Create Your Own Baby Footprint Wrapping Paper

I started creating this homemade wrapping paper when I was invited to a baby shower and I discovered at the last minute that all of the wrapping paper I had on-hand was Christmas themed. Since then, I've kept doing because it is so cute and everyone has really enjoyed receiving it.

Begin with a piece of paper big enough to cover your gift. It can be tissue paper, freezer paper, or even a piece of plain white office paper in a pinch, if your gift is small enough. It doesn't have to be white. If you know the gender of the child or the color theme of the party you might want to use matching paper. You will also need a stamp pad or some craft paint.

I like to use the traditional pink or blue colors for the paint if I know the gender of the child. If I don't know the gender, I'll typically use yellow or green. Begin by laying your paper out flat on your working surface. Open your stamp pad, or pour a puddle of the paint you are using on a paper plate. You might want to have some paper towels or handi-wipes nearby to clean up with, because you are going to get paint on both of your hands.

Choose one hand to start with and curl it into a fist. Hold it out in front of you so that the side of your fist with the pinkie on it is down and the side with the thumb is pointing straight up. Keeping your hand in that position, lower your hand into your paint or onto your stamp pad. Lift your hand away and look at it to make sure that you have a thoroughly coated (but not too heavily coated!) layer of color on the bottom of your fist. Now take that fist and set it down carefully onto your paper. Lift it straight up when you are finished, and you should have a clear print that looks just like the question mark shaped curl of the bottom of a baby's foot. Your baby footprint won't have any toes, but that's alright because we will fix that later.

You will alternate the process between your left and right hands, making the prints just far enough apart that it looks like the baby is walking across the paper, leaving tracks. It's easier to lift your hand off the paper without smearing it if you can use the fingers of the opposite hand to hold the paper still. In order to avoid accidentally wiping paint from the second hand while you are helping the first hand lift up, you may want to do all of one hand first, clean up, and then do all of the other hand. Just be sure to leave enough space between the first set to be able to fill in the opposite side.

Once you have all of the foot shapes in place you will go back and add the toes. Dip each of your fingertips and your thumb in your paint or on your stamp pad, then one at a time press each them one of them down in order from thumb, index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and pinkie, so that they are in spaces that you would expect the big toe, second toe, middle toe, and so on. Your five fingers will make five toe prints. Do this for each of your prints making sure that your are putting your left hand fingers on the left foot prints, and the right hand fingers on the right foot prints. (If you accidentally put the wrong fingers with the print it will give the impression that the big toe is on the wrong side.)

Give your paper a chance to dry completely and then you are ready to wrap up your gift. This is a cute and personalized project that new moms-to-be and new dads-to-be will appreciate the effort that you have put into.

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