Christmas Holiday Footprint Art
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I have heard in the past that homemade gifts are the best gifts, well once I had kids I quickly learned that this statement is more true for Grandparents than anyone else on the planet! Anything my kids make for their Grandparents is instantly treasured! These Christmas Holiday Footprint Art Crafts are no exception.
When Little A was a few months old, we had our first Christmas season giving Grandparent gifts. I had pinned some ideas for cute footprint crafts and figured I would give it a whirl.
They were definitely not as easy to make as I expected, BUT everyone Loved them! Now, 3 years later, I have footprint art canvases down to a science! I make them every Christmas, as well as Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Here is how I make this adorable Christmas Holiday Footprint Art.
Check out my other Holiday Footprint Craft posts for Mother’s Day HERE and Father’s Day HERE!
1) Gather Your Materials
I have learned that having the proper materials makes a world of difference. I highly recommend having all of your materials laid out and ready to go, before you bring your kids over! With everything you need ready to go, it only takes about 5 minutes to make the actual footprints on the canvas. After that, the kids are done, let’s be honest you won’t have your kids’ attention for much longer than that anyways!
Canvases
I buy this 12 pack of 8×8 Thin Canvases from Amazon every May. I’m not kidding, I just checked and I literally bought a 12 pack in May 2016, May 2017 and May 2018! It gives me enough to make a holiday canvas for 3 sets of grandparents, and our home for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Christmas.
I tried thicker canvases at first, but these are nice and flat so they are easy to frame if desired and they fit nicely on a canvas holder to display. They are also more sturdy across the whole thing, important when pushing a little foot onto it.
I have found 8 x 8 to be a great canvas size. It is big enough for the footprints, including 2 sets last Mother’s Day when Little A and Baby J both put their footprints on the gifts. There is also room to write a short message on the canvas. I think if the canvas was any bigger, it would need way too many extra artistic touches to fill the space.
Paint and Brushes
I have always used Craft Smart Acrylic Paints for this project. I had them on hand the very first time and is the only material that I still use from my first footprint art when Little A was 3 months old.
This particular paint goes onto Baby’s foot smoothly, doesn’t bubble when you press it on the canvas, and dries quickly. This is important to me because I am often whipping these up the morning of a holiday! It also washes off very easily with soap and water, or just a baby wipe. We have tried both depending on where we are.
I use these cheap, basic foam brushes to brush the paint on the bottom of my kids’ feet. They are soft, not harsh on the skin and apply the paint beautifully.
Markers
Once your footprints are dry, it’s time to add the finishing touches. For the Butterfly Canvas, I added antennae and a body in between the wings. On the Bumblebee Canvas, I added the wings, eyes, antennae, and stripes. The Bird Canvas needed beaks, eyes, bellies, and feet.
As you can see, I always write the year so that we can all remember when they were made.
I use this Pilot extra-fine point metallic marker for things like outlining the birds’ beaks and bellies. It comes in a 2 pack, with one silver and one gold marker. I have found it a little too thin for the holiday message, but great for the things that need a very thin line.
I write my messages with these Sharpie fine point markers, I have both the metallic (another 2 pack including silver and gold) and the colors (this is the 15 color set that I have) and use them both on most of the canvases. Finally, I also have these Sharpie medium-point colored markers.
Supplies Are Gathered, Let’s Do This!
Now it’s time to get that baby or toddler and get to work! If I am doing my baby’s footprints, I put the canvas on a table or counter that is a comfortable height for me to e able to hold the baby over the canvas. If I am working with my toddler, I put the canvas on the floor and have her sit in front of it. This minimizes smudging of the prints in my experience.
Paint your child’s foot with an even coat of the color of your choice. Be sure to coat it thoroughly and evenly. It is very difficult to line a child’s foot up exactly the same way twice!
Use your child’s foot as a stamp. Press firmly and evenly against the canvas, which should be laid flat on whatever surface you are working on. Then prompt remove the foot, lifting straight off the canvas to avoid smudging.
Place the canvas somewhere out of your child’s reach quickly, then either wipe the foot with a baby wipe or soap and water. The paints I use come right off without any issues at all.
It’s All About the Details
Once your footprints are dry, maybe an hour at the most, it’s time to add in the details with markers. I start at the top of the canvas and work my way down, to avoid smudging the paint markers with my hand as I write.
I add in the year and holiday message first to be sure I have room for those. Then add in your snowflakes, lights, stars, etc.
Show Me Your Work!
I would LOVE to see your beautiful Christmas Holiday Footprint Art! Please feel free to tag me on Instagram @MamasManyLoves or use #mamasmanyloves. I will absolutely feature your work on my Instagram!!
