*NUO* Hand Stamped Ornament

Hello, My Very Educated Mother readers. This is Amber from Crazy Little Projects, sharing my non-ugly ornament. I am really starting to get into the Christmas spirit! (Is it too early for that?) Last week I made this, now this week? A beautiful hand stamped Christmas ornament. I love how it turned out (and that's good because there were a few road bumps along the way).
 


Now, this hand-stamped ornament isn't hard to make, really, but it does require some supplies. Want to make one yourself?

What You Need:

• Metal Blanks (find at a hobby store or on Etsy) 
• Metal Letter Stamps like these (you can get those at craft stores, Amazon, or I have seen them on Pick Your Plum) 
• Sharpie Marker 
• Pro Polish Pads Crystals (anything you think is pretty. I got mine at Hobby Lobby) 
• Wire (of any sort, really) 
• Ribbon 
• Head 
• Pins 
• Needle Nose Pliers 
• Metal Puncher 

Hand Stamped Ornament Tutorial: Grab one of your metal blanks and your metal letter stamps. Figure out where you want your word on your metal. Using a hammer and a steel block (or something else tough), begin stamping your letters. Position each letter where you want it, hold it steady, and hit it with the hammer twice.
   
When you have your whole word done, get your sharpie marker and color all over your word, getting down into the grooves and not worrying if you get it all over the place.



Then, using one of your pro polish pads, rub all that excess Sharpie marker off.


Looks nice now, right?
 
Punch a hole in the top of your metal with your metal puncher. Now, string a few crystals (I also used pearls) onto your headpin. Using your needle-nosed pliers, bend the top down and around to form a loop:


I made a couple of these little crystal dangles. Then use your wire to string them together and pull them through the hole on your metal blank:
 
Next, I tied a pretty bow with my ribbon and attached it with the wire sticking through my hole already. Last, just use that ribbon to tie a loop and attach that to your wire as well:


So pretty, right? You could stamp any word into. Like Christmas 2012, Joy, Noel, your last name, anything! Happy stamping!