My husband doesn’t often read my blog , so hopefully these next few weeks are too busy at work and he skips this post since I hope to surprise him with this on Father’s Day. I wanted to make him something he could carry with him, but not be embarrassed to, or look unprofessional. This little key chain is well, little and won’t clutter up his office.
- Gather your materials. You will need, your child’s footprint, shrinky dinks, a colored pencil, a key chain , hole punch, scissors , some card stock, double sided tape, and a pen or marker.
- Start by tracing your child’s foot on the shrinky dink plastic . As you can see I am tracing my child’s footprint which he did at school for a tee-shirt. I wanted the whole thing to be a surprise so I did this while they were out together at a baseball game. My 3 year old has loose lips lately.
- Cut out the foot and punch a hole in it. You may want to make the hole a little bigger than a plain hole punch size, I had to carefully strtch ours when the shrinky dink was still hot to make our key chain fit.
- Shrink! Follow the directions on the shrinky dink package carefully.
- While it’s cooling write out a poem like the one below on the card stock, back it with some fun paper, tape the two together.
- Punch a hole and thread the key chain through both.
The Poem
My Footprint is small but getting bigger everyday,
I am learning how to be big by watching you work, love and play.
Remember when your days are long and you can’t walk another mile,
That this little footprint makes it all worthwhile.
Tanya M. says
Awww,this is so special!
Alice Law says
Awesomely cool, the poem is really touching! Thanks for sharing!;)
Happy Ffather’s Day to your husband!
Wendy says
Totally love it, and very touching!
Carrie says
Thanks! This is perfect! I have been looking for a gift that was sweet and practical! And I just love the poem!
Dawn says
Beautiful!
admin says
Thanks! I broke down and specifically asked my husband NOT to pull up my blog or look at facebook updates until next week when it won’t be on the front page 🙂
Jenny says
Love it? Where do you find blank shrinky dinks?
admin says
I got mine at Micheal’s ( ask where they are, mine has them hidden in the stamp section) or Amazon has them too :
Shrink Film 8-1/2 Inch X11 Inch Sheets 6/Pkg-Clear
Lindsay says
Just curious, could you have them place their footprint ON the shrinky dink to take out the step of getting the footprint, then tracing it? Please let me know! LOVE this idea! Also, how big will the finished keychain be (I’ve never used a shrinky dink)? My DH isn’t one for large keychain charms…
Thanks!
~Lindsay
admin says
Yes – you would just have to keep them still and trace around. You can use ink ( like stamp pads) on it too so a compliant child( think baby) would be awesome for that – just read the directions carefully on the shrinky dink package.
– so sorry it took so long to answer this comment got lost in a storm of spam comments the other day , good question!
Nicki says
Thank you so much for all of your ideas. This is such a service to those that are creatively challenged (me). You are a genius.
-Mom to a 6, 4 and almost 2 year old.
admin says
You are so welcome – doing this makes me feel like I have a purpose and readers have no possible way of knowing what a gift it is to me !
Shanna says
Love, love, love this idea! Will give it a shot this week with my 3 yr old and 10 mo old while the hubby is away on a business trip!
Jen says
This is adorable! Might just have to make for Dad from our little man!
Jen
Creative and Curious Kids!
.-= Jen´s last blog ..CSN Stores Review and Giveaway! Bazoongi Kids Play Structure =-.
Valerie says
So sweet! I just made a set of my girls for my father-in-law and husband. They are fabulous. My brother-in-law is visiting and was watching the process and is now begging for 2 little feet of his own (Little does this Uncle know he’s already getting them!). Thanks for sharing – such an easy little craft, I just love it. And I had some white shrinky dinks from a previous craft – they worked great also. So much so that I am thinking about writing the poem out on a large sheet and shrinking that down – it’ll be more sturdy. We’ll see how big I have to write….
Cindy Gellhaus says
Love this thanks for sharing. Do you color the footprint after tracing it? If so, what did you used or is the shrinky dinks colored? Never used shrinky dinks. Could you shrinky dink the poem?
Angie says
Hi, thanks for the wonderful idea and poem. I didn’t have the materials to make the keychain so I adapted it and made a little card instead! 🙂
My version 🙂 :http://simply-mommie.blogspot.com/2010/06/fathers-day-gift-for-hubs.html
Ida says
Very sweet. I made one for my husband during a tough week at work.
http://contagiouslycreative.blogspot.com/2010/08/appreciating-daddy.html
Katie B. says
Just an FYI: If you can’t find blank Shrinky Dink plastic any #6 plastic will work. (look on the bottom of your Solo plastic cups) Place your cutout on a baking sheet or cake pan lined with parchment paper. Preheat your oven to 225 degrees F. Keep a very close watch!! It should start to melt within 30 to 60 seconds. Leave it in the oven until it has stopped moving. Remove and allow to cool.
Me says
Stumbled on your blog and glad I did! This project is adorable!! I think I just found the gift for this year! Thank you!! 🙂
Leeanne A says
wonderful – now I just ahve to find the shrink stuff dirt cheap to do all 20 of my kids! 🙂
Perhaps at my next garage sale trip!
Ashlyn says
Super cute! About to leave for Michael’s to get some Shrinky Dink paper then back home to get my 2 yo to stay still long enough for me to trace his foot 🙂 Great idea and love the poem, too!
Jessica says
this is a really cute idea…i’m not making it into a keychain but i’m going to stamp it on a homemade card…still as cute 🙂
Jen@Creative and Curious Kids! says
Love, love, love….. THANK YOU! Now all I need is shrinky dink paper. craft stores?
Jen
Britt says
This is one of the GREATEST father’s day gifts I’ve ever seen! Thank you SO much for posting this! I can’t wait to make this for my husband.
Mary A. says
Thanks so much for posting this! We are using salt dough to make an impression of my daughter’s foot for a father’s day surprise. This is the perfect poem to go along with it.
admin says
So glad – love the salt dough idea!
Katrin says
I am an Infant teacher I made these for fathers day cant wait to see what the dads think!
Diane says
Make the hole for keychain very large….bigger than a hole punch. I had to stretch mine as it was cooling and it made the foot not flat.
admin says
Great tip Diane – thanks for sharing!
Stephanie says
I’d like to do this but was wondering how much does it shrink? Never used that material before and our daughter’s foot print was smaller than a house key so I’d like to keep it close to true size.
Zahra says
I love the idea. Thank you
Allison McDonald says
Thank you!
Ana says
OMG this is beautiful!! I definitely hope to try it with the kids!
Dora says
Hey lovely fathers day gift. I absoultly love the idea! What if u cant find shrink dinks, what other paper can u use since am living in a third world country :(?
Allison McDonald says
Do you have access to clay? You could write the poem on paper and make a clay footprint.
Kell says
Just an FYI – these are the CUTEST things on the planet – my kids did them in preschool a few years back. However, CAUTION: These are fragile & crack/break fairly easily. I’m rough on my keys and within days mine were broken. SUGGESTION: Add child’s name & date/year to foot before you shrink them then the writing stays size appropriate.