I just finished a project I began as a side project to a bigger one. I was making a present to a friend, and part of the present involved a letter that I wanted to look old. I made it with thin typing paper that we'd got from our Great Grandparents, and printed it using a custom font I'd made, but it was still missing something.
Anyways, I decided to make a wax seal for it. I ended up going to the local thrift store, buying 2 red candles and a green candle, plus some rubber stamps, for just under 2$. The candles supplied the wax, and the rubber stamps were the seals. However, after I'd made the letter and sealed it, I decided to make a custom stamp for fun. My sister had some air-dry clay that she let me use, so I made a rough circle and went to work. Using a colored pencil (Because it had a blunt tip, about 1.5mm across), I poked a simple design for a weeping willow. The lines ended up being slightly purple, because that was the color of the pencil I used.
The end of the finished seal, showing the willow design.
I then let it dry slightly, and tested it out. I worked and looked great! For then, I was satisfied. Today, however, an idea began to form in my mind. What if I took the rough clay disk I had, and put a handle on it? I'd brought home some cupboard knobs from my trip (My friend and I worked for a guy building a house, and he was just going to throw them away), so I thought I'd use one of them, and attach it to the top. I went and gathered a drill bit, bolt, and several different styles of knobs that we had. After drilling a shallow hole in the top of the clay piece, I went and cut the bolt to a custom length. Then, coming back inside, I layed out a work surface of paper on my desk, and got out a few different glues, Gorilla glue and E6000. I sanded the bottom, top, and sides of the disk so it was smoother. Then, I put Gorilla glue into the hole in the top of the disk, and screwed the bolt in. While it was setting up, I smeared E6000 around the base of the bolt with a Q-tip, and on the base of the knob I'd chosen. Then, testing the bolt and finding it was seated securely, I screwed the knob on tightly. Luckily, it was secure, and didn't start stripping the hole in the clay.
The sealer, next to a seal on a piece of blue typing paper. What's on the paper? That's sealed information!
A view of the sealer from the top, showing the knob in full splendor.
It's finished for now, but I may paint the clay for a more wooden or metallic look. I may make more seals in the future, in which case I'll probably make an instructable on it.
UPDATE: A while back I found some actual sealing wax at Goodwill- Unfortunately, this clay sealer didn't seem to work well with real wax.
UPDATE: A while back I found some actual sealing wax at Goodwill- Unfortunately, this clay sealer didn't seem to work well with real wax.
