Handprint and Footprint Keepsake Art

Alright mommas, do you ever get caught in the teeter totter of watching your babies grow up?

We can’t wait for them to grow out of certain phases, but then we find ourselves crying over pictures from a few months ago wondering where our little baby went and how this toddler walked into our lives. I’m there!

Babies don’t keep – but their handprints and footprints do!

Handprint and footprint art is the heart-melting (and wallet friendly) gift that parents and grandparents adore. And let me tell you, we’ve taken full advantage of the crafting opportunity.

Here are some tricks to make your project a success, plus a few lowcountry inspired ideas to get you started!

Gather the necessities

Acrylic Paint – I use plain ‘ole acrylic paint from my paint stash because I always have it on hand. Thankfully, we have never had any skin reactions but please be sure to do some research if your little one has any sensitive skin issues!

Foam Brush – I’m talking the little 33 cent brushes from the craft store. Don’t worry about cleaning it out when you’re finished. Toss it and forget it.

Baby Wipes – These are the best way to clean up!!! You have them on hand anyway and they actually work for getting paint off their hands and feet quickly.

Clip Board and/or Painters Tape – You’ll be wrangling a child during the stamping process, so give yourself a break from wrangling your paper.

The clipboard is great to hold your cardstock (not paper!) in place and offer a hard surface to press down on with their little hands and feet.

Painters tape is a better solution for little littles or if your piece is too large for a clipboard (like the tea towel project below!) It will hold in place on the counter and not hurt the cardstock when you pull it off.

Do’s and Dont’s

DO Prepare the area – little ones are wildcards. I learned the hard way to get everything in place before you bring them into the picture. Make sure you’re both wearing your paint clothes, too!

DON’T pour a pile of paint onto a plate and stamp their hands or feet into it.

DO use a cheap foam brush to paint and stamp one print at a time.

DON’T get stuck on perfection! An imperfect print that shows all the tiny wrinkles in those sweet feet will bring you much more joy down the road than a perfectly opaque print. (as exampled in the Palmetto Tree project below…)

DO start with a footprint project – tiny hands get a little trickier.

DON’T try and squeeze in a project before nap time. Tired little ones plus paint plus a specific vision will not end well.

DO find a way to display this handmade art around your home! It is possible for kid DIY projects to fit perfectly with your decor.

The Heart Print

Emery only made it one month before I introduced him to his first DIY project. His one month birthday fell on Father’s Day, ~~so we woke up early to make a surprise gift for Daddy.~~ We were already awake early because he was only four weeks old and I needed something to bring purpose to being up at the crack of dawn.

Enter, our precious footprint heart as Emery’s first craft and Daddy’s first Father’s Day gift!

I had a $1 Michaels frame on hand with a 4” square opening – the perfect size for newborn feet! I stained it with watered down gray paint and wrote a sweet note on the back.

Anchor Footprint

Another gift for Daddy was the perfect addition to our Nantucket-inspired bedroom. Can you tell we like the nautical vibe? Be sure to do the footprints first and then paint the top of the anchor.

Palmetto Tree Tea Towel

I snagged a pile of tea towels from our local swap page and have LOVED crafting with them! No need to purchase special fabric paint – just follow these few extra steps!

Pre-wash and dry (and maybe iron) your towel before painting.
Use a 1:4 ratio of floating medium to plain acrylic paint. The small about of floating medium helps the paint sink into the fabric.
After the paint is fully dry, lay a piece of parchment paper and “set” the paint with a medium-high iron for 30 seconds in small circular motions.

So honesty hour… it would have been really easy for me to scrap this last project on the list because it isn’t “Pinterest perfect”. Emery got really excited about the paint on his hands and smooshed it around as soon as his fingers hit the towel. I had planned to use his foot as the crescent, but we were past nap time and it just wasn’t going to work. I had to paint over most of the handprint and as you can see, it’s a bit scattered. But you know what? It works!

Go with the flow.

The point is to have fun and make memories – not make a fighting match with your child. I’ve held myself to unobtainable levels of perfection most of my life, but a lot of that has changed since becoming a mom. I feel so IMperfect most days, but I’m learning to be completely okay with that because I want to set that example for my son. I have committed to being real in this space and that includes showing you my DIY flops!

So maybe it didn’t turn out quite as planned, but Emery was pretty proud of the finished product. We made these towels as Valentine’s Day gifts for the grandmas – and guess what? The loved them just the same!

Have fun with your kiddos and use the process as a learning opportunity – for your little ones and you 🙂