Since Scott and I started our kitchen renovation early this year, we’ve been on the hunt for vintage glass decanters that we could keep on display. Our eyes are on high alert as we go to flea markets and yard sales, and we’ve even found a few through online auctions. We’re this close to calling the renovation complete, and in the meantime, we’ve been honing in on the smaller details. In this case, we wanted some standout (yet understated) tags for those decanters we’ve been collecting!
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
- Craft leather
- Alphabet stamp set
- Gold stamp pad
- Utility knife
- Rubber mallet
- Ruler / Straight edge
- Damp sponge or cloth
- Leather conditioner (optional)
I picked up the craft leather, alphabet stamp set and stamp pad at our local hobby store. The letters are ¼” in height, so I opted for tags that would be ½” in height overall. Using a straight edge and utility knife with a fresh blade, I cut the leather into long strips. I’ve found that to get the cleanest cut possible, it’s best to score the leather several times until your knife cuts all the way through.
There was enough leather leftover for me to practice on, and there are a few tips that I picked up on right away. To start, I wrote down my words on a piece of paper so I could reference it. It’s really amazing how quickly you’ll forget to spell something when you’re focused on stamping! Second, I spaced my letters on the leather to get a feel for how much room it would take up. For the longer words (such as tequila), I started by stamping with the last letter first, so there was no possibility of running out of room. We’ve all been there before, am I right?
Once I was ready to start stamping, I took a wet cloth and wiped it across the leather to dampen it. With my first letter ready, I used my gold stamp pad to kiss the letter, and I carefully applied it to the leather. A good five whacks of the mallet should be all you need, but be sure to do this on a solid surface. Don’t be afraid to give it all you got!
I eyeballed the spacing, and although my letters didn’t line up perfectly, I like to say that only adds charm! The gold stamp lends a gold-leaf-esque feel; in fact, I fooled Scott, who thought I did use gold leaf to stamp the tags.
With all my tags stamped, I rubbed leather conditioner in, if only to keep the leather from cracking. This isn’t a necessary step, but it did help to soften the leather beautifully.
Finally, I cut a small slit on the opposite end of the leather strips using the utility knife. The slit needs to be sizeable enough to accommodate the width of the strip itself, so that it can loop around, like this:
I topped off all of our decanters and added the tags before putting them back on our hutch. They’re simple and sweet, but we’re no longer confusing the vodka with the gin – always important!
I love a quick and satisfying DIY, and this one takes the cake. For a small amount of effort, we have an easy serve bar that’s personal and, of course, great to look at! That said, it’s got to be 5 o’clock somewhere.