While surfing the internet for anything to inspire me, I came across the blog of Becky Higgins, a contributor to Creating Keepsakes magazine.  She has a tradition of doing hand prints with her kids every year on their birthdays.  I decided to put my own twist on the project and do one of my kids’ hand prints every January.  There are many different ways to do this project.  I opted to put all three of my kids’ prints on one canvas, but next year I might give them each their own like Becky did.  We’ll see what happens! 

I started off by purchasing some small painting canvases at a my local craft store.  I bought the cheapest one in the size I wanted.  It was an 8×10 for about $6.  I also bought some basic acrylic craft paints in the colors I wanted and a couple of foam brushes.

My first step was to paint the canvas a solid color, in this case yellow.  I did two coats, allowing the first to dry for awhile before applying the second.  I then let the canvas dry overnight before adding the hand prints.

The next day, I grabbed my four year old and painted his hand green.  He was pretty excited about the project.  Our first print turned out really light so I stamped his hand again with more paint.  Make sure to thoroughly coat those little hands with a nice layer of paint.  If it’s too thin, your print will be light, and if it’s too thick, your print will be goopy.

My two year old daughter went second and her first try was perfect!  She’s going to be an artist like me!  When I did my baby (16 months) I had to work fast.  As I painted his hand he kept curling his fingers to feel it so it was hard to get paint in all those little creases!  When I pressed his hand down on the canvas, he pulled away really fast so his print is a little smudged.  But I still love the results!

I used a black craft pen to label each little hand and then displayed the final result on a plate stand.  I just love it!  I can’t wait to add to the collection again next year using some other fun color combination. 

You might consider this project for Valentine’s day for grandparents or even for Daddy!  I would love to see pictures of everyone’s projects.   Make sure to send them to us!