-hitter, kicker, etc. See the baseball scrapbook page example from ScrapBooksEtc.com, for picture placement ideas at http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/beginner-scrapbooking/fast-scrapbook-page-inspiration/?page=21 .

Faith-Booking Pages

Scripture borders are easy to type, and print straight from your computer, using decorative word-document theme fonts, in several different type styles. There are fun "Curlz" lettering styles, carefree printed "Bradley Hand," "Lucida Handwriting" fonts-styles, and many more to choose from.

Experiment to find the font-styles you like best, and then create your own border paper, printing Bible verses across the top, and bottom of the page. Or cluster scripture and leaves beneath pictures, as in the template example from ScrapBooksEtc.com shown here http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/printables/sketches/12x12/12x12-scrapbook-page-sketches-151-180/?page=2

Printing onto pastel-colored parchment papers, creates heavenly background pages on which to add photos and scripture. Pastel papers also make beautiful faith-booking pages for Baptism, First Communion, Confirmation, and other faith-affirming event photos.

Use pre-printed decorative border sheets and papers whenever possible, such as alphabet-border papers, arranging pictures according to the templates chosen. Use border stickers, stencils, and rubber stamps to create quick artistic touches, while spotlighting your child's first-day-of-school pictures.