How to Create a Baby Certificate
Baby certificates can serve as keepsakes for scrapbooks or wall hangings. They can be birth certificates or naming certificates giving the baby's name, the origin and meaning of the name, and the baby's namesake. The certificate can include poetry and a baby picture; it can commemorate important spiritual dates such as a christening. It can certify milestones, such as the day the baby first walked or uttered a first word. You can make your own baby certificates in Microsoft Word or other word-processing programs. Frame the baby certificates to give as baby gifts or make one as a keepsake for your own child.
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Instructions
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Go to "File," click "New," then click "Blank document" in Microsoft Word. Use the default setting, which is 8.5 by 11 inches or letter size.
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Go to "File," click "Page Setup," and set margins at 0.5" all around. Click "Fix" when Word warns you that your margins are set outside the printable area; it will automatically adjust. Choose "Landscape" orientation.
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Search "baby clip art" online to find a baby-themed clip-art border for your certificate and download it to your computer. Save it as "baby border" art in your "Pictures" folder. In the first Reference below, you will find a link to an aqua or pink border with a heart motif.
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Go to "Insert," click "Pictures" and then choose "from File." In the dialogue box, find your border art and click "Open." Place the border across the top of your certificate. Go to "Edit," "Select all" and copy. Paste the border in again, and move the border copy to the bottom of the certificate. Now you have a top and bottom border. You can also place borders vertically at the sides of the certificate. Select the border, click "Draw" at the lower left corner of your program screen, choose "Rotate or Flip" and select "Rotate Left 90 degrees."
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Type in a heading such as "Baby Certificate" or use the child's name as the heading. Center the heading. Next, go to "Insert" and choose "Picture" in Word. In the drop-down choose "WordArt." Select your heading, then choose a layout from the "WordArt" display, and click OK. Your heading will change to stylized lettering. To change colors, lines or add special effects, right click on your heading, and chose "Format WordArt" in the drop-down. Click on the small arrow in the Color bar to choose "Fill Effects." For a "Gradient," select two different colors and choose the style you like from the "Variants."
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Use angel art on your certificate Type in any other text you want on the certificate, such as the information from the authentic birth certificate, or the story of the baby's name or a scripture such as the one about guardian angels. (Matthew 18:10: ""See that you do not look down on one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven." See Resource.) Center the text.
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Go to "File" and "Save as" to name and save your certificate for future use.
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Tips & Warnings
You can save your certificate as "Baby Certificate, (child's name)." Then delete specific information such as the baby's name and birth date, and save the file again as "Generic Baby Certificate." You can use it in the future for other baby gifts.
If you plan to frame certificates you will need to adjust your margins so that the border will still be visible when framed. Experiment with various margin widths for specific frames.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit baby image by Dron from Fotolia.com angel image by cico from Fotolia.com
