Hand Print Christmas Tree

Back in December I became addicted to a very popular site, Pinterest. You may have heard of it... If you haven't, you should check it out. (And let me know if you'd like to join; I'd be happy to send you an invite.) There are a bunch of very creative people on there passing on their wonderful ideas for crafts, recipes, home decor, fashion and so much more.

Anyway, I've found several crafts and recipes I'd like to try, some of which I already have. And I've been meaning to blog about them so I could show my progress... so travel back with me to December 4th, where I tried my first hand at a Pinterest project...

A Hand Print Christmas tree.

 (Click here to see the original post on The Other White House blog)

I love crafts that incorporate the kids' hand/feet prints. They're so personal. Years from now those crafts will remind us just how little they once were. I especially liked this one since I can get it out each year and display it. (I'm really into Christmas, fyi.)

So, while Daddy was out doing some Christmas shopping, the kids and I got to work.

Supplies:

Canvas

Paint (green & brown)

Foam brushes

Optional:

Yellow paint, if you'd like to paint a star

Ribbon, needle and thread if you'd prefer to try my topper...

We're ready!!

 1. Squirt some green paint onto a palette or plate

2. Use the foam brush to paint your child's hand

 3. Leaving room at the bottom for the tree trunk, apply the child's hand to the canvas.

I apparently missed the part where she tells you to do the outer edges of the tree first. I started with DD's (Dear Daughter) hand prints as the base and then used DS's (Dear Son, if you hadn't already deduced...) for the top. We started to run out of room before we could get the full tree on there...

Luckily I had purchased a two pack of canvases and we did it the right way the second time. So, like she suggests, we took DS's hand, being the smaller of the two, and did the outline of the tree and then DD came in and filled in the middle.

4. Paint a tree trunk and a star at the top if you'd like.

I thought it would be neat to do something a little different and had my mother-in-law tie a bow for the topper of ours. She sewed it right onto the canvas for me, too.

Since we had two canvases, and the other didn't really turn out so bad, we gave one to my mother-in-law to keep as well. I forgot to get a picture of hers though. I think they were really cute and it was a nice addition to our Christmas decor. Its definitely something I'll cherish forever :-)

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