The Hall Wall of Fame

Years ago we had some friends that were moving out of state. At the time, her three girls were very close to my kids. I tried to think of a way to keep these friends in our minds and make us not miss them as much. We came up with the “Hall Wall of Fame!”

We had each person in their family pick something that represented them. One of the girls loved Strawberry Shortcake. And, another loved horses. So, we had them choose the color they wanted their character to be. We put it a dab on their thumb or another finger. They then dabbed off the paint making sure the entire finger tip was covered. Then, we had them place their fingerprint on the wall. Once the paint dried, we had them use a Sharpie pen and draw the print into a character. Eyes, arms, ears etc.

When I had spare time waiting for carpool kids etc, I would make up characters out of circles and ovals just for ideas when company would come. Later we found the book, “Finger Print,” by Ed Emberley which has some great ideas. However, I found that as we let our guests ponder on what represents them, most came up with something very creative on their own.

Some made musical instruments, others little dancers. My brother-in-law made a table saw blade. My brother makes custom cars and made his into a yellow car traveling over a mountain. Another sister has twin girls and made two babies in blankets using pink. Our company enjoys looking at what others have made and get excited thinking about what represents them that they can put on the wall. We also have them sign underneath with the Sharpie pen. We have about 20 colors of Sharpie pens so sometimes it is fun to use different colors. I have found that black is the best for outlines so you can see it from down the hall.

This can also be done on a piece of furniture, cabinet fronts, on a paper to frame or on the mat of a frame with everyone in the picture putting their print and signature on the mat.

For one of the girls birthday parties, we put a print of all the kids who attended on the front of a hat and made a little scene with all the prints making them into cowboys, flowers, sun, animals etc. It was a very fun party favor for the kids to take home.

For a twist, we have used a baby foot for the stem of a flower in green and have other grandkids do the fingers for leaves or just a thumb print for the petals on a flower and give it to grandma with each child’s name in each petal. This can be done on a shirt, apron, or sweat shirt. It can also work on paper with a cute mat and frame or for the front of a scrapbook with all the kids’ pictures in it.
The options are endless and I enjoy seeing what everyone comes up with to represent themselves. It is a fun tradition our family enjoys.

This is one fingerprint you won’t be trying to wash off! Try leaving your “print” on the world!