Hand Prints Make My Day! PART 2

by Donna Perugini
(Alger, Washington)

Hand prints in clay are always loved by those who receive them as a gift. I often do a newborn's print not only so mom will have something to remember, but also so she will be able to make awesome reverse prints. Those tiny hand prints make awesome Valentines Day gifts! (There's always next year for Christmas too).

Once the first print is fired and back in your possession, you'll take some clay that has been rolled out to 1/2" thick and all the bubbles have been pressed out. Lay the flat clay onto the whole fired print and push extra in the area of the recessed hand print only. If you let this dry about 10 minutes, it will shrink away from the sides of the print as the water absorbs into the first fired hand print. Pick up both pieces still together and then shake loose the wet clay from the fired hand print. Now you have a raised 'reverse mold' of the first fired piece.

The neat part about the new print is that it's like the real palm of the hand. You can see fingerprint ridges, tiny crevices and hand lines all over it! At this point you can make the hand print be in the center of a heart that you will cut in the clay around the wet clay palm print.

Put in two holes at the top and write on the front blank spaces the name and age of the person. Or you can have just the palm print itself, no extra space around the print, by pushing clay into the recessed print only.

After the clay sits awhile, turn the fired hand print over and gently tap the back. The wet clay will fall out into your hand. This way you have just the palm of the hand that can be fired. These are great for hanging from rearview mirrors in yours or the grandparent's car, on a Christmas tree, laying on a table near photos, putting in a scrapbook near the baby's photo, putting in a shadow box with other momentos (such as a lock of hair, first binkie, the baby's wristband from the hospital, etc.)

Also, you can do the Grandparent's hand prints too. They won't always be around to hold a little one's hand, but their prints could be there for them to touch in the future.

One more suggestion: Put a current photo of the child that is taken the day of the palm print. Put the photo on the back of the plaque and decoupage over it. Now you'll never forget what the person looked like to match the hand print.

Be sure to read the previous blog on hand prints for more information.

Some interesting facts about clay: There will be shrinkage of usually 10-12%. Just remember that your baby's hand really was a little larger when you made the hand print. DON'T PAINT INSIDE THE HAND PRINT AREA AFTER IT IS FIRED or you will lose all the interesting lines and wrinkles. If you choose to use terra-cotta low fire clay versus white low fire clay, take into account that the color of the terra-cotta could get on clothes, etc. until it is fired. It's full of red iron which may take extra washing to get out of your clothes. Always have good clean up practices as the little chunks and pieces of clay dry quickly. Letting scraps sit around only invites it to float up into the air you breathe which is not good for your lungs. Cleaning it up with a wet sponge helps to keep the dust down. Don't be afraid of it; just be smart about clean up!

Do you have any hand print memories? Did you ever get prints of your child's hands or feet?