Gift Guides

Gift Lab: A Paw Print is Forever

January 11, 2012

The first time I saw the Paw Prints Keepsake Frame, I knew I needed to have it! The only problem? I have 5 cats! How am I to choose the lucky kitty that gets their paw print hung on the Wall of Fame?!

Background Research:

Meet my 5 wunderkitties, in order from oldest to youngest:

Fatty
What a docile, wonderful orange blob of a cat. He appeared outside my house on the night of my 16th birthday and never left (best present EVER)!

Pixie

Our neurotic sweetheart, and the only female in the bunch. Joined the household when I moved back home after freshman year of college.

Lynard & Skynard

Brothers! My best friend and I brought them home to foster in the beginning of the summer of 2007. I am still “fostering” them, haha.

And last, but certainly not least…..Buddy!

I adopted Buddy last April from the Animal Care & Control Center in Brooklyn. He is absolutely insane, but that is why he is awesome.

I have to pay homage to Harley. Harley was my first cat, joined the family when I was 11 years old. He passed away 3 years ago, but he’ll always be the king of our jungle.

How does one choose which paw to take a print of? Well, it was actually easy to choose.

Hypothesis:

Fatty is the oldest of the bunch, and the most cooperative. My thoughts are that he will be the easiest to get a steady paw print from. Getting the paw print and putting together this frame might require some extra time to get just right since a live animal is involved in the process, but it will be well worth the memory that is being created.

Experiment:

This project looks easy, but looks are very deceiving. When opening the dough package, it subsequently stuck to the inside of the package it came in and it took a good 5 minutes to get all of it out of the package, along with out from under my fingernails.

The rolling pin that this product came with is a tiny cylindrical piece of wood that you cannot even grip, and the dough gets stuck on when you try to use it. I had to use my mom’s good cooking rolling pin instead.

Getting this dough into the right shape and having the right consistency was not fun. It took about 20 minutes to get it to the right shape and size, and to get any air bubbles out. I was not satisfied with the first (second or third) prints that I took, so I needed to roll the dough out again and… and AGAIN.

Finally, on the fourth attempt, I got the golden paw print! My Fatty was not as happy as I was at this point, but after some smooshy hairy kisses, he was fine.

Conclusion:

The end result, in my opinion, is certainly worth the effort and work that has to be put in to obtain the paw print.

I will treasure this print for the rest of my life and always have it hanging on my wall. I will certainly be getting the rest of my kitties’ paw prints at some point in the future and more of these frames to put them in!

The Paw Prints Keepsake Frame is $30.

13 Comments

  • Reply Mick January 12, 2012 at 1:36 am

    Glad you went with Fatty – seems like the project turned out really nicely. Also, dig the picture with the female of the species (Pixie), mostly because I still freaking love that bookshelf wall. Just saying. 🙂

  • Reply sarah January 12, 2012 at 6:42 am

    Such a creative and great idea!

  • Reply JAZ January 23, 2012 at 1:17 pm

    Came out great! I love the story too. Especially since I also have an organge tabby that showed up on my doorstep and his name is Fatty..aka–Fat Cat.

  • Reply R. Russell January 24, 2012 at 6:54 pm

    As cat lover I adore this kit. As a former employee of NYCACC- Brooklyn thank you for adopting Buddy. It warms my heart that someone who is obviously a cat lover and a terrific “mom” adopted a tuxedo kitty!

    You do not know how many dead beats come into the shelter because they have mice!

    You rock! Long live your cats and this product!

  • Reply Margherita January 25, 2012 at 9:18 am

    Love the written on the Elena page. Can’t wait to place an order with her. She is awesome and so are her cats.
    Thanks

  • Reply Margherita January 25, 2012 at 9:20 am

    Love the Elena page and her cats. Will ask for her when calling uncommon goods.

  • Reply Margherita January 25, 2012 at 9:21 am

    LOVE elena page!!!!
    Very creative!!!
    Looking forward to talking her during my next purchase.

  • Reply Rich January 25, 2012 at 10:42 pm

    great story!
    Love it, when is your next product review due?

    Rich

  • Reply Lori January 30, 2012 at 3:03 pm

    Thanks, Elena for trying the impression making task. I, too, found the mini-rolling pin unusable and instead used an aerosol can. It does seems to take forever to dry. And, I too, had to try several times as my 1st dog’s paw was sticking to the material like your hand above. We thought it was because of the fur between her ‘toes’. Any ideas or suggestions? I don’t want to try it again until I know more. Thanks so much!

  • Reply Elena February 1, 2012 at 10:14 am

    Thanks for all the positive feedback, everyone!!

    Lori-I would suggest maybe putting a little bit of flour on your pet’s paw. This counteracts the stickiness. 🙂

  • Reply Patty November 16, 2012 at 12:51 pm

    Question: How big is the area for the paw print? We have a 3 month old Bernese Mountain Dog puppy. I would love to capture a puppy paw print before she reaches her full size (about 100 lbs.) Her paws are 2 1/2 inches wide now, can someone tell me if it will fit on the dough?

  • Reply cassie November 17, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    Great question, Patty. The space is 4 x 6 inches, so your pup’s print should fit. You’ll just want to make sure you roll out the dough into a big enough square to cover her whole paw.

    Cassie, UncommonGoods

  • Reply 15 Handmade Holiday Gifts for Animal Lovers | Care2 Healthy Living December 22, 2012 at 5:03 pm

    […] 12-by-15 inch wood wall frame alongside their favorite photo of them. Check out the gift lab of the Paw Prints Keepsake Frame on the Uncommon Goods […]

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