Child’s Handprint Clay Jewelry Dish – Create a keepsake handprint jewelry dish out of clay using your child’s hand – they’re easy to make and are a darling gift idea to keep in mind for Mother’s Day. These sweet little dishes are guaranteed to melt any Mom or Grandma’s heart.
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I’ve seen the idea for these hand-shaped dishes on Pinterest and I selfishly had to have one for myself. They’re just so precious! I needed to have my little girl’s hand immortalized in jewelry dish form. Not only is this dish a precious keepsake but it was such a fun project to make with my kids. I enjoy crafting with my kids all the time but we haven’t worked a lot with clay before and we have found a new creative medium that we love!
Child’s Handprint Jewelry Dish
I’ve got the supplies and step by step instructions below to walk you through making your own Clay Handprint Jewelry Dish. You’ll be thrilled at how easy they are and trust me, you won’t be able to get enough of your little one’s chubby little hands holding your jewelry or other knick knacks. This is a handprint keepsake you’ll want to hang on to forever.
Supplies
- Crayola Air Dry Clay
- Crayola Washable Paint
- Paintbrush
- Heart-shaped Cookie Cutter
- Rolling Pin
- Parchment Paper
- Pencil
- Small Bowl of Water
- Small Glass Bowl
- X-acto Knife
- Cutting Mat
Instructions
Roll out a small ball of clay between two layers of parchment paper. Roll until about 1/4″ – 1/8″ thick and large enough in diameter to accommodate the size of your child’s hand.
Note: the thicker your clay is the longer it will take to dry, but the more durable the finished jewelry dish will be.
Place your child’s hand on the clay and lightly trace around each finger with a pencil. Remove child’s hand and cut out the handprint with an x-acto knife. Remove excess clay.
Smooth out any rough edges or imperfections in the clay by using a small amount of water. Dip your finger in the water; gently rub and smooth the clay. Repeat until the handprint is as smooth as desired. Use a q-tip for any spots you can’t get to with your finger.
Roll out another small portion of clay to 1/4″ thick. Cut out a tiny heart from the clay using a cookie cutter. Rub the back of the heart with a small amount of water to help it adhere, then place in the center of the handprint. Smooth out the heart with a small amount of water as you did with the rest of the hand.
Now we’re going to mold the handprint into a dish by placing a small bowl upside down and gently laying the hand over the bottom of the bowl as pictured. You can gently mold the fingers to any position you’d like them to dry in.
Take some parchment paper and place over the handprint, gently press down with a book to create a level area that will ensure the dish is sturdy and lays flat when finished.
The next step is to allow the handprint to dry completely. Drying time will vary depending on thickness of the clay and climate. It typically take 24-48 hours to dry.
Once the dish is completely dry remove it gently from the bowl. You can leave the dish as is or choose to paint the heart a favorite color with Crayola washable paint like we did.
Here’s a short video showing the instructions above
More handmade gift ideas
- Personalized Photo Bookmark
- A Framed Collage of Photos with Mom
- Inspirational Quotes for Mother’s Day
- Crepe Paper Flower Bouquet
A Darling Handmade Keepsake to Treasure
Giving handmade gifts is something I love to do and a tradition I like to encourage with my own kids. Making something for someone else – taking the time and thought to create something with love – holds so much meaning.
My kids had a lot of fun creating these little handprint dishes and can’t wait to make more for their grandma’s and themselves! I have my cute Handprint Jewelry Dish sitting on my bedside table to hold my wedding rings but you could use it to hold hair pins or hair elastics and other small knick knacks.
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Hi Rebecca,
What a sweet idea! I will try it with my grandchildren.
Thank you,
Marie
This is such a cute idea, I can’t wait to try this out with my little one.
Eme x
http://www.peoniesandpassionfruit.com
I don’t consider myself very crafty, but even *I* would do this! In a heartbeat. It’s functional, sentimental, and beautiful. Love it.
any similar ideas i have 4 girls, id want to include all of them with something like this
Love this project! My daughter is 23 but still want one made out of her hand as well as even my husbands :).
Sharing with my daughter to do with the 3 girls she after school nannies.
How many can u make with one container??
We only made 3 dishes and we had SO much clay leftover! 🙂
What a Great Mother’s Day Gift idea. I think I will try this with my Girl Scout Troop. Thanks for sharing it.
What an adorable idea – thanks for sharing and for the easy to follow instructions! I’m going to do this, with a twist, with my grandchildren. Instead of the heart, I’m going to put my 5 month old granddaughter’s little hand inside her 2 year old brother’s hand so their mommy will have both of them in one keepsake ?
I love that idea Kathy! So sweet.
I love this. Going to do it for my daughter for Mother’s Day. Couldn’t you add some red food coloring to clay used for heart?
I bet you could add some food coloring Sandy! Great idea.
I absolutely fell in love with the childs’ hand jewelry dish. My children are all grown with grown up children of there own. They no longer live nearby. None the less this sweet little craft brought many memories back to me of sitting around the craft table with my children making, painting or embellishing numerous ceramic crafts.
Those are the memories I hope to have with my children Wendy. Thank you for sharing.
I don’t understand why when I traced my child’s hand the pencil cut through the clay instead of drawing on it. Was I supposed to make the clay sit for a bit first.
Thanks so much for this beautiful craft idea!
I included your post in a Mother’s Day inspiration board I created.
https://lagunalane.com/mothers-day-inspiration-board/
How much clay would you need for 14 first graders?
Hi Rebecca,
I made 2 of these last night with my daughter. We left them to dry overnight resting over the bowl and in the morning, the fingers had separated from the palm of the hand. Do you have any tips on how to avoid this? We followed the directions to a T. 🙂 We will need to start over again but they are such a cute idea for Mother’s Day, I am hoping the work the second time around! Thanks
Oh no Lindsey – I’m so sorry this happened. Can you tell me how thin you rolled your hands? Maybe try a little thicker? We actually had one of our fingers break off and I was able to reattach using a little water. Might be worth a try…
We made few with children at my centre. Looked amazing, parents loved it but were very fragile, fingers were falling off. We tried different thickness, didn’t work. Any tips?
How do you make clay for hand ring thanks trying to make before christmas thank you
can I add the clay heart after the hand has dried?
Can I bake this in the oven to dry faster? Thank you
Hi! This is beautiful! Can you tell me about how many of these that 2.5 lb bucket of clay could make? Wanting to make these for my students!
What am I doing wrong? As my grandkids hands dry, the fingers fall off. I thought may it was to thick so we made another hand thinner but the same thing happened. Help please
Ruth
How fast can I dry this activity and what do I need to do to make this happen?
Hi, do you have any tips for the clay not drying TO the bowl? Mine got stuck and broke when I tried to take it off. Thanks, super cute idea!