Valentine’s Day “Blowing Kisses” Handprint Craft

Once we hit February every year, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner!! As soon as I saw we were nearing the end of January, I started brainstorming valentines that Sophie and I could make this year! Last year, we made little heart-shaped valentines out of her footprints!

RELATED: Baby Footprint Valentine’s Day Craft

This year, I got extra ambitious (haha) and decided to do two crafts!! (You’ll see the second one here on the blog soon!) I also felt extra gutsy because we did a handprint craft. …Sophie is not a big fan of squishing her hand around in stuff, and prefers footprints. But her little hands are so sweet, and I’m so glad I went ahead and did a handprint craft this year. Her hands will only be this little once, and it’s so special to capture them this way.

I love this “blowing kisses” craft because it has that extra element of a photo in it. Such a sweet little valentine to send to loved ones this time of year!

Valentine’s Day “Blowing Kisses” Handprint Craft

Materials:

• Black marker
• Photos of your child, cut out to show their face (make sure these are equal to or smaller than the size their handprint will be)
• White paper
• White card stock
• Red construction paper
• Tape
• Red paint
• Scissors
• 5″x8″ or 6″x9″ envelopes, depending on how large your valentines end up being

Optional Materials:

• Paper towels
• Small bowl
• Aluminum foil
• Cookie sheet

Baby Preparedness Steps 😉

Since I was dealing with wet paint and a wiggly toddler, I like to take a few steps to combat crazy messes!

I got out a cookie sheet and lined it with aluminum foil. This is where I squirted the red paint and where I could spread it all out.

I also got several paper towels pretty damp and set them in a small bowl. I wanted to have this on hand close by so that I could quickly wipe Sophie’s painted hand off! I had a roll of dry paper towels nearby as well.

We do messy crafts like this on our linoleum kitchen floor – it gives me more elbow room to work with Sophie, and I feel more “in control” of the craft when we’re sitting. Plus, the floor is very washable, which always puts me more at ease. 😉

Additionally, I have Sophie pretty much in a diaper when we do paint-related projects, to save us from having wet paint on our clothes! (And I wear older clothes that I don’t mind getting paint on.)

I also sit down and make a quick list of friends and relatives we’ll be making valentines for. That way, I know how many valentines we’ll be making and therefore how many handprints we’ll need!! (I always, always make more handprints than needed. There are a lot of “oops” prints that happen, so making a lot boosts your chances of having beautiful handprints to choose from later!)

Directions:

Start by squirting the red paint onto the aluminum foil-covered cookie sheet. Make sure you have the sheets of white paper nearby. (I count out a little more than the number of valentines we’ll be needing.)

Hold your child in your lap and stick their hand in the red paint. Then press their hand firmly onto the white paper, pausing for a second for them to relax their hand and to get a good “stamp” of each finger. Continue this for all of the white paper, assembly line style. I could usually get at least two handprints done before needing to re-dip her hand in the paint. When you’re done, use the wet paper towels to do the initial hand cleaning before washing hands in the sink!

Let the handprints dry – it only took ours a couple hours to be completely dry. Then cut out each handprint, curving loosely around the general shape of the handprint.

Next, cut the white card stock in half. (I had to cut mine a little bit smaller than half a sheet so the valentines would fit into their envelopes!) Write this phrase on one side of the card stock: “Happy Valentine’s Day! Blowing lots of kisses your way!”

Cut short strips of extra card stock – these will be the “hinges” of your valentines.

Use tape to affix the photo of your child to one side of the card stock strip “hinge,” and attach the handprint on the other side. Then tape the photo down onto the valentine. Now you’ve created the cute flap that shows the hand “blowing kisses!”

Cut out some red construction paper that is slightly larger than your valentine. Tape that under your valentine to create a nice layer!

There you have it! This is the perfect valentine idea for your little one to send to loved ones – it’s so cute! Keep an eye out for the next Valentine’s Day craft, coming to the blog very soon!!

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