Hand Stamped and Hammered DIY Hair Pins

Hey friends!  I’m finally getting my hands back on my hammers (ahh, feels great!) and I’ve got a quick and easy hand stamped jewelry project to share today.  These DIY hair pins are fun to make and great for beginners – you need only basic supplies to get the hammered look!  I’m also sharing a fun mermaid themed alternative, in case that’s more your thing!

Today I’m using supplies from today’s post sponsor, ImpressArt.  If you like what you see and need to check out supplies, you can click through in the list below!

Supplies needed to make your own DIY hair pins:

• Steel Block
• Ball Pein Stamp Head and Texture Stamper
• 1/2″ Round Blanks in premium Alkeme or basic Aluminum
• Hair Pin Bases
• Jewelry Glue or E6000

Alternately:

• Ergo Angle Brass Stamping Hammer
• ImpressArt Ultra Detail Mermaid Stamp
• 3/4″ Round Premium Alkeme blank(s)
• ImpressArt Stamp Enamel
• Paper Towel

Making hammered discs to add to hair pins is SO easy.  The Ball Pein attchment to the texturizing hammer means you don’t have to add another large tool to your arsenal – just swap out a design stamp for the round head, and hammer all over the surface of your circle blank!  All soft metals work well for hammered designs – I’m using basic aluminum blanks here, but ImpressArt’s alloy Alkeme metal also hammers beautifully.

If you want more detail – ultra detail! – I’m also testing out the new Ultra detail MERMAID design stamp!  This is a heavily detailed stamp that works beautifully on the premium Alkeme blanks.  It’s a 12mm stamp (about 1/2 inch), so be sure the blank you use is larger than that. I used the tilt and tap method to get a nice, crisp impression with this stamp – where you very carefully tilt the stamp toward you and tap it with the hammer, then away from you, and tap, to the right and tap, and to the left and tap.  This ensures that the entire design will show on your blank.   I also hammered the edge of the blank with the ball pein attachment to finish the edges a little more.

Next, darken your impressions by spreading a thin layer of stamp enamel, and wiping it away gently with a paper towel.  The enamel will remain in the impression to darken it while wiping cleanly off the shiny surfaces.  I also added a little enamel to the hammered discs to give them a slightly antiqued look, but that’s totally optional!

Finally, attach hair pin bases to the back sides of the discs.  I am using a jewelry glue suitable for metal here, but any heavy duty adhesive that works with metal (like E6000) also works well!

Jewelry glue dries quickly, so allow the pieces to sit for 20-30 minutes, and then you’ll have some great hair accessories!  My daughter immediately adopted the sweet mermaid – you can see why!

While the hammered pins are great for every occasion, and the textured surface helps them to shine at several angles.

Thanks for joining me for today’s quick project, and I hope you’ve got some great ideas for your own set of DIY hair pins!  See you all again soon !