Gift Idea: Hand Stamped Scarf

This year Chris and I decided that every gift we give will be handmade by us. My list of people to get gifts for is small - my mom, my dad and my brother, while Chris' is a bit more extensive. His family is close and he has quite a few cousins that he gets something for each year. We don't have a lot of time or money, but we'd rather have some late nights than credit card debt, so we began our quest to have a handmade Christmas.

The first project turned out to be my favorite - hand stamped scarves for all of the ladies. I love to recieve scarves as gifts, especially in the middle of winter! To get a unique one is expensive though - these ended up being about $6-7 each and I made three different patterns.

Geometric print - This is for a young, trendy gal in collage. Geometric prints are in (according to the Internet) and I think she'll love it!

You'll need: A solid color scarf, fabric paint and a piece of foam (found at any craft store)

First just cut your shapes, I did a few different sized triangles.



 The scarf I stamped is light blue and I used gold fabric paint. Then I just stamped alternating rows of triangles. Your pattern doesn't need to be perfect because the scarf will be worn scrunched up.

I used a paint brush to make the stamping process a bit less messy.

Then, since the triangle shapes were small and easy to work with, I just used the foam rather than mounting it on something.

 



This scarf was the most time consuming of the three because the stamp was sp small. I love how it turned out though!

 

Horse Print: This is for an animal lover! I decided to replicate my very favorite vintage scarf. You will need: A scarf, fabric paint, an exacto knife and foam

Chris helped me make the stamp for this. He took a picture of it on his phone then blew up the image and printed it.

After that he cut out one of the horses, traced it, then cut it out with an exacto knife.





Because this stamp was bigger and more intricate, he mounted the foam piece on a thicker piece of foam board.

To make the stamp even easier to use, we glued an old spool on the back to create a handle. 



Again, I used a paint brush to reduce the mess. Also note, if you're doing this project on a nice table, put something like a paper bag under the scarf so the paint doesn't bleed through onto the table. I was working on my craft table, so I wasn't concerned.

This scarf turned out so well I'm going to make a few more!



Apple Print: This is for a new teacher! I wanted to experiment with using a fruit or vegetable as a stamp.

You will need: Fabric paint, a scarf and an apple.

Just cut an apple in half, eat one half and use the other as a stamp! I wanted to use a real piece of fruit for the texture.

This was the easiest scarf to make and I think it turned out the best.

 

Here's a look at them on! 



We went craft crazy over the weekend, so stay tuned for more easy gift ideas. Let us know if you are having a handmade holiday and what projects you're working on!