***This article originally appeared in the Spring 2013 issue of Traverse Bay Family Magazine. It has been reprinted with permission.***
As I was wondering what I could share for Mother’s Day, I had gotten completely sucked into Pinterest. Have you been there yet? It’s the greatest visual collection of awesome ideas on the internet ever. Which is why I usually spend an hour there if I spend a minute. To help save you some time, here are 3 of the super cute handprint crafts that I found on the web for Mother’s Day.
For the Littles – Simple Handprint Card
This was the cutest and easiest idea that I found. You will need:
• A sheet of construction paper or copy paper
• Various colors of washable finger paints
• A paintbrush
• a nearby sink
• paint smock or old grownup shirt
Take your piece of paper. Construction works best. Fold it in half. With the folded edge on the left, generously paint the palm of your small child’s hand (or put paint in a pie pan and let them put their hand in it). Have them press their hand on the page. Wash hand. Repeat 2-4 times with different colors depending on tolerance and space on paper. Paint green stems from the handprints to the bottom of the page. Let dry. Write a message on the front and/or inside for your child. Give to mom :D.
For the middles – Handprint Butterflies
My little girls LOVED this idea – there have been paper butterflies all over my house for months! You will need:
• two different colors of construction paper
• scissors
• a black pen, marker or pencil
• ribbon or pipe cleaners
• miscellaneous decorations – stickers, stampers, paint, markers, etc.
Pick the color of construction paper that you would like for your wings and trace your hands. Cut them out. Cut an oval out of the other piece of construction paper for the butterfly’s body. Glue the handprints to the back of the oval so that it looks like a butterfly. Draw eyes and a mouth on the butterfly’s body. Glue ribbon, pipe cleaner or pieces of paper for the antennae. Decorate butterfly wings as desired with stickers, markers, paint or stampers.
For the Bigs – Handprint Bouquet
I melted when I saw this idea, but my kids aren’t really old enough and they wouldn’t mail well so we can’t really make them for the grandmothers. You will need:
• various colors of colored card stock or construction paper for the flowers
• green and yellow pipe cleaners
• pencil
• scissors
• glue, tape or stapler
• ribbon, optional
• vase
Trace your hand 4-6 times on your card stock to make your flowers. Cut them out. Grab a green pipe cleaner for your stem and half a yellow one for the inside. Fold the yellow pipe cleaner in half. Fasten the green pipe cleaner where the yellow bends. Twist the two pipe cleaners together so that they make a ‘Y’. The green goes straight down and the yellow pipe cleaner makes up the left and right sides. Wrap a hand print around the pipe cleaner where the two colors meet and fasten with glue, tape, or staples. Repeat. Put them in a vase tied with a pretty ribbon.
