Mother's Day Gift - Everyday Party Magazine

May 7, 2014

Mother’s Day Gift

Mother’s Day is fast approaching and I always struggle with gift ideas for the boys’ grandmothers…this gift would be perfect for the moms AND grandmas in your life!

With Mother’s Day coming up, there are lots of different crafts to do with your children. This is a fun craft that you can do with just a few items found in the pantry and craft room. Even smaller kids can do these clay handprints with adult supervision while having fun with Mom on Mother’s Day. There’s a lot of room for improvising and making your clay handprint unique.

Here’s what you’ll need:

one package of polymer clay per hand or a batch of salt dough (recipe is below)
rolling pin or pasta roller
toothpick or pencil
cookie sheet
yarn or twine

You can use store bought clay in a variety of bright, fun colors or make salt dough from items found in your pantry.

Here’s the basic recipe for salt dough:

1 cup of salt
1 cup of water
2 cups of flour
Rolling-pin
Pastry-board
Bowl

Mix the salt and flour together, then add 1 cup of water. If the salt dough isn’t the right consistency, add more of one ingredient. If it feels too wet or sticky, add more flour, and if it feels too dry, add more water.

Once the salt dough is the consistency you like, use a pasta roller or rolling pin to smooth the dough or polymer clay to the desired thickness and size. Place your children’s hands on the clay and trace it using something slightly sharp like a toothpick or pencil.

You can add a fun shape or sweet message to the palm of the handprint to add interest. I cut out a heart shape as well as several small hearts from the leftover clay. If you’re using the dough, allow it to air dry and if you’re using polymer clay, follow the directions on the package to bake it until it hardens. While the oven is heating, place your shapes on a baking sheet and make small holes near the top to guide string or yarn through once they’ve hardened.

After the handprints have dried or baked, you can paint them a color of your choice. Then cut several short lengths of string to loop through the holes and hang the clay ornaments by.

~Taylor Fox

Taylor found her inspiration here