Father's Day Craft

Last year, Ayden and I had a blast making our finger paint art.  This year, the pressure was on to top that!  So...we got Daddy a new puppy!  We adopted (after much discussion) a Great Dane-Shepherd mix puppy and we're so excited!  Meet Kahlua Pi...

Yes, this is how she likes to lay...don't ask.

Ok, so not what you were expecting?  Thought so...  No worries, Ayden and I still whipped up a little something for Father's Day! We made two different things for two very special guys.  A shadow box and hand print coasters.

The shadowbox is super easy.  I purchased a shadow box frame from Michael's, a sheet of peel-and-stick scrapbook paper, photo corners, pre-cut paper circles, some raffia ribbon, glue, acrylic paint and a 3D sticker. Here's the finished product:

The picture really doesn't do the project justice, but I'm having issues finding good light these days (my apologies).  On the top left is Ayden's hand print on the pre-cut circle paper.  Super easy...using a sponge wedge, I coated my little man's hand with acrylic paint, stamped it onto the paper and used a baby wipe to wash of the paint...easy-peasy.  I poked a couple holes in the top, tied a raffia bow, and glued it to the shadow box.  Top right is the 3D sticker, found in the scrapbooking aisle.  On the bottom are two prints from our wedding secured to the box with photo corners.  The cool thing about the photo corners is they're peel and stick, so they were easy to use and also, if the recipient should desire to change the photos, they're easy to remove...but they won't fall off on their own.

Project number two is a set of slate coasters with hand prints on them (yes, I'm in a hand print phase...so sue me).  You can do this project on regular tiles if you prefer...I just liked the look of the slate and they already had felt on the bottom to keep them from scratching the furniture.  

To make these all you need is your base of choice (slate coasters, tiles, whatever), acrylic paint, sponge brush, and modge podge.  Make sure your base is clean and dry.  Coat your little one's hand in paint and stamp it onto the coaster.  Let dry completely.  Using sponge brush, apply a coat of modge podge.  Allow to dry completely.  Add a second coat of modge podge if desired.  

Now I will say this about my coasters...if I had it to do over again, I'd go with white paint...or pretty much any color besides 'bloody hand print red.'  Maybe I should save them for a Halloween gift??  But other than that, they turned out pretty good and were super easy.  And cheap...did I mention this project was less than $10?

Well friends, happy crafting and to all the dads out there, Happy Father's Day!  

Fun with Finger Paint

Since this is Aaron's first official Father's Day, I wanted to do something special for him.  Now, I'm not working, so I can't go out and get him the grill he drools over every time we go to Home Depot (yawn).  I asked him what he wanted and got the usual response of, "Dear, I don't need anything."  *Sigh*  Typical man...and they say WE'RE hard to figure out!  But let's just not go there...

So I asked myself...what do you get the man who doesn't want anything?  I suppose it should really be from Ayden, so maybe something Ayden can have a hand in?  He's only 7 months old, so there's not a lot he can do besides drool.  So I went to my trusty Pinterest board in search of inspiration.  Eureka!  I saw a pin I had about edible homemade finger paints...and another for art made from letter stickers creating sort of a negative image on a painting (sounds weird...you'll see what I mean).

So I made the finger paints...way easier than I expected.  I made three colors of which I thought would look cute together.  I took an 8x10 piece of canvas panel and, using letter stickers, added 'I love you'.  Canvas panel has the texture of canvas but it's not wrapped around a frame.  It's flat, so I figured it'd be easier to frame and if we didn't add a frame, I wouldn't have to worry about painting the edges.

Once the paints had cooled and the letters were affixed to the boards, I let Ayden have at it.  It took a bit of coaxing and showing him how it's done before he dove in.  I found that, at least for his age, it was easier to pour some paint on the panel and let him swirl it around.

Once the paint has dried (I let mine sit overnight), you can carefully peel the letters off, revealing the white beneath.  Some of the paint bled under on mine, but I think it actually looks pretty cool that way.

A tasty masterpiece

If you want to spend a little extra time and effort on this, you can paint the panel a solid color that you like and let your kids paint a different color over it...I personally prefer the white, though.

An additional word of caution...food coloring stains...so cover everything!  Also...have a bath ready to go for when your kids are finished...mind went directly into the sink to get suds up so we didn't mess up the rest of the house!

Ayden getting clean in the sink...he found Nemo!

Recipe for finger paints:

2 tbsp sugar

1/3 cup flour

1 cup water

1.  Add all ingredients to a saucepan.  Whisk until smooth.

2.  Heat to medium low and stir continuously until thickened. 

3.  Separate into cups and use food coloring to reach your desired color.  Let cool!