DIY Father’s Day Gift: Personalized Hammer

Forts, furniture, fences – I’ve seen my dad build them all! For someone who’s handy so often, he rarely gets a hand for all his efforts. So this Father’s Day, I wanted to make a gift that would remind him how grateful we are every time he puts on his “Mr. Fix-It” hat. His tool belt always features a hammer, so I knew it would be the perfect object to add my message to. If you want to decorate a hammer for your dad, gather the following supplies:

Custom Father’s Day Hammer Supplies

Wood, plastic, or metal hammer (mine is sealed wood)
EasyPSV® Permanent (I’m using Graphite)
EasyPSV Application Tape
Craft Cutter (like the Brother Scan N Cut)
Siser® Weeder
Siser Squeegee
Ruler
Scissors

Step 1: Create Cut File

Begin by measuring the space on the hammer you wish to decorate. My hammer is about one inch wide and seven inches long before it begins to taper. Now that you know you’re space constraints, type out your Father’s Day message in the cutter software. I’m using Canvas Worskpace since I’m working with the Brother Scan N Cut. If you need a refresher on the software, check out the video in this post.

As an additional personal touch, I typed out my siblings’ names and mine to go on the other side of the hammer handle. After, I adjusted each line of text to be height .8″ and length 6.5″. This gives me a little wiggle room on the hammer, but also keeps the text as large and legible as possible. Since we’re using EasyPSV adhesive vinyl, you do NOT need to mirror the text. Which means this cut file is good to go!

Step 2: Cut EasyPSV

Place EasyPSV on the cutting mat with the color side face up. The side of the PSV that touches the sticky mat is called a “liner.” The liner for EasyPSV Permanent has the Siser logo printed on it in gray in order to distinguish it from EasyPSV Removable. If your EasyPSV has mint logos on the back, then it’s removable. Either way, we suggest cutting with Blade: 2, Speed: 1, and Pressure: 1. If your blade is a little older, you may need to bump up the pressure to 2 or 3. A quick test cut will help you decide. See this post for how to test cut on the Scan N Cut.

After cutting, flip the mat over and peel the mat away from the EasyPSV. If you peel the EasyPSV away from the mat it’s more likely to curl. Then you can use your scissors to separate the cut design from the rest of sheet of material.

Step 3: Weed EasyPSV

Time to move on to weeding! I like to weed into the cavities. Which just means pulling the material in the direction of open areas in the design (like the U’s and the Y in my name.) It’s always much smoother and quicker for me when I weed this say. Sometimes, I can even end up with excess that’s completely intact (No rips to be seen!) like I did in this project.

After the outer excess is removed, use your Weeder to pick out the inner excess.

Weed until all that remains on the liner is the text you want to apply to your hammer.

Step 4: Transfer to EasyPSV Application Tape

My decals are almost ready! I have one last thing left to do in order to apply the vinyl, and that is to pick it up off the liner with EasyPSV Application Tape! Use the 1″ grid boxes to measure out a piece of Application Tape that’s slightly larger than your design.

Now you can peel the tape away from it’s white backing and place it directly on top of the EasyPSV. Squeegee over the area to encourage the tape to grip the vinyl.

Afterwards, use scissors to split the decals apart. Now I have two decals- one for each side of the hammer!

Step 5: Decorate Hammer with EasyPSV

When you pick up the Application Tape, your EasyPSV should follow right along with it.
Center the edge and slowly roll the rest of the tape down onto the hammer.
Rub the squeegee over the entire area to release any air bubbles and ensure the PSV is stuck down.
Gently peel away the tape. If any EasyPSV doesn’t stick to the hammer, roll the tape back down and squeegee over that area again.