Child Handprint Jack-o-Lantern {tutorial}

I liked the footprint ghosts so much that I decided to use my children's handprints to make jack-o-lanterns on smaller canvases to hang on their bedroom doors.

Materials:

4" x 4" white canvas for each child
   * These were BOGO 1/2 off this week at Michaels and sell for $2.99 each.
orange, green, brown and black paint
   * I used Craftsmart from Michaels. It is $0.59 per small bottle but was on sale this week for $0.29/bottle.
Ribbon for hanging
   * I used a small spool of orange with white polka dots that was $1 from Joann.
Paintbrushes and sponges
Hot glue gun and hot glue sticks
Wet wipes
   * I have to wipe hands BEFORE going to the sink to wash so paint does not end up along the trail from kitchen table to bathroom sink.
Paper plate and paper towels

To put the pumpkin on the canvas, you may either have the child put his/her hand directly into a blob of paint on a paper plate or use a sponge to paint it on. I opted for the sponge to try to contain the paint a bit.

Depending on how 'helpful' your child is, you may either have them roll their hand (wrist end to finger end) on the canvas to make sure the center of the palm gets on the canvas so your pumpkin has "insides" or you may bring the canvas to the child's hand. (I opted for the second method because it was just easier than trying to explain what I wanted my kids to do.)

Next up, making the leaf and stem. To make the leaf, I put a dab of green paint on the paper plate and had each of my kids put their thumb in it and them press it on the canvas with the smaller portion of their thumb (the tip and not the knuckle) facing toward the pumpkin.

Use your brown paint and a paintbrush to paint the pumpkin's stem next to the leaf. Let everything dry (should not take too long). Use your black paint and a paintbrush to add a face to your jack-o-lantern. If you prefer, you may also leave it as a pumpkin. Without the faces, my pumpkins looked sort of like orange apples so I opted to add the face. I used orange paint to write each of their names (as they requested this). Let everything dry.

Almost done...just need to add the ribbon for hanging. I cut off a length of ribbon 7 inches long and used my hot glue gun to glue the ends of the ribbon. Space the ribbon on the back based on how you want it to hang and what works best with the ribbon you choose.

Okay, you're done! You now have a jack-o-lantern (or pumkin) made from your little one's palm and thumb/finger.