Little HippoBaby Footprint Kit & Keepsake | Baby Handprint Kit | Baby Hand and Footprint Kit (Alpine White, Standard)

I got this for my wife for her first mother's day and used it with our 4 month old. I saw a lot of reviews complaining about the quality or ease of use. There may have been some quality issues at one point (some of the reviews I saw were a few years old), but there certainly was not with my kit. While the video instructions and things I saw said to mix three mounds together to create the clay, mine came with just one package of clay and it was very moist and easy to use. It does say you can use olive oil if it seems dry, but I did not need to do that. It took me 10 minutes to really roll it out in the frame piece for it and I assume the people complaining didn't take the time to really smooth it out and went through it too quick. TAKE YOUR TIME - it's really not hard to use or difficult at all, but like anything you likely will be giving as a gift or keeping for years and years, take that extra few minutes to smooth it out and don't get frustrated. In my pic, you can see a few lines or wrinkles. I didn't really care and a few of them were a result of me pressing my sons foot and hand in there. I didn't want to attempt to smooth them out after with fears it would mess up the perfect foot and hand print I got. But you can do it if you're careful.Once I got it smoothed out, it was very easy. I did do what a few people recommended and waited to do this until my son was sleepy/sleeping. It made a big difference. While the clay does NOT set quickly, if you do mess up any of the attempts for the hand or foot print due to your baby moving too much or being fussy, you will have to put them back down, smooth it out again, and start over. So my recommendation is to wait until your baby is sleeping. You do have to press down somewhat firmly but not really that hard. I didn't even disrupt my little guy when doing his foot or hand - and I never felt like it was hurting or would hurt him if he was awake - the consistency of the clay was perfect. And while it is safe for babies, I'd recommend (as the directions do) to have a damp cloth with some mild baby soap just to wash/rinse their hand and foot.After that, you've done the "hard part". Now you just have to print some pictures, attach (with the double sides tape, what a great idea for them to include this) them to the included mat, and wait 3-4 days for the clay to set to put it together. It said it can take up to 4 days, in some cases 5. Mine was dried within 3 days, but I did wait the full 4 just to make sure. But it seemed to harden up after just a day or so and got much harder as the days went on. I'd absolutely wait the full 4 though because while it may feel hard to the touch, if there is still moisture in there, it could potentially mold or fog up your glass if you frame it too quickly.A couple of final thoughts:-The kit is SO nice - literally this company is GREAT and so thoughtful - it came in a nice box/kit with everything you could need. It had multiple mats (two colors), plastic letters to press into the clay (I crossed out my sons name and date for privacy, but the letters are very easy to use, just press firmly in), the clay, a mini roller, double sided tape (for the pictures), a nice frame with glass, very sturdy inset for the clay, and a really nice thank you card (thanking you for buying it). I love this company, they are great!Please do yourself a favor and if you are even thinking about getting this, just get it. You will love it and it's something that's so special. I saw some people using it for pets too! I will be getting another one shortly for my dog.Little Hippo - thank you for making such a great kit that helped me produce and commemorate something so special and timeless!Honestly, they could probably charge 2-3 times the price they are charging for this and I'd still say it was 100% worth it. It brought my wife to tears and it's something we will have forever. I couldn't possibly recommend this more!

Such a cute keep sake

I love this because you can still feel how small your baby’s hand felt. I lost the glass to the frame so mine is open. Once in a while when I pass by the frame, I will touch the clay and just think about when my son was a baby. It literally fills my heart with memories.It was easy to do by myself for my baby and easy to wash off the clay residue on both our hands. I love the thickness and heaviness of the frame as well.I got different brand of these frames, so the colors of the outer frame and inner frames can differ based on brand. I tried 3 different brands and gotten: white frame with off-white inner frame; and off-white outer frame with white inner frame. The clay color all tend to be off white and consistent.

Bought this to use with my 3 month old. Packaging was very nice. Link for instructional video did not work but if you leave "assembly" off the end, it works. Instructions on video and printout state to combine 3 bags of clay for 3 minutes. Mine came with one bag of clay and unsure if still needed to be molded for 3 minutes. Given a roller to help flatten clay into frame and make even surface but roller was not as wide as opening of frame so it would leave a line in the clay. Says clay can take 4 days to cure but top of clay seemed to be drying shortly after putting into frame. Once I pressed my daughter's hand and foot into it, the clay around it wrinkled. Cute concept and fairly easy to do. I think the main issue was the quality of the clay. Could have been worse and is a nice keepsake. Just did it so will have to see how it comes out once it dries.

Worked great for our baby girl’s prints!

I loved it, great

This was a great keepsake for our newest addition. It was easy to use and well made.The instructions stated to roll together all 3 balls of clay but there was only one which was strange. Either the instructions were translated incorrectly or space aliens beamed up two of the three balls of clay for further studying of cool consumer goods on amazon. Hard to say which.I don’t understand why the rolling pin (round wooden dowel) wasn’t made the same length as the actual square in which you place the clay. It would eliminate overlap lines when flattening out the clay. And make it way easier to complete the task. Just a small issue but thought I would mention it.If you use the stencil lettering, make sure you do it right away. If the clay even drys 5-10 min, it will crack slightly when pushing the letters into the clay. Even if you don’t go too deep.It’s a great kit overall and I would recommend it to new parents alike.

I repurchased this product for my second child. 1st time the clay was great. This time the clay was too dry to knead. Now I have to go through the process of rewetting the clay.