We just love Handprint Snowmen Christmas Ornaments – we’ve made them twice, and I think we’re doing it again this year.
It’s really quite simple, the only thing that you may want to keep an eye out for is the acrylic paint, as it can be hard or impossible to get out of fabric. The first time we did this, when E had just turned 2 {and we hadn’t done many kid activities yet – I’m way more relaxed now 😉 }, she was only wearing a diaper. It’s also the reason that I didn’t get any pictures of the process back then.
(E was 2 years and 1 month old when we did this the first time, and 3 years and 1 month when we did it again the following year.)
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To make Handprint Snowmen Christmas Ornaments, you’ll need:
- Smallish undecorated Christmas ornaments. {Check them against your child’s hand size if you can – you want the fingers to come up pretty high on the sides.}
- White acrylic paint.
- Sharpies in black, orange and other colors of your choice.
- Ribbon (optional).
- Paintbrush (optional).
- Paper towel (optional).
Either paint your child’s hand white or put some paint on a plate, tray or similar and let your child place his/her hand flat in the paint. We went with the first option – it saves on paint, but the second option might be handy with older kids and/or if you want to make a lot of ornaments. I actually used a paper towel to paint E’s hand, it worked out very well.
Place an ornament in the palm of your child’s hand, and have him close his fingers over the ornament.
We’ve put our handprinted ornaments into an egg carton {the first year} and into apple sauce cups {the second year} to allow them to dry. Just find a way that doesn’t smudge the paint.
Once dried, add details with a Sharpie.
{The one with the yellow scarf is my favorite – it looks so friendly and energetic 🙂 }
Here are our ornaments from the first year:
If you want, you can write your kid’s name and the year on the bottom of the ornament (where the palmprint is).
If you don’t like the look of the handprint on the first try, you can immediately wash off the paint and try again. Make sure not to get water inside the ornament, since it might lead to water stains that discolor the outside of the ornament. Acrylic paint washes off skin and smooth surfaces very easily if you do it right away.
This definitely isn’t a craft that leaves a lot of room for creativity on the part of young kids – but E still enjoyed it a lot both times and was very proud of it. We hung the ornaments on our tree and gave them as gifts.
Have you made Handprint Snowmen Christmas Ornaments? What’s your favorite kid-made Christmas ornament? Leave a comment below!
Are your kids into Christmas printables? Are you looking for a simple, frugal Christmas countdown?
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Check out these other Christmas ornaments kids can make:
Salt Dough Candy Cane Ornaments
Shaken Paint Christmas Ornaments
Candy Cane Wrapping Paper Collage
49 DIY Christmas Ornaments by Red Ted Art
Christmas Scene Ornaments by Life of Jennifer Dawn
Baking Soda Clay Ornaments by Mama.Papa.Bubba
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how long does the paint take to dry?
It doesn’t take very long. You only want to use just enough paint to cover the hand, and it should be dry within an hour, tops.
I found this and just had to try it out! I absolutely love the handprint but when I try to draw on the snowmen with the Sharpie, it won’t write over the paint well. I bought a brand new package of sharpies just for this project… has anyone else had this problem? I have 18 ornaments ready but only successfully decorated about 5 of them and now it’s like the sharpies are out? I do have to say, the 5 I have are awesome!!
Ashlee, do you have the fine point Sharpies? I tried the ultra fine point ones once, and they didn’t work very well on top of the acrylic paint. If that’s not it, maybe it’s a problem with the acrylic paint?
Did you seal these with a clear coat after decorating? Thanks
Laura, we left them as they were. The acrylic paint stays on really well, and they still look great two years later. They don’t get handled a ton, though, so if yours do get handled a lot, a clear coating may be helpful.
What and adorable and festive craft!!
Thank you, Alison, we can’t get enough of it!