All hands on deck to deck the halls.

I'm a big fan of the fingerpaint handprint projects for kids (okay, they're more for the parents), so I jumped on the chance to "borrow" a fabulous friend's idea (thanks, Kelli!), that may have been seen on pinterest. A handprint wreath! So I got my kids' right hands on deck to help deck the halls around here.

These are the supplies I used:

1 sheet of poster board, green finger paint(s), sponge brush, pencil, small paper
plate, hole punch, cd for tracing, red ribbon. And kid hands. And Mom patience.

And here are the steps.

1. Turn the small plate over, and center it on the posterboard. Trace around it with a very light hand using the pencil- I used a loosely dashed line to keep it even lighter. This becomes your visual guide for placement of the handprints. There's no way I could have maintained a circle shape without it.

2. Set your kiddo up with a bib, or in clothes meant for art projects. Get set up at the table, then put some green fingerpaint in the plate and dip the sponge brush into it. Use the sponge brush to paint the green paint onto the hand of your kiddo. Hold onto that kid's wrist, unless you want everything to be green.

3. Guide the painted hand gingerly to the posterboard. I aimed to get a bit of the palm onto the dashed line. Repeat around the circle. If you're doing this with two kids, leave space between each kiddo #1 handprint, like this:

4. Bib up kiddo #2 (skip if doing this with one child) and repeat step 3, putting the new handprints in between the dried ones (it dries quickly, or maybe I clean up kids slowly, I'm not sure which). I used a different green color, too. And if you're wondering, no, this is not the easiest project to tackle by yourself with two kids. But it can be done, because it was!

5. Clean up the scene, because paint gets everywhere mysteriously.

6. Cut around the outside of the handprints to form the wreath shape. Set a CD or DVD in the center of the handprints and lightly trace it. This is your guide for the inner circle. Cut out the inner circle. Now you've got a wreath happening, for sure.

7. Punch two holes in the wreath for the ribbon hanger and bow.

8. Thread the ribbon through, so the ends come out the front. You'll want enough ribbon in the front to tie a bow, but enough ribbon in a loop in the back to hang it up.

9. Tie the bow- hurray! It's done!

Now hang it up, and enjoy! I'm excited to have this decoration to use every year. I think it looks pretty cute on the inside of the door!
 

Hope you had a nice Thursday! And good news... tomorrow is Friday! I get to hang out with one of my sisters tomorrow, and help my Mom decorate her tree. Loving this time of year! I hope you are, too.