Metal-Stamped Spoon Necklaces

If you love metal-stamping, you should definitely try it on vintage silver-plated spoons!  Once flattened, they are easy to stamp on and they offer lots of room for stamping your favorite words and quotes.  They also make great gifts for loved ones because you can truly customize them to your heart's desire!  Here are a few examples of the pendants that I have made:

Here are the steps to creating your own custom spoon necklace:

1. Flatten the spoon: I flatten my spoons with a small sledgehammer and I use a scrap piece of fabric or an old t-shirt to protect the spoon from scratches.  I suggest doing this on an area of concrete that won't get destroyed by the sledgehammer.  In my case, although I would love the convenience of flattening the spoons in the garage, I take my box of spoons out to the curb of the road and flatten them there.  I cover the front and back of my spoon with the fabric (sometimes doubled up for extra protection) and begin hammering the back of the spoon.  Once you get the spoon fairly flat, then you can flip the spoon over and hammer from the other side.  Keep repeating this until the spoon is flat.
2. Metal-Stamp: Once your spoon is flat, it is ready to be stamped.  I find it easier to do the metal stamping now as opposed to after you bend the spoon into a pendant.  So go ahead and stamp out the perfect word or quote for you or for a gift!
3. Bend & Cut:  As long as you are using silver-plated flatware, the spoons should bend easily at the neck by hand.  Once you get your spoon bent in half near the neck, then it is time to cut off the excess handle.  I use a Dremel tool to achieve this.  Place the spoon in a vise or vise grip, and saw off the handle.  Make sure to wear protective eyewear.  After making the cut, I change the head on my Dremel to a sanding tool and I sand the edge of the cut to make it smooth (so it won't injure the wearer or damage their clothes).
4. Hammer:  Your pendant is almost complete, you just need to hammer the loop of the pendant down to secure it and so it won't fall off of the necklace.  I take the same fabric or t-shirt from before and cover my spoon for protection, but this time only a small hammer or your metal stamping hammer is required.  Hammer near the base of the spoon neck to really tighten the loop.
5. Assemble: Once your pendant loop is complete, you can then string your spoon pendant onto a chain be on your way.  You can always customize your spoon necklace even further by adding charms or gluing rhinestones to the spoon.  I use E6000 glue for this.

I hope you enjoy this metal-stamping project idea!  Here is a video on how to make metal-stamped spoon necklaces to watch too: