Fingerprint Art Glass Magnets Craft Tutorial with DIY VIDEO

Fingerprint magnets are an easy craft for kids and adults, creating unique, personalized gifts. Make these creative glass gem magnet crafts for yourself or loved ones today!

Fingerprint art magnets are a fun handmade gift and craft idea that kids (or adults) can make for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Christmas, or a Birthday! They also make a great gift idea for teachers on Teacher Appreciation Day or a DIY wedding favor you can personalize with names and dates for friends and family. Congratulations on finding the original glass magnet fingerprint craft tutorial!

My daughter and I invented this fingerprint craft idea in 2017, the same day we made the first fingerprint flower and thumbprint heart magnet crafts. It was the glorious day I figured out how to preserve her precious toddler artwork under glass (and turn it into a magnet), as shown in the photograph of our original fingerprint magnets below.

Craft engineering is one of my favorite activities. After we made them, we gave them to family and friends and, of course, kept some for my family’s refrigerator. They still sit there today, holding family pictures and our weekly family rhythm neatly in place. I wrote this fingerprint craft tutorial so you can make them too! I regularly update this easy craft project tutorial to improve the content and keep it current. You might also enjoy this list of homemade gifts kids can make.

Why Make Fingerprint Magnets?

Fingerprint art magnets are a fun way to turn tiny fingerprints into colorful keepsakes you can use and enjoy every day. Children can transform their fingerprints into flowers, hearts, insects, animals, seasonal designs, and other simple pictures. Add a magnet to the back, and their miniature artwork can brighten the refrigerator, a magnetic board, a locker, or another metal surface.

Because every fingerprint is unique, every magnet is unique too. Even when children follow the same example, no two creations will look exactly alike. This gives kids room to experiment, make their own choices, and discover what they can create from a simple fingerprint.

Fingerprint magnets also make sweet homemade gifts. Kids can make them for parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, and other special people. They are especially nice for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, Teacher Appreciation Week, Christmas, birthdays, or any time children want to make a small gift from the heart. Unlike a piece of artwork that might disappear into a drawer, a magnet has a job to do. It can hold up a favorite photo, shopping list, child’s drawing, or family reminder while displaying a tiny piece of handmade art.

Whether crafting with kids, looking for a relaxing solo activity, or searching for heartfelt DIY gift ideas, Fingerprint art magnets are a fantastic choice for kids and adults of all ages. Scroll down for the fingerprint magnet craft instructions, complete with a step-by-step video tutorial. Then invite children to use their fingertips and thumbs to make these quick, easy fingerprint art magnets at home or in the classroom.

How to Make Glass Gem Magnet Crafts with Thumbprint and Fingerprint Art:

Fingerprint magnet crafts are adorable, personalized magnets that brighten any space, place, or person’s face. In this glass gem magnet craft tutorial, we’ll explore the wonderful world of fingerprint art and how to turn your unique prints into charming magnets and personalized keepsakes that friends, family, and other relatives will treasure. Look at these fingerprint and thumbprint arts and crafts for more fingerprint art ideas.

DIY glass magnets with fingerprint art are an easy craft and homemade gift idea that kids can make with assistance from a parent, teacher, or caregiver. First, look through the creative fingerprint magnet ideas below. Then read the step-by-step instructions and choose the materials you want to use. Finally, gather the supplies you need from the list directly below to make thumbprint or fingerprint art glass magnets. Alternatively, turn your fingerprint art into fingerprint art necklaces or backpack charms. Or, use the same glass gems and craft supplies to make ladybug magnets or spider magnet crafts.

Make fingerprint crafts into magnets with the little ones in your life at home for a fun weekend or rainy-day activity. With friends or teammates to exchange unique gifts. Alongside lovers and partners to celebrate an important milestone such as an anniversary. Or plan to create them in the classroom with students to send home for Mom and Dad for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Christmas, or Valentine’s Day. The opportunities for gift-giving are unlimited with these fun handmade fingerprint art treasures. For gift ideas, scroll down to the bottom of this post. You might also enjoy making a Four Season Handprint and Fingerprint Tree.

Fingerprint Art Glass Magnet Craft Supplies:

• Heavyweight paper (bright white cardstock works great!).
• Optional Supplies for pre-cutting paper circles if desired: Use a precision knife and cutting mat to trace and cut them out, or use this circle cutter.
• Finger ink pads or acrylic paint and a paintbrush to create fingerprint stamps.
• Fine-tip permanent marker (black) for decorating the fingerprint art prints.
• Extra-large clear glass gems. These large, clear 1 1/2 to 2-inch glass gems are also known as flat-back marbles, table scatter, cabochons, glass domes, or floral stones and are also available at most hobby and craft stores and some floral shops. You can sometimes find them at the dollar store, but they are often too small and have a toxic finish that interferes with the crafting process. Please ensure the glass stones are clear and have no iridescent coating.
• Small craft scissors for kids or precision detail scissors.
• Clear drying glue or adhesive, and a foam brush or glue brush to apply it. (My daughter and I initially used Mod Podge (and now the new and improved Mod Podge Paper) to make these crafts, as shown in the video tutorial. However, other clear-drying white glues, tacky craft glues, diamond glaze adhesives, and other jewelry adhesives also work well. B6000 is the best option, but its fumes can be toxic, so it’s not advisable for children to use, especially indoors. I don’t recommend using a hot glue gun for these crafts because hot glue doesn’t adhere well to glass over time and will likely break off.
• 1-inch ceramic magnets.

Related: Hand-Painted Candle Holder Gift Ideas

Fingerprint Magnet Craft Ideas:

Invite your children to use their fingertips and thumbs to make quick, easy fingerprint art magnets, using the activity ideas and instructions below. One great thing about homemade fingerprint magnets is their versatility. The possibilities are endless, from cute animal designs to fingerprint hearts customized with names or dates.

Once finished, use fingerprint magnet crafts to decorate your fridge, filing cabinets, or any magnetic surface. Homemade craft magnets add a touch of creativity to your surroundings at home or at work, especially if you are a parent, grandparent, or teacher. Scroll down for step-by-step instructions! You might also enjoy these handmade gift ideas for parents, grandparents, teachers, and friends.

First, create fingerprint and thumbprint art using one of the three simple fingerprint art ideas: thumbprint hearts, fingerprint flowers, or fingerprint art. Then use the video tutorial and step-by-step instructions below to make your own homemade art magnets. Alternatively, you can try any of these fingerprint art craft ideas.

3 Easy Fingerprint and Thumbprint Art Ideas for Making Glass Gem Magnets:

Get ready to unlock your creativity and make these sweet, personalized keepsake treasures for yourself or someone you love. Fingerprint art creations make great gifts for moms, dads, grandparents, siblings, cousins, teachers, classmates, teammates, and friends! Alternatively, you can make these Easy DIY Photo Necklaces and Photo Keychain Charms!

1. Thumbprint or Fingerprint Heart Magnets:

Heart art prints made with fingers and thumbs are adorable fingerprint crafts that make great magnets. These sweet keepsake crafts with a heart shape encased in glass will surely win the hearts of friends, family, or your sweetheart. For the easy craft tutorial, click the link to learn how to make thumbprint heart glass magnets. I created a separate step-by-step thumbprint heart magnet tutorial to make these simple, heartfelt magnet crafts. Alternatively, you can make thumbprint heart necklaces or thumbprint heart keychains.

2. Fingerprint Flower Glass Magnets:

Invite the kids to make fingerprint flowers with their fingertips to make homemade fingerprint flower marble magnets. Another fun handmade gift idea kids from toddlers to teens can make with a fingerprint flower is fingerprint flower necklaces or keychains. Click the links for directions for either fingerprint craft idea. Or scroll down to watch the video tutorial for how to make fingerprint magnet crafts.

3. Fingerprint Art Magnets:

Brief instructions are included below to give you a general overview of how to make these simple crafts. For complete step-by-step directions, with tips and alternative ways to make them, scroll down to watch the video and follow the instructions after the video tutorial.

Basic Directions for Making Fingerprint Magnets (Scroll Down for the Full Tutorial)

Select clear glass gems, floral stones, cabochons, or flat-backed marbles. Before purchasing, make sure they don’t have any iridescent coating, color, or other toxic finish that could interfere with crafting. They need to be unfinished. Also, make sure the glass gems are large enough to fit over your fingerprint or thumbprint art, because many floral stones are often too small.

Next, press your thumb or fingertip into a fingerprint ink pad, dip it in paint, or use a foam brush or paintbrush to brush paint lightly onto the tip of your finger. Then, stamp fingers or thumbs to create art prints for magnet crafts. Reapply ink or paint as needed using as many colors as you like. To create art prints with fingers and thumbs, copy the fingerprint art shown in the photographs and video tutorial included in this post, which my daughter (Charlize Kartychok) and I (Nell Regan Kartychok) made, or draw inspiration from the fingerprint art books recommended below.

When the ink or paint is dry, use a black permanent marker with an extra-fine tip to decorate thumbprints and fingerprints with faces, designs, and stick-figure-like body parts to create different designs, including animals, dogs, cats, fish, birds, chicks, bees, turtles, snails, flowers, vegetables, fruits, fairies, dragons, suns, and colorful hearts.

Then, put a drop of clear drying glue on the flat side of an extra-large glass stone and press it glue side down onto the fingerprint art, as shown in the video tutorial below. Let the glue dry, then use scissors to trim excess paper around the glass stone if needed. Use a foam brush to paint glue on the back of the fingerprint art and around the sides to ensure it stays firmly attached to the stone. (This step will also help preserve the fingerprint artwork.) Finally, add a magnet to the back of the craft to complete the DIY fingerprint magnet. Please ensure the glue is dry before using it as a refrigerator magnet or giving it away as a gift.

Best Thumbprint and Fingerprint Art Books for Making DIY Magnet Crafts:

Use the creative ideas in thumbprint and fingerprint art books to find more inspiring DIY glass magnet craft ideas. My daughter and I looked at several books when we made our first fingerprint art magnets, but Ed Emberley’s Complete Funprint Drawing Book is our favorite. It contains two of his most popular fingerprint and thumbprint art books combined into one complete fingerprint art book for kids (or adults)!

We also loved Fingerprint Princesses and Fairies and the creative fingerprint activities in Fingerprint Monsters and Dragons by three other creative fingerprint artists. However, several more books have been published since we first created these unique fingerprint crafts. For example, Parima Isso’s fun print book, 112 Fingerprint Activities, is another excellent choice.

Each fingerprint art activity book has adorable fingerprint ideas for making fingerprint magnet crafts. Please make sure the fingerprint art you choose fits under the glass stones you use. Scroll down to watch the video tutorial and see step-by-step instructions on how to make fingerprint magnet crafts. Then, make magnets, necklaces, keychains, and more with your fingerprint art prints.

Fingerprint Art DIY Glass Magnets Video Tutorial:

Here’s the video with my daughter demonstrating how to make fingerprint art magnets. The step-by-step instructions to make these easy DIY glass magnets are posted below the fingerprint magnet video tutorial. Or try making a Handprint Jewelry Dish.

Step-By-Step Instructions For Making Fingerprint Magnets:

Here are complete, step-by-step directions for making these easy glass magnet craft ideas for kids and adults of all ages. Even toddlers and preschoolers can make these simple glass magnet crafts. Read the instructions below to understand the steps and what to expect. Then, gather and prepare materials before starting this creative fingerprint craft. Finally, invite kids (or adults) of all ages to use their fingertips and thumbs to create fingerprint art (or thumbprint art) to make the magnets shown in the photographs and video tutorial above with the simple step-by-step directions below:

1. Prepare Work Surface for Making Fingerprints and Thumbprints:

• Choose a flat surface to make thumbprint and fingerprint art.
• Use heavyweight, bright white paper, such as cardstock, for best results. Thin paper can cause fingerprint ink to bleed or become so saturated with glue that it ruins the art prints.

Optional Preparation Step: Precut Paper Circles:

If you are a teacher making fingerprint magnets in the classroom, cut the circles first to save time. You can do this in the classroom, one of three ways:

1. Trace the glass stones with a pencil and cut them out with scissors.
2. Use a precision knife and cutting mat to trace and cut paper circles.
3. Use a circle cutter to pre-cut cardstock circles to match the size of the glass gems before starting this fingerprint craft.

2. Apply Ink or Paint to Fingers or Thumbs to Make Fingerprint Art:

• Press your fingers and thumbs into an ink pad, dip your fingertips in paint (acrylic works best), or use a paintbrush (or foam brush) to lightly brush paint onto the tip of your finger or thumb.
• As shown in the video tutorial above, my daughter and I made the fingerprint and thumbprint art included in this post with finger ink pads, but a small amount of acrylic paint also works well.
• If you use paint, don’t use too much, or the fingerprint art can be hard to decorate and turn into a magnet. Gloppy paint takes a long time to dry; it is hard to use a marker or pen to decorate, and it can create too much texture for a magnet craft.

3. Stamp Fingers and Thumbs onto Paper to create Prints:

• Stamp thumbs and fingertips (with paint lightly applied or ink heavily applied) onto the paper (or pre-cut paper circles).
• Make sure each fingerprint art creation is small enough to fit under the glass stones. Also make sure it has enough white space around it to decorate and place a glass gem over the art completely. Leave an inch or two of space between each tiny fingerprint picture so you have enough room to place a glass stone over it and turn it into a refrigerator magnet.
• If you’d like to make more than thumbprint hearts and fingerprint flowers, I recommend purchasing one of the fingerprint art books above; that’s what we did!
• Reapply ink or paint as needed to make more fingerprint art for magnet crafts.
• Let the fingerprint stamps dry completely before moving on to the next step, or the fingerprint pictures can smear.

4. Use an Extra-Fine-Tip Black Permanent Marker to Decorate Fingerprint Stamps to Complete the Art for Magnet Crafts:

• Use a black permanent marker with an extra-fine tip to decorate the fingerprints and create cute little fingerprint pictures or art, as shown in the video tutorial above.
• Draw simple doodles and designs on each print as shown in the photographs to turn fingerprints into different kinds of animals, fruits, vegetables, and objects.
• Make fingerprint art puppy dogs, bunny rabbits, cats, birds, baby chicks, snails, turtles, fish, pumpkins, apples, decorated suns, fairies, dragons, monsters, witches, and other fun characters.
• Or, make simple faces on thumbprint hearts, as my daughter did on these necklace charms and pendant crafts.
• Either copy the ideas in the video and photographs for this tutorial, or get one of the books recommended above for several more creative fingerprint art ideas.

5. Glue the Fingerprint Art (or Thumbprint Art) to the Back or Flat Side of the Glass Gem:

• Place a drop of clear drying glue or adhesive on the back or flat side of the glass gem, then press it onto the fingerprint art. The fingerprint art craft supply list includes several types of glues and adhesives you can use, including my top choices as of this update: Mod Podge Paper (promised to discourage yellowing) and B6000. I don’t recommend using a hot glue gun for these crafts because hot glue doesn’t adhere well to glass over time and will likely break off.
• A small drop of glue or adhesive goes a long way, so you don’t need much. Please use caution; too much glue can smear the fingerprint or thumbprint art.
• Press the glass gem firmly to distribute the glue evenly under the stone and remove any air bubbles.
• Allow the glue to dry before moving on to the next step. Overnight is best, but a few hours will do in a pinch.
• Or, learn how to make a necklace or keychain with your fingerprint art creations!

6. Cut Away the Remaining Paper Around the Glass Gem if Needed:

• Use small detail scissors (or big kid scissors for crafts) to trim and cut away any excess paper around the glass gem. It doesn’t need to be perfect.
• If any paper lifts away from the glass gem, you can glue it down again in the next step.
• This step might not be necessary if you pre-cut cardstock circles in step one, but they will often need a snip or two to clean up the edges.

Related: Fingerprint Snowman Cards

Fingerprint Magnet Gift Ideas:

Magnets made with thumbprint and fingerprint art are fun, easy to create, and hold sentimental value. Each thumbprint or fingerprint captures a small customized piece of artwork, making these crafts perfect for preserving memories or creating personalized gifts for everyone, from your everyday acquaintances to your most treasured loved ones. These creative art magnets also make wonderful gifts for various occasions.

Homemade gifts like fingerprint artwork magnets are thoughtful and show the time and effort you put into creating something unique, whether you are crafting for family, a group of friends, teammates, classmates, or someone special like your Mom, Dad, Grandparents, partner, or BFF. Imagine giving a set of fingerprint art magnets as a heartfelt present for a birthday, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, or Grandparents Day. Thumbprint heart magnets also make a unique handmade DIY wedding favor, memorial gift, or Valentine’s Day classroom handout.

Benefits of Making Fingerprint Magnets with Kids

Making fingerprint art magnets offers several learning and developmental benefits, along with creative fun. Pressing a fingertip onto an ink pad or paint and carefully placing it on a small surface helps children practice fine motor control and hand-eye coordination. Adding tiny details with markers or paintbrushes gives those small hand and finger muscles even more practice.

Fingerprint art also fosters creative thinking. A single fingerprint can become a bee, a flower petal, a ladybug, a face, a leaf, or something completely unexpected. Asking children, “What could your fingerprint become?” turns a simple craft into an invitation to imagine, experiment, and solve creative problems.

Working on a small surface can also foster focus and patience. Children need to slow down, decide where to place each print, and wait for paint or ink to dry before adding details. Mistakes often become part of the design, giving kids an easygoing way to practice flexibility when an art project doesn’t go as planned.

Perhaps best of all, children get to experience the joy of making something useful for someone they love. Handmade gifts help kids discover that giving doesn’t always mean buying. A little time, imagination, and care can turn something as simple as a fingerprint into a meaningful keepsake.

Thumbprint Art Glass Magnets Gift Idea Kids Can Make:

Fingerprint art magnets and necklaces make an easy homemade gift idea that kids can make for mom, dad, grandparents, or teachers.

For more handmade fun, check out this fantastic collection of fingerprint art ideas and homemade gifts kids can make.

You may also like to try these thumbprint heart crafts and these cute homemade keepsake craft gift ideas.

Please visit our About page to learn more about Rhythms of Play. For more information about this website and the author and photographer of the original “Fingerprint Magnet Crafts,” please visit the Home page for Rhythms of Play or the author page, Nell Regan Kartychok.

Other Glass Gem Magnet Craft Ideas:

• Ladybug Magnet Crafts
• Spider Glass Gem Magnets
• Thumbprint Heart Magnets
• Fingerprint Flower Magnets

More Arts, Crafts, And Activities for Kids and Adults You Might Enjoy:

• Valentine’s Day Keepsake Crafts and Gift Ideas
• Four Season Handprint and Fingerprint Tree
• Books That Teach Kids Important Life Lessons
• The Best Art Supplies for Kids and Why Young Artists Should Use Them
• Christmas Fingerprint, Footprint, and Handprint Art Card Ideas
• DIY Photo Keychains
• Love Bug Craft Ideas for Valentine’s Day
• DIY Gifts Kids Can Make (Photo below)