The birth of a baby is a very special event. It is a time to share joy with friends and family. I know with the birth of my two children, I could not wait to show them off and announce their births. Everyone is interested in seeing who the baby looks like and hear its length, weight, and hair color.
With both of my children, I made my own birth announcements. Buying announcements can be very expensive as well as impersonal. You often have to add your own photo in the announcements, which adds to the cost.
Making your own birth announcement is very easy. I am particularly proud of the announcement that I made for my first-born. After receiving a greeting card with a cute verse, an idea struck me. I changed the verse around a little and added my own photos.
For this announcement, you will need a close-up picture of your baby’s face to highlight the eyes, another photo highlighting the nose, a picture of the toes, and a picture of the fingers. I think that close up photos of just the hands or just the feet work best. If you cannot get these, you want to crop a photo that you have to just show the fingers or toes.
The hardest part of this project was locating the proper paper. I found paper at a craft store that is available in most locations, Hobby Lobby. The paper was a marbleized type of parchment. It needs to measure at least 12 by 18. Later, you will cut the paper in half lengthwise to create two sheets measuring 6 by 18. Therefore, each sheet will create two announcements. You will also need to purchase a white sheet of paper the same size to use as copying master.
At the time, I did not have a scanner to scan in my photos. I created the work on white paper and took it to an office supply store for copying. On a word processor you will need to type the following lines to the poem separately. You will need two copies of each line.Ten tiny fingers
Ten tiny toes
Two bright eyes
And one cute little nose!
Next using the white paper, draw a fine line with a pencil to divide the paper in half lengthwise. Next use a pencil to create five blocks within each half. The blocks will be 3.6 inches wide and 6 inches tall. In the first block glue or tape the first line verse and add a picture of your baby’s fingers. The second line goes in the second box along with a picture of your baby’s toes. The line about the eyes goes in the third box with a picture of your baby’s eyes.
The fourth box will have the last line and a picture of your baby’s nose. In the last block type up an announcement with your baby’s date of birth, time of birth, length, weight, brother’s, sister’s, and parents. On the back of the first block (which will be the cover when folded), attach a full body picture of your baby and type up your baby’s full name. I also added a tiny pink bow to the top of this page after the announcement copying, cutting, and folding was complete.
Do the same with the other half of the white paper. Take the original and the parchment paper to a copy store and run copies. When the copies have been made, use a paper cutter to cut the copies in half lengthwise. Then fold the paper back and forth between the blocks. The fold will be that of an accordion. You will end-up with the full-length picture and baby’s name on front. You can then add any embellishments to the front that you wish.
Buy envelopes, stuff, seal, and address. You have now made adorable homemade birth announcements for your baby!
