Hand Decorated Recycled Stapler

recycled stapler
This stapler had been lying around our garage for many years. We used to use it at our craft shop back in the 90s. The stapler had started to rust a little on the inside, but the outside was in good condition. While painting another item, I had an idea and decided to get the old stapler and just have fun decorating it.

Long ago, I had a sharp blue inked pen that I loved to use when drawing on thick white scrap paper. The contrast of the sharp blue on white was very pretty, and one time I really liked the pattern I drew, so I saved it. When I saw the smooth surface of the old stapler, I thought I’d try painting that same pattern on the stapler using the same color scheme. I painted the stapler body with Gesso to better adhere the white craft paint I’d use as the background. Once the Gesso dried, I painted the stapler with bright white craft paint. Once the paint was dry, I used a pencil to lightly trace the flowers and scrolls free hand. I then used a bright blue fabric paint to draw the flowers and scrolls. The small bottle of fabric paint made it easy to draw the designs and fill in the flowers. You may have also seen a similar pattern on another project in this blog, in which I used a bright blue fabric marker to draw a flower design on the collar of a white blouse.

Although the old stapler doesn’t function as a stapler, it works wonderfully as a paperweight. It was great to recycle the old stapler into an art piece that I truly enjoy. Even though I tried this on a stapler, there are so many other items that you may have fun recycling into your very own desk art.

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