How to Stamp a Spoon! (and other silverware)

Over the past couple of months I’ve really enjoyed learning how to stamp a spoon. There’s a whole world of metal stamping out there from DIY metal stamping jewelry to keychains that I haven’t dipped a toe into yet because I’m having too much learning how to hand stamp spoons.

DIY metal stamping is easier than you think. Once you learn how to hand stamp silverware you can make many pieces of your own to keep or give as personalized gifts.

How to Stamp a Spoon

This is the bare minimum of DIY metal stamping supplies you’ll need to get started.

1. A stamp set

2. A steel stamping block

3. A metal stamping hammer (you will not get good impressions with a the carpenter’s hammer you have around the house. Trust me.)

I bought all three in one shot with this metal stamping kit from ImpressArt (note that the numbers set is not included. I purchased that separately, but right now we’re talking about the absolute basics of getting started.)

ImpressArt Metal Stamping Kit- Newsprint Lowercase

4. Silver plated spoons * – These are readily available at antique stores. A good price is 50 cents – $3 per spoon depending on the condition. I try to look for $1 spoons for budget reasons and also because it’s painful to have to scrap a $3 spoon when you mess up!

*If you’d like to stamp stainless steel, you’ll need a premium stamp set which is more heavy-duty and expensive. Part of the joy of stamping spoons for me is finding them in the antique store, polishing them up, personalizing, and presenting the recipient with something one-of-a-kind. Stainless steel doesn’t hold the same appeal, but if vintage silver is too hard to come by for you, it’s nice to have the option of stainless. Update: ImpressArt now how “soft strike’ blanks that are suitable for jewelry and more, so unless you really want to stamp stainless steel, you should be fine without the premium metal stamping kit.

5. Silver polish – Buy silver polish in the cleaning department of your local mass merchandiser. You’ll need it to get all the tarnish off your vintage spoons

6. Metal Jewelry Stamping Blanks – You’ll want to find some cheap metal jewelry stamping blanks to practice on a few times before you’re ready to tackle a spoon.

7. A permanent marker (Sharpie)

8. Masking or painters tape – you can buy tape specifically for metal stamping, but it’s cheaper and just as effective to use masking or painters tape that you can find lots of places #justsayin

I’m not going to reinvent the wheel, since Adrienne from Happy Hour Projects has an easy to follow video tutorial that will show you exactly how to hand stamp silverware.

How to Hand Stamp Spoons

Like anything new to you, learning how to stamp a spoon is going to require practice, practice, practice. It’s pretty simple though. This is the first spoon I ever tried to stamp. Not too bad! You can see where I didn’t get a consistent impression with the letter “c.” I struck it at a slight angle rather than straight on making the top part of the “c” a little too shallow. Same with the “a.” The right side of the letter is slightly shallow.

Rest assured I’ve messed up several since then. The nice thing about hand stamping is that it’s never perfect. That’s part of the appeal! The spacing in “jam” isn’t just right on my featured spoon here. The recipient still loved it.

Still, it’s painful to mess up a spoon by stamping a letter upside down or getting the spacing soooo off that it’s just not acceptable. Save your messed up pieces and use them for practice!

Once you’ve learned how to stamp metal and you’ve decided you like it, here are a few other things to consider purchasing.

1. A numbers set to match your font – I’m using Newsprint right now.

2. A Sunshine Cloth – This little yellow cloth is magical! It will buff your finished spoon or stamped jewelry to a high shine

3. A new font – There are so many to choose from!

4. Metal Stamping Design Stamps – to add a little flourish to your pieces. I used the metal stamping design stamp ImpressArt- 6mm, Vine Design Stamp on the piece below. It’s a good stamp for a beginner since it doesn’t displace a whole lot of metal.

I also have this little heart stamp that’s really easy to get a good impression with.

Learning how to stamp a spoon with metal stamping design stamps that are larger and/or more intricate are a bit more tricky. If you think “w’s” and “m’s” are hard to stamp…

I have this one and I still haven’t mastered it. Thankfully I have a bunch of goof-up spoons to practice on until I get the hang of it. 😉

Now that you know how to stamp a spoon, what will you hand stamp on your spoons?

Hand Stamped Coffee spoons – Pair a witty stamped spoon with a coffee mug, bag of beans, or a pint-sized flavoring syrup

• Death before Decaf
• I Laugh at Decaf
• I <3 coffee
• Rise and Grind
• Just Brew it
• No Coffee No Workee

Hand Stamped Coffee Spoons

Spoons for tea and cocoa lovers are great ideas too!

Personalized ice cream spoons or soups spoons are ideal for those crazy people in our life who don’t drink hot beverages.

Garden markers – These are great for old, beat-up spoons. Pull out your 50 cent silver spoons that aren’t in great shape and stamp herb names onto them, or a funny saying to stick into a potted house plant.

Of course there’s always the “in a jam” spoon gifted with a jar of your favorite jam.

If you decide learning how to hand stamp spoons isn’t for you, but you’d still like a cool metal stamped vintage silver spoon,  you can find beautiful ones on Etsy

Are you ready to hand stamp a spoon?