This sweet keepsake captures the size of your child’s handprint around the holidays, and results in an adorable reindeer ornament that you’ll be sure to hang on the tree for many years to come.

For this particular handprint, you can paint your child’s hand with brown paint and then press firmly onto brown felt or brown craft foam. However, I decided last minute to use a deep orange paint instead, which I thought would pop a little more against the brown. It ended up looking great!

I painted Veronika’s palm with the orange paint, and then she eagerly (and very helpfully!) spread her fingers for a perfect print on the felt.

In fact, she loved it so much that she asked me to paint her hand again, and then both hands, and loved making a few extra prints on scrap paper. Needless to say, we needed a quick emergency bath.

Meanwhile, glue the felt to a piece of thin cardboard (such as an old cereal box) and let the paint and glue dry completely. Once dry, cut out around the handprint. Use a hole punch to make an eye near the top of the thumb. Draw a red nose on the tip of the thumb, then cut a small slit near where antlers would be. Slip in a V-shaped length of sparkly red pipe cleaner for the antlers.

Punch one final hole in the top center and add red yarn or ribbon. Now Rudolph is on our Christmas tree!