These cute little wooden fingerprint tree ornaments are easy yet beautiful and full of memories for years to come. It’s hard to make just one, so we made several and used them as gifts for grandparents and family far away.
I had a bag of little wooden tree ornaments that needed some love and personality. I thought it would be nice for the toddlers to be able to join in with this craft, and it evolved from there.
We used acrylic paints because they work well for this type of project and clean up so much easier off of little hands than ‘children’s paint’ does. However, it’s not meant to be used by children so make sure you keep a close eye on your children as they do this craft. I was right there with the baby wipes ready.
Tristan and Kallista each created their own ways to do this project, and they both turned out beautifully.
Kallista dipped her finger in the green paint and made finger prints on her tree. Then she used a different colour and repeated the process.
Tristan decided he wanted his whole tree green and spread the paint around with this finger to get a nice even coverage, When his had dried he then used red and yellow to make tree light finger prints on some of his trees.
When the trees had dried, we flipped them over and repeated the process on the other side. Once the second side had dried Tristan and I used some clear wood varnish to seal the trees and give them a lovely sheen. Tristan and Kallista then added a little more sparkle to some of their trees by putting on some glitter glue and/or sequins as well. A little piece of cord or ribbon was threaded through the hole and the decorations were complete.
We used these as Christmas gifts for both sides of the family, and I know they will be brought out each year and hung carefully on the Christmas tree each family has. These are the only ones we have left.
This was my favourite Christmas activity of 2012 because it was so simple, beautiful, and personal. What was your favourite Christmas craft last year?
If you’re looking for other ideas for young children, try these:
And please jingle on over to our Christmas page where you’ll find ALL of our Christmas activities in one merry place!
