Mother’s Day Footprint Art

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It has been said 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!

One of the most fun holiday crafts you can make is Footprint Art. These simple crafts capture a moment in time that can be displayed and enjoyed for years to come. I make them for the grandparents (and me!) for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas.

My favorite footprint craft is Mother’s Day Footprint Art. The possibilities are endless for bright colorful spring themes, butterflies, bees, flowers, you name it!

See below for my process to make these timeless Mother’s Day Footprint Art projects, including links to the supplies I have had the best luck with making these projects.

1) Gather Your Materials

I have learned that having your materials set up makes a world of difference. It only takes about 5 minutes to make the actual footprints on the canvas. Let’s be honest you probably won’t have your kids’ attention for longer than that! Once the canvas is dry, just draw on the extra details like butterfly or bee antenna, wings, etc.

I highly recommend having all of your materials physically laid out and ready to go before you bring your kids over! Otherwise, it is a recipe for a paint disaster!!

Canvases

I buy this 12-pack of 8×8 Thin Canvases from Amazon every May. The package provides enough canvases to make holiday canvases 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. This makes them 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 these paints on hand the very first time and they are the only material that I still use from my first footprint art when Little A was 3 months old.

This particular paint goes onto the 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 on the morning of a holiday! The pint 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 evenly.

2) Footprints

Now it’s time to put that baby or toddler 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 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 any smudging of the prints.

Paint your child’s foot with an even coat of the color of your choice. Be sure to coat it thoroughly. It is very difficult to line a child’s foot up exactly the same way twice, I have tried!

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.

3) Finishing Touches

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 little accents.

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.

Additionally, I always write the year so that we can all remember when they were made.

Cute Sayings

Unsure what to write on your Mother’s Day Footprint Art? I try to add a cute saying to each canvas as well. For the birds, I added “Grandma’s ‘Tweet’ Hearts. As for the bumblebees, “I couldn’t Bee any happier to have a grandma like you.”

Recommended Markers for Canvas

I use these Pilot extra-fine point metallic markers for details like outlining the birds’ beaks and bellies. It comes in a 2-pack, containing one silver and one gold marker. I have found them a little too thin for the holiday message, but great for the things that need a very thin line like bird beaks and feet.

I write my messages with Sharpie fine point oil-based paint markers, I have both the metallic (another 2-pack including silver and gold) and a colored set with 8 bright colors, also the fine point. Finally, I also have the Sharpie medium-point colored markers. The Sharpie oil-based paint markers have never bled or faded on my canvases, even after 7 years.

Amazon now sells the full set of Sharpie fine point and medium point markers that even includes the metallics! I wish they had this set when I purchased my markers, as I paid far more to grab them all separately.

Share Your Mother’s Day Footprint Art

I would LOVE to see your beautiful footprint art! Please feel free to tag me on Instagram @MamasManyLoves or use #mamasmanyloves. I will feature your work on my Instagram!!