DIY Love Handprint Sign (Picture Tutorial)

How to Make a Love Sign with Hands and Feet

I absolutely love this handprint love sign art project! It makes a wonderful keepsake. You can make it in pink or red and use it as a Valentine’s Day decoration, or make it in any color you like and keep it up in your home year round. It also makes a wonderful gift for grandparents.

Your kids will have a lot of fun making this, especially if they are ticklish! However, I recommend having a helper nearby to help deal with the messiness of painted hands and feet!

The Supplies:

• 11×14 canvas panel
• Round-tip paint brush (preferably, but a flat brush could work as well)
• Chosen color of craft paint
• White craft paint
• Plastic plate or paper plate for mixing paint
• Cardboard or newspaper to protect your tabletop

Step 1.

To start, I opened up an empty cereal box to protect my table and set out my canvas panel.  I could not find the exact color of paint I wanted, so I decided to mix my own color. I started with a Christmas green and a citron green and mixed them with some white until I got a light Kelly green.

Once I had a color I liked, I added a few drops of the lighter colors and only mixed those in halfway and then started painting. I like seeing the brush strokes on my canvas and under-mixing the paints allows you to see a little more texture.

Step 2.

The green ended up blending a little more than I wanted, but you can see the texture showing through more with the blue canvas. If you like a solid color, do not worry about mixing paint. If you like seeing the lines and texture, mix two colors and leave your paint under-mixed. Allow your canvas to dry for 20 to 30 minutes before moving on to the next step.

You can see a little bit more texture in this picture; it showed through more once the paint was dried.

Step 3.

For this part, bring your little one to the table and paint the white paint onto their hand. Your child will likely squish it around and want to play with it, depending on their age, so have some wipes or moist paper towels close by. Once the print is made, wash their hand at the sink. The craft paint washes away easily.

Next, it is time to paint the left foot. You will want a helper for this part, or in my case, two helpers. My husband helped hold my son’s foot still and helped to place it on the canvas before having him step down. We washed his foot at the sink, then continued with the right foot.

Step 4.

You can see how to place the hand and feet by looking at the photo above. The main thing you want to remember when making the “v” with the feet is to make sure the heels touch. They can overlap, like on the green canvas, or touch side by side, like on the blue canvas. Either way is fine, just make sure there is no gap.

Step 5.

To finish, paint “l” and “e.” You will likely have to do two coats of paint for the letters. Just remember: it does not have to be perfect to be completely adorable.

Now let it dry and put it up in your home. It’s as easy as that! I hope your own “love” handprint sign brings you a smile every time you see it!

Looking for more Valentine’s Day ideas?

We’ve got a ton of great DIYs and recipes for you to check out! Here’s where you should start:

• 28 DIY Valentine’s Day Crafts and Homemade Cards
• 20 Valentines Day Gift Ideas & Homemade Cards
• 14 DIY Valentine’s Day Wreath Ideas
• 30 Valentine’s Day Recipes