Making your own stamps using a bottle cap and craft foam

How to Make a Craft Foam Stamp

Make Your Own Stamp Using Crafts Foam

By Sherri Osborn, About.com Guide

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Melissa shares directions for making your own stamps using a bottle cap and craft foam.

• Age Guideline: 8 Years and Up
• Time Required: 30 minutes (Does not include drying time)

The above age and time guidelines are estimates. This project can be modified to suit other ages and may take more or less time depending on your circumstances.

Materials Needed:

• Plastic soda or water bottle lid
• Craft foam, any color
• Small picture (optional)
• Scissors
• Craft glue

Instructions:
Use a small picture or draw out a picture of whatever shape you want your stamp to be. Your picture should be the same size or smaller than the bottle lid you will be using. For your first stamp, start out with a basic shape, such as a spiral, and once you get comfortable with the process make fancier designs. You can even create more complex designs using two or more pieces of craft foam.
Cut out your picture and trace around it onto a piece of craft foam. Cut out the craft foam design. Glue it to the top of the bottle lid, on its flat surface. Let the glue dry completely.
Once your stamp is dry, it is ready to use. If you need some inspiration, try one of these projects:

• Home-made stamps make a nice addition to stationary sets. For an extra decorative look, try spray painting the plastic lid using spray paint specially formulated for plastic. Let dry and then attach the foam design to the lid. The custom stamp can then be used as a fun way to create a "seal" on envelope flaps, below the writer's signature on letters,etc. Be sure to include a stamp pad for convenience.
  
• You can use your custom stamps to create gift wrap paper.
  
• By using fabric paint instead of craft paint, you can use your completed stamps to decorate any fabric item, including the t-shirts, bags, hats, and more.
  
• Your completed stamps can be used to decorate a plain store bought bulletin board.
  
• Try using a large stamp to create custom cards from thicker cardstock paper. You can stamp the front cover of the card just once with a larger stamp, let the paint dry, then use paint pens to outline the stamped image, add details to it, etc.