These adorable simple fingerprint heart ornaments are made using baking soda clay and are perfect for valentine’s day. They are a really easy kid craft and inexpensive to make and make great valentines keepsakes or gifts. We are using ours as part of our valentines cards but they also make ace Christmas ornaments or for Mother’s Day.
How to make your own fingerprint heart ornaments
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- Baking soda clay (we used this recipe, but store-bought air-drying clay or a homemade salt dough works and did you know you can get microwave drying clay)
- Red Ribbon or twine (UK Link/US Link)
- Heart-shaped cookie cutters (UK Link/US Link)
- Adjustable Rolling Pin (UK Link/US Link)
- Silicone Sheet (UK Link/US Link)
- Straw
- Ink pads or paint (UK Link/US Link)
- Permanent Markers
Types of clay perfect for Keepsakes
- Air Drying Clay (UK Link/US Link)
- Polymer Clay – Staedtler FIMO (UK Link/US Link) or Sculpy (UK Link/US Link)
- Microwave Drying Clay (US Link/UK Link)
- Homemade 3 Ingredient white clay
- Homemade two-ingredient white clay
- Homemade White Salt Dough Recipe
Instructions
Once you have decided which clay to use, roll it out (we use a silicone cooking mat) to around 3/4 cm thick. We actually feel that making the clay or salt dough is a fun step in making these. We have a salt dough ornament that is over ten years old.
Cut out your heart shapes using a cutter, we are using ones designed for cookies.
Make a hole at the top using a straw or skewer which will become the hole for your thread or ribbon.
Get your child to press his or her finger or thumb into the clay at an angle and repeat in the opposite direction so that the bottoms of the prints meet and form a ‘v’ shape heart. Make sure that the child’s fingerprints are pressed firmly to distinct impression in the dough.
Allow your dough to harden, how long this takes will depend on which dough you use. We popped ours in the oven for an hour on a low setting (120 degrees).
Once the hearts are hard, then comes the fun part of decorating them. We decided to use ink pads as we wanted to get the boys fingerprint details to show on the hearts, just make sure you have a damp paper towel on hand to clean your child’s finger or child’s thumb. However, you could use paint, ink or even glitter. The special touch of a fingerprint makes these homemade gifts a super special keepsake.
Once the ink is dry, you can varnish the hearts or you can leave them as they are, which is what we did. If you have made salt dough decorations then I would recommend using mod podge to varnish and to protect them as moisture is the enemy of salt dough crafts. Oh and don’t forget to pop the child’s name and date on the rear using a black sharpie! These make the best handmade gifts and kids love the completed craft.
Want to see what we have done with our fingerprint heart ornaments, then come back later in the week.
Make sure you check out all our other Fingerprint crafts which are fab to do with kids of all ages, but preschoolers and toddlers especially love them. Just follow the step by step process with the children and make sure there is adult supervision as you do not want them to et the clay or dough. We love making gifts using a child’s fingerprints as are such a unique homemade gift idea and grandparents love them plus they are perfect for Mother’s Day. I love looking at the little fingerprints on the salt dough fingerprint ornaments by children have made in the past. There is something really precious about a child’s fingerprints. I particularly adore our heart pendant fingerprint jewelry.
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