Through the years: Creating personalized kids art

It seems that everything is personalized these days. Monogrammed bags, monogrammed boards, personalized gift bags, monograms seem to be all around us, letters are everywhere!

The most recent personalized items I have seen floating around Pinterest are "Kids Art Through the Years."

Specifically this:

(Cannot find original source)

and this:

Original source

I had a friend contact me and asked how she can create the above "Conversations with Tristian" image and asked for a tutorial. I thought I could do a tutorial that could be quick and easy created in Microsoft Word, but no luck. It was getting too tricky. Too many steps. Sorry!

The easiest way to create the above images are in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. (see another photo editing tutorial here). Yes, Photoshop or Photoshop Elements require training, but I know you can do it! This tutorial looks like many steps, but I'm really detailed, it's really only 3-4 steps.

Here is a link to Photoshop Elements a $68 version via Amazon.com. This tutorial will work with Photoshop Elements in the Expert mode. Don't worry, you will be an expert soon. 

Now let's create some Kids Art "Through the years."

Step 1
Select the photo you want. Open in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements.

Step 2
Select the Type tool. Choose the font you want. Choose font size. Choose color. Type words.

Step 3
Start typing your kiddos likes, dislikes, food they eat, TV shows they watch, songs they sing.
I would suggest creating a new layer for each topic. This way you can move the text around where you want it. (to move the text select the black arrow tool)

Suggestions:
- Don't put text on a diagonal
- Use different sizes
- Use a guide and line up text.
- Don't add hearts or clip art. Please! Less is more.

Now that you are done, save your artwork as a jpg and upload to Snapfish or Shutterfly. If you decide to do this through the years, you can make a book for them for graduation.  What a sweet gift!

Another idea using the same technique as above: Create these for your child's first day of school photos.

 Style the text so you can change it easily throughout the years.

What suggestions do you have for Kids Art: through the years?  What have you created in Photoshop lately with your photos?