Do-It-Yourself Handprint Bowl Gift Idea


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A quick guide for making your own handprint bowls. An easy gift idea for your toddler to make.
Are you looking for an easy do-it-yourself gift idea that your toddler can help with?
Make your own handprint bowls with this easy tutorial!
I love DIY homemade gifts that my kids can give to family and friends. But, I struggle to find gifts that are easy enough for young children to help with AND are practical. We want to give gifts that our loved ones will actually be able to use and enjoy.
These handprint bowls are the perfect gift. They are so easy to make, super cute, and useful!
We made these thoughtful handprint bowls for each of my daughter’s grandparents as Christmas presents one year. They can easily be gifted for any holiday.
These do-it-yourself handprint bowls would be a great gift idea for birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas.


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What You Need
This project is great because you don’t need a lot of supplies. You really only need two items to create these handprint bowls. How much easier can it get?!


- Glass/ceramic/porcelain bowls – I bought these at our local Dollar Store but you can find them at any home goods or kitchen store or on Amazon. The bowls we used were a little deep, a more shallow bowl like these pasta bowls may be a better option. Make sure they are oven safe.
- Paint pens – I bought these paint pens by Artistro from Amazon and they worked great! They can also be used for other projects, like rock painting, if that’s your thing (SIDE NOTE: I did try painting rocks with my toddler using these pens, she lasted about 2 minutes but I enjoyed it)!
How To Make DIY Handprint Bowls
Here is the simple, easy to follow guide for making your own handprint bowls.
1. Wash and dry your bowls.
2. Trace your toddler’s hand on the bottom of the bowl with a paint pen.


3. Let your toddler use the paint pens to color their handprint.
4. I then used the paint pens to write a poem along the outside of the bowl.
Ten tiny fingers that always want to play, that never stop exploring the wonder of today. Ten tiny fingers that from the very start, reach for tomorrow yet always hold your heart.
I found this sweet poem online and as far as I can tell, the author is unknown. If you know where it’s originally from, let me know so I can give the author credit!


5. After the bowls are decorated, let them dry. Then, you want to set the paints by baking them in the oven.
These are the instructions that come with the paint pens:
- Place in oven (don’t preheat) and heat to 310-355 degrees F for 1 hour.
- Cool in oven.
6. Let the bowls sit for 24 hours and then wash by hand.
If you end up using the Artistro paint pens, keep in mind that the paint is NOT dishwasher safe.
Although the paints are non-toxic, they are not meant to be in contact with food. I couldn’t find any paints that were actually food safe.
For this reason, don’t use the bowls for eating!
We use ours as a candy bowl for wrapped candy.
Or, if you really want to use them for food, only decorate the outside of the bowls.


I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial on how to make do-it-yourself handprint bowls. Good luck with creating your homemade gifts!