Film Canister Stamps

I spent most of 2000-2002 running a school yearbook - and none of the photography was digital. Which meant we consumed dozens of rolls of film, and were left with the canisters. I can use some to hide microboxes in, but what to do with the rest?

A couple of years ago I made a temporary stamp with an old spice can and a star shape cut from a sheet of craft foam, which I used to turn brown kraft paper into wrapping paper. I just didn't feel like messing with carving a potato. But we don't empty spice cans often. Better to use all those film canisters, with the lid as the stamping base, and the canister as a nice handle.

I tried three methods:
1. Rubber cementing a star shape - the foam keeps peeling off. Though I imagine I'd have better luck with a different craft adhesive.
2. Slapping a pre-cut Darice Foamies peel-and-stick heart shape on - easy, precise, and it really stuck well.
3. Slicing off a chunk of cork for a round stamp - doesn't stamp even half as well as the foam
shapes. I don't recommend it.

I was also having problems with the center of the lid caving in upon impact, which left the center of the image blank and a ring around the rim. I solved this by wadding up a bit of waste paper in the bottom of the canister and centering a wine cork over that, giving the center of the stamp a firm back (and believe me, this is something you'll want to do before you put any ink on the stamp!). Now they stamp quite solidly. You have to ink the foam quite aggressively at first to assure a good image. Oh, and I used white foam, just because I like to know what color ink I've been using, but you could of course use whatever's handy.

These can be used and reused for so many things - greeting cards, kraft (or paper grocery bag!) wrapping paper - whatever you'd normally use a rubber stamp for. Just remember that your image will be a bit less sharp than you'd get with a typical rubber stamp.