Flattened Spoon Necklaces

Well it was inevitable wasn't it? So many spoons, so many possibilities.... I just had to try my hand at flattening and stamping some vintage spoons and making them into necklaces. I started out by flattening all of the thirty spoons I had recently bought. No turning back, I was committed...

 Let me tell you, flattening the spoons was the easy part. Stamping each letter was a comedy of errors....

Everything would be going perfectly, then on the very last letter..... tragedy--- a double print of a letter! *gasp-runied!* (not showing any of those *wink*)

 After a few mistakes, it was getting easier for me.

 Some of my metal letter stamps have seen better days, and don't stamp so well anymore. The "X" and "O" are practically new and stamp really well.

 I find if I stamp a letter and it comes out half way, I turn the spoon around and the letter stamp as well, and hit it with the 3 lb. mallet upside down. I pull the letter stamp across the area previously stamped until I feel it slide into the groove already made by the stamp.

 I find that I hit the letter stamp towards me instead of straight up and down, so by turning everything upside down, I get a really deep impression of the entire letter. Maybe I should try working on a lower work table??

 I am not to concerned with keeping everything in a straight line. I think the randomness of the letters adds to the vintage charm of each piece.

I have gone over each engraved letter with a black sharpie to really make the words pop--- I see that I need to add some more to some and use some steel wool to take some off of others. To make these is a long process, flatten the spoons, stamp the spoons, cut off the handles, drill the holes finally ink the letters and stand the bur's off and rub everything with steel wool to clean them up. Lastly add a jump ring and something to dangle or glue on a shiny piece of vintage bling. Yes, lots of work goes into each one... and I can see myself making a lot more of these :-)
The top one is spoken for, all the rest are for sale.... $10.00 each.