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Mother’s Day Handprint Keepsake

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 Make an adorable and lasting keepsake of your children’s hands when they’re small for all the mommas in your life!

Need an adorable mothers day craft for your kids? Try this sweet handprint keepsake for your momma this mothers day!

Before my daughter was born, I loved looking at pictures of baby nurseries. One thing I noticed in many of the nurseries was the trend of hanging a newborn’s handprint on the wall. The prints were always adorable and showed each individual finger perfectly imprinted into the dough. “That’s adorable!” I thought to myself as I looked through them. “When my baby is born I am SO going to do that.” And when she was born I found some dough recipe on pinterest. And I tried. And I failed.

The dough recipe I found at the time wasn’t right, and came out far too dry. My infant daughter decided it would be fun to grab at the dough instead of letting me press her fingers into it. So what we got was a crumbly mess of a ball which I’m pretty sure I still have saved in the attic somewhere, because you know, memories.

While seeking a recipe recently for salt dough to be used in my son’s science project, I came across Meaghan’s post for Salt Dough Ornaments. For the science project we combined 1 cup salt, 1 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm water as her recipe recommended. His project turned out great, and we also found the consistency of the dough was absolutely perfect for a handprint. Even though my daughter was no longer a newborn, I knew I needed to give a handprint keepsake another go. Dads out there take note, this is a perfect mother’s day keepsake for you to make with the kiddos! Moms out there take note, there’s no reason you can’t spearhead the making of your own mother’s day gift.

1) Combine 1 cup salt and 1 cup flour. Stir 1/2 cup warm water in slowly. When combined, should be about the consistency of play dough. Add a little more water if dry, or a little more flour if wet.
handprint1

2) Once combined roll a ball and flatten until about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Press your child’s hand into the center. If you are working with a newborn I HIGHLY suggest springing for a footprint rather than a handprint, as my previous experience has taught me that newborns aren’t too eager to have their hands pressed flat. Don’t worry if you mess up, just roll the ball up and start again. Once you have a perfect print (or perfect enough to live with) make a hole near the top. Carefully turn over and write any information such as your child’s name or the date into the dough on the back. Allow to dry for at least 24 hours.handprint2

3) The handprint actually looks really awesome in just the natural white that it was made in, but if you want to add a bit of color now is the time. I sprung for some really bold colors for several reasons: A) I love bright things. B) Purple and orange were the only paint colors we had in the closet.handprint3

4) After the paint dries, hang with ribbon and enjoy! I love how much joy this sweet little hand brings me, especially knowing she won’t be this little for long.

handprint4

Erin Bohn is the mother of three through birth and foster care adoption. She can most often be found working (in post production), eating (chocolate), or chauffeuring small people around in her minivan. Check out more on her blog No Bohns About It or follow along on her Facebook page!

Isn’t that the sweetest?  Thanks so much Erin!  The scrapbooker in me just loves to preserve memories!  And the teacher in me can’t let you leave without an adorable free printable!  Sweet poems for gifts like these are your bread and butter in the preschool industry 😉  So print out this little handprint poem to attach to your gift or to stick in your card and momma will have two memories to last her forever!

Josh

Tuesday 25th of May 2021

Hi, mine did not harden! Any suggestions?

Meaghan

Friday 28th of May 2021

I'm sorry to hear that! Sometimes they won't dry out if they're too wet so next time try adding a little more flour to get a thick play-doh like consistency. I also recommend using a fine table salt rather than a coarser kosher salt because it helps with drying it out/binding.

Katy Fisher

Tuesday 28th of April 2020

Can I make the dough ahead of time and save it in a freezer bag?

Meaghan

Monday 4th of May 2020

I have never tried that so I'm not sure if the low humidity of the freezer would dry it out or not. If you want to test this make a test batch and freeze it, then bring it fully to room temp before you try and make any impressions.

Lou Lou Girls

Saturday 18th of April 2015

Hello gorgeous! I love seeing your masterpieces.Thank you for bringing such great things to our party. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you on Monday at 7 pm.. Lou Lou Girls

Meaghan

Saturday 18th of April 2015

You are too sweet to me. I never miss a Lou Lou Girls party! See you Monday!

~Meaghan

Bernadyn

Tuesday 14th of April 2015

Adorable, definitely going to make this for Mother's Day! Pinned and scheduling to share on my blog's FB page :)

Meaghan

Tuesday 14th of April 2015

These are so sweet aren't they? Thanks for the pin love and for the Facebook share!

~Meaghan

Erin

Friday 10th of April 2015

Oh my goodness the printable to go with it! I just love it.

Meaghan

Sunday 12th of April 2015

Thanks for letting me tack it on at the end! This was the poem I used in my preschool class every year and I love it!

~Meaghan