Double Handprint Heart

 

You’ll need:

• Paper.
• Two colors of paint.
• Paintbrush.
• Scissors (optional).

 

How to make a Double Handprint Heart:

• Paint your toddler’s hands one at a time and make handprints on a large sheet of paper. The thumbs and fingers should be close to their counterparts, and the area between them should look like a rough upside-down heart.
• Paint your own hands and make handprints with your thumbs and fingers around your toddler’s prints.
• Turn paper upside down.
• Cut out a heart from colored paper and glue into the space between your toddler’s finger and thumb prints. {See below for other ideas to finish your Valentine.}

 

How it worked for us:

We used watercolors to paint our hands and applied them with paintbrushes. E thought the sensation of the paintbrush on her hands was hilarious, and she went along with my suggested placement for her hands willingly.

By the time I was done painting them, the watercolors on my hands had already started to dry, so not all my fingers show up that well. That’s okay, though, the pointers and thumbs are what counts, anyway 😉

I originally wanted to cut up one of E’s works of art to glue on but I just couldn’t do it. I guess we still don’t have enough artwork stored 😉 As an alternative, I simply cut a piece of pink Origami paper.

I have to say, I was really charmed by the result – one of my favorite Valentine’s crafts we’ve done!

 

While I was finishing off our project, E took off, and I was later able to track her path through these different kinds of handprint “hearts” on our door and coffee table 😉

 

 

What I learned:

If, like us, you use watercolors, make sure to work quickly and check that they haven’t started drying by the time you make your prints. You could simply use tempera or roll-on paint for more solid results that don’t dry quite as quickly.

 

Additional suggestions:

• Make a heart from one of your kid’s paintings to glue in the middle of the handprints {if you can bear it}.
• Cut a photo of your child (or your family) into a heart shape.
• Paint a heart directly on the paper.
• Get Daddy involved as well, for a third set of handprints.

 

The basic idea: The idea of a handprint heart had been going around my head for a while, and I was just gonna make one with E’s handprints until I realized that my hands fit exactly around hers for a Double Handprint Heart.