15 Sweet and Simple Christmas Handprint Crafts You'll Want to Keep Forever
Little hands (and feet!) will love getting messy with these precious projects.
When is a holiday craft more than a holiday craft? When it also serves as a sentimental keepsake that forever memorializes just how small your little one was on the day you made it together. We rounded up a bounty of Christmas craft ideas that turn prints or tracings of kids' hands, feet and fingers into precious projects. Think: ornaments, greeting cards, gift tags and more. Most of these are super simple so even the littlest crafters can participate. Plus, they're affordable and easy to whip up using materials you probably already have at home. Take a look below and enjoy our lsit of 15 Christmas handprint and footprint crafts to try this season ... and keep forever.
Salt Dough Handprint Ornaments
Salt dough couldn't be simpler to make with ordinary kitchen ingredients (salt, flour and water). And a handprint ornament is a sentimental gift for loved ones — or as a keepsake to cherish forever.
Get the tutorial at Nest of Posies »
RELATED: 15 Best Salt Dough Ornaments to DIY
Santa Handprint Craft
Kids trace their hands on folded card stock to make this charming Santa-shaped gift tag or card. Use cotton balls for the beard with felt and a pompom for the hat.
Handprint Reindeer Ornament
Brown tempera paint and your kid's own handprint create a reindeer in this cute craft. Top with a mini red pompom for Rudolph’s nose — of course. Back with construction paper and tie with a festive ribbon.
Simple Santa Handprint Craft
This sweet and simple Santa craft uses two handprints side by side for a fuller Santa beard. Use craft supplies you already have at home for this project, which costs next to nothing and is suitable for even the littlest crafters.
Handprint Christmas Tree
Layers upon layers of kids handprints traced onto green paper create a Christmas tree shape. Dot with pompom ornaments and top with a gold star. Recycle a paper towel roll to use as the trunk, and use a paper plate for the stand.
Grinch Handprint Craft
Your kid's handprint in red and green is the star here. This tutorial also comes with a free printable, so you can turn the craft into a fun Grinch greeting card with any message you like inside.
Handprint Christmas Tree Cards
Use one, two, or even more kid handprints to make this Christmas tree card craft. Decorate with colorful buttons — or any other object you prefer — for an eye-catching keepsake sure to be cherished.
Handprint Reindeer Craft
This template helps turn your child’s handprints into antlers for this cute reindeer craft. Kids as young as toddlers and preschoolers can get in on the fun with this project, which uses common supplies you probably already have at home.
Salt Dough Ornament
Kids' handprints pressed into easy salt dough make sweet Santas to hang on the tree as ornaments. You can also string through ribbons to make homemade gift toppers. To help them last through the years, spray the project with sealant when it's all done.
Handprint Santa
This simple handprint Santa project works for the littlest crafters: Parents can help paint their hands as well as fill in the details of the face.
Frozen Olaf Salt Dough Ornament
For this fun footprint craft, press little feet into salt dough, and finish by painting on the details to make it look like Frozen's beloved snowman, Olaf.
Handprint Christmas Card
Trace kids’ hands onto a piece of folded green card stock to make this Christmas tree-themed card. Top it off with colorful finger prints strategically placed to resemble bulbs on light strings.
Mistletoes Footprint Craft
Paint little feet green to make this "misteltoes" craft. Make it your own using any cardstock or canvas. Or use this free printable backdrop for a readymade card you can make in multiples to share with loved ones.
Fingerprint Ornament
Roll out clay and cut with holiday cookie cutters of your choosing. (Don’t forget to cut out a hole for hanging using a straw.) Let kids press two overlapping prints from an index finger into the center to create the look of a heart.
Handprint Keepsake Ornament
Use acrylic paint to apply your kid’s handprint to a clear ball ornament; glass and plastic work equally well. Hang from your tree or fill with candies and give as gifts sure to be cherished long after the sweets are gone.
Alesandra is a digital travel and lifestyle journalist based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared in Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Prevention, Insider, Glamour, Shondaland, AFAR, Parents, TODAY, and countless other online and print outlets. Alesandra has a masters degree in journalism with an emphasis on cultural reporting and criticism from NYU, and a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley. An avid traveler, she trots the globe with her husband and their twins.
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