Fingerprint Bridie Cards

Let's just be honest here: my mom is terribly hard to shop for. If she needs something, she gets it. If it's a nick knack, she doesn't want it. Add that to the fact that I wait a little bit too late to start thinking about Mother's Day and it can become a sticky situation with me running around trying to find something appropriate the Saturday before. I have the same problem with Father's Day; last year I actually ran into my dad while buying a card for him the night before. Nothing like getting caught. 

This year, I must admit I'm proud of myself! I already know what I'm giving my mom and my mother-in-law and I have one set finished. Early. When I saw a canvas sporting thumbprint birds at Meet the Dubiens, I thought it was adorable. Riley and I did a variation of it last week when we were "studying" birds and it hit me: something similar would look adorable on a smaller scale. What grandmother wouldn't love to write a note to one of her pals on a card made for her by her precious grandchild? I'm hoping Riley's grandmothers will love their handmade cards.

While these make fantastic gifts, they're also wonderful to keep on hand for when you or your children need to write a thank you a note. I know the art of handwritten gratitude is falling by the wayside since technology is so much easier, but we can't let that happen. Riley is too little right now, but we plan on encouraging her to write thank you notes for many different occasions. These would be perfect to send out to family and friends after a birthday party.

Here's how Riley and I made them. 

First we took a trip to Michael's and purchased the items shown above (well, some of them we already had):

• Blank notecards with envelopes. We found ours in the dollar section. They had a scalloped edge which added a nice touch.
• Ink pads (we used Studio G) in lime green and other cute colors. These were also in the dollar section. 
• Brown and orange felt tipped markers (I had Crayola Super Tips on hand)
• Fine point black pen (My favorite is the Pilot Precise V5)

After we had all our supplies, I drew branches on the cards like this. I tried to make them almost exactly the same, but I didn't worry if there was a little variation from card to card. 

Next, I helped Riley add fingerprint leaves and birds to the card. I didn't do any two alike. At this point they look a little funny, but keep going. I promise the end result will be cute even if some of the prints are smudged. 

The final step is adding the beak, eyes, and feet. I have fun doing this. Some of our birds have very long and uneven legs, but I feel that adds to the character. I also try to add a little "tail" (I know birds don't have tails, but I don't know what else to call it). I added Riley's name and the year very lightly in pencil to the cards (you can see it in the last picture). 

That's it. All you need to do now is tie a ribbon around your cards and present them to one very special grandmother. I absolutely love the way these turned out and definitely plan on making myself a set. I love to write notes and being able to send some with my baby's artwork on the front will just make it that much better. 

So, if you're a last minute type of girl like I am, you should be able to gather all the supplies and make these before Mother's Day. Even if you can't, I think they'd make great birthday or teacher appreciation gifts, too. 

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