Today we launched a new poster format for three of our Easter coloring posters: Mosaic Poster Tiles.
While we live and do ministry during the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve had to rethink everything. What does school look like? How do we lead worship from our homes over video-conferencing apps? Should I go to the grocery store, order my groceries, or just eat my pantry to the end?
The team at Illustrated Ministry has been having many of these same conversations over the past couple of weeks. Many of our customers love using our large coloring posters during Lent, and now that we are all physical distancing, it’s impossible (and unsafe!) to gather intergenerationally, color a poster together, and enjoy community, conversation, and coloring.
We’ve mentioned our Facebook Group before because it is a growing community of our customers and friends. But don’t think it’s just a place where we promote and sell our stuff. Our community posts photos, shares ideas for how they are using our products, and cares for each other! We recently ran across this post in our group, and it got us thinking:
Some of our best product ideas have come from our Facebook Group (including our bestselling Illustrated Nativity Sticker Sheets). We know people across the world are following shelter-in-place/stay-at-home orders/recommendations, and we immediately realized this could be a fantastic gift to offer to our community.
So…after a few days and almost a ream of paper (that we repurposed and recycled, of course), we are now able to offer this new poster format for three of our Easter coloring posters.
Mosaic Poster Tiles: Now what…?
So what does this mean for you, your family, or the community you serve? Essentially, anyone with a home or basic office printer can create a giant coloring poster to use at home. Or you could send out individual PDF “tiles” to members of your church, youth group, or campus ministry. People could individually color them, and then when we all come back and worship together, they can bring their colored tiles, and you can create a giant, beautiful mosaic.
What better way to represent the wholeness and togetherness of the church? When we all eventually come back together after being apart during COVID-19, we are reminded that we were truly never separated.
Details, details, details…
Illustrated Ministry serves an international audience, and given the complex nature of creating these Mosaic Poster Tiles, we wanted to make sure it would be an enjoyable experience for all. For that reason, we have created two versions of the Mosaic Poster Tiles: one formatted to print on US Letter (8.5×11) paper and another that is formatted for A4 paper. We’re hoping that helps our international friends have successful poster-creating experiences.
We’ve also created the Mosaic Poster Tiles in two sizes:
- Family Size: This size is perfect to send home to families so they can create a small coloring poster that they can color and put together at home. The family size option requires around 4-6 sheets of paper.
- Group Size: If you’re looking for a more significant project for a larger group, the group size is the perfect option. Maybe you want to send it out to a large group in your congregation, or you have a lot of homebound folkx (aside from all who are currently physically distancing due to COVID-19) who would love to participate in a communal art project. The group size option requires around 32-50 sheets of paper.
So, how exactly do I do this?
We tried to make this a relatively simple project that anyone could do at home. That said, there is a disclaimer we should share:
Mosaic Poster Tiles Instructions
After you purchase, download, and open the ZIP file, choose whether you will be printing on 8.5×11 (US Letter) or A4 paper. Then select the size of the poster you would like to create (Family or Group size).
Distribution
Email: Use the split tile files to email out to individuals.
Hand out/Mail: Print out the PDF and distribute the individual pages (perhaps not the best or safest method during the COVID-19 pandemic – we would encourage emailing the files).
Printing
When you print, select either “Scale” and set at 96% or “Scale to Fit (Print Entire Image).” Each page contains “crop marks” that guide you as you cut margins off around the image. You can get an idea of how they work by looking at the below image:
Assembly
Cut: When it’s time to assemble, use the crop marks to guide you through cutting off the margins. Please be careful not to cut into the image. This format is designed to meet together when placed side by side, and there is no overlap of images on the paper.
Arrange: Piece together the poster by arranging the images on a large table or floor, as you would a puzzle. Don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t line up 100%…this is a fun project, remember?
Tape: We recommend focusing on one page at a time as you begin to tape the pieces together. When two pages match and line up to your satisfaction, tape them together. Match the next page, line it up to your satisfaction, and tape them together. Continue until you complete taping all the pages together and make a complete poster.
Create and Share!
One of the joys for us on the Illustrated Ministry team is seeing your tweets, Instagram Stories, Facebook Posts, and MySpace updates (okay, no one is really on MySpace anymore…right?) where you share with us your beautiful creations! We think this new format of Mosaic Poster Tiles are going to allow even more groups to take advantage of our coloring posters, and we can’t wait to see your creativity unleashed!
Be sure and use the hashtag #illustratedministry or tag us in your posts – we’re @illustratedmin on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.
Mosaic Poster Tiles Examples
We’ve already started seeing some really fun examples of the ways people have used our Mosaic Poster Tiles. Here are some photos of the Alleluia Butterfly that people created over Easter, and below that you can see a video that was put together by Resurrection Covenant Church (Chicago):
Order Mosaic Poster Tiles
As of the time of this post, we currently have the Mosaic Poster Tiles format available for the following coloring posters:
- Alleluia Butterfly Coloring Page & Poster
- Easter Resurrection Coloring Page & Poster
- Christ is Risen Coloring Page & Poster
