Kids Crafts: Hand-print Butterfly

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It might require a bit of a stretch of the imagination... but, this is indeed a butterfly of sorts, albeit a whimsical one :)

Whenever we are in the mood and feel inspired, Ana and I make a few cards together. We do quite a few hand-print themes as Ana loves it for some reason.

And, once the paints are ready and her hands are loaded, in the spirit of conservation, believing that it is best to get as many impressions as possible without wasting the paints, I usually end up with multiple cards of the same theme from that session.

Of course, I end up customizing/finishing each card a bit differently just for fun. Like, I have about 4 hand-print peacock cards, about 4 of these hand-print butterfly cards, (and other hand-print themes that I should get around to posting someday), that look slightly different from each other so I am well-stocked to use it for various occasions :)

Items used: acrylic paints, glitter(optional), black marker, card stock paper, and of course, enthusiastic baby hands

I load the wee hands with paints of my choice sometimes; but, at times, I allow myself to be guided by the whims of the wee one and let her mess with the colors she likes.

It barely takes a minute to make the actual hand-print, but, boy does Ana love the preparation surrounding it. She sits at the table the minute I place the first required item; then, as I hunt and gather the other items on the table she blurts out their names and what she'd like to do with them. And, finally, when I sit down, armed with all the tools, including a bowl of water and a towel for wiping our hands between impressions, she is bursting with anticipation!

Once the hand-prints are fairly dry, i just sketch the required body parts to suggest the creature we intended to present through the hand-print.

Ana was particular about giving this card pictured here to D for Valentine's Day! Of course, Amma (c'est moi) can have one too, but, what's the point? Amma knows to make her own. Poor Appa can't make one for himself, so, Ana just lavishes her crafts on him whenever she can!

Once I planted the idea, she made a few valentine heart cards to give away to her friends as well... just sponge-painted card stock ones that I cut into heart-shapes.