How To: make a canvas with a baby footprint

Surely this is one of those things which really doesn't need a tutorial, right? Surely you just brush a bit of paint onto the sole of your baby's foot and make the print onto a prepared canvas, perhaps in a co-ordinating colour, with very little effort.

Right.

Good luck with that.

The people who think that clearly don't take into account the fact that the tiny person who owns the foot MOVES. They also don't tell you that the tiny person will move EVEN MORE if someone is tickling their foot with a paintbrush.

Here was my first attempt at recording the footprints of my newest godson.

4 toes on the left foot and 6 toes on the enormous right foot.

All was going well (and by well, I mean that the paint had stayed on his foot while he was kicking it about and all clothing was paint-free) as I was guiding the tiny foot towards the canvas. At the last minute, he moved. That was the left foot. Not quite as central as I was hoping. He was even less keen on helping me out with the right foot, which is how we ended up with this.

Our second attempt was better.

The winning formula:

Wait until the baby is comfortably sedated during a feed. Get the room to a comfortable temperate and remove trousers so that you're working with bare legs (bear legs are a whole other issue). Be aware that there may be a sudden kick of a painted foot, so move silk cushions out of the way. Have a few canvases on standby, so that there's not so much pressure to get it right first time. Apply the paint to ONE FOOT with a sponge. Do not use a paintbrush. Firmly guide the foot to the canvas (yes, while he's feeding) and be sure to press the toes down (unless you want a toeless foot). HAVE THE BABYWIPES ON STANDBY. Once the first foot is done, move the canvas out of the way and clean the foot with a babywipe. Repeat with the second foot.

Much better, don't you think?

Now, how about a hand?

The best formula we found for the handprint was to follow the formula from above BUT, it's all about which hand you choose and how sedated your baby is. The above print was one where he curled his thumb around (hence why we were unable to flatten his wee hand).

If your baby is feeding on his side with one arm reaching towards his mum's neck and his other arm flopped towards her belly, choose the one near the belly. Make sure it's spread when guiding the canvas towards it and be sure to press down the fingers. Clean it with a babywipe immediately. Unless you fancy getting paint on your clothes, sofa, blankets, cushions and hair.

Finish it off with adding the date and it's ready to go on the wall.

Of course, you could just wait until the baby is sleeping to do all of this.