Making a notable piece of pottery with footprints is important, fun, messy and so joyfully painful to look at in 4 or 5 years when their giant seeming feet are all over everything.

Good challenge.

Looking for a cheap alternative? I was at loss for father’s day gifts a few weeks back. My son Carter was only a couple weeks old and I wanted to do something personal and keepsake worthy, but wasn’t sure I wanted to dish out $30 bucks at a craft store, only to have the whole project melt down to a big blob. Instead, I invested $6 in washable inkpads of multiple colors and dug up some old picture frames. I set Carter up on a big bath towel. Using a clipboard and some plain white computer paper, I stamped each foot with the ink pad and then brought the clipboard with computer paper to each foot. After a few practice trials, we perfected the process, and I settled on a couple prints that I felt were “frame worthy.” Using a plain ol’ sharpie pen and some fancy penmanship, I labeled the masterpiece with his name and age at the time of the impression. We made one for Dad, and one for each new grandpa. Priceless!