I’m not a Pinterest Mom.

And that’s okay.  Say it with me:  it’s OKAY if not everything is perfect all the time.

Now don’t get me wrong–I SUPER love Pinterest, but I’m not a Pinterest mom.  My table isn’t always beautifully set.  I don’t make fantastic cakes for the boys’ birthdays.  I don’t have amazing things I’ve created decorating the boys’ room.  I use Pinterest to find recipes, crafts for holidays, party tips//tricks, and parenting tips (mostly).

The one exception I make to my “I’m not a Pinterest mom” rule is holiday crafts.  I like to do art projects with the boys to give to family members for Christmas and Mother’s//Father’s Day.  The boys like art projects, which makes it a little easier, but thankfully I’m usually able to find something somewhat simple that is a crowd pleaser.  =)  At this age, almost anything that includes a hand or foot print wins.

For Father’s Day this year, we made this craft.  It was really easy–honestly, the trickiest part was convincing them they were done after making 3.  Start to finish, it probably took 20 minutes to make 3.  We used Crayola Washable Paint, and I used a paint pen to add the words at the top, as well as the year, and picked up a 3 pack of 20×20 (cm) canvases at the craft store near our house.  We’ve used either washable or tempera paint on canvas for our last 3 projects, and they’ve turned out really well.  I’m not opposed to acrylic paint, but for some reason it’s CRAZY expensive here, so until there’s a real need for acrylic paint we’ll stick to tempera and washable.  You can see from our finished product that it’s not *quite* as nice as the original pin, but I think that’s part of the charm.  You can see the spots where the boys smashed their fingers around, or grabbed some extra paint, and tried to add more than just their handprint.  It’s not perfect, but it’s authentic, and that’s more important (to me).

If you’re after a last minute Father’s Day craft, or something to enhance your gift this craft is quick and easy, with minimal mess.  I let each of the boys choose their own color (which is why their hand prints are different colors), and then used a paint brush to cover their hand in paint.  Once their hand was covered, I helped them lay it flat on the canvas, right side up, as though they were giving a high five.  (I figured it would be easier for me to rotate the canvas and just write with their hands down, than attempting to get their hands upside down on the canvas.)  They lifted their hands, we put on some more paint, and they repeated the process for each canvas.  When they finished number 3, I wiped their hand with a few baby wipes and we went to the bathroom to wash their hands once or twice to get all the paint off.  Baby B got to color while Baby A went through the same process.  It took 20 minutes, including cleaning time.

Happy crafting, mamas!
Until next time, may your coffee be strong, and your tantrums weak,
xoxo, Rachel