Use your fingers and thumbs to create fingerprint artwork and turn it into an art necklace.
Make a DIY fingerprint or thumbprint art necklace for a fun fingerprint craft and easy homemade gift idea that kids, teens, or adults can make for themselves, friends, partners, lovers, teachers, co-workers, and of course, family members and relatives such as Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, aunts, uncles, siblings, and cousins. Homemade Fingerprint art necklaces and keychain charms are a perfect custom keepsake that is always a hit with young and old alike. You’re never too old to make fingerprint art DIY necklaces!
Fingerprint art jewelry making gives children and adults a creative medium for self-expression because it allows each person to imbue their unique identity into unique, personalized works of art. By creating custom patterns with minimalistic or intricate designs or simple personalized messages, artists of all ages and abilities can explore endless ways to make fingerprint art into jewelry charms and pendants. You might also enjoy learning how to make hand-beaded necklaces for these fingerprint art pendants.
When I invented these simple fingerprint art crafts, I was determined to find a way to make my daughter’s precious fingerprints into wearable art necklaces, as well as pendants and charms for keychains and backpacks. Not only did I succeed, but I also figured out an easy way to make adorable fingerprint art magnet crafts to save her artwork. First published in May 2018; this fingerprint art necklace craft tutorial for kids and adults is updated and republished regularly to improve the content.
Beyond their aesthetic appeal, crafting fingerprint art necklaces is a therapeutic outlet that fosters mindfulness and relaxation. Crafting meaningful gifts into wearable art can empower kids and adults to infuse each fingerprint art charm with personal significance, making each pendant a cherished reflection of the artist’s or wearer’s journey or identity. Make personalized DIY fingerprint art jewelry with the step-by-step instructions below.
Custom Fingerprint Art Jewelry Pendants and Charms for Kids and Adults
Fingerprint art necklaces are a delightful fusion of sentimentality and style. This simple yet heartfelt DIY jewelry-making idea is an easy way to make necklaces into a personalized fashion statement with emotional significance. Give handmade fingerprint art necklaces to someone you love so they can carry a piece of you wherever they go.
DIY fingerprint art necklaces are more than ornamental adornments; they are tangible reflections of cherished memories, relationships, and personal milestones. By making your fingerprints into wearable art, you can transform a simple jewelry pendant into a treasured keepsake.
This blog post teaches how to make fingerprint or thumbprint art pendants and charms and offers several options for crafting these gorgeous custom necklaces with personalized designs. Gather the fingerprint art DIY jewelry-making supplies from the list below, and prepare for a fun crafting adventure that will please young and old alike! You might also enjoy learning how to make a personalized photo necklace. See step-by-step instructions for this DIY jewelry-making project HERE–> DIY Photo Necklace.
How to Make Art Necklace Jewelry
First, gather the fingerprint and thumbprint art jewelry craft supplies you want to use to make personalized fingerprint art necklaces from the list of jewelry-making supplies below. Next, follow the step-by-step directions to make fingerprint artwork jewelry at home or in the classroom.
The complete step-by-step DIY craft tutorial for fingerprint art necklaces is below the video tutorial. Scroll down for the DIY details. Look at this list of beautiful homemade gifts kids can make for even more easy craft ideas.
Custom Fingerprint Art Necklace Jewelry Making Supplies:
First, gather the fingerprint art jewelry-making supplies below to make unique handmade artwork jewelry. Then use the tutorial in the next section to make fingerprint art necklaces. (Or, click the link to learn How to make fingerprint art keychains and backpack charms.)
- Heavyweight paper (printer or cardstock – bright white is best)
- Fine tip black permanent marker and/or gel pens
- Fingerprint ink pads
- Scissors
- Jewelry glue or adhesive. Choose at least one of the following:
- Pendant trays with glass cabochon jewelry-making options: (choose at least one of the following jewelry-making supplies)
- Pre-made necklaces for pendants (choose at least one from the list below or make a DIY necklace):
- Sterling silver snake chain necklace (fit all pendant shapes)
- Silver-plated snake chain necklaces (fit all pendant shapes)
- Imitation leather cord necklaces (fit all pendant shapes)
- Multi-colored satin silk necklaces (fit oval pendants but not the square or circle pendant charms)
Related: The Best Art Supplies for Kids and Why Young Artists Should Use Them
Related: Four Season Handprint and Fingerprint Tree
3 Easy Ideas for Personalized Fingerprint and Thumbprint Art Necklace Jewelry
First, invite children to create art using the fun ideas below. Next, have the kids turn their artwork into necklaces with the video tutorial and step-by-step instructions posted below the fingerprint art necklace ideas list. Or use our craft tutorial to make keychains or backpack charms.
1. Thumbprint Heart Necklaces:
- Invite children or adults to use their thumbs to make hearts to make thumbprint heart necklaces.
- Another fun idea is to make thumbprint heart keychains.
- Click on either of the links for the step-by-step tutorials. Or make thumbprint heart magnet crafts instead!
2. Fingerprint Flower Necklaces
- Another simple fingerprint necklace idea is fingerprint flower pendants and charms.
- Encourage kids or adults to make fingerprint flower necklaces with their fingertips using the step-by-step instructions HERE–> fingerprint flower necklaces or keychains. (Click the link for directions to make these simple keepsake crafts.)
- Or, try making Fingerprint Flower Magnets.
3. Fingerprint Art Necklaces and Thumbprint Art Necklaces
- There are several fun ways to create art with your fingertips and thumbs. Over the years, my daughter and I have made several kinds of thumbprint art ideas and fingerprint art for fingerprint necklaces and magnets. We have a wonderful time designing fingerprint art creations and trying the creative ideas in the fingerprint art books below.
- My daughter and I enjoyed learning how to make fingerprint art with Ed Emberley’s Complete Funprint Drawing Book. It contains two of his most popular fingerprint and thumbprint art books combined into one fantastic fingerprint art book for kids:
- Learn how to make fingerprint bugs, animals, flowers, and several more fingerprint characters, symbols, and designs, such as frogs, suns, chicks, bunnies, fish, and snails, which you can use to make fingerprint art necklace charms and pendants with this fantastic thumbprint and fingerprint art book for children and adults.
- We also loved the art ideas in the other fingerprint art books below. Invite your children to find inspiration to create fingerprint art with the ideas in the fingerprint and thumbprint art books below.
- We make fingerprint and thumbprint art with fingerprint ink pads and a black permanent marker with a fine tip to make the pendants and charms in the photographs. However, we hear from readers who have successfully used tempera or acrylic paint to make fingerprint art crafts and DIY projects. The prints are usually not as detailed, and the artwork can thus be a bit sloppy. Scroll down for step-by-step instructions to make these simple fingerprint art crafts.
Best Books with Easy Fingerprint Art Ideas:
Ed Emberley’s Complete Funprint Drawing BookEd Emberley’s Fingerprint Drawing BookFingerprint Princesses and Fairies: and 100 Other Magical Creatures – Amazing Art for Hands-on Fun (Fingerprint Art)Fingerprint & Draw: Animals & Insects: Draw & paint more than 25 cool fingerprint and thumbprint masterpieces (Drawing with your Fingers)Fingerprint Monsters and Dragons: and 100 Other Adventurous Creatures (Fingerprint Art)Fingerprint Activities: AnimalsFingerprint & Draw: On the Farm: Draw & paint more than 30 cool fingerprint and thumbprint masterpieces (Drawing with your Fingers)Fingerprint Drawing: Art Fun at Your Fingertips!Fingerprint Animals (Fun with Fingerprints)Fingerprint Fun: Pictures to Complete with Painty FingertipsFingerprint Fun: Pets and Farm AnimalsElera 20 Colors Rainbow Craft Finger Ink pads for Rubber Stamps Card Making
Related: Handprint Jewelry Dish Kids Can Make
DIY Fingerprint Art Necklace Video Tutorial: How to Make Fingerprint Art Necklaces
Watch the video to see how easy it is to make fingerprint art necklaces. In it, my daughter demonstrates how to make fingerprint butterflies with gel pens. The video also shows how easy it is to use these crafty pendants to make keychains and backpack charms.
Below the video tutorial are the step-by-step instructions for DIY art necklaces. You may also like photo jewelry or personalized picture keychain photo charms. Click on the links for the step-by-step instructions for each DIY fingerprint art project.
Related: DIY Acorn Marble Necklaces
Fingerprint Art Necklace Step-By-Step Tutorial: How to Make Fingerprint Charms and Pendants for Necklaces
Follow the easy DIY directions below to make custom personalized fingerprint art jewelry pendants and charms like those shown in the photo below. Please watch the video above and read through the instructions before starting this fingerprint craft so you know the steps involved and what to expect.
1. Create fingerprint and thumbprint art for Necklace Pendants and Charms:
- Start making these creative DIY art necklaces by making fingerprint art on cardstock.(Use the easy art ideas above to inspire kids and adults to create fingerprint and/or thumbprint art!)
- First, trace the glass cabochons with a pencil directly onto the cardstock to create an art window for fingerprint art (optional). This optional step can help keep the fingerprint artwork the correct size for each pendant or charm.
- Then, invite kids or adults to use fingerprint ink pads, tempera, or acrylic paint to make fingerprint art (or thumbprint art) for art necklace pendants and charms into each art window or directly onto the paper.
- As mentioned above, we used fingerprint ink pads to make the fingerprint and thumbprint art charms and pendants for the fingerprint art necklaces in the photos, but we have heard from crafters who have had sloppy success making these pendants with paints as well.
- Or make fingerprint art into magnets; click the link for step-by-step instructions.
2. Glue the fingerprint art to the glass cabochon gem:
- If you didn’t start by tracing the glass cabochons to make art windows, play with them to see which shape will fit on top of the fingerprint artwork, as shown in the video above.
- The fingerprint art must be small enough to fit under the cabochon, otherwise some of it will be cut off.
- First, place a small drop of glue or adhesive onto the back (flat side) of the glass cabochon.
- Then, put it on top of the fingerprint artwork (as shown in the video above) to glue it to the cabochon.
- Allow the glue to dry. (Overnight is best, but the process can be sped up a bit.)
3. Cut away any remaining paper around the glass cabochon:
- Use small detail scissors to trim and cut away paper around the glass cabochon for the necklace. (It doesn’t need to be perfect.)
- The paper will pull slightly away from the glass cabochon when you cut it off. Gently massage the back of each cabochon to press the paper with the fingerprint art back onto the cabochon.
- You might need to place a small drop of Mod Podge under the paper if it pulled away too much to glue it back down. Most of the time, you will not need to do this. Simply massaging the paper on the back of the cabochon works fine. If you use a bit more glue, you do not need to wait for it to dry before moving on to the next step.
4. Glue the glass cabochon into the pendant tray:
- Use a drop of jewelry glue or adhesive to attach the glass cabochon to a pendant tray of the same shape.
- You can either place the adhesive into the pendant tray or directly onto the paper on the back of the glass cabochon. (Both jewelry-making methods are shown in the video below, and either technique works.)
- Allow the glue or adhesive to dry according to the manufacturer’s directions.
5. Place the fingerprint art pendant onto a necklace or cord:
- Thread a necklace through the loop of the fingerprint art pendant to finish your fingerprint art necklace. Choose one of the necklace options below:
- Sterling silver snake chain necklace (fit all pendant shapes)
- Silver-plated snake chain necklaces (fit all pendant shapes)
- Multi-colored satin silk necklaces (fit into oval pendants but not square or circle pendants)
- Imitation leather cord necklaces (fit all pendant shapes)
- Or click the link to learn how to make a beaded DIY necklace for each fingerprint art charm or pendant. (If you hand bead a homemade necklace, place the fingerprint art pendant onto it when it is halfway finished. Otherwise, it may not fit over the beads to hang down in the middle of the necklace.)
Related: Fun Art and Craft Ideas
DIY Fingerprint Art Necklace Homemade Craft and Gift Idea Kids Can Make
Make some fingerprint art necklaces for a great gift idea that kids and adults of all ages can make!
Fingerprint and thumbprint art made into a necklace, keychain, or backpack charm, is an easy homemade gift idea that moms, dads, and grandparents will LOVE!
Fingerprint art, thumbprint hearts, and fingerprint flower glass magnets are always a big hit with friends and family. Give them to someone special for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, a birthday, an anniversary, or Christmas.
Picture necklaces and photo keychain charms also make unique handmade gift ideas.
Don’t forget to pop over to have a look at the other beautiful homemade gift ideas kids can make. For more art and craft ideas, click on the link.
Learn more about Rhythms of Play HERE.
More Popular Fingerprint Art Ideas:
- Thumbprint Heart Magnets
- Fingerprint and Thumbprint Art and Craft Ideas
- Thumb-Buggy Fingerprint Art Love Bug Crafts
- DIY Fingerprint Art Magnets
- Fingerprint Flower Magnets
- DIY Fingerprint Flower Pendants and Charms for Necklaces or Keychains
- Thumbprint Heart Necklaces
If you Liked Art Necklaces, You Might Also Like:
- Four Season Handprint and Fingerprint Tree
- Best Flower Art Projects
- How to Make a Fairy Garden
- Books That Teach Kids Important Life Lessons
Debra Stromer says
I enjoy your kids activities. Would love to make the fingerprint necklace, but do not need the quantity Amazon sells. Do you sell the pendant shapes and chains. I would buy two of each shape and chains to go with. This would be a gift my 3 year old grandson will make for his Mom.
Nell Regan M.A. says
Hi Debra,
What a sweet grandmother you are! I wish I could say yes to your question, but I do not sell pendants or chains to make fingerprint art necklaces. You might find the pendants and charms in smaller amounts at your local jewelry supply shop or hobby store. Or, ask a few friends if they would like to make some to split the cost. Happy crafting!
Rosana Sanford says
Hi! I’m looking for a project to work with a group of children at my local library. I wouldn’t have time to wait for the fingerprint to dry on the glass pendant. Would it be too risky to cut it and stick to the jewelry the same day?
Nell Regan M.A. says
Hi Rosana, the fingerprint ink only takes a few minutes to dry, so it should be okay. But if it is still wet, it can cause the fingerprint art to smear or look a bit cloudy, which is not ideal. So it would be best to wait a bit for it to dry before sticking it to the glass gem and putting it into the pendant. But I have had several teachers tell me that they have had success making them after waiting a few minutes. Sometimes blowing on the fingerprint art can help it dry faster. Good luck!!
Natalia Johnston says
I was wondering where I can find the necklaces. I can’t find the mom Amazon. Thank you
Nell Regan M.A. says
Hi Natalia, you can choose several tray, cabochon, and necklace options to make fingerprint art necklaces. Each type is listed in the jewelry-making craft supply section with an Amazon affiliate link before the step-by-step tutorial. If you click to purchase, Rhythms of Play will earn a small commission at no additional cost. I hope that helps!