Footprint Butterfly Serving Tray

I’m so excited about the craft I’m sharing today. If you’ve followed by blog for any length of time you know I love do to handprint – footprint art with Sophie and Audrey, and I just love how this one turned out! Some of you may have already seen this one over at Practically Functional as I shared it as a guest post in early June. Today I’m bringing it home to Night Owl Corner! So without further ado, let me show you how to paint a serving tray with butterflies made from your child’s footprints!

How to Make a Keepsake Craft Using Your Child’s Footprints

You will need a wooden serving tray for this craft. You can often find plain wooden ones at craft stores like Michaels or AC Moore, or pick one up at a place like TJ Maxx or Marshalls. Start by painting the tray white so you have a clean, neutral surface to work with. Now comes the fun part! Grab your little one and use a foam brush to paint the bottom of his or her foot with acrylic paint. I recommend using three different colors — one color on the toes, another color for the middle of the foot, and a third color for the heels. Then gently stamp their foot on the tray. Repeat for the other foot, making sure that you position them so that the right foot gets stamped to make the left side of the butterfly and the left foot gets stamped to make the right side of the butterfly. After the “butterflies” dry, paint on a body and antennae.

Next type the children’s names in a Word document using a font of your choice. I used a pretty script font called Black Jack. Print out the name, and trace the BACK of the name with a charcoal pencil. Then position the name on the tray with the charcoal side down and secure it with tape. Gently rub so that the charcoal transfers to your tray. When you lift it off, you’ll have an outline of the name you can use as a guide for painting.

Of course, if you’re really brave you can just free hand this whole process but being the perfectionist I am I prefer to know exactly what it’s going to look like before I paint it! I will admit…painting the name is not easy. Just go slowly and try to keep your hand as steady as possible. You can always touch it up with white paint if you get off track!

When the paint is dry, spray the whole tray with at least 2 coats of clear acrylic finish to protect your design. Here’s our finished product: