DIY Clay Hand Prints

DIY Clay Hand Prints

These clay hand prints are so easy and inexpensive, I can't seem to stop making them! I bought a 25pound box of Crayola Air Dry Clay from Amazon for $28. I've made 10 clay impressions and still have enough left for one more! *They also sell 5pound containers for $12.99 which will do about 3-4 depending on the size of your creation.

You'll want to have a clear work space and all your supplies ready. This is a messy craft! I kept the kids busy while I set up. *On a side note, this clay is VERY easy to wash off tables...not so easy when on the carpet.


Supplies:
Large Bowl
2 cups of water (you don't need to measure, I just fill my measure cup up)
Rolling pin
Wax Paper
Butter knife
Cookie sheet
Wet rag
PATIENCE - this is MESSY

Ready to create a fantastic keepsake?

Begin by taking out the cookie sheet and wiping it with the wet rag. Place the wax paper into the sheet, the water will help hold it in place.

Onto the messy part - Take a couple handfuls of clay into your large bowl and add some water to help make the clay more pliable. Massage it till it's soft but not runny - add more clay if it gets runny. You want the consistency of sugar cookie dough.

Place your clay onto the cookie sheet and with a wet rolling pin, roll out your dough. The shape will be cut out so just get it as flat as possible. If the clay gets sticky, add some water and smooth it out (water repairs many mistakes). You will want the thickness to be at very least a half an inch (any less and it cracks as it dries) to one inch (that's just heavy).

Wash off your hands and call over your kiddo to get their foot or hand print. Press down on each finger and especially palm. For feet have them step down onto the cookie sheet. Wash them off, they're part is done!


With a wet finger smooth out any bumps or bubbles. Take your butter knife and cut out your design. As you pull up the extra clay, the wax paper will most likely come with it. That's fine. It's easy to separate out from the dough in the bowl.



Put the cookie sheet somewhere it wont be disturbed. Living in Vegas I thought I'd be smart and put it outside during our usual summer heat wave...don't do that. The entire piece cracked into 20 pieces in 30 minutes. Indoors is fine. DO NOT FORGET TO ADD HOLES! If your going to hang this, you need holes. I use lollypop sticks so the hole is uniform.

As it dries check on it for little cracks. These are easy to fix with a wet finger.

Once totally dry you can paint it. I use acrylic paint. Once that's dry, spray on a high gloss sealer, I bought mine from Michaels. After that is dry, you can write with a sharpie your kiddo's name and date - or whatever you want! *Sharpie blurs when sprayed with the sealant.

All said and done this craft cost me less then $10 each finished piece. Which to me is a far better deal then going to those paint your pottery places. I also don't see the need to kiln fire these products, we're not going to eat off them and I have no plans to play frisbee with them either. They hang on my wall, that's it. The air dry clay is more the sufficient for this!

This is a fun, easy, and CHEAP keepsake you'll cherish forever!

Mothers Day gift idea

I like to give the grandparents keepsakes for Mothers/Fathers Day from the kids.  I personally LOVE them, so this year I treated myself and made one for me as well.  I wanted to make something they could actually use and may be even be a positive effect on the environment.  We slowly switching over to canvas bags when we go grocery shopping so I thought this would be great to give as a gift.

I bought ours at Walmart, 3 bags for $6 which I'm sure aren't environmentally friendly made.  Amazon has some great ecobags:

They also have a pack of 5 100% cotton bags for $19.96 100% Cotton Canvas Grocery/Multipurpose Tote Bag 5 Pack, Shoulder Length Handles  which is great if your doing this with a playgroup like we did!  Since we were making 3 bags for just us, the Walmart 3 pack worked out fine.

We used regular fabric paint and fabric paint pens for this craft -  You can buy puffy paint if you'd like more dimension for almost the same cost.

The supplies you see here are: Wipes to get the paint of ASAP - it dried very quickly onto your hands so wash off quickly!  Fabric markers, Fabric paints, Paint brushes, T-shirt, and Canvas Bag

 I painted the kids hands with the fabric paint and arranged them like a garden on the bag.

I did the same with the t-shirt.  I lined the bags and t-shirts up in a sort of assembly line and kept refreshing the paint on their hands after each mark.

I was surprised my 1year old did as well as she did with putting down her hands 4 times!  It may have helped that she was working on a Ritz cracker but I still think she did great.  These were super easy to make and I've already used my mother's day gift twice!

Mothers Day Hand print Foot print Flowers

Hand and Foot Print Flowers for Spring!

Finished Project

Mothers Day is on its way and the girls have been excited about growing their gardens.  We have been working on colours this week as well so I thought this would be a fun craft the girls would enjoy and the grandmothers would love! 

We did the above prints on paper to see if we liked them enough to really make them as gifts, they had me hang them in our playroom they like them so much.  Tomorrow we'll be doing this print onto canvas bags to give as gifts.  It also ties in with our playgroups Green Team theme of giving eco friendly gifts.  We'll make one for this mommy as well so I can show off my kids prints at the grocery store too!

These are super easy to do, I was even able to get both of my 3 year olds hands and feet onto the SAME piece of paper! Granted it was a large piece of construction paper, but they fit none the less. I had to settle for a new piece of paper to get my 11month olds flowers done but that eased my fears of her turning her flowers into a finger painting project which would "ruin" the twins prints.

8-Oz. Color Splash! Washable Tempera Paint (Pack of 12) Using Washable Tempura Paints make this project an easy one to clean up after.

Supplies:

Washable Tempura Paints

Paint brushes

Wipes or a wet hand towel

Paper to apply prints onto

Step 1: Choose your colors for the flowers, my girls actually chose different colors! I thought we'd have our usual purple and pink but they surprised me and I think they turned out great! Place your hand and foot prints as shown. I use regular baby wipes to clean off the paint but a wash rag would be far more economical.

Step 2: Draw in your stems. I used a regular foam paint brush. I buy mine at Michaels but have seen them at Target and Walmart. Make sure to wash these out ASAP, even just soaking them will make them last longer. They may be cheap to buy but having to run to the store just to buy paint brushes is rarely in my plans for the day!

11month old's project

Step 3: Paint on leaves and add the name and date to either a stem or on an empty part of the paper.

Since we are doing colours this week we discussed the Spanish words for each colour as well as the ASL sign for them as well:

Yellow - amarillo
ASL The sign for "yellow" is made by forming the letter "y" with your right hand.  Shake your hand from the wrist, and move it to the right. 

Green - verde
The sign for "green" is made by forming the letter "g" with your right hand.  Shake your hand from the wrist, and move it to the right. 


Blue - azul
The sign for "blue" is made by forming the letter "b" with your right hand.  Twist/shake your hand from the elbow (the wrist doesn't bend on this sign).  

Purple - morado
Shake a "P" twice. Use a movement that pivots from the elbow. 

Red - rojo
The sign for "red" is made by stroking your lips one time with the tip of your index finger. 

Flowers - morado
Touch a "squished O-hand" to your cheek on one side of your nose and then the other. 
 
Mom - mamá
Make the sign for "Mother" by placing the thumb of your right hand against your chin. Your hand should be open. 
 
Grandma - la abuela
The sign for "grandmother" is made by touching your chin with the thumb of your dominant hand, as when signing "mother." The dominant hand should be open. Move your hand forward in two small arches.

Note: Many people just move the hand forward without the arches.

Family - la familia
FAMILY: The hands trace the shape of a circle. As if representing a family sitting around a dinner table.

Love - el amor
The sign for "love" is made by crossing both hands over your heart. (Middle of your chest.) Your hands may be closed or open, but the palm side should face toward you.

Remember to sign the colours as your talking to your kids as you point them out on scavenger hunts, walks, field trips, or while playing.  The more you use the Spanish words and/or signs, the quicker they'll catch on and remember them!  My twins are 3 now and are trying to teach their little sisters signs all day long, its so fun to see them teaching.

I have to admit, I go a bit crazy for Spring. The weather here in Vegas is Perfect! We bought these plain white lanterns at Michael's, they have little battery operated lights inside with an extra light bulb. Target sells them as well.

I was able to get all 3 girls hand prints onto this but was unable to get a photo showing it. I really can't do every one's hand prints on regular paper anymore so I find other things to put them on!

I used regular washable tempura paint by Crayola and painted on the stem and leave myself. Since I'm hanging this in the playhouse outside I also dabbed glow in the dark paint all around so it looks like stars once turned off. The girls LOVE it on and off!

None of this is water proof so I do take it in every night for fear rain will ruin this keepsake.

Letter H Playdate and Valentines Day Craft - Part 2

We enjoyed making the hand print hearts so much that we did a couple more to hang on our craft wall! For the glitter heart my youngest daughters hand were too small to show real definition so I just did the twins hands.

HOW TO: Trace your childs hands into the heart shape shown in the picture. Use glue, I used regular Elmers School Glue for this, and thinly spread over the fingers. Put the paper on a cookie sheet and let them dump the glitter onto the paper. My girls LOVED this part! No need to be careful here, let it go all over! Once dried, tap the paper onto the cookie sheet to get any access glitter off. Pour the unused glitter back into the container.

I've whited out my kids names on the photos but wanted you to see where I placed their names so you can choose where to place yours. This craft was easy too. Basically the same as the Letter H page but I used decorative cutting sheers to make the pink heart stand out a bit.

Either of these would be great for grandparents or moms!

Handprint Flowers

I'm not including instructions since its mainly just look at the pict and copy or improve on it!














Handprint Flowers

These are super easy and fun to do! All 3 of my daughters were able to fit their hands on the paper - doubt that will happen next year!