06 Feb How to Make Thumb Print Clay Essential Oil Diffusers

Anyone here a fan of Valentine’s Day? I stink at Valentine’s Day. I never know what to give my dearest husband, so his gift usually ends up being some awkward card. My kids, on the other hand, spend weeks creating all manner of Valentine’s Day crafts. I’m sure the intention is to give them to my husband and I on Valentine’s Day, but they never even remember to. I’ve seriously considered doing the same thing for my husband.

For this Valentine’s Day, I thought I would be a little more organized, and take care of the parents’ gifts and the Valentine’s Day cards for friends with a couple little crafts. For Mom and Dad, the children made some thumb print clay diffusers and for their friends, they made cute little love bug essential oil diffusers.

Thumb Print Clay Diffusers

Neither of these require any great skill or craftiness, but here are the steps for you folks who are DIY-challenged and otherwise gifted.

Start with a fist-sized ball of air dry clay. Roll it out to a uniform thickness of about 1/4 of an inch. I had the kids roll it out on a silicone pastry mat because it’s supposed to be non-stick and easy to clean. That’s not quite how things went down, since clay seems to stick to everything, but it does make the clean up a little easier.

Once the clay is rolled out, use a cookie-cutter (or shot glass) to cut out a circular shape of about a 1.5″ diameter. Peel the circle off the counter and use water on your fingers to smooth down the edges.

When it’s all nice and smooth, lay it down on the mat and, using an average sized straw, cut out a hole. This will be where you are going to hang it from, so keep that in mind when positioning.

Now is the time to apply the thumb prints. I love the idea of preserving my children’s little thumb prints this way. They grow so fast;  it’s nice to keep this for memories, right?

My children are still young and definitively needed guidance with this task. The goal was to create a heart out of two thumb prints.

We let our clay dry overnight and that was plenty. Word to the wise:  see how in the image above they are drying on a paper plate? Don’t do that. They stick and you will want to smack yourself.

Once they are dried, you can set the kids loose on the painting part, which is what they were really waiting for anyway. We just use non-toxic acrylic paint, which absorbed in very nicely.

First we painted the thumb prints (or heart), then allowed it to dry. Drying goes very quickly because of the quick absorption. Then we painted around the heart. You can easily correct any mistakes by painting over it.

When the front has dried, turn it over and paint the back. I left a small area unpainted so when I drop essential oil on it, it will absorb better and diffuse for a longer time.

We finished the painting portion by adding a fun little sparkly glaze. Everything is better with some sparkle. Then we let it dry over night.

How Will You Use Yours?

The children LOOOOVED the final result! We strung some ribbon through the hole, and Luci instantly claimed it for a necklace. I’m planning on using one as an essential oil car diffuser. Drop a couple of drops on the unpainted part and the vehicle fills with whichever scent you chose! This is fantastic for long car rides and tired children. And I love that when I’m driving, the little thumb prints are a sweet reminder to me of my babies, waiting for me at home.