Christmas Wreath Craft
Paint supplies are a staple in our household! My daughter absolutely loves to paint and it is an activity that holds her attention for a while. For each holiday, I try to think of a craft that she can enjoy and that I can keep throughout the years and admire each season.
I have seen other handprint wreaths before, but I wanted to include her hands and feet! If your child likes to paint and you want a keepsake, this is the activity for you! Even if you don’t think your kid will sit still long enough, you would be surprised how easy and quick this can be!
There are a few tricks that might help depending on your child’s age. My daughter is two, and like I said, it is hard to keep her attention for a long period of time. She does of course love to paint; however, I have found that I can convince her to do a “pretty” activity and still give her freedom with paint.
First, I gather all my materials: canvas, paint, brushes, and paper for her to paint afterwards. The extra piece of paper is my trick!! I get all my paint prepped and ready, this includes the paint for the wreath and for her to paint afterwards. I gather all my brushes, wipes or paper towels, and anything else I think I may need. This way, once she realizes what we are doing, we are ready! Next, if I have a picture of what we are doing, I show her and we talk about how we are painting her hands and feet with green paint (or whatever color paint you’re using). And then we start!
Here is everything you will need:
Canvas, 10×10 or 12×12
Acrylic paint, green, white, and red
Ribbon
Glue gun
White paper
Paint one hand with green paint, be sure to paint the entire palm of the hand including the crevices, and place it on the canvas. Then, repeat this step placing their hands in a circular pattern, like a wreath, leaving a little space in between for their foot. I was only able to get 4 handprints, but you could do more depending on your canvas size. My canvas was 10×10, if you have a 12×12 you could easily get 1-2 more handprints/footprints. Once all the handprints are on the canvas, we immediately go to the sink and wash our hands!!
While I am letting the handprints dry, I let my daughter have free range with the paint and a piece of paper. This makes her happy and makes the wreath activity seem like less of “something Mommy wanted me to do.” It also gives me time to clean up green paint without a toddler running around!
Once the handprints are dry, it is time for the feet! If the free play painting lasts a while, the handprints might be dry. Ours was not, so we started on the feet after naptime. Paint the entire bottom part of the foot with a lighter green paint. I mixed green and white paint to make a light green. This allows you to get the color green you want. However, you can easily use a lighter green paint color. Place their foot in between each of the handprints. Once we are done, we immediately go back to the sink to wash our feet!
T I P :
If the hands and feet didn’t come out perfectly and there are white spots, you can fill in some of that space by applying paint with the tip of your finger.
Allow the footprints to dry. Using a smaller paintbrush or Q-tip (I used a Q-tip), paint red dots for berries throughout. You can add as many or as little as you wish! This only takes about 20 minutes to dry.
Next comes the ribbon. I used red ribbon with white polka dots from Michaels that I bought years ago. Use whatever ribbon you have! Tie it in a bow and use a hot glue gun to attach it. And you’re done!
Now you have a beautiful Christmas craft that you can use as a decoration for years to come. This would also be a cute gift for grandparents! And if your kid is like mine, they will be so proud of themselves!
