How to make a customized letter opener

The other day, my teenage son (who is at an age where he is getting lots of mail from different universities who sincerely want our money) was asking for a letter opener. We looked around the house (I know that there is one around here, somewhere…) to no avail.

So I set out on a mission to make one for him.

I tried very hard to think of something to use for the blade. (A chopstick? A tongue depressor? An old pair of childrens’ scissors? A butter knife?) But alas, nothing was quite right.

Defeated, I went to the office store to buy one instead. And there it was, a perfect solution! A plain, chrome letter opener for less than $2, so simple and utilitarian that it cried out for some sort of decoration. A hole at the top would help attach a home-crafted handle. Yay!

I thought about using polymer clay to make a stylish handle. But then I remembered that my son had expressed interest in a triangular, woven-copper pendant I’d gotten on super-sale at my local craft mart. I went back to the store and was delighted to discover that there was another identical pendant — still on super-sale. Lucky me!

I liked the idea of sandwiching the handle of the letter opener between the two pendants.

Some wire, run through the holes at the corner of the pendants and the center hole of the letter opener, and some monogram letters (purchased in the garden-stone section of the same craft mart), finshed off the project. A few drops of sturdy craft glue held everything together.

I liked the final product, and more importantly, it was son-approved. I’m thinking it would make a nice graduation gift, award, or retirement gift.

I got so excited, I made one for my husband, too. He is a computer professional, so for his I used motherboard pendants and old telephone wire. Tee hee!

I may make some more customized letter openers as Christmas gifts for relatives. I can think of lots of different ways to decorate them! Hope you have some great ideas of your own!