On the hunt for another fun decoration or thrifty gift idea?? Call your kiddos on over… it’s time to make some Handprint {and Footprint} Canvas Art! 
Following is a fun guest post and project submitted by frugal friend Kim… Enjoy!!
What You’ll Need:
- 12×12 canvases {Kim used a coupon to get them for less than $2 each at Michaels!}
- Washable paints {various colors}
What You’ll Do:
- Finger paint {or brush on} a solid color of washable paint on the white canvas for a background.
- After it has dried, have the kids carefully place a painted hand or footprint down in the middle.
- After the hand print or foot print has dried… you can have fun turning them into animals! I used a sharpie to draw in the details, and was inspired by some ideas here.
- After all of the steps above have dried, spray canvases with a few coats of matte clear acrylic sealer, to help seal them, keep the colors sharp, and keep the paint from washing away over time.
- You can even add googly eyes for some added character, too!
- Write the kids’ names and ages on the back… then hang! {or give as a fun, thrifty gift!}
Here are a few of the canvases we made:
Elephant Handprint…
Butterfly Footprint…
Bee Footprint…
Fish Handprint…
We also made some as gifts for Grandpa and Grandma! For our farmer grandparents, I made a basic barn, and each child made a cow and horse handprint.
We saw some horses, cows & pigs as a craft at a local pumpkin patch last fall. I wasn’t willing to pay someone else to do that with my kids, but I figured I could duplicate it at home… so we did – and my kids LOVED it!
I drew a basic barn (no art skills here!) and with lots of help, let my 3 year old finger paint it red. Then each child put a white and brown handprint down, on either side of the barn. I outlined the animals with a sharpie, then framed it for the grandparents for Christmas!
Here’s the farm, before it was framed…
I don’t consider myself artistic… but these were so easy! These make fun {and thrifty} artwork ~ we display them in our playroom! Super easy, cheap, and awesome keepsakes… in my opinion.
I can’t help but smile every time I see them, and the kids adore them too because they loved making them!
Kim is a stay-at-home mom of three kids, living in San Antonio, TX. Her kids are 3, 22 months, and they’re expecting #3 to arrive at the end of the year! She’s in love with her Lord Jesus Christ, her husband & kids, and finding creative ways to live well on less money.
Thank you Kim for sharing your fun ideas with us all ~ you did a fabulous job!!
Got a Guest Post you’d like featured on TheFrugalGirls.com?? Or would you like to share photos of your fun ideas? Go here for information on submitting a guest post!
So… have you made any fun handprint or footprint art??
Or have you had any creative fun with canvas art?
Leave a comment & share!
This is great! We did this earlier in the summer at an amusement park and it cost us $12 per child! I Love it and now we can make more! Thanks so much for the info!
These sure seem simple with an extraordinary finished product! NICE!
This is great! You can also do handprint calendars (http://www.cereschildcare.com/calendar.html) or fingerprint characters (http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/miscellaneous/fingerprint_characters.htm). You can google those to find different ideas for hand/finger/footprints!
LOVE LOVE LOVE these!!
So cute!!! I Love this!!! Will share with our Art Teacher at Tuesday School!!!
Tks
Related: Michael’s is clearancing artists boards. An 8 pk was 5 bucks. Would be handy for this project. (I bought some to spraypaint and make chalkboard placemats with)
Thank you son much for linking back to my blog? I love how they all turned out! WOuld you mind if I featured the horse/cow one in an upcoming Handprint Farm Animals post? Does Kim have her own blog too?
Thanks!
Amanda
Hey Amanda – This is Kim W from above. I do have a family blog, but it’s private. I love your handprint site – thanks for the inspiration! You’re welcome to use the horse/cow. My email is kim.wuenschel at hotmail dot com.
OMG! This is the cutest crafts I have ever seem, I told my son’s day care this morning about them and I am taking one afternoon off to go show them how to do them! Thank for the great tips!
I made these with my daughter yesterday. We had so much fun and they look awesome!!!
I did these tonight for my youngest daugther’s room- we’re moving to a new house and she will have her own room so I wanted to decorate it with personalized artwork just for her!
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/photo.php?fbid=10150406939001222&set=a.10150406938926222.349296.657171221&type=1&theater
I’m wondering what brand of paint you used for this project. I tried doing the bumble bee one on a green background and the yellow failed to show through. Was a little disappointed. Please help… anybody?!?! Thank you!
Janice
i love those can a nine year old like myself make one
Featured your prints on a mothers day post today.
http://www.stayingclosetohome.com/2012/05/diy-mothers-day-gifts.html
What kind of paint did you use for these?
What a great idea! Can’t wait to try these!