How to Make Your Own Custom Stamps

I've always had a thing for anything nautical- anchors, whales, buoys, starfish, sailboats.... aahhhhhh....  can't get enough of them!

I've been wanting to try making my own stamps for a while now, so I gave it a try, and I think I've found a new hobby ;)  It was really easy, used materials I already had, and I absolutely love my new little whale stamp.

You can make your stamp in any figure or shape that you like- as long as you can cut the shape, then you can turn it into a stamp!

The wood block that I used is from a stamp I bought on clearance at Michaels for this very purpose.  Best 25 cents I ever spent ;)  All I did was rip off the bottom rubber stamp part and the sticker on the top, and for a quarter I had my own wood stamp block!

Directions:

Step 1:  Print out a picture of what you would like your stamp to be, or just draw and cut freehand if you like.  For my whale I googled "whale silhouette" and found lots of great options.  Print (you may need to resize), and cut out the image so that it will fit onto your stamp block.

Place (or staple) the craft foam underneath your image, and cut out the shape.  Hot glue the foam shape onto the wood block.

Step 2:  Place ink on the stamp.

Step 3: Place paper underneath the stamp, and press firmly on all areas of the the stamp on a hard surface.  Carefully lift up the stamp to see the image.

And that's it!  My new little DIY whale stamp exceeded my expectations, and the stamped image was really dark and solid.  The paper image is definitely crisper than the fabric image, which is to be expected.  Make sure to use a good ink pad to get the best image possible.

You can stamp on paper, fabric, or wood.  I stamped on some little drawstring muslin bags, which would make adorable party favors!  Just make stamps that match the theme and use colors to match the party, and you've got cute personalized favor bags.

Have you ever tried making stamps?  Give it a try!  This would be a great craft to do with kids, too!

Another fun project to do with your kids are these metallic handprints, which make great decor for a kids' room, and the perfect gift for Mother's Day!

Speaking of Mother's Day, another great gift idea is this Easy DIY Wood Mounted Photograph that only cost me less than $5 each!

Or why not pamper mom with this easy Lemon and Rosemary Scrub?!

Or this Rosemary and Mint Sugar Scrub?

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking Up Here: Lolly Jane, Sugar Bee Crafts, Craft-O-Maniac

DIY Metallic Handprints

I am so excited to share with you this idea that I came up with a few years ago.  I have never ever ever seen this done, which makes it even more exciting!

This is probably one of the easiest tutorials on my site, and yet is one of the most special and memorable gifts I can think of to give to a family member, or even keep for yourself.  It is so easy, so fast, and yet so precious and sweet at the same time.

And for all you procrastinators, this would make an easy and very inexpensive Mother's Day gift for you or your kids' grandmas!  You could even "borrow" your sister's, sister-in-law's, cousin's, or friend's kids for a few minutes and secretly make these for their mama, without mom even knowing!  Perfect, right?  And there's absolutely no paint involved.

Have I got you on the edge of your seat yet?!

Metallic handprints!  Shiny, upraised, silver metallic hand prints.  

Want to know my secret ingredient?

Embossing powder.  And a clear ink pad.

Here's what you'll need to make these sweet little prints:

Not pictured: a canvas, paper, or block of wood.  I bought a 3 pack of thin canvases at Walmart for around $3.50.  Super cheap.  I bought all the rest of the supplies over the years at Michaels.

The embossing heat tool is necessary, and no, you can't use a bow drier instead.  A blow drier will blow the powder right off your canvas, but the embossing tool shoots out less air but a lot of heat.  If you have a friend who scrapbooks or stamps, maybe you could borrow theirs ;)

I used sterling silver embossing powder, but any metallic will do, or even non-metallic.  You can buy embossing powder in tons of colors at Michaels or Joanns for cheap.

The VersaMark Watermark stamp pad is a must, too.  It's great because it's clear, so it doesn't make a big mess!  You can use any small paintbrush for this project.

Directions:

Step 1:   Decide if you want a plain white canvas or a colored one.  If you want it colored, you'll need to paint it.  I just spray painted mine with some Krylon spray paint I had on hand that I used for these DIY Party Serving Dishes, and it was dry and ready to go in just a few minutes.

Step 2:  Practice with your child where their hand will go on the canvas, show them how far apart you want their fingers, and practice pressing down their hand.

Press the ink pad onto your child's hand, making sure to ink the whole palm, and the entire length of the fingers.  The ink is clear, so be sure to be thorough.  Carefully press your child's hand onto the canvas.  Have them hold their hand still while you press down on the palm, and then each finger, to make sure that they are leaving a print on the canvas.  Carefully lift up their hand.  Repeat with the other hand.

Step 3:  While your child washes their hands, generously sprinkle the metallic embossing powder over the handprints.  I use almost the whole bottle each time, because I want to make sure that I get a nice dark print, and that the whole print gets covered.  Don't worry, you can make tons of handprints out of just one bottle!  Gently shake off the excess powder onto a piece of paper, and funnel the powder back into the bottle.

Step 4:  Use the paintbrush to carefully brush off any excess powder off of the canvas.  This is important, because once you heat up the canvas, you won't be able to remove any extra little pieces of powder, and they will be stuck on your canvas forever.

Step 5:  Now for the fun part!  Turn on the heat tool, and hold it above the handprints, focusing on one spot at a time.  Watch in amazement as the powder begins to melt together and raise up off the paper into a beautiful metallic masterpiece!  Be sure to heat all areas of the handprints until they are raised and shiny and metallic.  You can frame the canvas (or paper or wood), or just leave it as is.  It looks great either way!

Aren't they lovely?  Those are my daughter' hands on the purple, and my cute son's hands on the blue...

The prefect treasure for you, or the perfect gift to give to a family member!!  Don't forget Mother's Day is this Sunday! ;)

Another great gift idea is this Easy DIY Wood Mounted Photograph that only cost me less than $5 each!

Or why not pamper mom with this easy Lemon and Rosemary Scrub?!

Or this Rosemary and Mint Sugar Scrub?

You can also make your own custom stamp to stamp a tag or card for mom (or grandma) too!  So easy your kids can even do it!

Enjoy!

If you liked this project, please follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Bloglovin', and Instagram.

xo, Laura

Linking Up Here: Lolly Jane, Sugar Bee Crafts,