Make a pretty fingerprint necklace in minutes! DIY gift idea

In today’s post: Learn how easy it is to make a fingerprint necklace using oven-bake clay! No special tools required. Easy Mother’s Day gift idea.

One year for Mother’s Day one of my kids brought home a necklace he’d made at school with his fingerprint on it. It was so cute! Just a bit of clay with a fingerprint on a piece of string. Sadly, during a couple of moves a few years ago I lost it. But it was such a cute idea that I decided I wanted to make a new one.

I’ve never used oven-bake clay before, so I thought it might be kind of difficult, but I was wrong! This stuff is pretty much as easy as playdough, and baking it is very simple as well.

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I used two fingerprints to create a heart shape on a couple of pendants. These are easy to make, and would be a great DIY gift for Mom or Grandma!

DIY fingerprint necklace supplies

To make a fingerprint necklace, you will need:

oven bake clay
parchment paper
toothpick
jump rings (if you want to hang it from a necklace – look in the jewelry making section of the store) OR just plan to use string

I found small packages of white Sculpey brand oven-bake clay at Walmart for about a dollar each. I also made a few pendants from silver Sculpey clay, which I found at Joann’s for closer to three dollars. One package of clay would make around 20 pendants, so this DIY gift idea is super affordable!

How to make a DIY fingerprint necklace

To begin, break off one of the four “bricks” of clay that come in a package. Knead it between your fingers until it starts to feel soft and pliable (the silver clay took quite a bit more kneading than the white did).

Next, pull of a small piece of clay and roll it between your hands to make a ball. Shoot for slightly smaller than a penny if you are going to make a pendant using little kids’ fingerprints. If you are using older kid or adult fingerprints, you’ll want a slightly larger ball of clay.

Place the ball of clay on a square of parchment paper (penny is just there for sizing reference).

Next, fold the parchment paper over on top of the ball of clay, then place something with a flat surface on top of it and press down. I used a bowl that had a smooth flat surface on the bottom to press down on the clay. Press until you have a circle that’s a bit larger than quarter size now (see above).

Now it’s time for fingerprints! You can just add one fingerprint if you like, but I did two in the shape of a heart. Help your child press her finger down into the clay and hold it still for about 5 seconds. When you lift the finger back up, you should see a nice indent and the fingerprint.

Rotate the finger 90 degrees and press again to create a heart shape. Then use a toothpick to poke a hole through the top of the pendant. I used toothpicks that were pointy on one end and flat on the other, and used the flat end to get a nice even hole.

Here’s what the fingerprint pendant looks like at this point:

Time to bake! Just slide the parchment paper onto a cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes. Once it’s cool, you can add a jump ring and slide it on a chain and your DIY fingerprint necklace is done!

A few more notes:

The clay is very easy to work with, but you want to make sure you’re working on a clean surface and not wearing a fuzzy sweater because little bits of dust or fuzz will stick to the clay.
It can take a little practice to get a perfect fingerprint heart on your pendant. The good news is that if you don’t like how the fingerprints turn out, you can just roll the clay back into a ball and try again it until it looks just right. This project is cheap enough and quick enough that you can make multiple pendants and then choose your favorite to hang on a necklace.
If you need help adding a jump ring, check out this post about jump rings. It is a bit easier to do if you have needle nose pliers.

I have seen some blog posts that recommend rubbing a little ink over the fingerprint to make it stand out more. I don’t mind the more subtle look here, but if you want the heart to really show you could give some permanent ink a try.