Our 2014 handmade ornaments: Fingerprint Snowmen.

Every year I think of a handmade ornament to do with the kids. I like them to incorporate their picture, hand print, footprint, something that shows how little/young they were at the time of the ornament's creation. This year we used fingerprints {and toe prints for the baby because have you ever tried to keep a 9 month old's hand open so you could put paint on it to get a print??}. Anyway, we used the kid's fingerprints to make snowmen like this:

 

To make your own, here's what you'll need:

white, black, orange, and red {optional} craft paint

little wooden discs from the craft store

small paint brushes

decorative ribbon

eyelet hooks

glitter paint

decoupage

felt

hot glue

some cute tiny fingers

First we began with the thumb, then pointer finger, then pinky finger for the snow man's head. Put some paint on your finger and then press down onto the wood piece carefully so it doesn't smudge. {you may need to touch it up as the paint might soak into the wood a little and look a bit faint}

Once you have the snowman's body on and it's dry, you can add a nose...

And buttons...

And his hat.

You can do this step later but this is when I did it. Carefully screw in an eyelet hook to the top of the disc.

Here is where I thought I was ready to add the scarf but I thought some snow might be nice and remembered I had some clear glitter paint. We painted the front with the glitter. It will look pretty white but will dry clear leaving a shimmer of glitter.

To seal it so it's protected for years to come, we put a coat of decoupage over it. Again it will dry clear.

To hang it, pick out some pretty ribbon and string it through the hook and knot it at it's ends.

Last we added a scarf so our snowmen doesn't get cold. I just cut some felt into very small strips and cut one end to resemble scarf ends. I used hot glue to adhere the felt. You could also just paint a scarf on at the same time you paint the nose, buttons, and hat on.

And now you have your own little finger {or toe} print snowman ornament. We made these not only for our tree but for each of the grandparent's trees. This is the 9th year we have done these types of ornaments, ever since our first son was born. Handmade ornaments are my favorite!

Happy Holidays!

*Meg