How to Make a Rubber Stamp at Home

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Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Rubber stamps are a great way to personalize stationary and add fun textures to scrapbook pages, but purchasing individual stamps can get expensive - fast! Making your own stamps is a lot easier than it looks and you can customize the size of the stamp to fit your project from gift tags to tote bags!

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Try Making a Stamped Monogram
Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

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Things You'll Need

  • Rubber Erasers

  • Print Making Block or Rubber Carving Block

  • Soft lead pencil

  • Paper

  • Scissors

  • Carving Tool and Blades

  • Cutting Mat

  • White Labels

  • Wood Blocks

  • Ink Pads or Paint

Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

You can buy inexpensive packs of erasers at most dollar stores, but printmaking and carving tools are items you'll need to source from your local craft supply store.

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Warning

The blades used in this project are sharp, so while stamping is safe, the carving part of this project is not recommended for children!

Step 1: Sketch Your Design

Using a soft lead pencil, sketch out your stamp design on a piece of paper and cut out. Leave a 1/8" margin around your design.

Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter
Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Tip

If free-handing your design proves to be difficult, try creating a design on the computer and printing it out. Just remember to reverse the image so letters stamp in the proper orientation!

Step 2: Transfer Design

Center your design on the eraser or rubber block, sketch side down, and, using a pencil, rub the surface of the paper to transfer the image. If your design includes words or numbers your design will be mirrored.

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Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter
Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Step 3: Carve Design

Using the appropriate size blade for your design, carefully carve away the negative space that is not part of your stamp design. Remember that you can't undo what you carve out, so go slowly and switch to a smaller blade for small details.

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Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter
Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Step 4: Attach to Block

After you're done carving, attach your finished stamp to a wood block with a strong adhesive. Adding a wood block helps to distribute pressure evenly, ensuring a clean print with every stamp. Debut your stamp on a blank label and affix it to the top of your stamp for easy identification!

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Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter
Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Step 5: Stamp

Test your stamp on a piece of scrap paper and clean up any edges or missed spots. You can use your stamps on paper or fabric, just be sure to use the right inks or paints for the material!

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Image Credit: Lindsey Crafter

Try making return address stamps as housewarming gifts, stamped wrapping paper or create a logo stamp for your small business! Have ideas for us? Leave them in the comments below!

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