Homemade Christmas gift - Is this lame??

[new_mommy25]

I want to make presents for grandparents and great-grandparents from Noah.

I have a ton of Fimo and Sculpey left over from a project I did last year and had dreams of making handprint ornaments. The problem is my baby is too young to be very coopertive. Although not nearly as tight, his hands are still in little fists most of the time. I could try while he is asleep but I fear waking him as it is getting increasingly difficult to get him down for a nap. I tried a foot print but it was hard to get good pressure for indention.

So on to plan B. I was thinking I would print B&W pictures and paste
onto a piece of cardstock (I would use red, green, gold, silver, shiny blue etc.) On the back I would have his tiny foot (using an inkpad) and write 2003 or "Love Noah, 2003" or "Merry Christmas 2003" on the bottom. Any ideas on good wording? Then I would take it to Kinko's and laminate. FInally I would cut it into the shape of a bulb ornament, punch a hole and attach a pretty piece of string or yarn etc. I actually have the perfect string. It's called craft cord and it's availiable at Micheals. I have a bunch of different metallic shades that I think will be perfect.

So what do you all think? I don't think it's nearly as cool as the sculpey idea, but I'm going to have to wait a few years before that comes into play.

[s7714]

I'm going to try the Fimo hand print ornament thing too. I'm hoping DD will cooperate, but she'll probably just try to grab the clay instead of letting me flatten her hand into it...

I think your "plan b" would be just fine. I'm sure the gp's and ggp's would love them just because they are from Noah anyway! :) Something I just thought of, maybe you could get some actual bulb ornaments and decoupage his picture and foot print(s) onto it? They also sell clear ones that you can fill with stuff. I saw them doing decoupage on the INSIDE of the clear ornaments the other day on a craft show and they looked really nice. Hhmmmm...now the wheels are turning...maybe I'll do something like this myself if the Fimo doesn't work!

Jennifer

Annalia 03/03/03

[new_mommy25]

Wow, great idea. I'm going to look into that, Thanks!!

[amp]

After DS's birth, when his hands wouldn't/couldn't cooperate, we did footprint impressions. Adorable! You might want to consider that for grandparents! Ours loved them!

[luvbeinmama]

The sculpey may actually be possible! But you will need a good helper to hold Noah. There is a local company who makes hand prints in clay and fires & colors them for a keepsake (look at www.littleprintco.com). He's done day old babies! Anyway, he gets REALLY great impressions all the time, so it IS possible!! Try rubbing the knuckles to get him to open his hand, put it down firmly, press on the hand and then each finger. At least try it. I think you may be surprised.

[new_mommy25]

Those are so beautiful. I'm going to be in so. Cal next week. If I have time I want to go to a show! Thank you.

[luvbeinmama]

You're so welcome! BTW - I had to post that I LOVE your new avatar!! VERY cute!!

[calebsmama03]

Hi there,

Question for you - where do you get the FImo and is it softer than sculpy? I looked at Michael's and only saw sculpy , which seemed too hard to use for handprints.
Lynne
Mommy to Caleb 3/3/03

[s7714]

They sell Fimo at Joann's, but I don't know if they have those where you are. The Michael's here in SoCal used to carry Fimo, but my local one closed a few months back and I haven't been to one since.

I actually went and bought some Sculpey because it felt a little softer than the Fimo, but it's still pretty firm. Our first attempt at making prints didn't result in anything usable, but I'm going to try again (when DH ISN"T around to "help" :7 ) Sculpey does make a clay softening agent, but I decided against getting that because it says on the bottle that it can cause skin irritation (don't want to irritate DD's hands).

My craft store (Beverly's) also had a air-drying clay that felt really soft--much softer than Fimo or Sculpey. I may go get some of it this week and try that instead. I don't remember what brand it was, but I'll post if it turns out to be something that works.

Jennifer

Annalia 03/03/03

[luvbeinmama]

You do know your Michael's only moved a few miles down the freeway, don't you? On New LA Ave in Moorpark.