Christmas Canvas Keepsake

Here’s a fabulous way to unleash the children’s creative flair and make a wonderful keepsake to hang on the wall throughout the festive season for years to come. A great way to contain the mess of painting with kids is to use a paddling pool. Have a bucket of water to hand or a bubbly bath to dunk them into afterwards and oodles of fun can be had.

We decided we wanted to make something we could treasure for years to come and this Christmas tree will look fab on the wall. Even the tree baubles are made with their fingerprints so we can remember how small they were as they grow.

Here’s what you will need:

A paddling pool
A canvas (We used an old floral one which I painted white to use again!)
Paintbrushes
Masking tape
Paint (We used a mix of some acrylic we had leftover in a pot and poster paint)

Instructions

I started by using the masking tape to cover the bits of the canvas that didn’t need painting. Our design was to be a Christmas tree but other ideas could be a ‘Merry Christmas’ slogan, a snowman in a snowstorm of fingerprint snowflakes or even a reindeer using handprints for the antler.

I stuck on white circle stickers to be baubles on the Christmas tree. (Obviously, the stickers could be any colour as you’ll be peeling them off later anyway!)

Next, I set up the paddling pool in the kitchen to contain the painting mess. I used an old towel to put the canvas on so it wouldn’t slide down too easily.

I gave the kids the bowls of paint and some chunky paintbrushes but was fully aware that they’d end up abandoning them and using their hands instead.

Our happy toddlers got to work painting the green Christmas tree. The masking tape meant it didn’t matter about them being too accurate.

Check out our other Christmas activities to do with the kids.

This pair love painting!

Once the canvas was fully covered, I set it aside to dry.

I let the paint dry and got these two kiddies in the bath. When they were clean and dry the paint on the canvas was ready too.

Before it was completely dry, and still a little bit tacky, I carefully removed the masking tape to reveal the Christmas tree. I also peeled off the circle stickers to be the white baubles.

I then left the canvas to be fully dry before we set about adding our Christmas baubles by doing fingerprints.

Be sure to check out our Christmas Traditions.

As this was a special treat for Boo, she sat at the table and added her painted fingerprint dots for Christmas tree decorations. She used lots of different colours and I helped by turning the canvas around when she wanted to reach the other side.