This fingerprint Christmas light craft – a dishwasher-safe plate has been inspired by one of our most popular posts our Fingerprint Christmas Tree Ornament and a plate for Father Christmas that I painted for the boys’ first Christmas in our home. That plate has survived being in the dishwasher over the years as have our Reindeer Fingerprint Mugs so I wanted to make another Christmas keepsake that the whole family can get involved in.
I saw this simple white porcelain plate in Home bargains and immediately knew it would be perfect to embellish with the kids this Christmas using a string of Christmas lights like our Christmas Cards.
The secret to the longevity of this Christmas craft is using porcelain paints and markers and then setting them in the oven per the instructions. Do not use a black Sharpie, ink pads or acrylic paint as these will just wash off eventually.
How to make Fingerprint Lights
This post contains affiliate links. If you make any purchases after clicking one of these links, I will make a small commission (hopefully enough to keep me in tea all year) – at no extra cost to you! This allows me to keep creating and sharing free tutorials and content for you. Thank you!
Materials
I have had my Pebeo porcelain paint and markers since my boys were little and they are still perfect. They have been used a lot to make gifts for family members over the years.
I really advocate buying the best art products you can afford at the time. This way they stand the test of time and you don’t need to keep replacing them. I am still using craft paint and paint brushes from over 15 years ago and the paint palettes.
Start by ensuring the plate is completely clean, dry and free from dust. Then place a small amount of paint on your palette. If doing this with small children then I recommend having a bowl of warm soapy water near or wipes for little fingers. We each picked a colour that we wanted to use for our bulbs, this saved on washing hands and mixing the paint.
Add your fingerprint (or thumb for little hands) around the end of the plate. The coloured fingerprints make the bottom of the bulb on the string of lights. You could get the kids to test their fingerprints on paper first and don’t worry if a mistake is made a cold damp cloth wipes away the paint.
We decided to have primary coloured lights and went all around the outside of the plate on the rim.
Then we allowed the paint to dry before adding little squares of black to each colorful light and then adding the light strand with a black marker. You can add swirls as most lights get all tangled in my experience!
Remember to add the date or year you made it.
How do I make my FingerPrint Christmas Lights Plate Dishwasher Proof?
The secret is setting the paint. I followed the instructions on my paints after drying them for 24 hours. I placed the Fingerprint Christmas Lights Craft in a cold oven and once a temperature of 150°C (300°F) was reached, baked for 35 minutes and allowed to cool completely in the oven.
The instructions also state that the area you paint should not come into contact with food, which is why we planted only the rim. I really think these Fingerprint Christmas Lights Crafts are great gift idea for grandparents and relatives.
If you like these then make sure you check out our String of Lights Christmas Cards, which are made the same way using white card stock and ink pads.