Last week, I saw this project on a message board on The Nest. I obviously don’t yet have any children of my own with which to do things like this, but I thought it would make a super cute gift from Hunter to my brother and Kara.
Today, Trevor and Kara had to work so my mom was babysitting Hunter for the day. Michael and I took a drive over to my mom’s house with a box of six ornaments in hand. I knew it was going to be a challenge to get Hunter’s perfect little handprint onto an ornament, so I was prepared to have to try multiple times.
Hunter was in a pretty good mood, which helped. The way we set it up: I squirted some white acrylic paint onto a paper plate. Michael held Hunter. My mom was in charge of the ornaments, and I was responsible for paint application and straightening out his little hand to stick onto the ornament.
As expected, it took multiple tries. Probably 10-12, to be honest. We were working over my mom’s kitchen sink, and when we messed one up, she immediately rinsed the ornament so that we’d be able to use it to try again. We went through the six ornaments really quickly (none of them good!), and had to pause for a minute so my mom could dry them off for another round. Thankfully, by then we had learned from trial and error and we were actually able to get two decent ones during our second pass. :)
A few tips in case anyone tries this: I found that if he had too much paint on his hand, the handprint looked like crap. Also, it worked best to hold the ornament still, spread out his fingers, and then “stamp” the hand around the ornament.
I let the handprint completely dry before doing any other decorating. From there, the first step was to fill in and round off the fingertips a little bit so that they could be made into faces. Using the white acrylic paint and a paint brush, I filled in the fingertips so that they were solid white. Again, I stepped away for a few hours and let that paint dry, too.
Using a black paint pen, I drew on the snowmen’s eyes and mouths. Then I used a tiny paint brush and orange acrylic paint for the noses, and also for the scarves and hats. I used white paint pen to write Hunter’s name and the year.
The only change I really made to this project was with the poem. The post I had seen said to include the poem in the box with the ornament. I really wanted to include the poem on the ornament, so on the opposite side from the snowmen/handprint, I wrote out the whole thing using white paint pen.
These aren’t just five snowmen
as anyone can see.
I made them from my hand
which is a part of me.
Now each year, when you trim the tree
you’ll look back and recall
the Christmas of 2009
when my hand was just this small.
as anyone can see.
I made them from my hand
which is a part of me.
Now each year, when you trim the tree
you’ll look back and recall
the Christmas of 2009
when my hand was just this small.
The final touch was adding the “snow” with a paint brush and white acrylic paint.
Merry Christmas!
Since we ended up with two ornaments with good handprints on them, I ended up decorating an extra one to give to my mom (Hunter’s grandma!), too. I’m extremely happy with how they turned out.
A cute project if you have little ones around next Christmas! They make wonderful gifts and keepsakes for parents and grandparents.
Merry Christmas!
11 Responses to “Five Snowmen” Ornament
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About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
So cute, Heather! I’ll have to keep this in mind for when there are more little ones around in our family (all my nieces and nephews are too old now).
OMG this is such an adorable idea!! :)
So Cute! I wish I would have heard about something like this when my boys were little. Oh well! I’ll keep this in my for my next little one!
We did this a couple of days ago too and we went through a pack of 12 balls and picked the best we could manage. We were cheering like maniacs whenever my niece managed to grasp one in the right way haha.
I love it! Must bookmark it for next year for somebody.
Wow~~ This is so cute!! I am going to save this for next Christmas, as we will be having one at just the right age! :p Thanks for sharing this with us, Heather!!
So Cute! I’m a lurker and just had to post. I LOVE this idea! I showed it to some at work and they are all sad they didn’t do it when their grandkids were little. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this!
this is a super cute idea! thanks for sharing :)
what kind of paint did you use for the handprints?is it safe to use on the childrens skin?im thinking of making these ornaments as gifts for my preschool kids :)
Yvette, it is just acrylic paint.
I DID THIS IN 2012 WITH MY GIRLSCOUT TROOP THEY WERE IN KINDERGARTEN WE WERE BRAINSTORMING FOR ORNAMENTS TO DO THIS YEAR AND THEY ASKED TO DO THE SNOWMEN AGAIN TO SEE HOW MUCH THEY HAD GROWN. I’M TOTALLY ADDING THE POEM DIDN’T HAVE THAT BEFORE AND THEY CAN WRITE IT THEMSELVES NOW! WE DIDN’T HAVE TOO MUCH TROUBLE–IF THE PAINT WAS SPOTCHY OR THIN I JUST SMUDGED IT TO FILL IT IN TO MAKE THE BUBBLES LOOK BETTER….IT IS TOTALLY A GREAT PROJECT…WE DID SILVER RIBBON (2 STRIPS OF WIRED ABOUT 2″ LONG BY 1″ WIDE) AND CUT A “V” ON THE ENDS. WE CRINKLED THEM IN THE MIDDLE AND THEN PUSHED THEM THROUGH THE ROUND PART WHERE THE HOOK GOES SPREAD THEM OUT AND IT LOOKS LIKE A VERY COOL SHINY SNOWFLAKE AT THE TOP OF THE BULB…..CHEAP EASY WAY TO FANCIFY IT….THE GIRLS LOVED THE SPARKLE…