Stamp It.

The Lovely Miss 'M's Napkins

As we all know, I love personalizing anything and everything.  It feels indulgent and, if done properly, screams high end.  A wonderful friend of mine (we'll call her 'M') contacted me a month ago to discuss making stamped napkins for a bridal shower she was helping to put together.  I've used stamps in the past for making cards but haven't used them on napkins. 

Her vision was to have the bride's initials and the date of the shower on each napkin.  From my experience, there were 2 options.  Order one or make your own.


Option 1: Order one
Any rubber stamp company will create a custom stamp for you.  However they need specific types of graphic files and usually have a one time set-up fee.  My suggestion if you want to order a custom stamp is to go on esty.com.  Etsy is an online crafters website that has a fantastic selection of handmade items as well as crafting supplies.  I did a search for "personalized stamp" and had a ton of possible options which ranged from app. $15.00 US to $40.00 US (this does not include shipping). 

Option 2: Make your own
Craft supply stores like Michael's have a number of items you can use to make your own stamps - clear acrylic 'backs', soft rubbery plastic stamp pieces to place on the acrylic backs, and stamp pads.  The price ranges for each component are really varied.  I've found promo bins with all the different pieces for $1-$2.  Or you can spend over $20 for them.

Given that she only needed 50 napkins made, I suggested that she stop in at Michael's and if she didn't find anything that worked for her, we'd order one.

We met up a couple weeks ago and she brought me a $24 set of stamp initials, a $4 set of stamp initials, a $20 acrylic stamp back and a $6 stamp pad.

$4.00 Stamps                   &                   $24.00 stamps

I grabbed my box of stamping supplies and we discovered that the $4 initials were perfect and used my $1.00 acrylic back and $1.50 stamp pad.  Perfect!  Saved her $50 and no one will ever know.  Love it.

Stamp pad & Clear acrylic back with Initials on it

Here's a quick tutorial for making your own stamps:

Step 1 - Have rough idea of how you want the stamp to look (one line, two lines etc.).  If you have text/initials, I've found that  using a permanent marker and drawing straight guidelines on the back of the acryclic piece to make sure you place the letters in line with each other (assuming of course that's the look you want to create) works best.

Step 2 - Place the stamp pieces on the acrylic back.  Remember to put the letters on in reverse order because you flip the stamp over to use it.

Step 3 - Test the stamp.  Press the stamp gently on the stamp pad to load it with ink.  Then press the stamp onto a test piece of paper, cardstock etc.  I've found that I need to do 3-4 test stamps to make sure all the pieces are placed the way I want them.  The tests also allow me to get a feel for the amount of pressure how the place the stamp down to get the best impression.

Step 4 - Stamp away!

When you're finished with any stamp, it's really important to clean the ink off.  I've found that baby wipes are fantastic for this.


Some other ideas how to use your stamps:

Cards
Personalized Stationery
Address Labels
Book Plates

- Jacs

Update:

I used this idea for Avery's 1st Birthday napkins & I love them!