Tutorial — Military Dog Tags for Dolls

Make your own authentic-looking military dog tags for dolls, the perfect accessory for our Pattern 1010: Army Combat Uniform for 18 Inch Dolls or Military Uniform Separates, Caps & Hats Pattern BUNDLE for 18 Inch Dolls.

We couldn't resist making these after spotting a PACKET OF PERFECTLY-SCALED METAL TAG MINI-PENDANTS in the jewelry aisle of our local craft store.

(We couldn't find an online link for the particular pack we used, but we found a similar version that looks just as good.)

 

Next, we picked up a packet of BALL CHAIN and a BALL CHAIN CONNECTOR.

(Our ball chain is 2.4mm diameter, which is a fairly standard size. Though a smaller size would also work for this project, any larger would no longer be doll-scaled.)

Then we looked through our craft paints, and pulled out a nice DULL GRAY METALLIC paint (one of our favorite Lumière by Jacquard paints) and a MATTE SEALER.

We pounced the pewter gray paint on both sides of the metal tags — and on the ball chain as well. That gave us a good, dull metal look. But we decided we wanted the tags to look even more dinged and worn. So we pulled out a little BLACK Lumière as well, and dry-brushed that lightly along the edges of each tag.

When the tags and the chain looked properly aged, we coated them both with the matte sealer and let them dry thoroughly.

We attached the tags to the ball chain using 3-4 JUMP RINGS, as shown above.

If you've never used jump rings to attach pendants and create your own jewelry, we have detailed directions for selecting jump ring pliers and opening and closing the rings in our Introduction to Jewelry Making for Vinyl Play Dolls eBook Craft Guide — which is available in our Etsy store.

And that's it! Note how the jump rings allow the tag in back to hang slightly lower than the tag in front — just like the real thing!