Thumbs-up bookmark

This is a fun and easy one, especially for younger kids.

You’ll need:

• acrylic craft paint, any color. These run, typically, about a dollar at any craft store, and come in hundreds of colors.
• a stamp pad (washable ink) for the thumbprints of your child
• metallic pen or Sharpie (or any other brand) permanent marker.
• (FREE) paint stirrers from any home improvement store. (Since they’re free, you might want to get a few to practice on.
• Suggestion: invest in two to four of those 25 foam paint brushes, also available at craft stores everywhere. They make painting go faster than traditional brushes, and little hands find them easier to work with, too.
• NOTE ALSO: It may take two or three coats to completely cover the home store logo on the stirrer if you don’t pick a dark color. You may, to keep your child from getting bored, want to “prime” it first with a layer of white.

1. First: paint the stirrer, any color. Be sure to lay down plenty of newspaper, to make cleanup easier.
2. Once the paint is COMPLETELY dry – and acrylic paint DOES dry fairly quickly, although you CAN hasten the process a bit with a blow dryer – you can break out the stamp pad.
3. Have your child take his or her thumb, and decorate the “bookmark” with their thumbprint in a contrasting color. (Black works nicely.) Remind your child to leave room to write “Thumbs up, Dad.”
4. As you can see from the picture above, done by my own daughter, it’s cute, even if they aren’t perfect spellers.