A thumbprint or fingerprint guest book is a fun alternative to your usual guestbook. It can be used at baby showers, weddings, christenings, birthdays and more; and rather than being tucked away in a drawer, after your event it makes a beautiful keepsake to display in your home and cherish forever.  

In the guest book shown above, the flamingo, guests place their fingerprint on the paper to represent a balloon as a symbol of their attendance. The guests could also then sign their name next the fingerprint. Below are a few tips we've picked up over the course of 15years creating fingerprint guest books.

Ink and pens 

To leave a fingerprint guests just press their finger onto a coloured ink pad then onto your design. Our favourite ink is momento dew drop ink. It is acid free, water based and fast drying and even comes is a cute little droplet shape. This is great for a leaf or water drop so in some cases you might prefer to just touch the ink pad straight onto the paper instead of using a finger. It can be nice to have a few different shades for guests to choose from too. Another brand to consider is color box. Fine art and scrapbooking pens are good for guests to sign with such as Faber Castell and Memory Marker. Sharpies are always popular or a dual tipped acrylic paint pen is long lasting and works great on darker backgrounds with a the options of white or gold, as well as black. 

Clean up 

Just have a pack of wet wipes and a towel handy so guests can remove the excess ink right away. In many cases that may be all that's needed, sometime, especially with darker inks, guests might need to wash their hands with soap and water at some point to remove the tint. If you're still worried you can as mentioned above use the stamp straight onto the paper or consider a signature only guest book.

Fingerprint guest book top tips

1. For a big even like a wedding start things off yourself or ask your bridal party and family members to. A big empty guest book poster might be a little intimidating to have the first go on. Once a few people have left their print it will be easy for others to follow. 
2. Have a test bit of paper handy. Just an ordinary blank bit of paper guests might like to try their fingerprint out on first. 
3. Display instructions. Let guests know the process or just that it's your guest book alternative with a sign. We have a selection of free signs to download here or you can purchase a printed one along with your guest book. 
4. Consider backup ink or pens. We've been using the momento inks for years and have never run out of ink at an even yet - but, if guests leave the lids off for too long they could dry up. So you may want to consider more than one ink pad or pen just in case. Inks are water based so a tiny dab of water may get them going again if they do dry up.