DIY Sponge Daubers
 

DIY Sponge Daubers using Doll closepins, make-up foam, and rubberbands. Saw this on luvleescrappin and thought I'd pass it along.

I love this!! (and your blog too). Thanks for sharing.

I love this idea! Thanks, much cheaper than a bunch of little sponge daubers! I'd rather save my money for stamps.

Love the economical side of this - are doll clothespins any different than regular wooden clothespins? I'm not sure I can get those doll pins here in Canada.

Not really, except that the doll pins may be just a bit smaller. Use your wooden clothes pins, they work just as well.
I have made and used Anything and Everything that has a flat surface for my daubers.
Just look around the house and see what you can find that is flat on the bottom.
I have even made daubers from small wooden blocks(you know the ones that rubber stamps come on). I just sand a bit and then I secure a wooden door knob on top as a 'handle'. Medicine bottles will even work as long as they are flat and smooth on bottom.
Just look around your home and I bet you will find all sorts of things that you can use.

Wine bottle corks make great daubers. You can rubber band on a make up sponge, or leave it plain with gouges cut to make texture. Or as I do, stick on the 'briar' half of a velcro circle and use little circles cut from felt or fleece scraps. Create! Camina

Hmmm...I have use rubber chair leg covers. the 3/4in for the "wedge" make-up and the 1in for the larger circle/egg shaped make-up sponges. The only thing I have a problem with is that the make-up seem to "crumble" and don't last. Does anyone else have the same problem? I think I just might have a heavy hand.
Blessings,
Valerie

Good ideas! This is what I tried w/fair success. When my expensive store dauber (three plastic fingers w/foam heads in a pkg for $5!!!) reached it's expiration (haha), I used a sharp kraft knife to remove the foam. I then cut and trimmed the thick end of the wedge make up sponge to fit, and glued it in w/Alene's tacky glue. I let it dry overnight before I used it. It worked okay but I wasn't crazy about the coverage. Seems like the expensive daubers have a different kind of foam that allows for a wider variety of ink applications. The make up sponge, even with loading the ink lightly, being careful and light-handed, and inking it off on my non-stick craft mat first, seemed to leave too heavy an application. I noticed too, that if any portion applied darker/heavier than another, it was difficult to blend it. Any tried and true tips or tricks on how to more successfully use the make up wedges/pads, would be appreciated. THANKS, Ladies! :)

http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...s-t438432.html

Homemade Foam Dauber video on clothes pin dauber

Hi Brendaruse, I checked on luvleescrappin's blog (whom I originally saw this post) She is from lower mainland of British Columbia so I'm assuming you can find these doll pins somewhere in Canada :) However everyone made some good points about using anything flat to wrap the foam around.

I have noticed that after a while the foam does degrade, but that just means scavenger hunt for better foam alternatives. :)

I made a set of sponge daubers by clamping sponge pieces in small binder clips. I use sponge cut from a replacement mop head. They worked very well but I prefer Tim holtz foam distresser tool.

I like this idea - especially the part of getting the corks ready to use!

I've also used empty thread spools, both "real" and the ones you buy in packages at the craft store.

Julie

subbing

I use foam "wedge" makeup sponges. Take the rectangle end, and cut the corners off so it's got rounded corners. Then cut a tiny triangle out of each side so it looks a bit like a flower. This way you don't have the long straight lines that don't blend well.

I haven't had a problem with them falling apart, but don't do much sponging of any kind, as it seems to waste a lot of ink.

I bought a pack of two artist sponges. They are about 3" in diameter round yellow sponges. I then cut them into wedges and stapled a piece of cardstock to the pointed end with the name of the ink color written on the cardstock. It is working pretty well so far for edging and such, but not so much for smaller projects.

The fabric store here in our area carries actual foam rubber for pillows and such. You can get it in varying thicknesses and I was thinking of going and getting a small piece, cutting out a small circle and glueing it to a doll clothespin. I will let you know how it works.

Great idea!

I found that sometimes the foam starts to rip a bit if you use a heavy hand while blending. I cut out a 2" x 2" square of swimsuit fabric that I bought at JoAnn's and stretched it over the foam before I rubber banded it to the doll pin. Worked great and I can press as hard as I like without it ripping.

Another idea is to use a clothes pin to hold on to the sponge. Just thought I would share this idea, too.

What a great idea! TFS! :)