If you are anything like us, then you love to document every milestone, including the first day of school! We shared First Day of School photo ideas and now we are sharing how to create a first day of school frame. While it may look overwhelming or hard to create, you won’t believe how easy it is to do!
Get the kids involved
We have been using this frame since the first day of preschool, so in the beginning, we were creating them ourselves. We like to change it up a bit each year, but you can use the same frame every year. This has become a first day of school tradition, so our kids get excited when we take out the supplies — and they want to help! We are all for the kids helping us, but our type-A personalities get the best of us sometimes, and we want it to look perfect.
With kids, we have learned to let go a little bit and remind ourselves it is about the process as much as the product. With the help of , we get the best of both worlds! When they get glue all over the place, we don’t have to worry because we know that when it dries, there will be no colour left behind. The purple glue also helps the kids know exactly where to place the paper and letters, which is a huge help.
What you’ll need
You will just need a few things to create a frame that will last for years to come. We like to use a wooden frame so that it has no chance of getting destroyed over the course of the year. You could create it out of Bristol board, but you will likely need to recreate it from scratch year after year.
Materials:
- 12 x 12 Craft frame
- Craft letters – some options include foam letters, big wood letters, or small wood letters
- Elmer’s Purple Disappearing School glue
- Scrapbooking paper – there are so many choices out there so have fun!
- Pencil
- Ruler
A few things to note
A few things to note when getting what you need. We use this frame because you can pop out the back and the plastic. Then it is an open frame, which is exactly what you need. Whichever letters you choose to buy, make sure there are enough sets in the pack. Some packages come with only one set. When writing ‘first day of school’, you will need 2 s’s and 3 o’s, so one set won’t do the trick! When it comes to scrapbooking paper, go wild and get something fun! We have used everything from sports to superhero papers!
Get crafty
Remove the back of the frame and the plastic at the front of the frame. Place the frame down on the table. Using a pencil and the scrapbooking paper, measure the width of one panel of the frame and mark it on the paper. Use the ruler to draw a straight line down the paper. Then repeat 5 or 6 times to make sure you have enough strips to cover the entire frame.
Take out the and have your child put glue all over the frame. You can use a Popsicle stick if you want to spread out all of the glue to make sure no spot is left uncovered. The purple colour of the glue makes it easy to ensure that you don’t miss a spot. Once the glue is on, cover the frame with the paper. Next, decide what you want the frame to say. You can write ‘first day of school,’ ‘first day of 1st grade,’ ‘Jonah’s first day,’ ‘3rd grade, here I come!’ – Whatever you or your child want!
Take out the glue again and use it to glue down each of the letters across the frame. We helped our little ones by using the glue to write the letter on the frame so that they knew exactly where to place it. Don’t worry if the glue smudges. When it dries, it will look clean and beautiful!
Once it is dry, there is one last step. Have your child hold it up over their face and remind them to give you a BIG SMILE! Take out the camera and document their first day! Make sure to tag us, @savvysassymoms if you share it on social media – we would love to see your creations!
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How do you document your child’s first day of school?
This post was sponsored by Elmer’s Glue as part of the #SavvySassySchoolDays campaign. All opinions are our own.
