Birthday Gifts for Grandparents

Both of my parents have birthdays in July, two days apart.  This year I wanted to give them a homemade gift from my kids, with my crafty flair of course.  I decided I wanted to capture their footprints in a manner that they looked like hearts, because these boys of mine just won't stop growing up!

I purchased 20 inch long canvases and painted them neutral colors, then painted my boys' feet and carefully positioned their feet on to the canvas.  Someone we managed to get it all right the first time and we didn't even get paint on my floor.  My dad loves everything western so I added on some sheriff stars with their names and called them "little buckeroos."  I pick a quote to tug on the heartstrings for my mother's canvas.   I love how both of them came out.

Custom Vinyl Frame - The Many Jobs of Dad

This has been one of the most fun projects I have completed!  What a wonderful expression of love for someone important in your life!  This was given as a gift for Christmas, but this idea could be used for any holiday or birthday.  This frame is quite large because the recipient is such a fantastic dad, but you could apply this idea to any size collage frame.

Please click on the picture to enlarge it if you are having trouble seeing the detail.

Handprint Vinyl Tiles

One of the best parts of my new adventure is working with very creative people! My neighbor had such an adorable idea for holiday gifts this year, she asked me to design a tile with handprints to give to grandparents. Her tiles came out so well I had to make one for my own mother (who is the world's best grandma, in my humble opinion! :) )

For this tile I had each child come to my house so I could collect their actual handprints with paint. I also had the older children write their names with a fat marker. I was able to scan the handprints and names in to the computer and turn those images in to cutting files. The tiles were further personalized by using each child's favorite color.

Each tile was personalized with children's names and ages. I have covered some of this information to protect their identities, but hopefully you can tell how adorable the finished tiles are.

Individual handprints could fit on a 6 inch tile, however a multiple handprint design would require a 12 inch tile or other larger 'canvas' such as a wood sign or frame.