Clay Baby Handprint Ornament - The Cutest Baby Keepsake!

You are going to LOVE the baby handprint ornament that we are sharing today! This mitten shaped clay ornament makes such an adorable baby keepsake and it is sooo easy to make using our homemade clay recipe. Handprint ornaments have to be one of my favourite crafts for babies and todders! Just scroll down below for step-by-step instructions to make your own baby handprint keepsake.

Clay Baby Handprint Ornament - The Cutest Baby Keepsake!


We made these handprint ornaments using our homemade clay recipe, but you could easily make them from salt dough or air dry clay if you prefer! Salt dough is one of our favouite doughs to work with, (as its cheap to make using ingredients we always have in the cupboard), but because we wanted a bright white dough for these clay ornaments we decided to use homemade white clay.

See all our salt dough ornaments

These adorable baby handprint ornaments were inspired by the story book 'The Mitten' by Jan Brett that I have been reading with Daisy (aged 4). Before making the baby handprint ornament that I am sharing today I spent the afternoon with Daisy mixing up some homemade clay and making a whole batch of smaller mitten shaped clay ornaments. Do check them out as we came up with so many different ways to decorate the white clay.

Scroll down below to see how to make your own clay baby handprint ornament

Clay Baby Handprint Ornament. The cutest handprint keepsake!


If you love Christmas handprint crafts then you might also like to check out our collection of handprint Christmas cards. It would be lovely to make a handprint card to gift to someone alongside a clay handprint ornament. 


Clay Baby Handprint Ornament - The Cutest Baby Keepsake! 


Below you will find the easy homemade clay recipe that we used to make these handprint ornaments. Alternatively you can buy white air dry clay or use our easy salt dough recipe.

See our recommended clay and salt dough supplies in our amazon store


Follow our video instructions



Homemade white clay recipe 


Ingredients to make clay


  • 1 cup baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
  • 1/2 cup cornflour (cornstarch)
  • 3/4 cup of hot water

How to make homemade clay


To make your own homemade white clay put the baking soda and cornflour into a saucepan. Add the hot water and mix the ingredients together over a low/ medium heat. The ingredients will begin to bubble and come away from the sides of the pan. Tip the dough out onto a hard surface and when cool enough knead the dough. The clay dough should feel soft, a bit like playdough!

clay recipe

How to make a clay baby handprint ornament


Handprint Ornament Supplies


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See all our recommended clay and salt dough supplies in our amazon store

STEP 1: Gather your supplies


Before starting to make this handprint ornament make sure you have all your supplies to hand. This will make things so much easier, especially as this craft is to make with babies or toddlers! 

STEP 2: Cut a mitten shape from clay


Roll out the clay so it's about 1cm thick and use your mitten cookie cutter to cut out a mitten shape. 

If your don't have a mitten shaped cookie cutter you could cut out a mitten shape using a knife after you have made your handprint

clay handprint ornament

STEP 3 : Make a handprint in the clay


Next you need to help your baby or toddler to make a handprint on the clay mitten shape. This is easier said than done! 

I found that when doing this craft with Oliver (10 months) it helped to let him play with some of the dough first and then distract him with the rolling pin that he had seen me using. I put him in his highchair and used the highchair table to place the mitten shaped clay dough on. 

baby handprint ornaments

When making the handprint in the clay dough you need to press each finger down slightly to leave an imprint. This may take a couple of attempts before you get a clear handprint that you are totally happy with. If your first handprint doesn't work simply roll the clay back into a ball and start again. 

handprint ornaments

If you have a really fidgety baby or toddler you may find is easier to make the handprint first and then cut out the mitten shape afterwards. Just experiement and see what you find works best for you!

STEP 3: Make a hole for hanging your handprint ornament


Once you are happy with the handprint that you have made in the clay you need to add a small hole so that once dry you will be able to hang your baby handprint. The easiest way that we have found to make a hole in clay or salt dough is to press a straw into the dough. When you remove the straw there will be a small hole. 

STEP 4: Dry out clay


Next you will need to dry out your clay. If you are using our homemade clay recipe you can do this by putting your clay ornaments into the oven at a low temperature (100.C) or you can leave them to dry overnight in a warm room. If you place your ornaments in the oven keep checking on them as they dry out quite quickly and you don't want them to burn. If you decided to buy air dry clay to make your handprint ornament simply leave them on a flat surface to dry for a day or two. 

homemade clay baby handprint ornament

STEP 5: Decorate your baby handprint ornament


There are several ways that you can decorate these handprint keepsakes. If you want to keep it simple you could leave the handprint ornaments as they are! The bright white clay looks great left as it is and it means you arent distracted from the natural creases on your child's tiny handprint. 

Another way to decorate your baby handprint ornament is to paint it. You could paint the whole ornament, or what I personally think looks amazing is to paint either just the handprint or just the background. Experiment with different colours and ideas! 

Baby handprint ornament. Handprint painting.

Homemade clay baby handprint ornament. The mitten activities.

If you want to add a bit of glitz to your clay handprint ornament use glitter in place of paint! I love how the gold glitter really stands out against the white clay. 

To add glitter simply paint the part of the handprint that you want glitter added to with glue and then sprinkle glitter over the top. Again you could either fill the handprint with glitter or the rest of the mitten shape. 

Adding a name to your handprint keepsake is also a really nice added touch. I used a gold sharpie pen to add Oliver's name.

Baby handprint ornament. Clay handprint crafts.

Baby keepsakes. Clay baby handprint ornament.

STEP 6: Add twine to hang clay ornament 


You are almost finished making this beautiful clay handprint ornament now, you just need to thread some twine, string or ribbon through the hole so that your baby handprint is ready for hanging!

It could be fun to make your own clay baby handprint as a Christmas ornament, or even to give to family as a homemade Christmas gift. However, making a beautiful baby keepsake to treasure your babies little handprints forever is fun at anytime of the year!

We hope that you and your baby or toddler enjoy making and treasuring a clay handprint ornament of your own! I love the baby handprint ornaments I made with Oliver!

This adorable baby handprint ornament is made using our easy homemade clay recipe and it makes the BEST baby keepsake! Just follow our step by step instructions to make some handprint ornaments of your own.


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