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Those little hands and tiny baby feet don’t stay small for long.
Cute handprint art is a great way for you to preserve that baby handprint or little feet forever and is a great idea for DIY gifts.
This post is a round-up of all my favorite handprint projects and footprint crafts. They are great gift ideas and a fun way to have a crafty morning with your little one.
Don’t worry if you are not an artsy-craftsy mom, all of these ideas are beginner level.
Flowers
These make a gorgeous gift for mother’s day in place of traditional flowers.
I love these wall art prints from Arts & Crackers. A really simple idea using bright block colors and the use of a canvas over paper really gives it an edge.
If you prefer a lower mess option try these paper flowers.
Another simple but effective idea where you trace your child’s handprint onto colored paper and use the cutouts as petals.
If you have multiple kids this is a great activity to get the whole family involved in, and you can make a range of handprint flowers with differing-sized petals.
You can also make footprint flowers like these tulip-inspired blooms.
Handprint Poem
Another one to add to your mother’s day crafts is a handprint poem for you to keep forever.
You may despair of those grubby little handprints that seem to get everywhere now, but you will miss them one day.
This would look great on the wall as art, or keep it tucked away as a keepsake craft.
Enter your email address and download this free handprint poem printable to make your art today.
The poem reads:
You always clean the handprints
I leave upon the wall.
I seem to make a mess of things
Because I am so small.
The years will pass so quickly.
I’m growing every day
And all my little handprints
Will surely fade away.
So here’s a special handprint,
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my hand looked
When I was very small!
Heart Art
Who can resist anything from their baby in a heart shape?
Check out these super cute hand and feet hearts from the Fun Handprint Art Blog by Artsy Momma (Well worth checking out this treasure trove of a blog. This lady gives me serious craft envy!).
Painting can be a great sensory experience for your baby. If they enjoy it, why not try something a bit more complex like this fingerprint heart tree by Arty Crafty Kids.
You could keep sessions short by limiting yourself to one color per session and build it up week by week.
Salt Dough Art
Salt dough is easy to make at home using just flour, salt and water. Making impression ornaments is a sweet way to hold onto those tiny handprints forever.
I absolutely love this Santa Art from messy little monster. It’s one of the best kids activities blog around and I can’t wait to try this with Christina this year.
If you want circular ornaments check out these great ideas from Eat Wheat. These would make great handprint gifts.
We made a tiny reindeer footprint for Christina’s first Christmas out of clay, but this year I’ll be braving the salt dough instead so I’ll be sure to upload some photos!
I’d really like to start a tradition of adding an ornament a year to look back on as she grows.
Animals
The beauty of a handprint animal is they only have to roughly resemble the chosen animal – so they’re great for those of us with limited craft skills!
I love this animal A to Z from Red Ted Art. It’s designed for older kids, but I think a baby would really enjoy the sensory experience of making prints weekly.
It would make a great nursery decoration and a personal alternative to an A to Z chart for when your baby gets to that stage in a few years.
If feet are more your thing here’s an animal A to Z by The Pinterested Parent made from footprints. The artistic skill needed is a little higher for some of these though.
Seasonal Gifts
Homemade cards and prints make a great grandparent gift.
Easter – If you want to make an adorable handprint card check out these handprint chicks! If you’d rather not worry about yellow handprints all over your house, try these cutout designs from simple everyday mom.
Halloween – Here are some fun ideas for Halloween handprints. I especially love the orange handprint knuckles for little babies as it can be difficult to persuade them to stretch those fingers out!
Christmas – Whether you showcase your baby footprint art as a Christmas tree, snowman or reindeer there’s no shortage of Christmas crafting options. Check out this mega list from Non-Toy Gifts.
You may be interested in my other articles on Baby Memories:
Time Capsule Ideas for your Baby’s First Birthday
Family Handprint Art
This is one of mine that we did to celebrate my husband’s first birthday as a father.
I took inspiration from The Idea Room, but scaled back considerably to fit my skill level!
This was simple and low-cost to do. I bought the canvas and some non-toxic paint from a craft store.
We did our prints ourselves (Don’t forget to gently press along the length of each finger with your opposite hand to ensure even coverage) and then both tackled Christina.
He kept her distracted while I held the canvas up to her hand and gently pressed those chubby little fingers down.
It was a unique way to spend time on his birthday and now we have an adorable keepsake we both love.
I haven’t decided if I’ll leave it plain like this or add our names yet, let me know in the comments what you think?
