Valentine's Day Handprint Crafts for Kids (Door Hanger or Wall Art)

I'm always a sucker for handprint crafts so I thought I'd share one I made with the kids two years ago.   At the time, my now-squirmy two year old was just an infant so he didn't have much say in me putting paint all over his piggy toes.  My daughter was three at the time and she couldn't get enough paint on her hands and feet - she loved it so much we actually made three of these Valentine's Day Hand and Footprint crafts to give to each of the grandparents.

What you'll need: 

• 3 pieces of cardboard cut
• 3 pieces of cardstock paper 
• Scrapbook paper in two coordinating patterns
• Hole punch
• Ribbon
• Acrylic craft paint 
• Paper plates (for the paint)
• Tape

To get started put a glob of paint on a paper plate. 

Dip you child's hands in the paint and, if necessary, use a paint brush to fill in any spots on their fingers and palms. 
To make the handprint heart have them keep their fingers closed when they press their hands down on one of the pieces of cardstock. Finger  should be overlapping with the palms forming the top of the heart. 

Repeat the same process with the feet (heels touching) to make the footprint hearts.  Each hand and footprint heart should be on a separate piece of cardstock.

Let the foot/handprint hearts dry while you make the hanger. 

Cut the cardboard into pieces large enough that the hand and foot prints will fit on them. The size will by determined by how large the biggest heart print is.  Cover each piece of cardboard with a piece of scrapbook paper, wrapping it like a present and taping it all together on the back. 

Now it's time to punch the holes.  Take one piece of the covered cardboard and punch a single hole in the center of both the top and bottom.  << This will be the middle section. 

Take another section and punch a hole only in the top.  This will be the bottom piece.  

Take the last section and punch two holes in the top (below right) leaving about an inch or two between the holes.  Then, punch a single hole in the bottom so it can be attached to the middle section. 

Use the ribbon to string them all together looping a piece of ribbon between two sections to hold them together.   On the top piece the side with the two knots gets a piece of ribbon so the VDay handprint art can be hung.

Once the hand and foot prints are dry, cut around the prints in the shape of heart. 
 
Take each of your three heart prints and tape or glue them to a piece of the coordinating scrapbook paper.  Leaving about half an inch on all sides so you can see the scrapbook paper, cut around the prints again in the shape of a heart

I also used a marker to add the kids names and ages so I could remember how little they were when they made these.  Attach each of the hearts to one of the sections of the hanger. 

This Valentine's Day Handprint craft can be used on the front door instead of a wreath or hung as wall art.  

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