Recently, I posted a bucket list for baby’s first Christmas. One of the activities on the list is to make a homemade ornament. This is such a fun way to create memories during Christmas time. Gracie is 5 months old, so I wanted a way to capture how little and cute her hand is right now.
When I taught first grade, I loved doing handprint crafts with my students. They turn out so adorable! I sort of went into this with the same expectation. It’s gonna be easy, right? Oh my- was I wrong!!!!
Here’s what happened. We got a plaster handprint kit from hobby lobby. Basically all you do is mix the white powder, paint, and water. Easy so far. Then, pour the plaster into the mold that they give you. Easy… Next step: put hand in plaster for ONE MINUTE. Wait, what? A minute? How am I going to hold Gracie’s hand in there for a minute? I decide 5 seconds should be good enough. So I put Gracie’s hand down and she grabs the plaster. Haha! Digs her nails in all the way down and grabs a huge chunk. I knew right then that this was not going to work! It looked nothing like a hand. Then, because I only held it in for a second, it kind of all flattened out in the end. Hm…. definitely looks like Gracie made it. Hehe.
After that fiasco… we thought it may be easier to do her foot. Wrong again. I think this project is made more for like a 5 YEAR old not 5 MONTH old. We definitely laughed and had fun, though. That’s all that matters anyways. I consider this a Pinterest fail but a memory win.
I still wanted to have an actual handprint ornament craft… so we started over. Back to hobby lobby for supplies! Spoiler: this one actually turns out cute!
Materials You Need
Plain ornaments (Hobby Lobby has both frosted and regular- we did frosted!)
Elmers glue
Glitter
Spray Adhesive
Ribbon
Marker
Steps
Put elmer’s glue all over baby’s hand. I used a brush at first, but it was actually easier just to spread it around with my fingers.
Next, place the ornament in baby’s hand. This craft actually works cause Gracie just tried to grab the ornament, which put her handprint on it perfectly!
Then, wash baby’s hand before she eats glue.
Next, fix up the handprint a bit with q tips or your finger. I made three of these and each one I had to touch up just a little. One of the ornament handprints only had 4 fingers. One of her fingers must not have pressed down, so I just made one with glue and a q-tip.
Then, sprinkle the glue handprint with glitter. And shake off the excess. Let it dry for about 10 minutes. After, I sprayed the ornaments with a spray adhesive so that the glitter wouldn’t get everywhere. Honestly, I’m not sure that this is even necessary.
After the spray dries, write a little message on it with your marker! Add a little ribbon and voila! Cute craft completed! Mine didn’t end up perfect but I think the little mistakes make it more charming!
Give both a try and let me know if you have better luck with the plaster handprint one. Maybe i’ll attempt that again next year? Or, maybe not.
