Handprint Mugs

  These hand-print mugs were absolutely the most difficult gifts I made for Christmas:

  I didn't think they would be so hard when I started... a couple of basic mugs, a bit of glass/ceramic paint(affiliate link), and a few kid hands. I failed to take into account how difficult it is to keep little fingers from twitching and smearing paint.

  Booper's hand-prints didn't go too badly... I had to wipe them off and restart only two or three times per mug:

  Gaiw though.... that was harder. She liked to rub her fingers back and forth on the mug. After about 4 attempts I printed most of her hand, wiped off the smeary parts, and painted them on with a brush.

  They are still mostly composed of her actual hand-prints though.

  And Beckers.... well, if I ever say that I want to hand-print a 4-month-old again, please just put me out of my misery. It went something like this: paint hand, press hand on mug, pull hand back to find that it was cupped and only half of each finger and none of the palm printed, wipe paint off mug, repeat. I even tried splinting the poor child's hand to keep the fingers straight, to no avail. Finally I just used what small bits of the hand that did print and painted in what I guessed the rest should look like:

  Which is why the two 'prints' are so dissimilar:

  I still think these would have been a great idea if the littler daughters had been completely sound asleep while I attempted it. ;-) And even if only half of the print is actual real hand-print, they are a good reminder of how small the girls' hands are at this age. These were gifts for my dad and father-in-law, and were well-received in spite of their multitude of flaws. I even had a request from my husband's grandma for one.

  The other things I painted this year were ornaments to go on the gifts:

  I used air-drying clay and cut the shapes with cookie cutters (Thanks for the cutter set, little sister! I've really enjoyed them.) I rolled some of the clay too thin, and about half of the ornaments didn't make it because they curled a lot while they dried. Also, the back of each ornament developed some odd wrinkles:

  I did really enjoy painting them though, and they made great tags.

  Also! I wanted to show the gifts I wrapped this year! I was low on time and inspiration with the set I sent my family, so I don't have any photos of those, but here are the gifts I wrapped after spending some time on Pinterest:

  As you can see, I still used all-white paper (freezer paper, since I completely spaced buying actual wrapping paper until it was too late) but I added some pretty details. There are several here that I love!

The gift bag I made from freezer paper with washi tape, ric-rac handles, and a handmade ornament:

  The tiny package with the gold bow, faux greenery and berries, and a wooden tag:

  And the gift with the plaid ribbon and handmade ornament:

  Just a couple of posts left to wrap up (how punny!) the Christmas gifting!

 Thanks for stopping by,