By Holly Sosa
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It’s not often we have all five of our children home. In a blended family, our children are constantly to and from, here and there. But in the end, we are one family unit and one of my favorite ways to reaffirm that with them is through art. In the past, we created squirt gun paintings and ended up with an art piece that is both beautiful and meaningful since we created it together.
Before everyone goes off to visit or be with their other parent next week, I wanted to tackle one last family art project that I could display on our fireplace. I stumbled on a few hand art pieces like this one from CT Working Moms and this one from Project Nursery and loved the concept of hand art for the entire family. Since I have made love for paper, I wanted instead to use paper over paint. Our family’s paper hand art turned out better than I envisioned.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- patterned paper (a different pattern for each family member)
- solid color card stock (for the base/background)
- foam glue dots
- scissors
- clipboard or frame for display
- sticker letters
To create your own family hand art, begin by tracing each family member’s hand on a piece of patterned paper. This works best when you use a different color or pattern for each person. Next you’ll cut each hand print out.
Starting with the biggest hand, secure it to the piece of plain colored card stock with the foam glue dots. Layer the next hand on top, securing with foam glue dots.
Repeat until all hands are secure. On top of the smallest hand, add the year with letter stickers. This is optional, but I think it makes an extra special keepsake to look back on to remember just how small those hands were.
This project was simple and involved zero clean up thanks to the use of patterned paper. With five kids, the thought of painting and washing all of those hands was overwhelming. For now, it’s displayed on a clipboard for a crafty feel, but eventually I’ll pick up a shadow box to properly frame and display it.
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The post Family Hand Art, a Lasting Memory to Display appeared first on Our Holly Days.