If you need a cute and personal homemade gift idea for Mother's Day, here are some simple steps and supplies for your little one to make something great and useful, too! Just gather your supplies, set up your craft space and create your own handprint dishtowel.
You will need:
- A workspace - you may want to cover it with newspaper or other protection
- Kitchen towels - preferably white and not terry cloth. I used waffle-looking towels (from Kohl's). The paint seemed to stick well and it looked smooth when applied. Terry cloth towels don't take the paint very well and all the fuzz looks funny with paint on it.
- Fabric paint - I used blue and red (although I don't recommend red, see below). I also used yellow for the fingerprint flowers.
- Wet cloth for wiping hands or spills - I needed these ready and nearby because I didn't want any wayward fabric paint anywhere.
- Ribbon for a finishing touch and a needle and thread (optional)
- Little hands!
Once your workspace is set up, get the paint ready. Paint your little one's hand with the desired color. I used blue and I also did some in red. The red ones didn't look very good, though. To be honest, it looked a little bit like a crime scene. The blue turned out great and I imagine green, purple or other similar colors would also look great. Once the hand is painted have your child put a handprint in the bottom center of the dishtowel. You may need to press the palm and fingers down for them to make a mark. Help them peel their hand off the towel, but be careful they don't touch other places on the towel as the paint will stick and possibly stain.
Once the handprint is dry you can use some grosgrain ribbon, tie it in a bow and attach it to the top center of the towel. This is optional, but it gives the towel a finished look. You can attach it with a needle and thread by sewing the already tied bow to the towel. You could probably also use a hot glue gun if you think the towel will be mainly decorative, but needle and thread will probably hold up longer, when the towel is washed and dried. To keep the ribbon from fraying, dab the ends with a little clear nail polish.
Another option is to use Sharpie to write the child's name, the date or his or her age. This may be tricky depending on the point of your Sharpie, so you may want to try a test area first. When I tried this on one towel the Sharpie seemed to run together a little, but still looked ok. Depending on the look you want, you may want to experiment in an inconspicuous spot first. You could also use fabric puffy paint if you wanted a cleaner look. This paint adds dimension, as well, if that is what you want.
You can also use the same supplies to make finger print flowers on a kitchen towel. Once you are ready to begin, you use the same method as you did for making handprints, but you only put paint on your child's fingertip. Make little finger prints (5 or 6 will work) to make the petals of a daisy design. Add more paint each time you make a petal, and use yellow or a similar color for the center of the flower. You could even make several of these fingerprint flowers on one towel. As far as technique goes, it's probably easier to rotate the towel and let your child keep "stamping" the same direction.
Be sure you let your designs dry sufficiently, wrap up your gifts and watch mom, aunt, or grandmom delight in their personalized keepsake.
