Are you looking for a bit of a challenge and want to know how to make baby footprints and handprints at home? How about we go a little further and even make a 3D faceprint of your toddler? We had a lot of fun with this keepsake memory craft activity, and trust me, it is quite simple to make!
When my oldest was born I wanted to treasure every moment I could. Besides photo albums, first haircut memory, and stuff like that, I also wanted to capture those little hands and feet. I made them as a personalized gift for grandparents. And I must say, they enjoyed it more than anything you can buy.
This year when my girls are 6 and 3 we came up with an idea to make a 3D faceprint as well! To my surprise, I couldn’t find that kind of project anywhere online. It’s simple, creative, and very effective.
To make it easier for you I made a short tutorial you can easily follow:
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How to make a baby 3d footprint with molding powder
All these steps are the same for
- 3D footprints,
- 3D handprints,
- or 3D faceprints
STEP 1 – SALT DOUGH DIY RECIPE FOR 2 FACES
- 2 CUPS / 500G OF FLOWER
- 1 CUP / 250 g OF SALT
- 0,85 CUP / 200 ml OF LUKEWARM WATER
- TABLESPOON OF OIL
- Knead the dough until smooth.
- For better results put the salt into the water, and it will dissolve faster and be smoother.
RELATED ARTICLE: Canvas gift idea a 3-year-old can make
STEP 2 – IMPRINTING AND CASTING BABY’S HANDS, FEET, OR FACE
- Put the dough in a bowl, a cardboard box, or anything that fits feet, hands, or a face. We used a cardboard box for the face and a smaller bowl for 3d footprints and handprints
- IMPORTANT: If you are using a bowl, make sure you place a plastic wrap before the dough. Make it go above the edges so you can easily get it out once it’s dry.
- Even up the surface
- For a better imprint, you can place some oil on top of the dough
- For casting baby hands and feet press slightly each finger to make a deeper impression
- For casting a face, place it on the kid’s face and give it enough pressure to feel comfortable. Mine enjoyed this part, we had quite a laugh doing it!
STEP 3 PREPARE THE MOULDING POWDER
- Put the molding powder and water into a bowl – a ratio of 2:1
- Leave for 1 minute
- Then stir
- Pour out into your salt dough.
- Place some straws right away, so you can remember on what side the wholes need to be, so you can hang it on the wall
- Leave for 24 hours
STEP 4 – SHAPE YOUR 3D PROJECT
- Grind the edges
- Smooth uneven surfaces with a soft sandpaper
- You can leave it in a shape of a bowl with hands and feet, or fully shape it as I did with our 3d model of a face
STEP 5 – DECORATE YOUR KEEPSAKE MEMORIES
- You can leave it like that, the natural look
- Or you can paint it
- I really can’t draw, but I wanted to highlight the lines of a face, so did the painting with some golden acrylic matt paint
- I used a brush and a sponge as you can see in the video tutorial
When you take out the dough from the 3d imprint, you can still reuse it to make lots of crafts with salt dough. You can make some ornaments, make a new imprint, or just play with it as homemade playdough.
IS CASTING SAFE FOR BABY?
- In this tutorial, we only used flour, salt, water, and oil.
- Those are the only ingredients your child’s skin comes to contact with
- So Yes, this method of casting is perfectly safe for your baby and toddlers
Now you know how to make baby footprints and handprints with these extra interesting ideas. This baby footprint kit is quite budget friendly and simple to make.
HOW TO USE THIS SENTIMENTAL GIFT
You can use it for so many occasions:
- As DIY project and things to do for Mother`s Day
- Sentimental gifts for Christmas for Grandparents
- DIY gift for Dad’s Birthday
- Last minute DIY gift for a relative
- Good aunt and uncle baby keepsake gift
- Place it on your wall, or just save it in your baby keepsake box
Some more ideas for creative projects with kids:
- Gift ideas with clay
- Canvas painting ideas for kids
- Personalized Mother
s Day card - ˝I love you ¨
Fathers Day card - Decorate a plain photo collage frame