This sign is unique because Dad gets to be a part of it, too! From what I’ve seen, most (if not all) Father’s Day signs don’t involve Dad. This is likely because the makers want the sign to be a surprise, but this sign requires Dad’s hand print too! The best part of this is that the sign can still be a surprise, because the first thing you do is get Dad’s hand print. After that he’ll have no idea what you’re up to! If you do it early enough he may even forget that he’s done it!

---

Supplies:

• 12 x 12 white card stock
• Black paint
• Paint brush
• One red card stock heart for each child. Mine were about 4″ x 4″
• Glue stick
• Black marker or Cricut to write the text

---

Instructions:

1. Prepare your card stock. We used the kitchen counter and had each child paint a part of Dad’s hand. One got the palm, one got three fingers and the last (and oldest) got the remaining fingers, and a quick touch-up of the rest of the hand.

2. Have Dad press his hand firmly onto the card stock. Impress upon him the importance of keeping his hand as close to the edges as possible. Depending on how many children you have – and how old they are – you will need all the space you can get! He should place his hand in the bottom corner, angling to the open area. The idea is for it to look like he’s holding, or catching, the hearts and hands. Allow the hand print to dry.

3. I next used my Cricut to cut out the hearts, and to write on the words, “Dads hold our hands for a little while and our hearts forever.” You can do all this freehand, or print it on the computer and cut it out. I don’t like my writing very much (although I’m getting better🙌🏻) so sometimes I’ll ask a friend with nicer writing than mine to write the words for me.

4. Glue the hearts onto the page. Map it out before you glue it, making sure that the bigger hands have more space. It’s okay if they overflow the hearts differently, but try not to cover up the words, Dad’s hand, or the other hearts when you’re stamping the hands.

5. Note: Now this step can be a very terrifying experience. There is certainly a lot of pressure. I could not possibly have risked the craft in order to take pictures. I’m sure you can picture for yourself what it looked like; you’ll be pleased (and shocked) to know that no one got paint on their clothes, or ruined our sign #miracleshappen.

Back to step 5: One at a time, paint each child’s hand and press it onto their heart. I had my husband and one child use their left hand, and then face the other two children’s’ right hands. Warn the children ahead of time that they can only press once, and they can’t move their hand once it’s down. I even had my littlest practice a couple of times on the counter (before painting it, of course) to be sure she understood what was required of her.

---

---

Tips:

• Don’t use too much paint. You won’t get the contour of the hand if you use too much because it’ll just cover up the lines of the hands. If you’re unsure, try doing some trial rounds, even of your own hand, on spare paper before using your card stock. Because the hand stamping is the last step it can be a bit daunting. It’s perfectly okay to do some tests first!
• Once the hand is painted don’t wait to press it down. If the paint starts to dry it won’t stamp properly and you may have to redo a section. Once the whole hand is painted do a quick once-over to make sure the whole hand is wet.
• If part of a hand didn’t work repaint JUST that part and re-stamp it. Help the child to line it up and press it down very slowly.

---

When we presented my husband his new sign the kids were so excited to show him which hand was theirs. It was a very exciting piece of artwork!