DIY Steampunk Stamps

Writing letters in this digital age makes it all that more important for letter writing to be more artistic & personal. Give your letters & stationary a steampunk flair with these 2 simple DIY stamps!

Geared Up! Stamp

Materials & Tools:

Square block of wood
3 gears (mine here are reproduction gears that you can purchase at Michaels–these work best because they are flat)
Hammer & 3 nails (the nail heads should be large enough so that they hold the gears in place)
3 rubber washers (should be roughly the same width. See second picture below)

Rubber washers should be the same width so that the gears are even with one another when hammered into the wood block.

Steps:

1) Arrange your gears on your wooden block. Once you have them arranged as you desire, (using your nail) mark where you will hammer each gear into the wood.

You can see in this picture that I have already made a gear stamp on another side of the wood. I invite you to do the same. Change up the pattern or use different gears & cogs for a slightly different stamp.
This way, it's not only a cool stamp but something that you can display on your mantle!

2) Take a gear and place the rubber washer underneath it. Then hammer the gear in place with a nail. Be sure to hammer the nail straight so that the head is not crooked (because it makes stamping a little more difficult). Repeat for the other 2 gears.

3) Begin stamping!

Steampunk Spring Stamp

Materials & Tools:

Square wood block
Wire cutters
20 gauge wire
Spring

Steps:

1) Cut a length of wire using your wire cutters (if you do not own a pair of wire cutters, use a pair of toenail clippers). I cut mine about arm’s length.

2) Thread the wire through the spring and around your wood block. Pinch the wire tight around the edges of the wood and pull the wire taut through the spring each time.