How to Create Family Face Address Labels
Show off your family pride with every piece of correspondence, card or bill you send through the postal mail. Family face address labels, cartoon caricatures of the people (and pets) in your family, are a big business with custom printers and stationers, but you don’t have to spend money on them. Make your own family face address labels with a few clicks on your computer through two programs, Microsoft Paint, which is included in your Windows installation, and Publisher, part of the Office Suite.
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Step 1
Open Paint and click “Image,” then “Attributes.” Set the width and height each to one inch, then click the “OK” button. Click the “View” menu and choose “Zoom” and “Large Size.” This won’t increase the dimensions of your label; it just gives you more room to draw.
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Step 2
Click the “Paintbrush” tool on the “Tools” palette on the left side of the screen. Select the middle round brush head, then choose a skin color from the “Color Picker” at the bottom of the screen. If none of the options resemble your family’s skin color, double-click any colored box, which opens a rainbow of colors to select from.
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Step 3
Draw a circle with the paintbrush for the first family face. Click the “Fill” tool, which looks like a spilling paint can, then click inside the circle, which fills up with the skin color.
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Step 4
Click the “Pencil” tool and change paint colors, then draw facial features such as eyes, nose and mouth. Use the pencil or paintbrush to add features such as hair, jewelry or hats.
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Step 5
(Optional) Click the text tool, which looks like an “A,” and click inside the white box on the screen. A toolbar appears; select a family-style font such as Comic Sans or Kirsten, then type the family member’s name, such as “Mom” or “Davida.”
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Step 6
Click “File,” then click “Save As.” Name the picture and save it to your computer desktop.
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Step 7
Repeat to make faces for all family members for the label; don’t forget to draw pets as well.
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Step 1
Open Publisher and click “Page Setup.” Scroll the “Publication type” menu down to “Label,” then select “Avery 5160.” It doesn’t matter if you don’t have Avery labels; that’s just the standard formatting for the 1 inch by 2 5/8 inch 30-sheet labels used for most address designs. Click the “OK” button. A single white rectangle appears on the screen.
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Step 2
Click the “Insert” menu at the top of the screen, then choose “Picture” and “From File.” Browse to your desktop and click on any of the family faces you just drew. It doesn’t matter the order; you’ll add them all and can always rearrange them. The face appears on the label.
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Step 3
Click the “Move” tool, which looks like a white arrow head, then drag the face into order, such as age order, head of family order or alphabetically.
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Step 4
Repeat to add all family faces to the label.