Babble Dabble Do

You are here: Home / Art for Kids / How to Make a Stamp

How to Make a Stamp

by 33 Comments

In the realm of arts and crafts ideas for children, rubber stamps rank pretty high up there, and for good reason; using stamps is easy for little hands and the results are magical for kids.

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

I have to admit I never tire of the look of something hand stamped either; the combination of ink’s uneven texture and the idea of “self-printing” are just irresistible. But hold on there, have you seen the price tag on rubber stamps? It’s high enough that I own exactly four of them, one for the holidays, two I bought for my wedding invitations, and my architectural stamp, no joke. My daughter has one mini animal stamp set too, so I guess that counts but you can probably tell where I’m going with this…..time to learn how to make a stamp!

This post contains affiliate links.

How to Make a Stamp

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Materials

For the Stamps:

If you don’t feel like going out and buying the above materials you can order them here:

Tools:

  • Scissors/X-ACTO Knife (ADULTS ONLY)
  • Cutting Mat (optional)
  • Hole punch (optional)

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Making a Stamp: 

You will be covering 4 sides of a 6-sided cube with foam. Leave two opposite sides empty so you can hold the finished stamp without getting your fingers inked.

  • Step One If you are using adhesive backed pre-cut pieces of foam simply peel and stick them to the sides of the wood block.  If they are not adhesive backed, spread white glue on the side of your block and glue the letter or shape down. This is easy even for little hands!
  • Step Two If you are using foam sheets, start by cutting it into square shapes that roughly match the side of the cube.
  • Step Three From there, cut out a variety of shapes and start gluing them to each side. I used a hole punch to cut out circles from the foam.
  • Step Four Let the glue fully dry.

IMPORTANT: If you are making alphabet or number stamps be sure to reverse the letter or numeral when gluing it to the wood block; otherwise it will read backwards when you stamp it!

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Of course because I am an aesthetic snob I had to make the blocks look colorful despite the fact that after one use they were covered in ink! Still if you make these as gifts, taking a little time to “dress them up” is worth it. Since these are foam stamps you can either use them with store-bought ink pads as you would any other stamp or you can make your own stamp pad.

Making Stamp Pads:

Materials for the Stamp Pads

If you want to make your own stamp pads here’s a simple recipe:

Mix tempera paint and glue with the following ratio: 3 parts paint, 1 part glue

Cut sponges to fit some small plastic containers (use inexpensive new for the dollar store or recycled plastic tubs), and mix the paint/glue right in the container to make mini ink pads. I suggest making more “ink” than you think you’ll need, if left overnight the sponges really soak up the paint/glue and by the next day our stamp pads were a little gooey. Cover them tightly with a lid to prevent drying out.

NOTE: These pads will dry out over time. Try refreshing them with little bit of water on the sponge.

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

There you have it, simple, inexpensive, custom stamps!

After I made these I started thinking about the endless variety of stamps possible, not just out of foam but out of textures and other objects. For one block I used a plastic grid, rubber shelf liner,  burlap, and bubble wrap on the sides. I also covered a lint roller with shelf liner (again peel and stick, how easy is that) and had my own roller stamp which made the dot texture shown below.

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

One final note, texture stamps work better when using paint rather than a store bought ink pad. You need a lot more of the paint medium to make the texture show through on the final stamp. But the result is worth it!

Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

More

Wanna make you own stamp and font? Check out our fun Design For Kids Series that will teach you both:

If you enjoyed making DIY art materials be sure to check out these posts:

Are you passionate about raising creative kids?

Join over 14,890 parents and educators who want connect with kids and nurture their creative process through magical, easy projects you can do TOGETHER.

Send me awesome creative project ideas!


Learn how to make a stamp using fun foam and a wood blocks.

Comments

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Thanks Leah! Your blog is wonderful. Looks like we have similar philosophy regarding creativity: Do something creative everyday.

      Reply

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Thanks! Next time I’m at IKEA I’m gong to pick up a ton of their 50 cent lint rollers to make more stamps. SO easy!
      Ana

      Reply

  4. Darlene says

    Great post. Sooo cool! I’ll be trying it out this weekend with my granddaughters. I found your blog at the Pin Me Linky Party #21 and will be pinning it momentarily.

    Reply

  7. Heidi@OneCreativeMommy says

    I’m so glad you linked up. I love the projects you created with the stamps. They look like so much fun, and my kids would love to be allowed to create such a messy project! (I mean the paint is messy-not your art!) I’ll be featuring your project tomorrow night on One Creative Weekend at OneCreativeMommy.com. Please stop by and grab a featured button if you’d like. I can’t wait to see what you link up this week!

    Reply

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Wow Heidi, thanks so much for the feature! I’m looking forward to this week’s link party! Thank you for hosting 🙂

      Reply

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Hi Cassi,
      I’m so pleased to hear it! The Crafty Crow is always full of such amazing projects. Thank you for including me!
      Ana

      Reply

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Hi Tori, Sorry for the late reply! Thanks for letting me know about the broken link. I updated the page to reflect the right ratio. It 3 parts paint to 1 part glue. Hope that helps!

      Reply

  13. Jeanine says

    Thank you for sharing these wonderful ideas! Such a frugal fun way to make your own & have the children in on the process! Plus, your stamps appear very well-designed when used! Amazing to achieve the aesthetics at the same time! Most of our art looks like foam stickers n wood blocks lol–these look like stamps 😀 Thanks for sharing your tips & best with us all. PS–have old wood blocks in shed, got small containers; excitedly I bought the sponges today & ordered some tempura for the first time on line! Once it arrives, we will have all the pieces to build our very own. Many thanks again. I just LOVEEE your entire website!

    Reply

    • jeanine says

      hey there becky, just wondering if you tried this and have any tips!!???
      I actually just came back to visit cuz were making these today but only have acrylics left!! LOL
      Can you help!!!??? Did acrylic work? I bought sponges for stamp pads and the containers…i just
      wonder if it’s worth it to try? maybe you could send me an email answer directly on my blog linked under my name, under my Contact Us page…? THANK YOU ALL!!

      Reply

  15. Jeanine says

    Ana!!! You’re never gonna guess what i tried and it worked well & was good lookin too! ?! 😉 We just happened to be working with our liquid watercolors and mixed them with condensed milk, & they lasted three days in fridge lol 😉 It was all we had at the time!! Thanks!

    Reply

    • Ana Dziengel says

      Jeanine that is so cool! I have been wanting to try working with condensed milk paint. Thanks for letting me know; I’m inspired to try it now! Was the paint thick?

      Reply

  17. brandon b. says

    What a great idea! I’m a children’s librarian, and I plan to make these for a craft program.

    One question – what’s the purpose behind mixing in some glue with the paint? What would be the effect of leaving it out and just using tempera paint?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This