Capture Precious Early Memories With a Keepsake



Posted: Wednesday, June 20, 2007

by
The Keepsake Co

 When we are awaiting the arrival of our babies, we fondly think that we will
  cherish every moment and capture every memory of every little finger and every
  tiny toe. That idyllic thought may disappear by the time the first box of nappies
  has been disposed of and the third two-hour bout of colic has been dealt with
  in as many days.

By the time we are able to sit back and reflect on the first year or two of
  our children's lives, we often find that we have very few lasting records
  and mementoes to remind us of those early days.

Luckily, many products and services are now available to help us capture those
  moments of your baby's life forever.

3D Hand and Foot Casting


A very popular range of keepsakes is the 3D casting (otherwise known as lifecasting),
  which records, in actual size, every detail of your baby's hand or foot.


This process uses alginate which is the same material dentists use to create
  moulds of your teeth. As it is a dentists product you can rest assured it is
  completely safe for your baby's delicate skin! Very briefly the steps
  are: Create you mould using alginate; fill in your mould with good quality
  plaster ; leave to set ; peel away the alginate from the plaster
  statuette; dry and paint. This keepsake is probably the most technical
  to create but at the same time it is the most detailed and striking keepsake
  you can make.

You can finish your castings in a variety of ways from leaving it naturally
  and storing in a keepsake box through to painting and framing in a deep keepsake
  box.

You can buy 3D casting kits or you can look for a local business offering a
  life casting service. The actual casts are normally made from a strong plaster
  or you can often upgrade to metal castings such as bronze or silver!

Baby Hand and Foot Impressions


Raised or indented impressions of hands and feet are a lovely alternative to
  the full 3D cast and can be made from a variety of materials. You can have baby
  imprints in clay which can be fired and glazed, you can use a soft air dry clay
  or you can take your impression in a soft dough and then fill with plaster creating
  a lovely raised impression. We recommend framing your impressions to keep them
  away from harm but you can always store in a keepsake box if you wished.

Baby Hand and Foot Prints on Pottery


There are three ways you can capture your baby's hand or footprints on
  pottery

  1) You can go to a pottery café and have your baby's prints taken
  on some pottery and then they will glaze and fire your keepsakes for you.

  2) You can use some pottery paints which fire in your own to take the hand or
  footprints on any white pottery - they create a similar effect and are
  usually oven safe.

  3) You can take a print on paper and then have it scanned on to a mug or plate.
  This is the safest method as you can always keep the paper prints so if you
  accidentally beak the mug in 3 years time you can get another one made up or
  at the very lease you have a lasting memento on paper!

Baby Hand and Footprints on Paper


There are a few ways you can create baby handprints on paper. You can use
  face paints on photo paper which is cheap and easy. You can buy paint swabs
  which cut down on the mess as all the paint is contained in easy to use wet
  wipes - or there are now inkless wipes which is perfect for stressed out
  parents that don't like the idea of getting covered in paint! Inkless
  wipes tend to have the most detail.

Silver Fingerprint Jewellery

One of the newest keepsake crazes is having your baby's fingerprint
  printed onto silver jewellery. You can either press your baby's finger
  into a lump of precious metal clay directly or you can take a mould of the baby's
  fingerprint and press this onto the clay (this makes it ideal for mail order
  if you don't fancy doing it yourself)

Shoe Bronzing and Plating

Your baby's first steps are long awaited and never forgotten and services
  are available to immortalise your baby's first pair of shoes by plating
  them in bronze, silver or even gold. The shoe can't be worn again as it
  is actually encased in metal forever but it ensures it will stay as it is forever
  and even the scuffs and creases are captured forever. You could
  of course frame your shoes in a collage - all you need is a deep box frame.

Crafty Keepsakes

For the hobby enthusiasts, cross-stitch design kits can be purchased, complete
  with the baby's name, date of birth and weight. You could also paint a
  canvas or birth plate with the baby's name and date of birth on (or find
  an artist to do this for you!)

Keepsake Boxes and Books

Parents are often given, or acquire over time, many treasured items that they
  can't bear to throw away. The best place to keep them safe is in a keepsake
  box. Available in a range of sizes and styles, these boxes will hold all those
  precious baby items that you want to keep forever. Many companies offer a service
  to personalise your box with your baby's details. You could keep the newspaper
  from the day the baby was born, the current number one single, baby's
  first shoes (sleep suit etc), certificates, baby’s first birthday cards,
  baby's first Christmas cards - in-fact anything that carries any
  meaning for you and your family!

As well as a keepsake box - many parents start writing in baby record
  books (I would love to find some mums that finish writing to the end!) These
  books record information such as birth weight (time, location..), gifts received
  for baby birth, first words, handprints and footprints, photos of family members,
  memorable milestone details etc.

Conclusion

As you will see from the list above, there are so many options available that
  no matter how tiny your baby is now, in the years to come you will never regret
  the effort you made to choose these keepsakes and hold on to all those memories

About The Author

Written for The Keepsake Co - Baby casting, impressions, imprints, footprints and fingerprint jewellery. The Keepsake Co. specialise in providing baby keepsakes for new families. Please also visit Baby-Gifts-Online.co.uk for personalised baby gifts, Christening gifts, first birthday gifts and Christmas baby gifts.

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