handprint ornament {diy}

henry has adorable, tiny hands, like all babies. and i’m sentimental and want to remember them forever. i was thisclose to buying one of those handprint ornament kits from the store but then i heard about salt dough. seemed easy, and i had all the ingredients so i tried it out. and easy it was. the hardest part was getting henry to keep his hand spread out while not grabbing the dough.

first make your salt dough.

salt dough:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1/2 cup water

mix together until fully incorporated. knead dough for 7-10 minutes, or until soft and smooth. roll out to your desired thickness on a floured surface, mine was about a quarter-inch. create your ornaments, poke a hole in each for hanging (with a straw or skewer) and either bake in a 200 degree oven for a couple of hours or air dry a few days until dry. once painted (or not),  spray with a couple of coats of poly to seal and help it last.

i pressed henry’s hand in the dough before cutting out – it was a bigger target for his wriggling hand. after i used a bowl to cut a circle around his handprint. then before baking i  stamped his name in the dough – one time with ink, one time without (i made two in case). after baking the ink was completely visible (which means it works), however, i didn’t like my execution of it. but you can leave all the decorations until after drying, the dough takes paints well.

after quickly sanding rough edges (i wasn’t very clean with my cutting) i spray painted the entire ornament white, then painted the stamped letters with gold rub ‘n buff.

please ignore the execution of these (they were done quickly and without much thought) but the leftover salt dough can be used for extra handprints or additional ornaments, shaped any way you please (cookie cutters would work well, of which i have none). (that’s an h for henry, i wasn’t spelling ‘oh’ or ‘ho’)

perfect for a last-minute gift for the grandparents or to hang on your own tree to remember those itty bitty hands.

what, you thought i would have a post without henry in it? 😉

are you ready for christmas? i have just a couple small gifts to get still (ugh, i hate being this last-minute, and i don’t know when i’ll get to them) and just a couple small ones to wrap. i. am. so. excited!

{justine}

linked to: southern lovely