Give Thanks Tree Hand Print Project

Soon after I made the Halloween Canvas with my children's footprints, I realized just how much I loved having something cute to cover my family's ugly collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays, so I began brainstorming ones to create for other holidays. 

For Thanksgiving, we decided to use handprints and finger prints to create fall trees. I chose "Give Thanks" as the title because it reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ" -1 Thessalonians 5:18. Many of my friends on Facebook and with blogs spend the month of November, sharing one blessing a day, which I think is a lovely idea. I've seen some of the most adorable ways to create thankful trees so the whole family can get involved as well. My family is very blessed with good health, a wonderful community where we live, great schools, and a country that allows us to worship God. Those are just a few of the many blessings I am thankful for on a daily basis, but I'm not making a thankful tree right now. I'm making a canvas that will hopefully not only cover that eye sore my husband has created with his collection of Blu-Rays but will also remind us on a daily basis not to forget to be thankful and appreciate everything, big and small, that God has done for us.

Since one of my greatest blessings is my children, isn't it most appropriate to use their hands and fingers to create the scene for my "Give Thanks" project? This is exactly how I went about creating this project:

1. I spent just under $3 on the four 2 oz. bottles of acrylic paint and about $4 on the 12"X16" stretched canvas. I needed a little more height than with the ghosts, but I couldn't find a 12"x20" size, which would have been ideal for my situation. Of course, your desired size will vary depending on the number of hand prints you'll use and their size. (My oldest son is 11, but he's already 5'1, so I needed at least a foot for his "tree" to fit.) I already had the sponge brushes and letter stencils from the Halloween project, and I grabbed a paper plate and paper towels. The paint colors were China Blue, Melted Chocolate, Bright Yellow, Spiced Carrot, and English Ivy Green. 

2. The night before, I painted the canvas with two coats of the China Blue. I don't like a white canvas, but I didn't want a color that would clash with the fall shades. This one seemed to do the trick to create a pail grayish blue color, typical of a fall day without creating too much of a contrast with the actual images I wanted to stand out.

3. The next morning, I called my children up one at a time to first paint their palms and forearms in brown and carefully place them onto the canvas. I also gently put my hand under the canvas to press it onto their hands.  Because the paint seemed to be drying quickly, I decided to paint my oldest son's tree in two stages, his arm as the trunk first and then his hand. (This time we remembered to do all right hands for my three right-handed kids and the left hand for my one proud lefty.)

 
4. Once all four hands had been finished, we could paint on the leaves. I squirted the yellow, orange, and green onto a plate and let each child, one at a time, basically finger paint the leaves on their trees, going mostly around the branches and having some falling down or resting on the ground. 




5. After cleaning up those messy hands for a second time, I sent them on their way so I could paint on the letters in orange. 

  
Here's my finished project hiding those Blu-Rays a bit. I will do some work re-stacking them so they are all hidden later.
 

I already have another canvas ready for Christmas. Any suggestions on hand or foot print ideas for that one? 






I'll be sharing this post at some of these parties here.

Soon after I made the Halloween Canvas with my children's footprints, I realized just how much I loved having something cute to cover my family's ugly collection of DVDs and Blu-Rays, so I began brainstorming ones to create for other holidays. 

For Thanksgiving, we decided to use handprints and finger prints to create fall trees. I chose "Give Thanks" as the title because it reminds me of one of my favorite Bible verses: "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Jesus Christ" -1 Thessalonians 5:18. Many of my friends on Facebook and with blogs spend the month of November, sharing one blessing a day, which I think is a lovely idea. I've seen some of the most adorable ways to create thankful trees so the whole family can get involved as well. My family is very blessed with good health, a wonderful community where we live, great schools, and a country that allows us to worship God. Those are just a few of the many blessings I am thankful for on a daily basis, but I'm not making a thankful tree right now. I'm making a canvas that will hopefully not only cover that eye sore my husband has created with his collection of Blu-Rays but will also remind us on a daily basis not to forget to be thankful and appreciate everything, big and small, that God has done for us.

Since one of my greatest blessings is my children, isn't it most appropriate to use their hands and fingers to create the scene for my "Give Thanks" project? This is exactly how I went about creating this project:

1. I spent just under $3 on the four 2 oz. bottles of acrylic paint and about $4 on the 12"X16" stretched canvas. I needed a little more height than with the ghosts, but I couldn't find a 12"x20" size, which would have been ideal for my situation. Of course, your desired size will vary depending on the number of hand prints you'll use and their size. (My oldest son is 11, but he's already 5'1, so I needed at least a foot for his "tree" to fit.) I already had the sponge brushes and letter stencils from the Halloween project, and I grabbed a paper plate and paper towels. The paint colors were China Blue, Melted Chocolate, Bright Yellow, Spiced Carrot, and English Ivy Green. 

2. The night before, I painted the canvas with two coats of the China Blue. I don't like a white canvas, but I didn't want a color that would clash with the fall shades. This one seemed to do the trick to create a pail grayish blue color, typical of a fall day without creating too much of a contrast with the actual images I wanted to stand out.

3. The next morning, I called my children up one at a time to first paint their palms and forearms in brown and carefully place them onto the canvas. I also gently put my hand under the canvas to press it onto their hands.  Because the paint seemed to be drying quickly, I decided to paint my oldest son's tree in two stages, his arm as the trunk first and then his hand. (This time we remembered to do all right hands for my three right-handed kids and the left hand for my one proud lefty.)

 
4. Once all four hands had been finished, we could paint on the leaves. I squirted the yellow, orange, and green onto a plate and let each child, one at a time, basically finger paint the leaves on their trees, going mostly around the branches and having some falling down or resting on the ground. 




5. After cleaning up those messy hands for a second time, I sent them on their way so I could paint on the letters in orange. 

  
Here's my finished project hiding those Blu-Rays a bit. I will do some work re-stacking them so they are all hidden later.
 

I already have another canvas ready for Christmas. Any suggestions on hand or foot print ideas for that one? 






I'll be sharing this post at some of these parties here.