Making Christmas Cards With a Baby

In between all of the diaper changes and feedings and the employable activities, I try to get in some enjoyable activities; all work and no play makes for a very dull life.

My son is almost 7 months now and is now at a playful age which has been a lot of fun. It truly makes me grateful that I am able to spend this time with him.

This year when I sat down to make Christmas cards I figured I would just upload some pictures of the family and put it into some online card making program but I haven't quite been able to fit that into the laundry list of things I am trying to complete during my son's nap times. So finally, I gave up, and it kind of hit me that I should involve him in the process. (I'm sure you are now questioning my sanity as you read...but at the time I seriously thought this was a good idea!)

I went to pinterest for some inspiration and found several hand/foot print projects that I could possibly put on some card stock and throw in an envelope, see examples here:

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And I'm sure by now you must be saying..."what is this girl thinking...paint and a 7 month old, that sounds like a recipe for disaster!" Well, as it turns out, those are the recipes I am best at! I'm also from "I don't need no stinkin' directions!" family, so while I look at some nice inspirational photos I failed to read the inspirational directions. I decided I would just get a bunch of paint and see what worked out.

First, we stripped him down to his diaper - I definitely recommend.

Second, I painted his foot. I'm going to be honest...I have a very patient and happy baby. He was mostly intrigued by this.

However, the painted foot print came out kind of glob-y, so I thought it might be a better idea to lightly sponge paint on...again, my baby is very patient. 

 However, all good things come to and end...clearly you can see where this is heading... 

And at this point...I was basically about to give up. It took me forever to get these three prints and they were pretty bad. Plus, baby started to get fussy about not being able to touch the paint.

So much to my naivete, I figured, well if he wants to touch the paint...let's just go with the it. So after washing off his feet we moved on to painting his hand. He liked to play with the paint, the imprint wasn't too bad...but let me assure you - paint everywhere! Bad, bad, very bad idea. (And lets be honest...the color kind of looks like poop.)

It was at this point I was about to give up because this was just getting ridiculous and I kind of felt like an idiot by thinking this was a good idea. But in the back of my head: I know people take foot/hand impressions of their kids! I can't be completely out of it because somebody gave me a baby hand print cement thing for my baby shower. (I think that's still a little idealistic.) Plus, they did it at the hospital when he was born...how did they do that!? So I thought back and got smart.

I laid baby down on a blanket on the floor, (with the dog for entertainment,)

grabbed some old ink pads I had lying around and started to ink up baby's feet.

 

I started stamping away while baby played with his toys and Hunter.

(It was at this point my husband discovered instagram...)

Success! 

Resulting in a whole bunch of these guys...

 

That became this guy: 

So to sum it up...

How to take baby foot prints

Supplies:

Ink Pad

Cardstock

Hardcover book

Old towel/blanket

Steps:

1. Strip baby down to diaper.

2. Lay baby down on an old towel and load him up with toys.

3. Ink up baby's foot and press onto card stock that is supported by a hard book.

4. Decorate as desired.

Recommended Age:

Any!

 

Tips: 

- When making the Christmas Tree, for best results make sure the heels are touching.

- Don't expect to make cards for 200 of your closest friends. You are probably good for about 10-20 if your lucky. (Just tell the lucky recipients it's a limited edition print.)

- Most importantly, have fun!

Sincerely,

Jordan