Footprint Christmas gift thank you cards

January sees the start of the New Year, the taking down of the Christmas cards and decorations and (if you have children like me), the making of thank you cards for the relatives and friends who've sent us gifts. Every year I struggle to decide on what to send. Do I just take the easy option and buy ready-made thank yous or do we make our own, which (particularly with really tiny people) can sometimes take forever? If you're anything like me, you'll always opt for the latter. I always prefer it when children I teach take the time and effort to make something themselves. It's so much more personal and special and it's always lovely to see a great deal of effort has gone into something.

Every year I trawl Pinterest, Google, Instagram, Twitter etc. searching for inspiration for Christmas cards, Easter cards, birthday cards and thank yous. Because it's usually necessary to massproduce for such occasions, I find that the simplest and quickest ideas are often the best. If your toddler/baby has a shortish attention span like mine, then it's difficult to expect them to reproduce a design that takes ages up to ten/twenty times. You could just make one design and colour photocopy it instead, rather than making a design many times over.

I did separate thank yous with Tommy and Isla this year, again because I wanted them to be personal and also because they weren't capable of doing the same design. I always take the time to list what each of our children gets for Christmases and birthdays and who it is from and then make sure I write this in each card.

At 4 months, Isla isn't capable of any artwork at all really, so I decided on the idea of hand and footprints. You'll notice in the picture shown above that only footprints are shown. I had a really good go at handprints, but I found them particularly tricky to do - a newborn's grasp reflex makes it pretty impossible to take a print of their flat palm. Our prints ended up looking nothing like baby's hands so I scrapped the idea and just did footprints.

I decided to make the prints whilst Isla was awake and happy. Having done a bit of research online, a lot of people suggest taking them when your newborn is in a deep sleep, as they'll be less likely to wriggle. I didn't really fancy the idea of this. It would be fine and pretty mess-free if you were using ink but I decided on the paint option. I started by placing Isla in her Bumbo. This allowed me to have two hands free to make the prints and trust me - you'll need them. You could use a baby chair or highchair instead if you have one or alternatively, have somebody to hold your child on their knee. As you can see, Isla was only dressed in her bodysuit. That way, wherever she got the paint, it wouldn't matter.

I cut up little bits of card (slightly larger than Isla's feet) and then used my finger to paint her foot. I decided to do it this way because Isla would be more comfortable with me touching her feet with my hands rather than a potentially tickly paintbrush. It also ensured I didn't apply too much paint, which results in a more defined print.

I held her ankle gently and brought the piece of card to her foot and pressed it against it firmly. She didn't mind this at all - in fact she smiled at me throughout. I worked out how many cards I needed and then did twice as many footprints as I would need. As you'll notice from the photos, some of the footprints are better than others and doing more than you require will allow you to select the best ones for your cards. Once they had dried, I cut them out, stuck them to the front of the cards and included the date. We also made an extra one to go in Isla's keepsake box.

My top tips for making any baby foot/handprints would be:
1. Don't strive for perfection - you won't get it and the best thing about them is that they are all unique. It's all part of the fun.
2. Choose a time when your baby is content - not sleepy, hungry etc. and she/he'll be much more relaxed and cooperative!
3. Dress your baby as minimally as possible for the activity. It won't matter so much how messy they get then. We jumped in the bath straight afterwards.
4. Only apply a small amount of ink/paint to your baby's feet/hands. This results in a much clearer print. If you apply too much paint, do several prints to remove excess paint and to achieve the effect you're looking for.
5. Don't do prints straight onto your cards. Make individual prints, cut them out and stick them on instead. Paint will get EVERYWHERE otherwise, including all over the cards themselves.
5. Do make an extra copy for yourself and keep it as a momento.

Look out on the blog for details of Tommy's thank you cards. They'll be up soon.