Stamped Metal Necklaces

Stamped Metal Necklaces (the one that I almost caved in and bought before my inner cheapness talked some sense into me!)

I'm posting this project because I had a hard time finding any information about it online. (Mostly because I didn't know what to search for.... now I know I needed a metal stamping kit and tutorial. ha)

Supplies:
spoon (the cheaper/thinner the better)
chain
hammer
drill
metal stamping kit ($18 at Michaels if you use your 40% off coupon- teachers have a 40% coupon they can use good until October 1st- or you can borrow mine!)
(optional) any pearls or jump rings you want to add
sharpie pen
jewelry cloth (or I found a wet paper towel works in a pinch)


-Lay your spoon face down on a mat (I did this in the garage... the concrete surface under the mat worked well). Use the hammer to flatten out the spoon.

-Bend the spoon where the handle meets the head until it breaks. (Using tin snips to give you a head start works great. I also used some fancy machine at my father-in-law's house that was really nifty for this step.... not sure what it's called...)

-Drill a hole at one end of your metal disc.

-Sand the rough edges (I was able to use a metal grinder but they do have metals sanders you can use).

-Use your metal stamping kit to stamp your letters. I used the tutorial video on beaducation.com to get some tips. The biggest problem I had was that I had to turn the disc over and flatten it again after each letter. I didn't do this the first time and found that the letters would show really well on one side but you couldn't see the whole letter.

Jen's "one whack" method works the best but it's difficult to do with the heavier weight metal.

And even if the letters don't look perfect.... it's very therapeutic after a Monday work day. (Rusty even asked if I skipped work today because I didn't have any good stories for him.....)

-Fill in the letters with your Sharpie pen and wipe off the extra. The jewelry cloth works great for this but for my first one I was in the garage and just used a rag. It worked okay too.... just required more rubbing.

-Put your pieces together on your chain (I'm still on the hunt for inexpensive chains)!

That's it. Not nearly as hard as I was expecting them to be. I would practice letters first. And am probably going to pick up some cheap thinner metal discs so the letters are easier to make. But overall, a decent project that is cheaper to do than buying a necklace. (And you know how I'm a fan of the squint method!) : )