Christmas in October- Your Dog's Paw Print Ornament

I mention my kids all the time on my blog, but have not talked much about the fact we have a dog. Oscar, our little old man of a dog, is the best pet anyone could ever ask for. He loved us and the kids beyond belief and it truly a member of our family. Here is our little old man.

I have looked for years for a way to make an ornament with his paw print and have not found anything that I thought would work well. Oscar is getting old, he turned 10 this year, so I was determined this was the year I would get his paw print so we could have it forever.

Well, when I made the corn starch and baking soda ornaments ( see post with full instructions here ) I had really hoped I could use the same technique to create a paw ornament. I am absolutely overjoyed to share with you that it worked! It worked far better than I had expected.

For the full instructions on how to make the dough, check out the original post here.

There recipe I used for this was:

• 2 cups baking soda
• 1 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/4 cups cool water

Once the dough cooled, I rolled out a large circle to be approximately 1/4 inch thick. With the help of my husband, we carefully placed Oscars paw on the dough. Be sure to put the paw down from the top (not coming in from an angle) and press down on all 'toes' gently. Then lift the paw straight back up again.

Oscar has longer hair and I found that this left no residue on his paws. My mistake was I did this paw print right after he came in from running around outside and it appears he had some dirt on his paw. It adds to it :) I then used a scalloped cookie cutter to make the ornament shape and a straw to make the hole to hang the ornament. I made 3 just in case.

I carefully transfer the ornament to a flat plat (be sure it is flat otherwise the ornament will have a curve). I let them dry for 24 hours, carefully flipping them every once and a while.

Once dry, I took the ornaments outside to my spray paint area and carefully sealed them with a clear flat spray finish. I am sure you can use Mod Podge to seal the ornament too, perhaps even glitter Mod Podge.

 

Do 3 or 4 really light coats to prevent the ornament from getting too wet. If you are a little heavy with the spray and it appears the ornament is damp, don't worry it will dry again over the next day or so.

You can write the name and date on the back before or after you seal the ornament. I just used a black Sharpie permanent marker.

Once sealed and dry, add some ribbon or raffia and call it a day!

Isn't it great?!

I am so excited about this. I just keep on thinking of all the uses for this recipe. Obviously a baby hand print ornament would work great but I will be making an amazing idea very soon for all you new parents out there that isn't an ornament!

Do any of you out there love their dog as much as we do?  Anyone else as excited as I am by this ornament idea?

P.S. This is a great gift idea too. I managed to get my mom's dog (Oscar's sibling) and make a couple for her too. If you have the dough ready, you can keep it in the fridge in a sealed bag. Once the pet visits, it only takes a few minutes to make the ornament!

Let me know what you think,
Stephanie