Okay, here are the cast of characters for the best Christmas Tree Skirt .. ever. Promised to become one of your most prized possessions, even in all it's not so perfect glory...which makes it even more Perfect IMO.
First off...You need a few supplies. Not many though promise.
1) Boring ol XMas Tree Skirt...Plainer the better...this is just a piece of polyester cut into a circle shape, I got it somewhere for dollars.
2) Paint. I used the kids green crayola paint the first few years, I don't recommend that as it starts to fade and this year I had to go over it with some green puff fabric paint (which I put on with a brush so it wasn't puff). I used just a basic black acrylic paint this year, it's darker and will stay longer. You can not wash this so don't bother with mixing it with the textile medium as per the paints probable recommendations.
3) Black Sharpie to write the names and the year. And something to go over that. Again I used a fabric puff paint, this one is a gold glitter paint.
4) A paper plate.
5) The hands or feet of your featured subjects!
6) Lots of towels - paper or rags like I use...this project is messy. :D
So I bought the skirt for like $2 as I have said before. I cut a line down the middle of one side so that it would easily wrap around the tree (yours may already have this because I think most do, but again, it was $2).
I decided that that my slice mark was the 'middle' and I choose to have a separate side for each kid.
You could group yours together by year, alphabetical order, child preference (kidding), what have you.
I'd try and place them as close together as possible though, as you can see I did not do that at first and now I'll regret not having the space later....though I think the 1 year old may have had something to do with that in 2008. ;)
Anyhow, put your paint on your paper plate. I added some water so it wouldn't be so thick.
Put your skirt down on a flat surface, towels at the ready.
Have the kids press one hand in the plate. Make sure when they lift it off the plate it is evenly covered and that if anything is going to drip it drips back on the plate (otherwise you have to do creative hand placement to cover the drips that land on your skirt) ;)
Have them hold it over the skirt, fingers splayed (is that really a word splayed?) and help them press it down gently.
Press over their hand and each finger so all the paint transfers (if you use the watered down acrylic it transfers really well).
Have them gently remove their hand and wash it...or give them a towel. It depends on the age of the kid, younger the kid, the faster you should wash that hand!
Then repeat with the other hand.
Write their names underneath (or have them do it if they can write - which again will make it even more special one day) and the year with sharpie.
Go over that with the gold puff paint.
Let it dry for at least a half hour (especially the puff paint).
And voila. Best Christmas Tree Skirt Ever.
PS - It doesn't photograph well due to the textures of the paint (since hands aren't smooth) so just be aware it's even cuter in person. :D
