Crafting Home-Made Baby Handprint Designs with a Potato Stamp

Do you want to encourage and create that baby handprint and or footprint crafts ethos about an special event? Or if you're looking for an occasion to entertain youngsters and perhaps even to strengthen friendships between your newborn and jealous elder siblings, here’s one of those old handycrafts I remember doing at school. It’s very simple and allows for easy adaptation to allow you to create whatever you have in mind. It is perfect for crafting baby handprints into a design such as a shower party invitation, or just for family fun.

First you need to get as many average sized potatoes as there are participants in this little family handicraft project. Then you need to cut the potato in half and shape the cut end into a square or rectangular shape so that you have the basis of a home-made rubber stamp.

The next thing you do is to create a fairly symmetrical pattern into the cut surface of the potato. The idea being that you will then create a stamp that will be used to print onto appropriately absorptive paper with different colors of paint - water-based paints are the best. These can be placed together to cover a whole sheet, which could then be used as a unique wrapping paper for a birthday or Christmas present.

Shaping Up Your Crafts
It is best to have an idea of the shape you want to cut into the potato before you actually start cutting. If it is specifically orientated towards one of those family and baby occasions, you may have already decided to use a baby handprint or footprint, perhaps to portray the significance of an upcoming event. Another idea would be to create a single petal shape - perhaps a heart shaped petal, or a double handprint with the thumbs together and little fingers creating a 90° angle (or slightly less than 90° to keep it within the rectangular shape of the potato end). Then by stamping mirror images you'll be able to form a symmetrical four petalled flower shape.

Now get some sheets of paper and do a few sketches of your design to begin with, until you come up with a reasonably simple pattern that will work well in a repeatable format. If this is your first time of doing this particular style of family and children's craftwork, you may like to experiment with a few simple shapes and redesign. Remember that most children love doing this and parents love to see the fruits of their fun.

Cutting Edge Children's Crafts
Now you have decided on the design and you have shaped the flat edge of the potato (or similar vegetable - root vegetables are normally the best but even a firm sponge-like substance will do). You will need to use some form of cutting or craft knife and so one must immediately be aware of how sharp the blade is and how young the person is doing the cutting. If you are doing this at a special gathering of infants and children such as at a birthday party, you could arrange a competition whereby the children draw the designs and their parents cut out the potatoes. Then the children have the fun of printing the color designs onto the paper. You don't have to fill the whole paper you could just create a border, perhaps around another piece of your handicraft that you did earlier. Alternatively you could keep the sheet, or make several sheets, to be used to continue your craftwork at a later stage or on another occasion.

For further ideas and related reading, browse:
Baby Handprint Crafts
Baby Footprint Poem

Or if you're looking for specific all inclusive baby footprint kit or
a baby hand or footprint frame product.

Crafting Home-Made Baby Handprint Designs with a Potato Stamp

Parent and Children Craft Ideas for Family Gatherings and Birthday Parties