enJOY it

an archived personal and craft blog from Elise Blaha Cripe.

Placecards

Ellerie and I had our first mama-baby craft project adventure last week when we made Thanksgiving place cards. My plan was to have her stamp her little hand print eight times on various Project Life cards in Thankgiving colors (these are from the Sunshine and Midnight kits). I grabbed non-toxic craft paint in orange and a pack of baby wipes, covered a section of the dining table and rolled up her sleeve.

I figured I'd just paint her hand with a brush and we'd bang these out before she knew what was happening.

Placecard2

And then I touched the brush to her hand and she balled it into a fist around the bristles and I knew this wasn't going to quite as planned.

Placecard3

It was impossible to get her to open her hand – that paint was just too squishy and awesome. So instead I just pushed each card against her painted fist and we got what we got. I spent more time cleaning her hand than we spent "painting."

Placecard5

The paint took about 10 minutes to dry and then I added to each a gold letter sticker with the initial of each guest and wrote "Thanksgiving 2013" in pen on the bottom. Super simple and Ellerie's first art project. I am now considering duplicating this experiment with some canvases and more paint colors.

Too fun, this mama gig.

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36 responses to “our thanksgiving placecards.”

  1. andi r Avatar
    andi r

    I had a similar problem with my son when he was little. Try her foot, you may get a better result…. Best of luck, cane wait to see what you come up with, and I’m dying to see the new office 😉

    Like

  2. Toni From Avatar

    So sweet Elise. If you decide to go the hand print route again, enlist your hubby. One to put paint on, one to flatten hand and place down…that’s the only way my hubby and I were able to get good hand prints at that age.

    Like

  3. Alicia Avatar

    That’s so stinkin’ cute! And can be easily fit into a scrapbook after T-day to record the event along with this story. 🙂

    Like

  4. Kelly Jean Avatar

    Soooo cute! I would love to see a photo of her little hand painted orange!

    Like

  5. mcniland@hotmail.com Avatar
    mcniland@hotmail.com

    stamp pads are easier to work with for babies, but harder to clean off…..

    Like

  6. Sandra Avatar
    Sandra

    Where’s li’l E’s card? Happy turkey time.

    Like

  7. Megan Anderson Avatar

    So cute! I’ve always had an easier job getting footprints out of babies, but the abstract hand markings are good stuff too.

    Like

  8. tami Avatar
    tami

    Use her foot too

    Like

  9. Carol Avatar

    The fact that none of them are her full hand some how make it 100 times cuter!

    Like

  10. Carly Maria Avatar

    such a sweet idea and project!
    Ps. been loving Spilled Milk lately!

    Like

  11. Joy Avatar

    What a cute idea! You’ll have to try it again next year and maybe get more of a hand-print – but so cute and what a fun story to go along with the cards. A special keep-sake!

    Like

  12. Holly S Avatar
    Holly S

    You’re like a seasoned pro…look at you going with the flow…so NOT a first time mother gig! You got this!!!

    Like

  13. annika Avatar
    annika

    very often babies don’t like the cold paint on their hands. try to warm the paint,e.g. with warm water. maybe that works better! sweet idea your cards!

    Like

  14. Emily S Avatar
    Emily S

    there was this pinterest project where someone made handprint ornaments. yeah. not happening with my then 8-month old for the reasons you mentioned.
    i did read where people had success getting handprints while their babies were still asleep. 😛

    Like

  15. AnaGlezGcia Avatar
    AnaGlezGcia

    Jajaja, and thaks she didn´t open her hand to take your hair or touch her clothes…very very imaginative, as always…

    Like

  16. Sarah Avatar

    When we made a handprint imprint in clay of my 3 month old, it was a 2-person job — one to hold her, one to pry her little hand open flat enough to make the imprint! 🙂 Regardless, these are adorable.

    Like

  17. Carrie Avatar

    It’s the effort that counts 🙂

    Like

  18. Melissa Avatar
    Melissa

    I like how each couples’ cards match. Very cute idea. Congratulations, Ellerie, on your first creation!! 😉

    Like

  19. Linda Avatar
    Linda

    Try her foot next time. We made a swatshirt for Daddy a long time ago (she just turned 26) and used hands of the older ones but the foot of the little one.

    Like

  20. Danielle Avatar
    Danielle

    “And then I touched the brush to her hand and she balled it into a fist around the bristles and I knew this wasn’t going to go quite as planned.”
    Hahaha I love this so much. I can imagine exactly what happened, and a little chubby baby hand full of paint and balled into a fist sounds like the most adorable thing, especially with her face probably trying to figure out what you just did :)) so fun

    Like

  21. Debbie Avatar

    Too too fun!!! It’s amazing how those little one’s ways effect our plans. Perfect!

    Like

  22. Ashlee Avatar

    I might totally steal this idea. Love it!

    Like

  23. Amanda S. Avatar

    So cute!!! The imperfection really makes it awesome! 🙂 Have you seen the growing hands out of patterned paper?! Check this out: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/47076758577861111/
    and then there’s the glitter feet ornaments: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/47076758577938172/
    I could so see you doing something awesome with both of those ideas! 🙂 Can’t wait to see more kiddo art 🙂

    Like

  24. Sally Avatar
    Sally

    they looks a little ominous before reading the description..

    Like

  25. Emily Avatar

    So adorable. I used to LOVE making place cards for my family each Thanksgiving, I’m pretty sure I did it from babyhood up until high school! An awesome tradition to start now.

    Like

  26. Holly Avatar
    Holly

    Large stamp pads work great, but when I want more color options I wait until my little ones are asleep. I staurate a giant kitchen sponge with the paint, press it against their hands, and then put their hands directly on whatever I’m using (ornament, canvas, etc.) Works like a charm, but I have heavy sleepers!

    Like

  27. Brianna Avatar
    Brianna

    So cute! When she’s a little (a lot) older, you can do balloons and or marbles on canvas with paint. The effect is really cool.

    Like

  28. Kellie Winnell Avatar
  29. Larissa Avatar

    So cute! I love the way they turned out. My friend had us stamp our hands on a baby shower game and I had my 3-month-old with me and I found out if you press on the top of their hands, like with your thumb, they open their hands. Some sort of reflex-type of thing I think. It worked for us. And then of course I had to go home and duplicate it 900 times because now, now at 8-months, his hands are so much bigger. This hand-stamped card would be kind of the cutest tradition ever.

    Like

  30. elise blaha Avatar

    little e will be sharing a seat with her grandma(s). 🙂

    Like

  31. Cynthia H Avatar

    I just had to laugh at your description because it sounded like such a mother-daughter moment : )

    Like

  32. J. Avatar

    This is so sweet!!

    Like

  33. Melissa Avatar

    That’s so sweet!! Happy to have found your blog. Cheers!

    Like

  34. Skye Avatar
    Skye

    So freaking cute! I love how you are including her already. She’s going to be a great little crafter. 🙂

    Like

  35. Sarah Avatar

    They look so sweet, I love the idea

    Like

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