Faux Antique Stamped Pewter Pendant

 

I chose to make mine with round raised dots in a circle design, but feel free to do your own thing with the look of your pendant, such as raised squiggles or solid circles. After all, it’s your pendant, so get creative and as original as you want to!

 You will need:

 Scissors (short blade detail scissors are best)  

Ruler

Pencil or pen

Circle stencil or anything circular you can trace around for the size of your pendant

Glue brush (any firm bristle brush) or sponge brushes

Paint Brushes, one that’s ¾” to 1” wide, and one that’s about 1/8” wide (synthetic brushes for acrylics work best)

Brayer, rolling pin, or jar

All-purpose craft glue or white glue that turns clear when it dries

Hot glue gun (keep it on a pan or heat proof surface like a silicone mat  to protect your table (I have had this adjustable height folding table for 3 years and love it.)

Glue sticks

Paper towels

Black craft paint (matte finish)

Paint palette or white plastic container lid

Chipboard box (cereal box, cracker box type cardboard)

5 small bag clips or spring clothes pins

Aluminum Foil (regular strength, not heavy duty)

Mod Podge™ glossy sealer and finish

Glass or bowl of water (I use the bottom half of a large plastic mouthwash bottle)

Cord, ribbon, or chain to wear your necklace on

Baker’s parchment paper or freezer paper (shiny side up) to cover your work surface (if your work gets stuck to it by the glue, you will be able to gently pull it away from either of these).

Plug in your hot glue gun so it starts heating up.

Cut one side of the chipboard box off and, on the plain side, draw a vertical line about 7 inches long. Center your circle stencil, or whatever you are using to trace your circle, over the line at one end and trace around it with your pencil.  Decide how large you want your bail to be (the part your cord, ribbon, or chain will go through). I marked mine at 3/8” and then another 3/8” from the top of the circle to create the bail. I made a vertical line on each side, 3/8” from the long vertical line so that my bail would be about 3/4” wide. Place your stencil at the top of these lines, centered over the long vertical line and trace around it again. Cut it out as one piece with your detail scissors.

 

 

On the plain, unprinted side (top side) put a small drop of hot glue in the center of one circle. If you want to get your hot glue dots perfectly centered, then draw a line perpendicular to the center vertical line, forming an equal armed cross, then draw diagonal lines in an X between these for your 8 outer dots. You can also draw a smaller circle inside the larger one you cut out leaving at least 1/4” of space from the edge.  If you circle the tip around the dot of glue a couple of times this help to prevent glue strings when you pull the glue gun away. Now put dots of hot glue around the center one. I put one above and below first, then on each side and then one dot in between each of those for a total of 8 dots. Let the hot glue cool completely. If you aren’t satisfied with it the first time, just turn it around and repeat the process on the other side, as I did. You won’t need your glue gun again for the medallion.

 

Tear off a piece of aluminum foil from the roll about twice as wide as your piece and crumple it up, but don’t ball it up. Carefully open it up and flatten it out with your brayer or by rolling a jar on it, or very gently smooth it out with your hands. This will leave crinkles in it for texture.

 

Put some craft glue on the top side of the entire pendant and spread it evenly with your glue brush. Place the foil, shiny side up, on top. Starting at the center dot of hot glue, gently press it down onto the surface of the medallion, working it down between the dots, and press it down on the rest of the piece and out to the edges. Let it dry for about half an hour.

 

Lift the unfinished medallion and foil together and turn it over so that the printed side of the chipboard is facing up and use your scissors to trim off the excess foil, leaving about ½” of foil around the edges to be folded over the back side (printed side) of the piece.

 

Cut a slit in the foil from the outside inward at the top and bottom of the bail on each side being careful not to cut the chipboard. Spread a little glue over the slit foil edges, one at a time, then fold them over the chipboard smoothly. Now cut slits about every ¼” from the outside edge of the foil around the circles to the edge of the chipboard. Use a little glue on each section of the foil, one at a time to fold it over the edge of the chipboard until all of the foil is glued down to the piece. Allow it to dry about an hour.

 

 

Place a narrow paint brush handle or stick across the bail portion and bring the two circles together. Bend them back a little while holding the bail around the brush handle to make your bail round, so that the circles will come together flat. Brush glue over one of the circles to the edge, still working on the printed side and press the other circle to it. Make sure you have your edges matched up and wipe off any glue that seeps out of the edges with a barely damp paper towel, and put clips on the medallion around the edges. Do not put the clips over the raised dots. Check it again to make sure your edges are still even. Allow it to dry for at least a couple of hours. Once the glue is dry, remove the clips.

 

 

Put a little black paint out on your palette, about the size of a penny. You can put more out as you need it, but you won’t be using a lot. Put a very small amount of paint on your brush and start dabbing it over the medallion on the side with the dots. Don’t forget to do the bail and sides, too. Let it set for about 15 seconds, then dab off paint with a paper towel and gently polish it off of the raised dots, but leaving some in the creases of the foil and flat areas. Repeat this process until you’re happy with the look. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, then turn it over and paint the back side and dab some of the paint off. Use the small brush to paint inside the bail. Let the paint dry and repeat for the edges of the medallion. Allow the paint to cure for about an hour.

 

Now you can brush a coat of Mod Podge™ over each side, the edges and inside the bail, allowing it to dry for an hour on each section and in between the coats. Only do one side at a time. You’ll know it’s dry when it turns from white to clear and no longer feels tacky to the touch. Wash your brush after each application or it will be ruined. I use one of my acrylic paint brushes for this, but some people prefer to use disposable sponge brushes for the Mod Podge™. If you have any bubbles in the  Mod Podge™ use a toothpick or straight pin to pop them. Apply 3 thin coats, rather than one thick coat or it may take days to dry fully under the surface. Mod Podge™ will keep the paint from rubbing off on your clothes or skin and protect your pendant from general wear and tear. It can be wiped with a barely damp soft cloth if you ever need to clean it.

 

Allow the Mod Podge™ to cure overnight.

Now just run your cord, ribbon, or chain through the bail and start showing off your beautiful new pendant!

Bonus: Make matching earrings by cutting out 4 smaller circles, glue two together with craft glue, printed sides together, and repeat for the other two. Follow the instructions above for making your hot glue gun dots, and applying the foil to the front of each. After applying the foil to the dotted side of each earring, trim it around the circles leaving enough foil to cover the backs completely. Cut slits every ¼” and use craft glue to stick them down across the back. The foil sections should overlap a little. Smooth them down as flat as possible with your finger.
Allow them to dry for about an hour. Use a hole puncher that makes very small holes or a push pin (working over a piece of thick cardboard to protect your table from getting a hole poked in it) and make a hole big enough for a jump ring to go through, placing it about 1/16” from the top of the circle. Apply the paint as before. Use a toothpick to get paint into each side of the hole. After the paint cures, apply the Mod Podge™, using the toothpick to push it into the holes and to make sure the holes stay open. Remove the toothpick. After the Mod Podge™ cures overnight, put a jump ring through the hole and add another jump ring through above the first one (otherwise your earring will face sideways). Put them on your earring hooks. (Use two pairs of pliers or tweezers to open the jump ring and the ring on the bottom of earring hooks, then close them up after putting them together.) If you know how to make “rosary” links out of craft wire, you can use your jewelry pliers to make these to hang your earrings from the hooks, like I did.

Now you have a fashionable matched pendant and earring set to wear!