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June 11, 2013

Fathers Day Gift: Stamped Washer Keychain

Today I am going to share with you this little project that is probably a familiar one. Metal stamped washers is not new to most but it was the first time I tried it.  I needed a quick gift to get in the mail to three sets of grandpas and for my hubby.

I had every intention of my girls making these. I pictured them whacking with the hammer in glee.
Um, it was not so easy.  
It took me forever to figure out that my garage floor was the best place to do this.  I tried a cutting board on the wood floor, my craft table, and the sidewalk but it would not hit hard enough to make enough of an impression and the sidewalk scratched the bottom.  I was about to give up when I figured the hardest and smoothest surface we had was our garage floor.  PROJECT SAVED!
I bought these little cuties at Harbor Freight.  But they did not have a lot of washers available so I ran down the street to Home Depot.
I grabbed 10 of these washers and had JUST ENOUGH after all the times I messed up. So quick tip...buy extra washers to practice on.
After a bunch of practice whacks, I got the hang of it.
Just hammer one of the letter stamps about 3-4 times, color in with a black sharpie, wait a few minutes and then wipe it off with a little rubbing alcohol. You will also start to get a feel for the spacing between letters.
Here's my daughter's name where I messed up the "a" and the "i"...you know...half her name.
Sigh. 
So I am sorry this is my demo photo but apparently I need to practice some more.  But at least you know how in case you didn't already. :)
I attached the washers to an Easy Release Key Ring from Home Depot. It was an easy and inexpensive project and I would do it again in a second.  
We wrapped them up with tissue paper (light and easy for shipping) then tied some twine to kraft paper tags labeled in Cati's handwriting.  Precious. :)

Some other project ideas the girls and I have done are this Flip Flop Card and some Stenciled Father's Day T-Shirts.

What did you do this year for Father's Day?  

5 comments:

  1. These are a great idea! We did key chains, too, but ours were out of plain Shrinky Dink sheets and our own designs. :)

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  2. Love this idea! I think I'd like to use these as gift tags on packages.

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  3. Love these! Jessica, do you have some Greek blood in you? I notice a Papou keyring. Sadly, my Papou is gone, but my dad is alive and well and Papou to my daughter Zoe!

    Best,
    Sheila
    http://sheilazachariae.blogspot.com

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  4. I love these! I think I will make my dogs new dog tags with this idea! :)

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  5. Great gift - I LOVE the way they turned out. And I just loved also that you showed us all your "oops"ones, too. Keeping it real - I love that about you! Loved loved loved Cati's handwritten gift tags as well and am sure that was an extra special part of the gift for everyone! Happy Fathers Day!

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