I promise you Homegrown Friends is not becoming a salt dough suncatcher blog, but my children and I had so much fun making our original Salt Dough Suncatchers that I wanted to try one more idea I dreamed up. Today we are combining concepts of the traditional handprint ornaments with our Salt Dough Suncatchers to create Handprint Suncatchers. I am in love with how these turned out! I hope you love them too!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE HANDPRINT SUNCATCHERS
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2 cups flour
1 cup salt
1 cup water
Transparent pony beads
parchment paper
cookie tray
string or wire
glitter
glue
HOW TO MAKE THE HANDPRINT SUNCATCHERS
Begin by mixing together the flour, salt and water to make the salt dough. Divide the dough into three parts and roll out one part of the dough. Have your child spread the fingers of one hand and press onto the dough. Use your hand to place a little pressure on each finger and the palm to help leave an imprint.
Using a knife cut the handprint out.
Cut a circle around the handprint. Using a knife carefully make a small hole at the top of the suncatcher so that you will be able to hang it later. Gently transfer the handprint to a cookie tray covered in parchment paper. Next give your children transparent plastic beads to fill the handprint space. Challenging your children to pick up the tiny beads and transfer them to the suncatcher is such a great fine motor experience. This will help strengthen the muscles in the hands which are essential for writing. I especially love how these look with multi-colored beads.
Once the handprints are completely filled with beads cover loosely with a piece of tinfoil and bake in the oven at 375 degrees F for 1.5- 2 hours or until the beads have melted. In order for the beads to melt the salt dough will turn brown. No worries! We will fix that in the next step! TIP: If your kitchen is cold keep the suncatchers in the oven after you turn it off for about 10 minutes so that the beads do not crack.
Let cool completely. Using a paint brush spread glue all over the salt dough, but not on the melted bead handprint. Generously sprinkle with glitter (we chose gold and silver). Shake off the excess glitter. Let dry.
Hang with a ribbon or fishing wire. Like our Salt Dough Suncatcher, these are gorgeous hanging in a window and simply breathtaking on a Christmas Tree. What a memorable gift this would be to send to a family member! Childhood captured in a suncatcher.
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I would love to make these with my grandchildren at March Break…wondering what kind of beads you use,I heard some are toxic when they melt and I am worried about that.
Thanks for your help,in advance.Hope to hear from you soon.
Alyson
Hi Alyson, We used regular transparent pony beads ( I linked to them in this post). They do give off a melting plastic smell, but I had our oven vent on and the smell was minimal. If you are uncomfortable melting beads in your home readers have had success placing the suncatchers on a cookie tray and using an outdoor grill or placing a toaster oven in a well ventilated area.
Thank you for the idea. I was wondering what type of glue you used? Thanks so much!
Hi Beth. To attach the glitter I used regular old Elmer’s white glue. To attach the string on the back I used a glue gun.
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Love the handprint suncatchers! I plan to do this with my grandchildren over Christmas vacation. I’m a retired teacher and doing art projects with grandchildren fulfills my void:) I like the dark brown color of the sample you made. It almost looks like potting soil. How did you get that color?
It’s actually gold glitter that just photographed dark.