Personalized Coloring Books {coloring pictures}

My Austin BFF’s son turned one in August, and I thought it would be fun to put together some personalized coloring books just for him. They’re coming to visit us in FL soon! (Remember the beach inspired baby shower last summer.) This is a slightly selfish gift because I don’t want the little one to forget us. This way at least he can scribble all over our faces!

Here’s what you need:

• picasa picture editing program (it’s free)
• digital pictures
• cardstock
• printer
• thread, needle, thimble (a hotel sewing kit works perfectly)
• glue
• scissors
• binder clips

There are lots of online sites that say they turn pictures into coloring sheets. If you have photo shop, here is a great tutorial for making coloring pages.’ I tried a few of them without much luck, and deicded to stick with Picasa. It’s a free photo editing program by google (download for free here). Some pictures took more editing them others, and I made all of my coloring pages vertical. Here are a few tips to try in picasa if your not happy wit hyoru coloring page.

• up the highlights and the fill light
• up the shadows
• put picture in black and white before you use the pencil sketch feature
• try lots of different pictures, less detailed pictures work better

Picasa makes printing your pictures super easy. I just printed the pictures in black and white onto card stock. Figuring out how to put the card stock in your printer to print on both sides is trickier. I put a pencil arrow in the upper right hand corner to figure that out. I used materials I already had on hand to bind my coloring book. My book is only 8 pages including the front and back covers. I made the cover in a word document. The title is an Andy special. It’s an inside joke between him and Natalia’s husband, Ryan. Anywho… First, bend each page about a quarter of an inch…

Use a pencil to mark where the holes will be…

Then, I used a needle and thick towel (a thimble would work wonders) to make the holes. Hotel sewing kits always come in handy (and save time)! After the holes are punched, sew your pages together.

I used Elmer’s glue to glue the pages together and secure the bind. I let it dry over night with the binder clips to secure the bind.

The next morning, I used a piece of card stock to cover the sewn/glued binding. Use the binder clips to secure the strip of card stock. And there you have it, a bound personalized coloring book!

I love that the coloring book stays open flat on the table. Here are a few more pages…

Have you ever turned a picture into a pencil sketch? Does the title, Color me Goodd, make any sense to you? Andy swears other people will get it. Do you save hotel sewing kits like me? I love not having to thread a needle. Do you love to color yourself? I do. I’m not a huge crayon fan though. I prefer colored pencils and markers and I love black ball point pens. If your my IRL friend and you have a kiddo, expect a personalized coloring book in your future!