Little Fingers, Little Toes

Just last week I posted about those special moments in time and how to capture them before they pass you by. I have taken Leo's hand and foot prints at any chance I get, but getting a newborn baby to relinquish their tight grip and count on their support is actually much harder than I ever thought possible.

I didn't succeed in getting Leo to co-operate in the hand print department until he was 18 weeks old, which I think is ashame as it would have been so lovely to have those newborn prints from those very early days at home.

These days though Leo is cheekier and more determined than ever, (I have no idea where he gets that from!?) I attempted to get some up to date prints in Salt Dough. Getting the dough ready was by far the easy bit! I even rolled it all out and cut a perfect circle into it. Then the hard bit....Getting Leo to firmly and neatly place his hand into the dough (with my help of course) to get the prints I so desired.

I ended up rolling the dough out again and again, as with each attempt at getting Leo's hand print he managed to scrunch up his fingers, and put them straight through the bottom of the dough. So on the fifth attempt I finally got the desired print! Then it was just a case of getting his foot print along side.

Surprisingly this bit went very smoothly. So that should of been it right. Done. No...I had vowed to make prints for some of the grandparents! Sometimes there is no better gift. So I rolled the dough out again and repeated the process all over again. Twice.

With my finished pieces in the oven, I had no idea it was going to take all day to cook my 3 creations.

Salt Dough has to be cooked on a low heat for a LONG time. Failing that you can just leave it to dry naturally. My advice if you plan to bake your finished goodies, is to poke some holes with a pin through the dough. This will stop it ballooning where there are air pockets...If only I had this advice. Two of my creations ballooned up, but it made the prints look great!

I have to say though that my finished prints do look pretty good. They were definitely worth all the effort and time it took to make them. Now Leo's prints can be packed away into his memory box.

Why not have a go at creating your own Salt Dough Prints with this easy recipe?

2 cups of Plain Flour
1 cup of table salt
1 cup of water

Another way at getting your little one's prints is on a canvas with paints. This can get quite messy (trust me...) but the finished result is great! We have Leo's pride of place on Leo's bedroom wall.

Do you have any further ideas on how to capture your little one's prints? Or any other ways of capturing those special moments?

Laura xx