Free 'What a Difference a Day Makes' Template

Do you remember last year where I made the Special Date Art on my $0 Budget? I used some of my favorite scrapbook paper and cut out the numbers on my Cricut. I love the end result but it took too long and was too tedious to make it as gifts for Christmas this year.

So, since I am becoming a wiz with Publisher, I thought I would try my hand at designing one with Publisher. It was very easy and I just love the end result. Grand total to print it was $0.89 and $8.00 to frame. I had amazing Christmas gifts for under $10.

I created two designs, one for a family of 4 plus a wedding date and the other for a family of 5 plus a wedding date.

Aren't they great!?

NOTE: I had intended this post to only be a tutorial sharing with your how you can make your own. But I really want to share with you as much as possible and I know most people aren't as experiences with Publisher as I am....so... I have tried to share my sample files on Google Documents. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the Download template links and instructions.  


Here is how I created my own from scratch (and how you will be able to edit the template you downloaded):

Open a new 8x10 file

To set a 0.5 inch margin around the image, select the 'page design' tab, 'Margins' and then set your margins to 'Moderate' .

Then determine how many rows of numbers you need. For example, if there are 4 people in your family (i.e. 2 parents, 2 kids) plus you want your wedding date, you will need 5 rows. To do this, I select on the 'Page Design' tab, 'Guides' and then 'Grid and Baseline'.

I enter 2 columns (so the middle of the page is clearly identified) and then 5 rows (for a family of 4 with a wedding date). If you are a family of 5 plus wedding date, you will need 6 rows. I keep the spacing between the rows at 0.

The next step is to insert a 'Text box'.

I draw the text box to be the full width of the page (between the two margin lines) and almost the full size of the row. This allows me to have space underneath for the names.

Insert the numbers and find a font you like.

The fonts I used are:
'Baskerville Old Face' for the numbers
'Nymphette' for the scrolls on either side of the name
'Adobe Arabic' for the names.

Insert another text box for the name.

Once you get the font and approximate size you like, you can play around with the spacing of the characters. This allows you to stretch the characters so they are the full width of the box (so all the numbers line up on either side along the margin).

Open the More Spacing box and the select Show Tool Bar (bottom left corner)

With this window you can make the letters/numbers further apart, wider etc. Play around and see what you like.

Once you are happy with the first row, I copy and pasted the text 4 more times. This will ensure you have the same font, spacing etc. Once you insert all the new numbers and text, you might need to play around with the spacing some more.

I added a heart in the middle of the wedding date just to add some color.

If you want, you can change the background by inserting a digital scrapbook page and 'send to back'.

You can see how many boxes I used to design this.

Once you are happy with it, save the Publisher file and then save it as a JPEG image. To do this, select File, Save As.

Change the Save as type, to JPEG

Then be sure to change the Resolution to High Quality Printing so that you will be able to deevelop this as a large image.

Save it someplace you can easily find. Either print the image at home if you have a good printer or send it to your favorite photo developer (my personal favorite is Costco).

I have made these for a few friends and family members and framed them in a floating frame. I love how they look and they are so much easier to create than the one I did a while ago where I cut out each number.

Wouldn't this make a great Valentines gift for your hubby?

DOWNLOADABLE Template:

Here is the link to the family of 4 plus wedding date and here is the link for family of 5 plus wedding date. Please leave me a comment below letting me know whether or not you were able to do this.

Here are the links again (I find they get lost in text) to the Publisher files:

• family of 4 plus wedding date 
• family of 5 plus wedding date

Here is what you need to do to create your own personalized baby birth announcement:

• Download the family of 4 plus wedding date and download the family of 5 plus wedding date here  
• Note when you click on the link, Google documents will give you a note saying "Sorry, we are unable to generate a view of the document at this time. Please try again later." That is ok. Simple click on the arrow down button (next to the print symbol) to download the file. You will have no problem opening it in Publisher after you download it.
• Open the file in Microsoft Publisher. No I do not know how to convert these to a Mac compatible program...sorry.
• Download the fonts (fonts can be found on free font websites or you can use your own favorites). Here are the free fonts I used:

'Baskerville Old Face' for the numbers

'Nymphette' for the scrolls on either side of the name

'Adobe Arabic' for the names.

• Personalize the numbers, text, colors, and anything else you want to.  
• See below on how I made the design to help you with stretching text so that it fits nicely in the space provided. 
• Each row is in a separate box, so you can manipulate each row independently. Remember you can always Undo, so get creative.
• Sounds like lots of work, but the template will help you alot.

Please leave me a comment to let me know whether or not you have been able to create your own.

I hope you are able to use the downloadable files. Please let me know if you were able to do this yourself and/or if you have any issues.

What do you think? Can you make your own or will you try the template?
Stephanie