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Hands Occupied

Contemporary yarn crafts by Heidi Gustad. Knitting, crochet, latch hook and macrame.

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How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils

September 9, 2013 13 Comments

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

These custom pencils take under 5 minutes to make and offer unlimited ways to make them your own. Back in elementary school, it was super hip to order custom pencils with your name on them, and they pretty much looked just like the DIY version I’m sharing today. I have no idea why I didn’t think of this project until the weekend after I rounded up my back to school series, but since I haven’t moved on to the next theme yet, I figured, what the heck. Plus, they’re just so cute!

Supplies

plain pencils
hammer
metal stamping letters
permanent marker
rubbing alcohol
tissue

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

Directions

Gather your letters/symbols for the phrase you’d like on your pencil. This is probably the hardest part of this project! The first pencil I made was for my husband and totally says twerk, but since the internet has had quite enough of twerking in the past month, I opted to keep it outta this post ;).

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

Align your stamp, checking to make sure it’s about centered on one of the pencil’s flat sides, and also that it’s right side up. Give the stamp a tap – hard enough to make an impression in the pencil, but not so hard as to dent the wood in weird ways. You’re using metal stamps on wood, so the force needed is a little different than when you’re working with metal.

[Check out my other metal stamping tutorials here, here and here.]

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

Color in your letters with permanent marker, filling in the stamps all the way so the yellow (or whatever color you’re working with) of the pencil doesn’t show through.

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

Wipe off excess ink with rubbing alcohol and some tissue, being careful not to use too much alcohol. The pencils are wood, so you don’t want them soaked, and if you use too much, you’ll remove all of the ink, including what you want to show up in the letters. Other than that, you’ll all done! These are super addictive – I grabbed a box of 24 pencils on back-to-school clearance and went nuts. I think my co-workers are going to have to get pencil gifts on a regular basis! Who would you make these for?

How-to: Simple Stamped Pencils | Hands Occupied

The metal stamps and hammer used in this project were provided by Impress Art. 

Filed Under: Back to School, How-to, Metal Stamping Tagged With: custom, easy, impress art, metal stamping, pencil, simple, stamping

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author & content creator in love with primary colors & vintage vibes. She specializes in knitting, crochet, latch hook and macramé, and her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now!

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Comments

  1. Carol

    September 10, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    In days gone by my Grandma gave me pencils with my names on them. I loved them – great stocking stuffer idea.

    Reply
  2. marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings

    September 10, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    another justification for my desire for metal stamping letters!

    Reply
  3. Arie Noel

    September 10, 2013 at 10:44 pm

    I just bought 75 custom pencils last week… spent 40 dollars and won’t have any awesome supplies to show for it. I will save this for future

    Reply
  4. Sharon Harris

    September 13, 2013 at 1:45 am

    What a great idea! I have a niece and nephew that are a challenge to please at Christmas… guess what’s happening this year! Thanks for a great tutorial.

    Reply
  5. Priyanjana

    September 16, 2013 at 8:41 am

    love the idea!
    I wish I had the stamping letters!

    Reply
  6. Ana

    September 25, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    I know what I’ll do with them… Wedding giveaways! This actually came at a really great time because I am racking my brain for economical yet cute wedding giveaways, and this is perfect, especially since my hubby to be is an artist. So tying this with a cute ribbon, and a small bag of meringues (since I love cooking) and we got our custom giveaway!
    Thank you!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      September 25, 2013 at 6:36 pm

      I LOVE that idea! Totally send me pics after you’ve survived the big day :)

      Reply
  7. Deb

    September 26, 2013 at 3:09 pm

    I’d love to make some for my nieces. :) They’ll definitely like these. :)

    Reply
  8. Rebeca

    August 28, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    Such a great and fun idea. Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
  9. Anya

    August 1, 2018 at 2:30 am

    hi!

    I know that this is an old post but may i ask what size of metal stamps you used for this? Im planning to purchase and do the same for my kids’ pencils as they keep on losing it in school.

    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      August 2, 2018 at 1:21 pm

      Sure thing! I used the 3mm size. :)

      Reply
  10. Just Someone

    September 4, 2018 at 6:37 pm

    I was just thinking about the kid (now man) who sold a million pixels and made one million dollars. so I read an article about him. He started his venture with “what can I sell one million of” I started thinking. and i thought “PENCILS”. then I started looking at personalized pencils but I had to buy them in bulk so that wouldn’t work. then I thought “hmmm, how can I personalize my own pencils?” That led me to THIS article. then I saw, “Metal stamping letters”. I live in an 80 year old house. My landlord grew up in this house and her father lived here until he was 93 years old. I rented the house (only the third family to live here in it’s 80 year history) in 2016. Well, my basement is like a time machine. Stuff there from the 60’s. I love going down there. So about six months ago I was organizing it (again lol) and I came across about 30 lbs of type. It has to be from the days of old,I guess for a printing press? either way I’m about to make some MULA!!!!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Progetti Back to School | Mamma Felice says:
    September 12, 2013 at 6:42 am

    […] Le matite con le incisioni | 02. Il portapenne da tavolo con le perline | 03. La fascia per capelli con i pompon 04. Il porta […]

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi, an author, yarn craft designer and content creator specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. My work unapologetically features primary colors and vintage-meets-modern style. My first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is now available!

Professionally I’m most known for: advanced intarsia knitting design & modern latch hook design.

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This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes This dang Yarniversal Championship Belt just makes me so happy! Even more now that it’s helped me connect with fellow crafting & wrestling crossover fans. ❤️ 
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On the blog today - link is in bio, you can take a look at a bunch more process photos that didn’t make the Design Diary video. For maker-designer types in particular, the post has detail shots & a full supply list. I’m so happy with how the @knit_picks Wool of the Andes colors worked out combined with some neutral handspun! ✂️🧶
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Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s c Happy Wrestlemania weekend, folks!!! 🎊 It’s coincidentally International Punch Needle Rug Hooking Day today, so I’d be remiss not to share a first look at this project finished JUST in time to wear while I watch some rasslin’ on a pirate ship in a football stadium in Tampa! 💪🏻 I’m excited to watch tonight’s women’s matches the most. Eee!
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Pictured: A blond woman in a denim dress and glasses wearing a giant belt made with punch needle. The belt is made with wool in primary colors and was inspired by the WWE Universal Championship title belt. 
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This is just a preview - after jab 2.0 tomorrow (feeling grateful 🙏🏼), I’ll be editing together a vlog about the design process for this wooly waist cover. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to make some of your wilder craft ideas come to life. Stuff you’ll never find a pattern for, you know? I’ll finish editing that ASAP, but I might take a few days to edit if I feel like trash from 💉 and only want to watch wrestling and wrestling YouTube for a day or two. 😂
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A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-ins A look at the halo on the back of my wrestling-inspired punch needle project! It’s interesting to see how fuzzy the handspun beige yarn is compared with the primary color sections of @knit_picks Wool of the Andes Bulky. ❤️💛💙🤎 
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Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishin Happy Easter / One week til Wrestlemania! Finishing up the punch needling part of this crazy @wwe inspired project by tonight. 💪🏻🧶 Anybody else have crafty plans for this fine spring day? 
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I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back I'm finally starting to get some of my energy back from the past few weeks, and as I dip my toe back into production mode, the long-promised seamed sweater knitting YouTube series is at the top of my list. I've got FOUR versions of a simple sweater I've been playing with since last JULY to feature as a free pattern for folks who want to knit along during the series. Pictured is the first prototype for the series, knit in 2 colors of @knit_picks Mighty Stitch yarn. I imagine this soon-to-be short sleeved number will come in handy as an emergency Waldo costume or Christmas sweater. 🌲 
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I've got my own list of topics I think folks would like to see in a series like this: things like tips for construction, working with vintage patterns, how to seam as invisibly as possible, and more, but as always, I'd love to hear from you: What scares you about knitting seamed sweaters? What would be helpful to cover, especially since we'll be doing more long form video content. I get so much positive feedback on my series of 20 minute+ intarsia tutorials, so I'm using those as a starting point as I produce this series. Seamed sweaters using vintage or self-improvised patterns are one of my favorite things on the planet, so I'm eager to share some seamed sweater skills with y'all super sweet folks. 😉 
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Pictured: A red and white striped, short sleeved sweater knit in pieces that have yet to be seamed. They are laid out on a yellow and orange colorblock background and one sleeve is yet to be bound off. 
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