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I have a love for handprint crafts. I think that they’re a lot of fun to do with kids, especially when you do the same ones year after year because you can see just how much your child has grown. Now that Squeaker is becoming more willing to participate in craft time, I’ve tried out a few crafts with her.

We made a handprint and pom pom apple tree earlier this month and now we’re moving on to pumpkin themed crafts. For this one, I also tried out a cornstarch based dough instead of a salt dough and I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I hope that you and your children will enjoy making this handprint keepsake pumpkin craft as much as we did!

Celebrate Fall and preserve memories with this easy handprint pumpkin keepsake craft.

Supplies Needed for Your Handprint Pumpkin Keepsake

Supplies needed:

Depending on the age of your child, they might be able to do most or all of these steps by themselves. You know your child best, so use your best judgement. With Squeaker still being a toddler, I did most of the prep and painting.

First, let’s get that cornstarch dough ready!

Since I didn’t need a lot of dough for this project, I only made a small batch. You can adjust this accordingly for your needs. But here’s what I used:

  • 1 cup of baking soda
  • 1/2 cup of cornstarch
  • 3/4 cup of cold water

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized pan, stirring until the cornstarch and baking soda have been mixed in. Put on stove over low to medium heat, and stir constantly. At this point, the mixture will still be very liquidy, but don’t worry- that will thicken up nicely.

handprint pumpkin keepsake on the stove

Keep stirring and watching your mixture until the dough starts to form:

handprint pumpkin keepsake dough

Allow the mixture to cool, at least until it’s cool enough to handle. Once it’s cool, form into a ball and place on waxed paper

handprint pumpkin keepsake dough on wax paper

This dough is very easy to manipulate and roll out. The overall texture is soft and smooth so we may just use this for playdough in the future.

How to make the handprint pumpkin keepsake

Once you have rolled out your dough to about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, place your child’s handprint:

handprint keepsake pumpkin handprint

The fingerprint indent on the top was a bit too deep but it still turned out okay. Just be mindful of this and if necessary, print again. Once you are satisfied with the handprint placement, cut out a pumpkin shape around the handprint. I used a regular table knife so nothing sharp.

handprint pumpkin keepsake pumpkin

At this point you can let your creation dry overnight or bake. I will definitely be trying the overnight drying method next time as it leaves the project with that smooth, white finish. But, if you do decide to bake, be advised that it will brown slightly and it may crack.

With this one, we did bake it at 325 degrees for 10 minutes.

handprint keepsake pumpkin baked

Still, not too bad with the surface 🙂 Or at least nothing that a little paint can’t hide.

handprint keepsake pumpkin paint

Finishing off your handprint keepsake pumpkin

I used green for the stem, orange for the overall pumpkin, and filled in the handprint with an off-white. While painting the handprint isn’t necessary, I felt that it did make the overall finish pop a little bit.

If you’d like to hang this up for display, use a straw to poke a hole in the stem area before drying or baking.

To make an apple instead, use red or green paint instead of orange for the overall part and green or brown paint for the stem.

I look forward to making this handprint keepsake pumpkin with Squeaker next year to see the difference in her hand size.

Celebrate the arrival of Fall and make a memory with this adorable handprint keepsake pumpkin craft.
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Kori

Digital Product Creator at Kori at Home
Kori is a late diagnosed autistic/ADHD mom. She is currently located in Albany, NY where she is raising a neurodiverse family. Her older daughter is non-speaking autistic (and also has ADHD and Anxiety) and her youngest daughter is HSP/Gifted. A blogger, podcaster, writer, product creator, and coach; Kori shares autism family life- the highs, lows, messy, and real. Kori brings her own life experiences as an autistic woman combined with her adventures in momming to bring you the day-to-day of her life at home. Kori is on a mission to empower moms of autistic children to make informed parenting decisions with confidence and conviction.

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Jen Walshaw
8 years ago

I love this. It is amazing.

Jessy @ The Life Jolie
8 years ago

What a sweet idea! I love this!

I stopped by from Motivation Monday.

Emily
8 years ago

This is such a cute idea! My son is 16 months old, and I was thinking that it would be fun to do some sort of hand-print craft with him.

Jessica
8 years ago

I love this! I’ve pinned it for later!

jessica
8 years ago

Definitely doing this With my toddlers!! Thanks!

Amy
Amy
8 years ago

What a sweet idea! I can’t wait to try out…although my 12 (almost 13!) year old’s hands are bigger than mine! (That will be a big pumpkin!) Wonderful way to preserve their youth!

Krysta @ KrystaSteen.com
8 years ago

Thanks for sharing at Tips & Tricks! Hope to see you again this week!

Kim
Kim
8 years ago

I love hand print keepsake crafts! I have never tried making keepsake ornaments with cornstarch. Will have to try this recipe the next we make them. I would love for you to come by Made for Kids link party and link this up!

Alison
8 years ago

What a cute idea! Thanks for linking up at the Thoughtful Spot Blog Hop! 🙂

My Bored Toddler
8 years ago

What a cute Halloween keepsake! Thanks for sharing on #ToddlerFunFriday

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7 years ago

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7 years ago

[…] up, another fab salt dough keepsake: Pumpkin Salt Dough Handprint. Older kids can paint it […]

Kristin @littlemamajama
6 years ago

I love handprint crafts, too! These are adorable.

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6 years ago

[…] always love a good handprint craft, like this Handprint Pumpkin Keepsake from Kori at […]

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6 years ago

[…] Handprint Keepsake Pumpkin Craft […]

Zara O. U. Knight
3 months ago

Looking forward to your next post. Keep up the good work!