need help on childs craft project
 

I help my grandaughter make Christmas presents for everyone. She is just 6 so she has never had any ideas herself so so far the ideas have come from me. She now has, by Christmas, a 2 year old sister. So my idea is to take ceramic wall tiles and put their handprints on it. The older one can do some more decorating on hers if she wants.

Is there is particular type of suragce tile I need to look for, glossy, matte, etc. Can I just use my regular craft paints. What kind of spray to use to seal after finished. I figure I would need to put felt on the back or those little black rubber adhesive dots so they could be used as coasters. I thought that if I didn't use felt, we could put a picutre of the girl on the back along with the date. Would I need to use a decopauge technique to do that or just glue and spray sealer?

Help, I can think up an idea but now how to carry it through!!!!!!!

I googled a little bit because I was curious (sounds like a great craft idea). Here is an article that is interesting:

http://www.artontiles.com/Paintingontiles.html

A ceramic shop would be a great place for ideas in general. You could maybe take the kiddos in there and have a painting day with some of their materials. It seems to me that when I was in one last summer, they even had some tiles or something you could use as coasters.

Sounds like a wonderful idea. maybe they could use them as
a hot plate for the table.:)

Sox

Thanks for the idea. What I was thinking of was going to my local Lowes or Home Depot. They have ceramic tiles as cheap as 12 cents a tile. I just hope I could find a cheap tile that is large enough to accomodate a 6 year olds' hand. Trinity is very dainty though. I would just have her stick her hand on a plate of craft paint and put it on a tile. I don't know what kind of tile and paint to use. I would ask my very crafty Mother but I want this to be a suprise to all the family. I have this bright red bag and Trinity calls it her Santa bag. Last year she had all her presents wrapped up and put them in this bag, put on a Santa hat and went around the room and gave everyone their present. She was so cute. Her little sister is outgoing enough that I think she will go with Trinity around the room. I don't live around my grandkids so I see them about every 4 - 6 weeks.

doydie, do you have a hobby lobby or a michaels near you?

they have so many kids crafts projects with everything you need in one box. even walmart does int he sewing /craft aisles.

they have kits where you can make mugs, plates just all kind of stuff.

grandmonkey and i made the mugs a few years ago. he did the hand prints on piece of paper and it fits into a clear plastic mugs. seals it right inside.

I'm thinking Lowes or HD sales people may be able to answer your questions. all the store and ask before you head down there.

I think a matte finish and some sort of sealer would work best. Just my 2 cents. It sounds like such a clever idea.

When you figure it out, and I know you will. Please let us know.

:hug:

Your'e such a good Gramma, Doyd!!!!

I wanna make cookies w/you!!! :):hug:

http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog.jsp?CATID=cat1763

You should be able to buy the paints from Jo-ann fabrics right off this site.

I'm not sure, they may not ship paint, but it's worth checking.

I used their line for my cane and years ago, we did all the kids's hands on our little picnic table- they have some for every material, ceramic, even glass.

And they'll tell you which to use. And in each line of paint there is a clear coat. They're nice, inexpensive, and a lot safer to use around little kids than the types of paint you'll probably find at Lowe's.

These are made with crafting moms and grandmas in mind.

BTW, I love your idea and I just may steal that, lol.

I used to do a lot of painting on plaster miniature house like for my Christmas village so I would use some kind of craft paint. What I will probabkly do is make one to test it out.

I had another idea and tried it and it failed. I found the idea in a magazine. You took broken tiles and glued them on a plastic easter egg and then put your grout on. I was able to do it OK but it took me about a day to do one. You had to wait for the adhesive to completely dry before turning the egg to put more peices on. My darling little 6 year old grandaughter wouldn't have the patience to do that. Plus I only see her about once every 4 - 6 weeks. So we would never get 15 eggs done.

The firast year I helped her make Christmas presents, I wanted them to look really nice so I redid a lot of her work to make it perfect. Then I realized that it was from a 3 year old!!!! So I learned my lesson and try to keep it easy but yet nice. Plus if we make hand print coasters, the 2 year old can help us! Can't wait to get all messy with them!

I agree that Home Depot or Lowes people will be able to help you. The one thing I keep thinking is that you probably don't want a glazed tile because the paint would just smear. Definitely something unglazed / unsealed.

Here is some info on paint products from Michaels:

http://www.michaels.com/art/online/s...chScope=within

Color me mine
 

If you have a Color Me Mine nearby, check them out as well. They have everything you need; tiles, paints, and they'll even finish the tiles for you. I know you want to do this yourself, so maybe you can just check out the supplies, the type of paint, whether the tiles are glossy, or matte, etc.

I do this with my grandson (age 4). Last year we took some watercolors and painted large sheets of paper (11 x 17). While it was still wet he jumped into the middle of the wet paper with bare feet, then bent down and added his hands. When we framed these they made the greatest gifts! Great Grandma got one for her birthday, Mom and Dad got one each for Mother's Day and Father's Day. I kept one for me, put one in the cedar chest for grandson when he grows up.

Another thing we did was take some clay, (actually, I like to use Fimo, which you can bake until hard), flatten it out, and press his hand into the center to make a little plaque.

We've decorated flower pots, planted flowers and plants, made sock puppets. We both love to do these things together. It's going to be a drag when he grows up and doesn't want to do it any more.