This is a great gift idea for Grandma!
Materials:
Oaktag or Construction Paper
Sweatshirt
Fabric Paints and Paintbrush
Cardboard
Have all of the grandchildren trace one of their hands onto stiff construction paper (or oaktag). Write the name and date of birth of each grandchild inside their traced hand. (This is so you remember which paper hand belongs to which child.) Wash and dry a sweat shirt that will fit the grandparent this gift will be for. Lay the sweatshirt flat on a table and place a piece of cardboard in between the front and back of the sweatshirt (I found a flattened cardboard shirt box worked well. This is so the fabric paint won't seep through to the back of the sweatshirt). Cut out all of the paper hand prints and arrange them onto the sweatshirt. Get fabric paint and trace the outline of one hand at a time. Lift the paper hand off of the sweatshirt and with fabric paint write the child's name and/or date of birth inside each outlined hand. (Or, you could fill in the painted hand with fabric paint and write the grandchild's name and date of birth next to or under the painted hand.) Leave the cardboard in between the sweatshirt and keep it laying flat to dry at least 2 days. After it is given as a gift, tell the grandparent to turn the sweatshirt inside out when washing it and hang it to dry.
P.S. This project worked well even with grandchildren that lived in another state. I just had them trace their hand onto paper and mail it to me.
This great idea came from Marg!
Another version of this would be to use the handprints as patterns. Place the hand patterns onto fabric and cut out fabric handprints. Using two sided fusible interfacing arrange the fabric handprints onto the sweatshirt and fuse them into place. (Follow the instructions that come with the fusible facing.) Using a sewing machine, stitch around each handprint with a satin or applique stitch. Once the handprints are stiched into place you can then add the names and/or dates of birth with fabric paints. If you do not sew then simply trace around the edges of the fabric handprints with a "squeezable" bottled fabric paint once the handprints are fused onto the shirts. Again, allow the shirts to lie flat until completely dry.