History of Tin Stamping

Series Summary

The celebration of Christmas marks one of the most festive holidays of the year. Traditionally a Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, Christmas has taken on a myriad of secular customs and activities. The exchange of gifts and presents placed under a Christmas tree by Santa Claus is certain to bring fond memories for many children in Western cultures, and tales of Rudolph leading eight reindeer on the roof are classics. Often Christmas activities incorporate winter activities like sipping hot cocoa or using winter foliage as Christmas decorations.

In this free video series, our expert will show you how to make tin stamped Christmas ornaments to decorate your Christmas tree this year. Adding ornaments, ribbons, bows and tinsel to a Christmas tree can be a great holiday tradition, so adding a personalized homemade tin stamped ornament is a great family project. Learn where to find tin, how to cut it out, and how to stamp out designs and words for your tin stamped Christmas ornaments. You will also get tips on safety and on how to hang your tin stamped Christmas ornaments.

Video Transcript

"Hi! This is Marie French with Expert Village, and we're going to do some tin stamping. This is the stamp work that you see mostly Native American pieces because they were very fond of adding design to their metals. They came up with the concept of tin stamping, which actually started out as a Mexican tradition with the saddle makers. What this is is they have formed the design in steel. What we're going to do is we're going to take this design that is formed in the steel and we are going to stamp it into the tin to make our own design that will become pressed into the tin from the weight of the hammer as we hammer this piece down. These can be decorated. You can make tin ornaments. Again, tin garlands. You can make belt buckles with stamping work. You can make bracelets with stamping work. Stamping work has been done through the millennium with using these simple tools. Whether it be a simple punch from your hardware store or a decorated designed stamp from a Native American supply house. "