First step is to bang the spoons flat - easier than it sounds. I started out with a rubber mallet that clearly didn't do it,. Maybe you need Michelle Obama muscles to make it work. Next up, a regular old hammer. I wasn't able to get the spoons perfectly flat and without some hammer marks, but I'm good with the hammered metal look. I pounded on both the front and back sides - it takes some serious pounding to get them at least this flat:
DC son bought a metal stamping kit for me and this was a first go at it .
You have to really pound hard on the stamp to make a good impression. Think I was a bit too gentle on some of them - don't use the careful technique you'd use for rubber stamping - really pound on those stamps so yo get a deep, wide impression. Like rubber stamping, once you've made an impression, it's nearly impossible to line the stamp up again for a do-over.
I went over the letters with a black Sharpie to make the letters stand out. Don't worry about getting marker on the rest of the spoon - just rub it off with a paper towel. The ink stays in the stamped impression makes the letters more visible.
This one was stamped on the handle . The wobbly stamping adds something, don't you think?
I need some more practice with stamping on metal, but love my happy spoon markers.
UPDATE:
DC son was home this weekend and figured out how to pound the spoons flat. I had pounded them on the workbench in the garage; he pounded them on a small flat anvil and , voila, flat spoon bowl!
This may be why Montana Daughter dubbed him "the helpful child".
Still need to work on the wonky stamping, but getting closer!
