These two-ingredient salt dough handprint and footprint crafts make the perfect Christmas gifts for grandparents, godparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends! For my baby's second Christmas, we made these and gave both sets of grandparents a set of handprints because they're only little once and we need to preserve the memory of them being so tiny and little. These crafts are a beautiful and classic craft to celebrate and always remember baby’s first (or second or third) Christmas! If you like handprint crafts, then you'll love my Handprint Keepsake Ornament, Handprint Ornaments, and Clay Handprint Bowls!
Let your kids explore their hand and feet with these fun DIY salt dough handprints and footprints. All you need is flour and salt—and some water. We also used paint brushes to paint them once they dried. After the paint dried, we sprayed Mod Podge acrylic varnish to seal the paint. Finally, we tied a ribbon in the hole and hung up our beautiful baby handprint and footprint in our kitchen. Fast forward five years later and we still have them hanging in our kitchen! It’s one way we’ll always remember how tiny our daughter was when she was born.
This super simple and cheap craft is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, at daycare, even at homeschool or homeschool preschool. I love how you can make these charming handprints and footprints using just salt, flour, and water!
Items needed to make a Two-Ingredient Salt Dough Handprint and Footprint
Flour. Use all-purpose flour to make your salt dough handprint and footprint craft.
Salt. Salt blends with flour to form the handprint and footprint dough.
Water. Water is needed to thin out the dough.
Acrylic paint. As an option, you can paint your finished salt dough handprint and footprint with acrylic paint.
Paint brush. Grab a few paint brushes and get ready to paint.
Mod Podge spray. Mod Podge varnish spray seals the acrylic paint and prevents long-term cracking.
Ribbon. Use any color ribbon you like to hang your salt dough handprint and or footprint craft on a wall.
How to make the best Two-Ingredient Salt Dough Handprint and Footprint
STEP 1: Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Add the ½ cup water and slowly add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until desired consistency is reached. The ideal consistently should resemble play dough. When you knead the dough make sure to coat your hands in flour as this will help to prevent hands from sticking. If you skip this step, the dough sticks to your fingers and hands, making it much more difficult to knead. Make sure to use a pen to make a hole in the top to hang from.
STEP 2: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the handprint/footprint on the lined baking sheet and into the oven. Depending on your oven, you may need to flip them and cook for additional time after the 3 hours is up. Bake at 200° F for 3 hours. If they’re moist on the bottom after 3 hours, consider flipping them and watching them closely until they’re completely baked and dry.
When they’re done baking and have cooled off, feel free to use acrylic paint to paint them. I painted 3 coats of magenta and creme acrylic paint on each. On the backs, I painted my daughter’s name and the year. After they dried, I sprayed 2-3 coats of Mod Podge all over both sides them. Mod Podge is a varnish that protects the paint. Finish by hanging with a ribbon.
STEP 3: If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
More kid’s crafts you’ll love!
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Fourth of July Patriotic Sensory Bin
DIY Spring Easter Grass Sensory Bin
Simple Fourth of July Kid's Crafts
Easy Brown Bag Easter Bunny Craft
Easy DIY Handmade Mother's Day Cards
Final Thoughts
Finally, if you make this Two-Ingredient Salt Dough Handprint and Footprint craft, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this craft a rating! I love to hear from everyone who makes this craft and always do my best to respond to all comments.
If you do make this craft, don’t forget to tag #elisemccollister on Instagram! It makes me so happy to see your craft photos!
Two-Ingredient Salt Dough Handprint and Footprint
Materials
- 2 c all-purpose flour
- 2 c salt
- ½ c water plus additional
- acrylic paint
- paint brush
- Mod Podge varnish spray
- ribbon
Instructions
- Mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl until combined. Add the ½ cup water and slowly add 1 tablespoon of water at a time, until desired consistency is reached. The ideal consistently should resemble play dough. When you knead the dough make sure to coat your hands in flour as this will help to prevent hands from sticking. If you skip this step, the dough sticks to your fingers and hands, making it much more difficult to knead. Make sure to use a pen to make a hole in the top to hang from.
- Place parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the handprint/footprint in the oven. Depending on your oven, you may need to flip them and cook for additional time after the 3 hours is up. Bake at 200° F for 3 hours. If they’re moist on the bottom after 3 hours, consider flipping them and watching them closely until they’re completely baked and dry.When they’re done baking and have cooled off, feel free to use acrylic paint to paint them. I painted 3 coats of magenta and creme acrylic paint on each. On the backs, I painted my daughter’s name and the year. After they dried, I sprayed 2-3 coats of Mod Podge all over both sides them. Mod Podge is a varnish that protects the paint. Finish by hanging with a ribbon.
- If you make this craft, don’t forget to leave a rating and comment!
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