Don’t you wish you could keep your children small forever? And wouldn’t it be nice if we could just freeze time and have some way to remember those tiny fingers and toes?
Well the good news is, with a scrapbook layout you can! Since there are several different ways you can capture your child’s handprint or footprint in their scrapbook.
My favorite way is to use an ink pad. You need to be sure it is an archival ink pad, and that it is safe for your layout. Stamp the stamp pad onto the hand or foot. Then place the inked hand or foot onto where you want it on the paper. Voila – a preserved handprint or footprint.
Another way to do it is to use paint. Try to find a paint that is archival, and then take the paint brush and brush a coat of paint onto to the surface of a hand or foot. Be sure on a foot to coat all the tiny toes. After you have a coat of paint in place, take the paper and push it against the painted hand or foot.
When you have finished your stamped image, it’s time to think about how you want to do the rest of the layout. I say simple is best. Using a photo from that time period and perhaps a poem or quote should be perfect. Keep the focus on the tiny print, rather than the rest of the layout.
Here are a handful of poems or quotes you could use with your layout.
My Hands
Sometimes you get discouraged
Because I am so small
And always leave my fingerprints
On furniture and walls.
But every day I’m growing …
I’ll be grown-up someday,
And all those tiny handprints
Will surely fade away.
So here’s a final handprint
Just so you can recall
Exactly how my fingers looked
When I was very small.
Footprint Poem
The pitter patter of little feet
Leave behind something dear and sweet
A precious treasure for me to keep
The memories of your little feet.
My Handprints
My dirty little handprint
I’ve left on every wall
And on the drawers and tabletops
I’ve really marked them all
But here is one that won’t rub off
I’m giving it to you
Because I am so thankful
For a (mother/father/gran) just like you!
My Hands
These little hands can wave Hello
Or put smudges on the wall
They can fold in prayer, throw a kiss
Or reach up so very tall
They’ll clasp your hand for a little stroll
Or shape a ball from clay
But most of all, they’ll stay with you
When I’m grown up and far away
My Handprints
There used to be so many
Of my finger prints to see
On furniture and walls and things
From sticky, grubby me.
But if you stop and think awhile
You’ll see I’m growing fast
These little moments disappear
You can’t bring back the past.
So here is a small reminder
To keep, not throw away
Of tiny hands and how they looked
To make you smile someday.
My Handprints
Tiny handprints grow so fast
Their awkward groping soon will clasp
A ball, a book a sweetheart’s hand
A diploma, briefcase, a wedding band
Tiny handprints grow so strong
It doesn’t take them very long
To snap a shirt, to paint, to draw
To work hard , to drive a car
Tiny handprints grow to be
A person that is quite unique
A wonderful mix of so many things
With his own feelings, thought and dreams
Tiny handprints grow to rely
On his parents to bring him up just right
His parents pray that when he’s grown
He’ll say their job has been well done
Tiny handprints are ours to love
The sweetest gift from God above
A miracle that never is surpassed
How sad they grow up way to fast –
Handprint Poem
Children have a certain way
of growing bigger every day,
But these little hands
and this special smile
will stay in our
hearts a long, long while.
Handprint Poem
This is my hand.
My hand will do
A 1000 loving things with you
And you will remember
When I am tall…
That once my hand
Was just this small.
Handprint Poem
My dirty little fingerprints
I’ve left on every wall,
And on the drawers and table tops,
I’ve really marked them all.
But here is one that won’t rub off,
I’m giving it to you,
Because I’m thankful for a (mother/father/grandma/etc) just like you!
Handprint Poem
You always clean the fingerprints
I leave upon the wall.
I seem to make a mess of things
Because I am so small.
The years will pass so quickly
I’ll soon be grown like you
And all my little fingerprints
Will surely fade from view.
So here’s a special handprint
A memory that’s true.
So you’ll recall the very day
I made this just for you!
Handprint Poem
Here is my hand
So tiny, so small
to hang somewhere
upon your wall.
Handprint Poem
This is the hand
You used to hold
When I was only
__ years old.
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go…
Some stay and make footprints on our hearts…
And we are never, never the same.” – Author Unknown
“The footprints you leave behind will influence others. There is no person who at some time, somewhere, somehow, does not lead another.” – Author Unknown
“Take a child by the hand and you take a parent by the heart.” – Author Unknown