3 Foot Print Ornament Ideas To Try At Home

There's nothing more precious than creating lasting memories with your children, especially when they're still just babies.

Hand and footprint ornaments are the perfect DIY craft for you to do at home. Not only do they make for a gorgeous gift to other family members, but they're also something that you'll forever be able to look back on and remember just how little your child once was, and be reminded of how much love you felt.

We've rounded up our 3 favourite ways that you can create your own footprint ornaments - give them a go!

Materials Needed:

240 grams plain flour

270 grams salt

250 millilitres water

A rolling pin

A bowl

Baking paper

A baking tray

Paint

Paintbrushes.

Method:

1. Place your flour, salt, and water into a large mixing bowl and give them a good mix.

2. Turn out the mixture onto a lightly floured surface and begin kneading until the dough is smooth.

3. Roll out the dough until it's a few centimetres thick.

4. Lift up your baby, and with one hand gently grip their foot by the ankle and firmly press it straight down into the dough - in and out quickly so there's no chance of wiggling. (If you aren't happy with the print the first time, you can simply re-roll the dough and start again.)

5. Turn a bowl or another round object upside down and press this down into the dough around the footprint so that you're left with a perfectly round piece of dough.

6. Gently place this onto a baking sheet lined baking tray, and put this into the oven on a low heat for around three hours.

7. When dried out, remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. You can then paint over your salt dough in whichever colour you'd like.

8. Allow this to dry, and you're ready to admire your masterpiece!

Materials Needed:

White air drying clay

A rolling pin

A knife

A small bowl

Paint

Paintbrushes

Method:

1. Roll out your clay to around 1-1.5 centimetres thick on a non-stick surface.

2. One at a time, gently grip your baby's feet by the ankles and press them down firmly into the clay in a heart shape - heels together and toes pointing slightly outwards.

3. Use your knife to carefully cut around the imprints into a heart shape - not too close from the feet imprint but not too far.

4. Carefully pick up your clay and place this into a bowl, so that it can take the shape of the bowl.

5. Leave your bowl to set for between 24-48 hours or until firm and dry.

6. Paint the footprint portion of the bowl (if you're looking for other ideas, you may want to use a glitter paint), allow it to dry, and your ornament is complete.

Materials Needed:

Baby-friendly paint or ink

A paintbrush

White card paper

A small frame

Ribbon (optional)

Method:

1. Lay your baby down onto a mat on its back, then gently grasp one foot by the ankle and cover the bottom of it in either paint or ink with your brush.

2. Place either a book or a clipboard behind your card paper so that it doesn't bend, and again grasp your baby's foot by the ankle and firmly press it against the paper - heel first, then toes.

3. When you're satisfied with how the first footprint turned out, make sure you wash off the paint from one foot before you start on the other to avoid any unwanted paint making its way onto the paper.

4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the second footprint, and allow the card to dry.

5. Frame the card paper, and then (optional) glue down and tie some ribbon to the frame so that it can be hung up somewhere or given as a gift.

When it comes to making footprint crafts, stillness is often of the essence. If you've got a wriggler on your hands, we'd suggest making sure that they're comfortable, happy, and distracted by toys before attempting the print. If your baby is still super little, you could even try getting the prints done whilst they're snoozing! Either way, if you make it quick - you should be able to prevent the print from getting misshapen and come out with a perfect result that you'll love.

Extra Tip: Each of our ornament ideas above can be done using a hand instead, to come out with some pretty great handprint crafts.

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For more craft ideas for smaller children, take a look at these Star Crafts and Fairytale Crafts aimed at preschoolers.