Fingerprint Ornaments with Shimmerz

I'm in charge of the 2-3 year old Sunday School class at church and since Christmas is right around the corner, I wanted to do an easy and inexpensive ornament craft with them.

I came up with this Christmas tree.


Each "dot" is actually a finger print. Lyssie is very proud of her handiwork (or should I say fingerwork?)


If you are interested in making this craft with your sweeties here is what you'll need.

Materials

1. One 8 1/2 x 11 inch piece of white cardstock
2. Red and Green paints (I used Shimmerz royal red and celery because they are non-toxic and so pretty!)
3. Brown paint (I used acrylic.)
4. A star of some sort. (I used a brad, but a punched star would work too. Or you could even do a yellow fingerprint for a star.)
5. Ribbon for hanging
6. Pencil, eraser, hole punch and triangle template


Directions

Prep-Work
1. Cut 1 ovals out of your cardstock. I used my Creative Memories oval cutters. This made it really easy.
2. Trace a triangle very lightly in pencil (this marks the boundaries of your fingerprint tree.)
3. Paint your brown trunk.
4. Punch a hole and thread your ribbon through the top.

With the Children
1. Paint one finger with green paint and stamp it inside the triangle. Repeat until you have the look you want. You can manually stamp the child's finger, or give them more freedom to do it themselves.
2. Paint one finger with red paint and add ornament accents.
3. Add a star (if desired)
4. Write the child's name and date on the back. Erase your pencil triangle.
5. You're done! Wasn't that easy?

I had a question on my glitter ornament tutorial here. The question was how did I put the spray adhesive nozzle into the ornament. If you look at a can of spray adhesive, it has a spray nozzle that sticks up a bit, I simply aimed the spray into the ornament by placing the nozzle right into the lip of the ornament. I promise that if you buy a can of spray adhesive and an ornament, it will make sense.

I just found out that Shimmerz is featured on the Scrapbook Trends blog! They are doing a give-away so run over there and leave a comment! I hope you win! Good luck!

Christmas Crafting with the Kiddos

If you are looking for a beautifully easy project to do with your children (ages 2+) I've got an idea for you.

These glittered glass ornaments are really easy, quick and gorgeous. I wish I knew how to photograph glitter better because these pics just don't do them justice.


Materials

1. Glitter in many colors. I used Martha Steward glitter that I found at Walmart. I am totally in love with Martha's glitter packs. I own every single set. Yes, every. single. one. That's how great the colors are.


I think the glitter vials are so pretty that they deserve their very own photoshoot.


You will also need...
2. Spray adhesive (I used Elmer's)
3. Clear glass ornaments (I found mine at Hobby Lobby.)
4. Various ribbons for hanging.
5. If you'd like, silver and gold snowflake stickers (I used some by Harmonie)

If you are tackling this project with wee ones, you will also need patience for a few of these...


And a broom and dust pan for a few of these...


Directions

1. Remove the metal top from the glass ornament and put it somewhere safe. So you don't lose it like we did. (ahem...) This is a job for an adult or older more careful child (8+) as it is easy to break the top while doing this.

2. Spray adhesive into the ornament. The best method for this is to place to nozzle in the ornament and spray it all around. Try to coat every surface (inside the ornament, not outside) without leaving a major puddle. This is an adult job unless you want massive sticky spots all over your workspace.

3. Dump 1 color of glitter into your ornament. Start with your lightest colored glitter. (We used up to 3 different colors in a ball. In my opinion, the best results were with 2 colors. However, flashy Zoey (my 6 y/o) would disagree.) My 8 y/o, Dani, was able to dump glitter successfully. I didn't give anyone else the option. (Did I mention that I covet my glitter?)


4. Place your thumb over the opening and shake the ornament to distribute the glitter. Everyone was able to do this step successfully as long as their thumb was big enough to cover the hole. Little Lyssie (2 y/o) had a bit of trouble because of her mini-thumb. But she still triumphed in the end.



5. Dump your second color of glitter and shake. Repeat until the entire inside of the ornament is covered in glitter.


6. When you are done, replace the cap, tie on some ribbon and enjoy the fruits of your labors!


If you have some beautiful metallic stickers, they are really impressive stuck on the outside of the ornament. These are made by Harmonie and I must say that they are absolutely exquisite. That fine detail! They are tough little buggers too. I pulled them pretty roughly by one snowflake arm without any ripping. None! I couldn't believe it. You can find the silver ones here and the gold ones here. They really add that extra oomph to this project.




I had each child make 3 ornaments for teacher gifts this year.


It was a fun project! I hope that you enjoy it too!

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany