Baby Footprint Plaque

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest. I can pin all day long but when it comes to actually making something? Well, that usually just results in a mess in the kitchen and a whole lot of money wasted at the craft store. 

This time, however, I decided to try something relatively simple and it actually turned out pretty cute! **Note: I do not have a single artistic/creative/crafty bone in my body so it actually turned out amazingly well by my standards.**

I wanted to make something for my husband for Christmas. I figured that something for his office from Baby J would be really sweet. So we headed [aimlessly] to Michael's. I ended up with two ceramic plaques and some acrylic paint (the smaller plaque was going to maybe be a Baby's First Christmas ornament).

The idea was to have my daughter's hand and footprints on the larger plaque and just a handprint on the smaller one. Who knew that a 6 month old would decide not to unclench her fist for an art project? So the smaller plaque didn't work out, and we had to improvise on the larger one. 

For prep, I had a bowl of warm water and a washcloth ready to wash the paint off of her feet (I didn't use soap). I also squirted some paint onto a piece of cardboard to make life easier. 

Ceramic plaques and acrylic paint

I did a few practice runs on paper and I'm glad I did. First I tried finger paints. I figured, they're kid friendly and there's a lot of it. It was the worst. It was way too runny and made her foot slide all over the paper and the cardboard. 

Next I tried a giant ink pad. This made perfect footprints on paper, but you could barely see them on the cardboard. 

The last thing I tried (based on a Michael's employee recommendation) was acrylic paint. I was told that it would work best for making hand/footprints and it would wash off easily. I got Martha Stewart multi-surface acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt. 

Martha Stewart acrylic paint in Poodle Skirt

We tested out the acrylic paint on cardboard and it came out great! 

J sat in her Bumbo on the kitchen table and I used the sponge brush to paint her feet. As soon as her footprint was on the plaque I immediately wiped them off with the washcloth. All of the paint came right off. 

One foot with the paint and the other after just having been wiped off

So, of course the footprint came out perfectly on the cardboard, but not on the plaque. I actually used a q-tip and touched it up in a few spots. 

She wiggled her feet as soon as they touched the ceramic so it's not perfect, but I'm still happy with how it came out.

Turns out, the finished product will not be hung in Daddy's office. I just couldn't resist making it so girly! I actually thought about going over the feet in glue and dumping glitter on them, but I showed some restraint. 

Maybe if I do this enough times it will end up looking more Pinterest perfect. But until then, I'm just happy that I completed a project. 

Overall, this was a really easy project to make and a super cute Christmas gift for baby's grandparents. 

Or you can do the footprints in red/green and make a really sweet Baby's First Christmas decoration for the house. 

Bottom line is, if I can do this project then ANYONE can do this project!

The total cost of the project:

Plaque:           $3.99

Paint:              $1.99

Flowers:         $4.99

Jewel design: $3.99

Sponge:         $0.49

Total: $15.49 (before coupon)

All things pink

Preparing for a little girl is just crazy.  In an earlier post I think I mentioned how I had always dreamed of having a girl, but now that I am, it's just still so amazing.  

After finding out that our little girl is growing as she should be and feeling her really dance in there over the past week, it's becoming more and more real.  And, being blessed enough to know that I am carrying a healthy baby and having had no complications (praying it stays that way), I think it's safe to start thinking about all of the fun stuff that goes along with having a girl: coming home outfit, clothes, piano lessons, ponies, mani-pedis, and all of the other girly-girl things.

Now I know there are people out there who would "flame" me for this kind of thing.  I've come across enough people who think it's wrong to refer to "gender" because that's something for a child to decide, but I just can't get on board with that mentality.  So for now, I am having a girl, and I will buy her a pony before I buy her a tool kit.    

Kate Middleton

For starters, I love Kate.  I am still throwing Catherine out there as a possible name for our daughter (although hubs shoots it down every time).  She is beautiful, elegant, and really seems to be as down to earth as a member of the royal family can be.  Not to mention that I love all things British.  Hey - some people (especially where I live) are all about their Italian heritage.  Me?  I'm all about my British heritage.  I love them.  About three years ago I became obsessed with learning everything I could about England's notorious Tudor Family and ever since then, I have really embraced by British roots - even going so far as to make the trip to Ellis Island where I found my great-grandmother's name in the book as having come over from Liverpool.  I'm especially proud of the royal family for embracing a commoner who is as flawless and fabulous as the Duchess of Cambridge.  

When Will and Kate introduced Prince George, of course everyone wanted to know everything.  Luckily for me, enough was found out and made public within hours of their first public appearance outside of the hospital.  What I was really interested in, however, was to see what the little prince was wearing.  That was mildly disappointing since he was swaddled in a white blanket.  The blanket, however, was identified as the "Super-fine Merino Wool Christening Shawl" by a British company called G.H. Hurt and Son.  The link is here.  

Prince George swaddled in his G.H. Hurt Super-fine Merino Christening Shawl

It is a well-known fact that anything Kate wears sells out within hours, so I have never actually tried to get anything she owns (and I probably couldn't afford half of it anyway!)  However, I figured I would try and look into this blanket.  Of course, it was on back order for a minimum of eight weeks.  But hey!  I had plenty of time to wait, so I went ahead and placed my order.  This order marked my first experience with "baby brain".  It was $45 for the blanket and $20 for shipping from the UK to the US.  I thought to myself, "another reason to love Kate - she's so reasonable!"  I happily typed in my credit card number and approved my $65 purchase before heading up to bed.  Fast forward to the next morning.

My eyes opened and the first thing that popped into my head was, "oh.my.God.  The blanket was NOT $65 USD...it was 65 GPB!"  Oops.  So long story short, this blanket cost me a grand total of $102.  But it came - my first ever "Copy Kate" purchase as seen on Prince George.  Its description really does it justice.  It is super-fine (by fine I mean super delicate) and I can't wait to swaddle our little girl in it and it is already draped over the side of her crib.  Nope...not an ounce of regret.

My first "Copy Kate" purchase

When searching for a coming home outfit, of course I would like to splurge.  I mean, this is a HUGE event and while I will most likely be wearing my trusty yoga pants and some kind of nursing top, I figure that our little girl can steal the show in a fabulous outfit.  I found this subtle little gem, but was disappointed that it doesn't have a matching hat.  For $85 it's not that bad.  But I definitely haven't gone out and ordered it just yet.

Baby Burberry

As it turns out, I'm almost glad I didn't order it.  Last weekend I went to a local children's boutique (it used to be one of my grandma's favorite stores when she was looking for a baby gift) and I found this beautiful white, 3-piece ensemble.  It has a side-snap shirt and there's something about babies dressed in all white that I love.  Not to mention those delicate little flowers - it's precious.  Of course, I had to grab this one.  At $53 it was no bargain, but I plan on building a shadow box and this will fit into it nicely.  And can we talk about how perfectly the trim on the top matches the G.H. Hurt shawl?  She will definitely be ready for her close-ups in this outfit.

Sippy's Babes Coming Home Outfit

It's by a company called Sippy's Babes.  Honestly, I've never heard of it and I'm sure the boutique marked up the price, but I really do love this outfit.  I googled them and it seems to be a company that makes baby clothing to order.  You can choose your own color and trim - the trim on this particular outfit is Venetian Daisy.  The only thing I don't love about this outfit is the fact that the pants are so plain.  I'd probably love it even more if there was some trim on the bottom to match the top and the hat.  Oh well.

To be honest, I'm sure that I'll buy at least another 3-5 coming home outfits over the next three months.  It's a good thing that she already owns my husband completely - he never complains when I buy her something nice - she's already Daddy's little princess :)