Mothers Day Gift Idea: Fingerprint Pendant

You probably have a handprint of your little
one recorded in plaster somewhere but it's not
exactly something that you can carry with you.
With this fingerprint pendant, you can create a
precious keepsake as well as a one-of-a-kind
piece of jewelry!

*click on pictures to enlarge*

Mothers Day Gift: Fingerprint Pendant Tutorial


Materials:
white polymer clay*
32" waxed string or your preference**
round wood toothpick or skewer
smooth round-bodied pen
trimmed plastic lid
wax paper to work on


1: roll a small ball of clay (about a ½" in diameter)


2: use your round pen as a rolling pin and gently
roll the ball to ¼" in both directions


3: using your "rolling pen" create an oval shape


4: shape the upper portion of your pendant as
seen above - I use my pinkie fingers


5: use the wood skewer to make a hole for
stringing; roll the skewer between your fingers
at the same time as you rotate it around the
hole to get it nice and smooth


6: take your child's finger and press down into
the clay to make a nice clean print


7: once your happy with the print it's
ready for baking


8: use your plastic disc to transfer the pendant
to your baking sheet; follow the directions for
your clay; for mine, I bake it in a 275˚ oven
for 15 minutes

 
9: after the pendant has cooled you can string it;
fold your string in half and put the loop through the
hole from the front to the back then pull the two
loose ends through the loop and knot the loose ends

If you would like to add a sealer then do
that before stringing. Make sure you use a
light coat or the fine print lines will be lost.

(This pendant is different from the one pictured in the
previous steps and is not my preferred oval shape.)


10: All done and ready to wear!

These little pendants are great as ornaments too!
 
*I experimented with several kinds of
polymer clay and found that Original Sculpey
and Craft Smart (from Michael's) worked the
best to get a detailed fingerprint. Also, they
are a bit softer so you don't have to mash
your child's finger for the sake of art.

**You can use any type of "string" that you
would like. Satiny rat tail will give it a dressier
look. I like being able to slip the necklace
over my head but if you want it shorter
you'll have to add a clasp to the ends.

Comments

[Regina]

Are you able to write on the clay? I would like to put each child's name over their fingerprint and was wondering if it would work...thanks! Awesome idea!!!!

[N.]

Does anyone know if you can use a homemade clay (flour, salt, etc) to make this and seal it with mod podge or clear polish?

[heather]

love it...am going to make some with my boys for their grandmas...think i'm going to try to turn the two fingerprints into a heart shape....we'll see :)
thanks for the fantastic idea!!!

[Geni]

My Mom and Mother-in-law loved their pendants. Thanks for the tutorial!!

[. tiny twist creative .]

What a great, not difficult project. Thanks :-)

[myrnie]

Such fun! I made a set for each of the grandmas, and used chains and findings to make necklaces. I linked back, and posted here:
http://iwonderwoman.blogspot.com/2010/05/kids-made-this-fingerprint-pendants.html

Thanks for a great project!

[Aimee]

I did this in silver Sculpey with some variations. I posted about it here, with a link back to you: http://web.me.com/redshoearts/Redshoearts/Blog/Entries/2010/5/9_mother%E2%80%99s_day%2C_2010.html

Thanks for the great idea!

[Robin]

We made these with brown sculpy in a variety of shapes. They turned out great. Thanks for the idea!
http://domesticwormhole.wordpress.com/2010/05/09/making-my-own-present/

[Meagan]

Such a simple and wonderful idea- thanks! xo m.

[Mother Lode]

This pendent is so, So, SO SWEET! I can't wait to make these! I don't want to lose the link, and wanted to share with others too for Mothers Day this year, so it's featured it in a roundup of my favorite DIY Mothers Day gifts, here:
http://www.camilledawn.com/2010/05/mothers-day-roundup.html

Mother Lode
www.camilledawn.com

[Sherry and Donna]

Oh my good golly gosh! I am so going to be doing this with my kinder children this year. Thank you!
Donna :) :)

[tara]

such a nice simple idea!
i might be making some as gifts for the grandmas, thanks for sharing.

[Tammy]

I featured this on my blog at http://www.boosie.ca We will be making a lot of these this weekend to hand out to the grandmothers and what Mother could resist having an extra one made for herself. :)

[angee]

Love this!! Thanx for the idea! I will be linking tomorrow to this! :)

[Staci]

This is so sweet! I hope teenagers aren't too old, cuz I still kinda wanna make them! Maybe just bigger pendants? ;-)

[Terelle Langley]

Thanks for the tutorial! I made 2 of these, with 2 fingerprint pendants on each necklace. I am keeping one for my self and one is being sent to the kid's grandma for mother's day, she is going to LOVE it!
Here is a pic:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c239/TerelleLangley/60e15b01.jpg

[Amie Plumley]

This is so awesome! This idea is a keeper.

[Kari]

I LOVE this idea and will be making it for Mother's Day gifts for the grandmas. Thanks for a great tutorial!

[Brianne]

Thank you for this wonderful idea! I had some extra clay leftover and we made one for each of my boys and put them onto a key chain for their Grandma for Mother's Day.

[Wil F]

How do you think of these great ideas? I know my mom would love this!!

[trish]

totally need to make this, thanks!

[Stefanie Gott-Dinsmore]

Does ink work on polymer clay? I would think it would be nice also to have the kid put their finger on a stamp pad first to accentuate the lines on the finger.

[* TONYA *]

Awesome. I'm making these in different colors (one from each of the kids) for me to wear ... Happy Mother's Day to me :).

[Amy]

LOVE this! :)

[Amanda]

Brilliant!! I'm a polymer clay artist and I didn't think of this! Going to use it for my Mum with my daughters.

[katy]

I love this idea, Cassi! I'm going to see if I can find a comparable clay here. I think Grandma's would love this too :)

[Tanya]

I just sent this to my husband as a back up plan...

[Anna - Three Sneaky Bugs]

Nice post! I've been thinking for a couple of months about doing something like this only in silver PMC so it looks almost cast.

[gina]

This is a great idea!