I’m no different. When Maia was just a couple months old, I invited another mom and her baby over to make sweet baby handprints and footprints. I remember painting their tiny hands and feet then pressing them to paper. I sent some of the prints to grandparents and great grandparents and kept some for myself as a keepsake.
The thing about children’s hands, though, is that they keep growing! And you want to capture the teeny-tiny baby hands, the toddler hands that are into everything, and the “I’m a big kid now” five-year-old’s hands.
So you can imagine that when Memories in Clay, now one of my blog sponsors, invited me to try out their process of making clay plaques out of children’s handprints, I said, “Yes, please!” What mom wouldn’t want a keepsake plaque of their children’s hands?
As I have two daughters, we decided to go with a sisters plaque and have both of their handprints together with their names.
I wanted to share photos of the process, since I think its rather unique, then I’ll show you the girls’ reaction to receiving the finished plaque in the mail, and finally a photo of the plaque in their room.
The process of making the handprint plaques was very easy—basically a four-step process once we decided which plaque we wanted (there are lots of keepsake plaque options in the Memories in Clay shop).
#2 We rolled out the molding material on a sheet of foil using the tube provided. Maia and I took turns doing this. It wasn’t hard to roll out, but I wanted to make sure it was evenly rolled and also that it was big enough to hold both their hands.
#3 The kids pressed their hands into the material, side by side. I helped coordinate the arrangement before they placed their hands down. We did it in one try, but the nice thing about this kit and the molding material is that if you don’t like the first attempt, you can roll it out again and make a new handprint. As many times as you want.
#4 I baked the handprints in the oven following the instructions provided, let them cool, then popped them into the return envelope and put it out for the mailman to pick up. Easy peasy.
A few weeks later we received another package from Memories in Clay, this time with our finished clay plaque! I don’t know who was more impressed and excited by the handprint plaque—me or the girls.
They tested their hands against the relief handprints, commented on how it was like their real hands, and spent a lot of time smiling and giggling.
We hung the plaque in their bedroom, between their two beds—the perfect place for a special plaque commemorating their sisterhood.
If you’d like a keepsake handprint plaque of your own, Memories in Clay makes the entire process easy. We are so happy with the plaque they made for us! There are a variety of keepsake plaque options available in their shop—everything from newborn baby hand and footprint plaques (with birth date, time, weight, etc), mommy and me handprint plaques (and daddy and me plaques, too, of course!), sibling plaques, handprint ornaments, and “Best Grandparents Hands Down!” plaques.
Who wouldn’t want a keepsake plaque of their children’s hands? I think this is such a lovely thing to do for yourself, for your children, or as a gift.
Note: The process takes a little while, so plan ahead for Mother’s Day and all that. This isn’t a last-minute gift.
Memories in Clay is an Artful Parent sponsor; all opinions expressed are my own.
