Today we’re sharing a Fabulous Photo Pendant DIY! The thing we love most about hand stamped jewelry is that it’s so easy to customize and to share your story with others. Nothing says, “I love you” quite like a hand made gift, especially when you include a personalized photo and a sweet sentiment they can wear. You’ll need to use photo editing software to size your image to fit in the tiny frame. We love PicMonkey, because it makes it so easy to edit photos even for the novice photo editor, you can even add the heart accent there instead of cutting and gluing.  We love adding a little dimension with a hand cut heart and Aleene’s new Tacky Glue bottles make it quick and easy to assemble your mini-collage. Oh and have we mentioned how much we love this tiny camera stamp from ImpressArt? See below for some tips on success with using design stamps.

Just print, cut, glue, stamp, connect and you’ve got a gift for your BFF or your sweetheart in under 30 minutes. Now that is fabulous! (NOTE: Our posts contain affiliate links. This is how we are able to provide these “free” tutorials. When you click on a link and buy something, we get a small percentage of the sale.)

What you need:

Image sized to fit frame
Tiny red paper heart
Tiny photo frame pendant
ImpressArt Soft Strike pewter star pendant
6mm Jump Ring, Silver Plate
10mm Jump Ring, Silver Plate
Ball chain necklace
Aleene’s Always Ready Quick Dry “Tacky” Glue-4Oz
Folk Art Enamel Acrylic Paint in Licorice
ImpressArt- 6mm, Camera Metal Stamp
1/16″ Letter and Number Set Metal Stamps
ImpressArt 1/2 lb. Brass Stamping Hammer-
ImpressArt 2 by 2-Inch Steel Block, Small
Eurotool EuroPunch Pliers
Cotton swab
Paper towel

Quick tips for success stamping design stamps: We usually recommend that you only strike your blank one time, this helps prevent skipping or ghost impressions. When using design stamps, you can strike the stamp more than once BUT it is very important that you do not lift or shift the stamp. First make sure that all of the surface area of the image on your stamp is in direct contact with the blank. Hit once hard dead center. Rock the stamp gently to the upper left, upper right, lower left and lower right hitting it each time with your hammer at an angle, but keeping the stamp in the same position on the blank. This takes practice, so grab some sheet metal or a blank you’ve already messed up to get a feel for the motion.

Step one: Stamp the camera stamp in the center of the star blank. Use the rocking technique to make sure you get a crisp impression. Step two: Stamp the word “smile” under the camera. Start in the center with the letter “I” and stamp left and right so the word is centered. (Note: We used the round end of our hammer to add texture to the surface of the blank. Gently hit the blank with the hammer repeatedly to recreate this look.) Step three: Use cotton swab to apply enamel paint to stamped areas of your blank, allow to sit for 30 seconds and wipe off excess with paper towel. Cut your photo to fit the frame. Fold and cut red paper to make heart. Step four: Glue heart to image using a thin layer of Tacky Glue applied with your finger tip.

Step five: Insert your dried collage into the frame. You can add a thin layer of glue to the back to secure it, but do this carefully to avoid smearing glue on front of glass. Step six: Mark and pierce a hole in the center bottom of the star. Step seven: Connect the pendants with a 6mm jump ring. Step eight: Connect a 10mm jump ring to the top of the star and slide your ball chain through.

Smile, gorgeous!

You made your own fabulous photo pendant DIY! Go, you!

Cheers,
Margot and Avalon

*DIY Project Policy: Our tutorials are meant for your creative inspiration. Feel free to make and gift or wear these designs. Please make sure that you give credit to us as the designer if you make and share these designs on your blog or social sites. Please do not make and sell copies of our designs or sell them as kits. Please do not teach these designs as classes for profit. This is how we make our living and we ask that you respect our creativity and the time it takes to design, photograph and write these free tutorials. You may use a single photograph from each project online in blog round-ups or blog posts ONLY if you include a direct link back to our tutorial. Any use of these designs for retail sale for profit online in places like Etsy or eBay or in retail bricks and mortar, flea markets or outdoor fairs is not permitted. Thank you!