Have you ever wanted to make a coloring book? I think the most exciting coloring book you can have for your child is a personal one, where the pictures are full of people you know and love. Several years ago when my kids were still into coloring books, I put together a special keepsake for each of them. It's full of family photos turned into coloring pages with a fun prince/princess story written about the pictures. I'll give you a short explanation on how to make your own coloring pages, and then I will share my complete book with you. I use Adobe Photoshop for all my editing needs. I'm sure it is similar to other software out there. Start by opening your picture file. Make sure that you have the black square selected for your foreground color, and white for the background. If you have black for the background color your picture will be the inverse of what you want. Drag your mouse over the drop down menu Filter, then find Sketch, and under that you will click on Photocopy. You get to choose the detail that the picture will show, and how dark you want it. I usually stick with something in the middle. 12 for detail. 24 for darkness. While this photo might be good for some; I like to clean it up a bit and give the kids more of an area to work with. You now get to paint your picture. I use the brush tool with white foreground selected. This can be very time consuming, but the effect is well worth it. You will be giving your kid's more fun to color in! See the difference I'm talking about? Your kids will love coloring these pages in! I have always enjoyed writing and probably enjoyed writing the story just as much as I enjoyed fixing the photos. Feel free to use any part of my story and make it your own. Happily Ever After Once upon a time a king named Titus fell in love with a girl named Amanda. She loved him back just the same. They decided to get married because God told them to. They had a beautiful wedding. Everyone said so. King Titus and Amanda loved each other so much they wanted to have a baby to share their love with. God gave King Titus and Amanda a beautiful baby girl. She was a princess! They named her Ariel, and she filled their lives with joy. As the days went by Ariel grew bigger and bigger. King Titus and Amanda enjoyed the days they spent together. They took Ariel for walks, and brought her to the park to play. Both King Titus and Amanda were happier than they'd ever been before. They loved Ariel very much. Ariel was so special, and they loved her so much they didn't want her to be alone. They thought it was time for her to have a brother. As the days began to get colder, the time was coming for the new prince to be born. The whole kingdom was ready to welcome the new baby. Princess Ariel could not wait to meet her baby brother. She began to practice for his arrival. The day finally came. The handsome prince was given the name Gabriel. King Titus and Amanda were very pleased. Ariel enjoyed watching the baby grow up. She was looking forward to the day when they could play together. The prince and princess developed a very special friendship. They loved each other greatly. Jesus had brought them together as brother and sister. King Titus and Amanda saw the prince growing into a wonderful toddler. They watched every move he made, knowing their time together would not last forever. Just like the prince was growing, Ariel the princess was getting bigger every day. With each new day the king and queen's love grew stronger. Over time they celebrated many special holidays together. But their favorite holiday of all was Christmas. Pretty soon the family was growing too big for their castle. They were in search of the perfect new home. They needed a castle big enough to have rooms for everyone. After a lot of praying and searching, God gave them their new castle. It was like a dream come true. Sometimes on special occasions, King Titus would take his daughter, the princess, out dancing. It was a beautiful sight to see. Life was very good for the king and queen. They loved every moment they spent with their son and daughter. Ariel had much fun with her baby brother. He was finally big enough to be the perfect playmate. She could do whatever she wanted with him. As the prince grew older, he began to build things. He always enjoyed building things with his hands. It was a gift that God had given him. The time had come for the princess to find her wings. She was beginning kindergarten. So quickly had the king and queens little princess grown up. She was no longer just their baby. King Titus and Amanda were so happy with their family. They had two of the most beautiful children. But they began to feel like something was missing, like maybe their family was not complete yet. As they welcomed in the new year, King Titus and Amanda were very excited to share their good news with the entire kingdom. There would be a new prince who would soon be joining the royal family. It seems it was the season for new life. After discovering her own wings, the princess, Ariel, adopted a baby bird. Valentine, the parakeet, was brought into the castle. The princess and bird were friends at once. The day was quickly approaching when the new prince was to be born. The whole kingdom was waiting in suspense for a glimpse of him. They would not be disappointed. Zechariah arrived in the late evening. King Titus and Amanda were amazed at this new little baby. He was beautiful. It did not take long for the princess and prince to warm up to this new little baby. They were thrilled to have any special time with him. It was on extra special days that the princess would exercise her new reading skills and cuddle up with the new prince. He was a good listener. Everywhere that the new prince went, the loyal subjects would comment the same. Prince Zechariah was the most beautiful baby in all the land. Never had anyone seen such a handsome face. He was loved by all the people. The kingdom was flourishing under King Titus' reign. All of the royal family was living peacefully together. The children were growing up happy and well loved. And King Titus, Amanda, Princess Ariel, Prince Gabriel, and Prince Zechariah all lived happily ever after. The End Unfortunately the original computer documents have been lost on this special publication. I had to scan in one of the children's coloring books which isn't quite the same as seeing it in its original form. It loses quite a bit of quality with a scan. It was a very fun project to work on for my kids and I believe it will make a priceless keepsake to hold on to. It has been four years since I made the book, and my kids still love to have me read it to them.