Are you a Finding Nemo*
fan and excited about the upcoming Finding Dory movie? Here's a fun Nemo handprint plaque inspired by the movies. It's made from salt dough and can easily be made with kids as young as babies while a kindergartner may enjoy doing the whole mixing and painting process themselves. Read on for the tutorial.
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Nemo Handprint Plaque Tutorial
Materials Used
Note* Do not use the microwave version. This needs time in the oven to dry out.
- Craft Paint
- Paintbrushes
- 1 small sheet fine sandpaper
- Wax paper
- Cookie sheet
- A willing hand to participate!
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
Mix the salt dough together as instructed. Roll out to a rectangle shape the size you wish your plaque to be. The plaque should be at least ½ inch thick. Thinner might break easily and thicker would take too long to dry out. Use a butterknife or clay tool to trim the edges into a wavy shape, oval, square and so on.
Press the child's hand down firmly to create the hand impression. The handprint should be side to side. The palm will end up being Nemo's face.
Place the plaque on the cookie sheet lined with wax paper/parchment paper
. Bake for 2 hours or until dried. Allow to cool completely before moving on to the next step.
If necessary, lightly sand your plaque to remove rough edges and cracks. (I actually forgot to do this for this plaque!)
Start by painting the whole plaque, except the handprint, one color. For example, our plaque is light blue. Paint the first ⅓ of the handprint in the palm area bright orange, then add a thin white stripe. Alternate orange and white sections until your handprint is fully painted (refer to photo).
After it dries, outline the white stripes with black paint or permanent marker. Add a round circle of white with a smaller black circle for Nemo's eye, and paint a mouth.
Finish the plaque by adding some anemone and coral! Play around with mixing colors to bring more sea life to your plaque. I mixed orange and pink to make a really pretty coral color.
Wouldn't this plaque be fun to make for a Mother's Day or Father's Day Gift? You might also enjoy this salt dough footprint heart plaque tutorial.
If you make this adorable Nemo Handprint Plaque, we would love for you to share it on our Facebook wall or tag us on Instagram!
