More arty preparations for Christmas, this time in the form of simple gift-tags made with finger or thumbprints. I love finger and thumbprint art much more than that using hand and footprints, which (with some notable exceptions) I often think can look rather contrived. In contrast I love the simplicity of finger and thumbprint artwork, and the fact that you have to embellish them and add detail to turn them into something else.

The robins and penguins were created from a single base thumbprint in black or brown, followed by a finger print on top in white or red. Details such as eyes were added with paint, and legs with pen. I used acrylic paint rather than ink pads to get a good dense colour.  It does mean that you don’t get the actual print detail of the finger, but if you’re using a coloured background you need something a bit more substantial.

I also did some reindeer and some Christmas sheep (I don’t care what anyone says, I think that sheep can be very Christmassy!) These also use 2 prints each from a thumb (body) and finger (head) with scarves and eyes added in paint, and legs etc. with pen.

This is of course also a really easy activity to do with children, and I hope to get the chance to do some more with the boys once they finish school for the holidays!

There is no end to the number of variations on a theme that you can do with this – why not check out the following ideas:

Snowmen

Christmas Trees

Christmas Lights

Thumbprint Christmas Ornaments

Santas

More reindeer

Snowy Owls

Moving away from Christmas ideas, if you want yet more inspiration for thumbprint art, Ed Emberley’s Complete Thumbprint Drawing Book is both comprehensive and inexpensive:

Or if you’re looking for a stocking filler gift idea, I think these little Finger Printing Art Sets available in a whole range of different subjects, (including animals, bugs, fairytales and dinosaurs) make an excellent small gift.

Linked up to:

Red Ted Art

NurtureStore