A Mother’s Day Project – Handprint Tiles

Until I became a mother, I never really understood the importance of homemade gifts. Yes, I liked getting something homemade, but now it takes on an entirely new meaning. When my 2 year old makes something for me, it becomes something I cherish. So, for that reason I like to give something homemade to her grandparents when I can.

I wanted to make something for her grandmothers for Mother’s Day…and then I selfishly decided that I wanted something too…so I made my own. Ha! I love things with child handprints, so I thought up this cute little, easy project.

All you need is an 8 inch tile, a plate holder, and some paint. That’s it…oh, and pencil. I picked up these tiles at Home Depot for $.80 each. The plate holders (small easels) were found at the Dollar Tree. The paint was something we already had. So, for each of these handprint tiles, I spent $1.80. Not too shabby for a nice gift.

First, you need to paint some black (or your choice of color) paint on your toddler’s hand. They’ll giggle. You’ll have a moment of panic when you wonder if this is washable paint and what everyone at church will think if it’s not. Then realize its acrylic paint and will easily wash or scratch off. *Sigh of relief*

If your child is too small to hold still for this project, you could also use a foot – which seems to work better for small babies. If your child is too big, you can do a “fake” baby foot print using their fist.

I could have taken a picture of Annie’s hand on the tile…but I don’t trust her. She’s quick and cunning. So, this is how her hand print turned out. We practiced a few times before we finally took the plunge. This same practice does not apply to marriage. Thank you. It’s not perfect, but it’ll do.

I thought about using stencils for this project but I thought it would make it seem too “stiff.” Then I realized that my stencils were in the storage unit, so I couldn’t get to them anyway. So, rustic it is! Chicken scratch = rustic.  I penciled out the verses that I wanted to use.

“Grandchildren are the crown of old men…” Proverbs 17:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go…” Proverbs 22:6

Have a quick moment of panic when you realize that you just called your mother-in-law “old.” Then comfort yourself with the fact that it’s a Bible verse, so God really said it and not you. Amen.

It’s a good idea to let your toddler “paint” while you work on this…otherwise, you could have weeping and gnashing of teeth…and a small child grabbing the paint pallet and running to her bed. Bad things man, bad things.

In hind-sight I should have covered the table with newspaper. Oops? Don’t make my same mistake. Toddler + paint = paint on table. This is a public service announcement.

Choose the color of paint you want – I went with green, red, and blue. Trace over the penciled words with your smallish paint brush. It might take two coats, depending on the color you use. That’s why I went with darker colors.

To add a little something-something I painted a small heart inside Annie’s hand print. I like little touches like that. And plus, I was trying to use up the paint that I poured out. I got a bit paint happy.

It’s a good idea to write the name of the child and the year on the back. You’ll want to remember. You might tell yourself you will remember, but you won’t. 10 years from now, you’ll have forgotten about the day you did this and you won’t have a clue whose hand that is – for all you know, it could have been a passing neighbor child.  I used a Sharpie pen to write it.

So, here they are done. They aren’t perfect. I sorta wish I had used stencils, as my handwriting isn’t that great. But, they are pretty cute…you could jazz them up any way you like. You could use paint pens instead of tracing. You could just do a hand print in the center with a pretty tile and heart…I just like Bible verses throughout the house.

*This post is linked at Proverbs 31 Thursday at Raising Mighty Arrows, at Frugal Friday on Life as Mom, at Tip Me Tuesday on Tip Junkie, at Frugal Tuesday Tip on Learning The Frugal Life, at Frugal Days Sustainable Ways at Frugally Sustainable, at Works For Me Wednesday on We Are That Family, and at Weekend Whatever on Your Thriving Family.