Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Mother's Day Stamped Washer Necklaces Tips & Giveaway

A year or so ago, I was doing a lot with stamped washers projects and stamped washers were all over blogland.  It all started (for me...) with this post on Not So Idle Hands.  The ironic thing is that even though I started with making washer necklaces, I never got around to posting about those...so I'm doing it now.  I'm sure you've all seen these before, but I thought with Mother's Day coming up, it might be a good time to post about them.  These make a great gift to make with your kids and are also simple enough to do as a youth group activity. 

To stamp the washers, I ordered my stamp set from Harbor Freight online for $5 (plus $7 shipping). It's been well worth the investment already with the number of things I've been able to make with them.  You can find my directions for stamping the washers here.  Or if you want to make it really easy on yourself, you can order them custom stamped from me in my shop.  For a limited time, I've got a Mother's Day special.  You can order 4 washers for $1.25 plus shipping.  (The regular price is $1.75.)  If you want to order a large number of washers for a youth group activity that have mostly the same phrases on them, contact me at polly.helping.little.hands (at) gmail (dot) com for a bulk rate quote.

There are all sorts of ways to make them.  I've used leather cord, ribbon, hemp, woven cord, and elastic cord.  They all work great but each have their own look, depending on what you want.  You can add beads or leave them plain.  Many of the pictures show hemp because that's what I first had available.  I've come to prefer the colored woven cord or the leather, though.

Last year I helped the Firecracker and Little Brother make necklaces with their names for their birthmoms.  They chose the beads and I helped build up the necklaces.

We also made some last year for the Grandmas...

 You can also stamp them with the kids' or grandkids' names. 

 And they're great for just about any reason for kiddos...because one thing I've learned is kids LOVE anything with their name on it.  These were for some cousins.

I've made several different versions for Firecracker over the last year.

Okay, so here's how I make my necklaces.  Take you string of choice, cut it longer than you think you'll need it...because you can always trim more off if you need to.  Fold it in half, and stick the loop through the hole in your washer.  Then take the two ends and put them back through the loop.
Then you can add beads however you like.  I kind of liked them seperated a bit along the necklace and used knots to hold the beads where I wanted them.

I also like the really simple look of just adding one bead after the washer.

There are tons of ways to finish the necklace as well.  The easiest, of course, is just to make it long enough to tie a knot and slip it over your head.  If you're looking for something easy, but a bit more sophisticated, you can use a bead and a loop as I did here.
I've also used jewelry claps held on with crimp beads for a more traditional necklace, although the cord has to be thin enough to fit through the crimp beads.

And as long as I'm on the subject of stamped washers...
Check out all my posts with stamped washer projects.
Zipper Pull Tab
Grandpa Keychain
Dad Keychain
Grad Keychain
Washer Earrings
T-shirt Bag Tags
How to Stamp a Heart
Washer Necklaces
Backpack Tags
Order Custom Stamped Washers from my Shop

And finally the GIVEAWAY to reward you for making it to the end of the post. I'm giving away a set of custom stamped washers to one lucky reader.  If you win, you can choose to have them sent loose to make necklaces with, or I'll make them into a keychain for you...your choice.  (If we get a lot of entries, then I might choose two or three winners.)   Entries open utnil April 27th at 12:00pm PST.  Make sure your emails is attached to your blogger account or leave it with your comment.

One super simple way to enter:
  1. Become a follower (via Blogger or Facebook) and leave a comment telling me you've become one (or that you already are one.)
Giveaway is now closed. Thanks for your interest.


I'm linking to:
Making The Girl Creative  Becolorful Keeping It Simple abc button HOGPhotobucketTip Junkie handmade projectsPhotobucket giveaways make it wear it A Mommy Adventures Katie's Nesting Spot   Show and Tell Green PhotobucketJoin us Saturdays at tatertotsandjello.com for the weekend wrap up party!

26 comments:

  1. I'm already a follower!
    maryw1981 at yahoo dot com

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  2. I would love these for mothers day! I am having a new baby and have no time to be crafty myself right now. I am a follower.
    taufers at yahoo dot com

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  3. I'm already a follower! I love these; so simple and yet so beautiful! Thanks for doing this giveaway!

    julie(dot)lemagne(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  4. These are adorable! I would love to win and I'm already following.

    Katie
    aclassofherown(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. ps- i am already a follower as well!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I am now a follower!

    To answer your question, You can sew through the felt balls using a nylon thread. I would lay down the strand on a felt the size of the rug. Start in the middle ans move round in a circle.Stick using fabric glue. I think I would do stitches in between to secure it. I have not done it personally but I think this should work.

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  7. i'm a follower.. today is my daughter's 2nd birthday. i would love to win one of these.
    thanks.
    starsanner23(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  8. It's really amazing how a simple washer can become something so beautiful!
    I'm a follower

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  9. I'm a follower... and need to head to Harbor Freight to see if they carry teh stamps in the store!

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  10. These are SO cute! I'd love to win and I'm a new follower! Thanks for sharing!

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  11. I have become a follower on Blogger & Facebook. I would love to win these! They are really cute!
    live.better.for.less@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm a follower!

    saraj.middleton at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I just discovered your blog today and became a follower! I love all the wonderful ideas and inspiration! These washer necklaces are really cool! :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. New follower! Super cute and they sound so easy. Well done :)

    MCaptaine (at) Gmail (dot) com

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  15. I'm now a follower!!!! I love your blog, by the way. :)

    EStinnett (at) shawnee (dot) k12 (dot) ok (dot) us

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  16. What a lovely idea... especially for Mother's Day!

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  17. Very nice! I'd love for you to link up at Inspire Me Mondays.
    http://singingthreelittlebirds.blogspot.com/2011/04/inspire-me-monday_25.html

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  18. I'd love it and would love it if you linked up to this weeks Glitter link party! http://runwithglitter.blogspot.com/2011/04/running-with-glitter-6-link-party.html

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  19. So cool!! I've become a follower and would love this!
    thanks,
    robin
    klpich@aol.com

    and I'm having a giveaway on my blog also.
    www.robinpich.blogspot.com
    come check it out :-)

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  20. I'm your newest follower!!
    Thanks so much for the link for the stamps..I just ordered a set! and thanks for the chance at this great giveaway!

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  21. Those are so cute! Thanks for sharing the link to where you bought your stamps. This is something I"ve wanted to try in the past but I didn't know where to get the stamps.

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  22. What size stamps work best on the washers? Thanks!

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  23. Hi--I too have the harbor freight stamp set--when I saw your idea--I tried it---but it hardly makes a mark on the washers----I used a hammer--do you use something different to get the letters so engraved?
    I'm hoping to do these for Mother's Day!
    Thanks,
    Jen

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jen, You have to make sure that you're on a very hard secure surface. We don't have a heavy duty work bench, so the only thing that worked for me was doing it on a cement surface, like my garage floor or back porch step. I found trying it on my table or desk didn't work because there was too much bounce to the table. It also took 2 or 3 good hard bangs with the hammer. Hope that helps!

      Delete

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