As you know, we've had family portraits on our mind lately. We think these embroidered family handprints are a great spin on the idea. And before you think, "cute, but I don't know how to embroider," we promise you, embroidery can be quite simple.

Megan of Plum Pudding made the hand prints above using one simple embroidery stitch. She painted the embroidery hoop and used it as a frame which is a nice touch (see her full post here).

You could get fancy if you like, but even a first-time embroiderer can tackle this easily. Our favorite online resource for learning embroidery stitches is Primrose Design's Stitch School postings written by Janel McCaffrey. The simplest stitch - straight stitch - is what we'd recommend starting with and then, if you like, try some others (links to different stitches can be found in the right hand column of her blog).

Embroidery is a great introduction to needlecrafts for kids. A hoop, needle, some linen and a handful of embroidery floss is all it takes to get them started.

(Via Craft)