How to Make a School Picture Board (2024)

This post may contain affiliate links, please read my full disclosure : here

Aren’t these the cutest way to display your child’s school pictures all through the years! They grow up so fast that daily changes you don’t always see, and when you look at last year’s picture and it hits you like a ton of bricks! My baby is so grown up! It all happens in a blink of an eye so seeing these pictures on your wall is a fantastic way to be reminded of all the memories through the years.

DIY School Picture Board

The k-12 school picture boards are all the craze, but it’s really not that hard to make this memorable home decor. Home Depot has most of the supplies and then all you need is that one crafty friend to make you some letters on their Cricut or Silhouette and you have yourself your very own DIY school picture board.

I decided to make these for my niece and nephews as they are all starting or about to start school. I know those little pictures will be so cherished.

Before we get started: If you don’t want to make your own and would just rather buy it, here’s a few you can one from!

Things You’ll Need:

plank wood
wood stain ( I used the color Carrington)
mineral spirits (optional – if you want to lighten wood stain)
vinyl letter or stencil to paint letters
polyurethane (water-based)
paper towels
paintbrush
sandpaper
photo clips
screws
french cleat
drill

It worked out really well that I had 4 kids total to make these wooden boards for. I bought a piece of plank wood and had it cut evenly into widths of 36 inches. Which used the whole plank perfectly. (If you want all your pictures on one line below, I suggest making your boards closer to 40 inches.) Sand down the wood and make sure to wipe it clean of any shavings or debris.

Steps to Make School Picture Board

Once you’ve decided the size of your board, it’s now time to add the wood stain. I used paper towels but Home Depot has sponges to apply the wood stain, but the paper towels worked just fine.

There are a few things to consider when determining the size of the words:

Are you using just a first name, first and last, first and middle or any variation? How many letters determine how big your name can be.
Wallet pictures are usually 2.5 x 3.5 inches. You can choose to have your pictures hang on the board fully or put the clips towards the end of the board and have the wallet-size pictures hang off the bottom. I opted to let my wallet-size pictures end with the board.
If you wanted to add Pre-K or just start at Kindergarten.
Spacing between pictures. (I made my pictures fairly close because my board was shorter. I opted to put the pre-k and senior year picture at the top next to the name to really highlight how much they’ve grown. Also because I ran out of space.)

Like I said above, I used my Cricut to make everything out to see how it would look. I just made a large rectangle in the program to the size the wood plank (36 inches) and then wallet-size boxes to mimic the size of the school photo wallets. Then, added the fonts to the sizes I desired. When I went to cut everything out, I just deleted the shape and only cut the letters.

If you don’t have one, you can use graph paper or regular paper and draw it to get an idea of where you would like it. (You can also purchase the photo clips here and space them out on the board. I used actual wallet photos and line them on the board so I knew the correct spacing. Next, I used a tape measure to measure the approximate size of words.) Whatever way works best for you.

Next print out your letters. There are plenty of fonts online or through your Cricut or Silhouette that you can use. Just pick your favorite one! If you don’t have a vinyl cutting machine, you can hand paint your words on there. Just be sure to measure your board as stated above to know the size.

More Posts You Make Love!

DIY Wall Calendar and To-Do List
How to Make a Mr. Potato Head Cake
DIY Wooden Wedding Guest Board
DIY Push Pin Travel Map
Amazing Educational Froot Inspired Crafts and Games
Apple Nachos
Winnie the Pooh Donuts
Pizza Stuffed Crescent Rolls

Next, add your words. From what I read scouring the internet, you can add a polyurethane coat first and then add the words for a smooth finish. Most say our words should be fine if you are using a strong outdoor adhesive vinyl like the Oracal 650, but they only guarantee up to 6-7 years. We want this to last way longer. So I opted to seal the words under the polyurethane.

Make sure your polyurethane is water-based and not oil-based as it will eat away at the vinyl. Since you already sanded the wood it should be fairly smooth already. Make sure there are no bubbles in the words. This is the time to make sure they are all straight before adding polyurethane.

Once you have everything set, you can use a paintbrush and apply the polyurethane. (I did apply polyurethane after I attached the photo clips because it was easier to measure everything out for me. It didn’t affect the photo clips in any way and in fact, sealed them more to the board.- It’s up to use whether you add them before or after. Just make sure your measurements are correct!)

Final Steps:

Allow to dry. It does dry pretty quickly, even though the directions say longer. I would wait 20 minutes and then apply another coat and repeat. I applied about 3-4 coats to each. Once dry, line your photo clips and then attach them with drill and screws.

Last is to mount it to the wall. I used a french cleat. Easy to use and durable. Follow the instructions on the package.