It feels like it was just yesterday I was pregnant with Alexa and making these chalkboard bump updates every couple of weeks.
To think it was really four years ago is just mind blowing to me. My baby girl is growing up so fast 😭
The tutorial I followed to make these was actually pretty time consuming to. I couldn’t imagine having that kind of free time now with Alexa running around.
Here I am 14 weeks pregnant again and I haven’t taken a single belly picture yet. I’m getting around to it I promise and it’ll be another blog post for the future.
But for now here are my chalkboard bump updates from my first pregnancy if you’re looking for some inspiration for yours.
I’ll share the seven I made and then show you how you can get this same look. The way I’ll show you is actually a lot easier and less time consuming than how I use to make them.
Don’t forget to pin this image below to Pinterest so you don’t lose this tutorial ❤️
7 Chalkboard Bump Update Ideas
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5 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
This photo also doubled as our pregnancy announcement to our parents. We printed it out and gave it to them with grandma and grandpa coffee mugs.
Once we announced to our family and some friends we posted this photo to Facebook for our social media announcement.
9 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
I loved making these bump updates and sharing them with my friends and family on Facebook.
I live a couple hours away from my family and the friends I grew up with so these were a nice way to share my pregnancy journey with them.
12 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
I love being able to look back at these photos and remember carrying my first born. My only regret is that I didn’t take more.
A lot of expecting mamas are uncomfortable with their changing body and the weight they’ve gained and they avoid getting their picture taken when they’re pregnant.
I can’t speak for everyone but some women have told me they regret not taking more pictures.
14 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
This has to be one of my favorites. We got to share Alexa’s first picture with everyone and it looks like she’s waving hello.
It’s so interesting being 14 weeks now with my second baby and looking at this photo of when I was 14 weeks with my first.
16 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
It was pretty easy to come up with what I was going to put on these because each week you can share how big your baby is by sharing the food they’re the same size of.
Then you can share your baby’s milestone, like this week they can start to hear sound and see light.
Feel free to copy this same design or come up with a layout of your own!
18 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
This bump update was two weeks before our ultrasound to find out baby’s gender so we got everyone excited and putting in their guess’s before our gender reveal party.
24 Weeks Pregnant Belly Photo
We did end up having a gender reveal party and it was awesome.
A couple of weeks later I made this bump update and just re-sharing the news that we were having a baby girl.
And unfortunately this was the last one I made. Life got a little hectic with us moving and me being big pregnant and tired, but I wish I had kept going.
How To Make A Chalkboard Bump Update Photo
I got this idea from another blogger I found when I was pregnant. She had a tutorial on how to cut yourself out of your photo and put yourself on the chalkboard without photoshop.
I planned on just linking to her tutorial for you but unfortunately she took the post down.
I want to recreate the tutorial here and when I went to do that I realized that the free online photo editor tool I used is no longer free.
I use a website called Canva to create all the graphics for my blog. Their paid version has the tools to make these chalkboard bump updates.
So unfortunately these aren’t free to make anymore. Although Canva does have a 30 day free trial so you could use that.
Chalkboard Bump Update: Step One
The first thing you need to do is have someone take a picture of you standing in front of a blank wall. Make sure they get your whole body including your feet.
You’ll want to wear a tight shirt that really shows the shape of your growing belly.
Chalkboard Bump Update: Step Two
For this project you’ll want to choose the announcement document which comes to 5in x 7in.
This is the size that I used and it works for me but feel free to choose a different size of you want.
You also have the ability to enter a custom size if you need to.
Chalkboard Bump Update: Step Three
Next you’ll notice on the left side of the screen there’s an upload button. Click that and you’ll be able to upload your photo.
I don’t have the original photo of me standing in front of a blank wall so for this tutorial I’m using my finished photo.
You may need to re-size your photo and you can do this by dragging on the corners or edges of your photo.
Chalkboard Bump Update: Step Four
Now click on your photo and you should see the effects option appear in the top left corner.
Click on that and your first option should say Transparent Background. Click that and within about 20 seconds or so it should automatically cut you out of the picture.
This is awesome because the tutorial that I followed four years ago had me using an erase tool. I had to get rid of the background myself and it took forever.
Chalkboard Bump Update: Step Five
Now save the chalkboard photo above to your computer and repeat step three to upload it to Canva.
You’ll notice it covers the photo of yourself so you’ll want to send the chalkboard image to the background.
You can do this by clicking the chalkboard photo. Then click on Position in the top right.
Then click backwards and it will send the chalkboard to the back. The picture of yourself should be on top.
Now you’re all set to start decorating your photo.
You can use Canva to do this is you’d like. Their is the text option in the tool bar on the left side of the screen for text. They also have the elements in the tool bar that you can use for arrows, banners, shapes, etc.
What you can also do is save your project at this point. Download the picture to your device and open the photo is this cool free app called BabyPics.
They have a lot more options in my opinion for fonts and graphic specifically for pregnancy.
If you wanted to bypass using Canva at all you could take a photo of yourself in front of this chalkboard backdrop and then just edit that photo in the baby pics app.
I hope you guys enjoyed this tutorial for creating weekly pregnancy belly photos. If you have any questions or comments please leave them in the comment section below!
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