Every Christmas I try to make a craft with my kids to give to family. This year I had a 4, 2, and a 7 month old. My four year old daughter loves crafts and could make a lot of things on her own. But my two year old still needs a lot of help and obviously my 7 month old can’t do much of anything. So, I had to be creative to come up with something everyone could participate in. We ended up making a handprint ornament with Shrinky Dinks and fingerpaints.
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How to Make a Christmas Light Handprint Ornament
Supplies:
- Shrinky Dink plastic
- Grey colored pencil
- Sharpie
- Finger paints
- Mod Podge (optional)
- Embroidery thread
- LED light bulbs (optional)
Making the Shrink Plastic Handprint Ornament
First, cut your ornament shape from Shrinky Dink plastic. I used my Brother’s ScanNCut and this Christmas light SVG to cut mine. You can also print out the SVG, trace it, and cut it out by hand. Make sure you have plenty of space for your child’s hand. Then, to make the ornaments look more like Christmas lights, color the tops grey with a colored pencil. You or your child can also write their name and year in this grey area. If any of my pictures look a little weird, it is from me editing out the names on the tops of my ornaments.
Next, comes the fun part. Squirt finger paint on a plate or something else that fits your child’s entire hand. Then, have them or help them press their hand into the paint and on to the ornament.
I had my 4 year old take pictures of me doing this with my baby and the pictures are hilarious.
My 2 year old son did more on his own. But, after a few, I started helping him press his hand on the ornament to get more obvious handprints.
My daughter was able to do hers all on her own. I just needed to watch her and remind her to spread out her fingers every few ornaments.
Lastly, follow the instructions on your Shrinky Dinks for cooking your ornaments. Make sure the paint is really dry before cooking them. The paint made my Shrinky Dinks cook strangely, but less so when the paint was completely dry.
Finishing the Ornament
Now that you have made each handprint ornament, it is time for some finishing touches. First, help them last longer by painting them with Mod Podge. While this step is optional, it helped keep my flaky paint on the ornaments.
Now it is time to hang them. Tie a piece of embroidery thread around the tops of your ornaments. Then, if you want to add light, string a light onto the thread. I used these LED lights, but they are kind of obnoxious to turn on. If I made them again, I would use something more like this. Lastly, tie a knot around the light and tie the ends of your thread together.
You now have cute keepsake handprint ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree with.
Conclusion of Making Christmas Light Handprint Ornaments
Overall, these ornaments were a lot of fun to make and turned out really cool. There are a few things I think I could have improved like letting the paint dry longer and buying different lights. But, I really like how unique and fun they look. Some handprints look better than others, but that is the nature of doing crafts with kids. My kids were really excited about making them and seeing them up on the tree once we finished.
Check out other fun Christmas crafts, ornaments, and Shrinky Dink crafts we have made.
