I bought a beautiful set of silver teaspoons on eBay and they arrived today in a lovely old red case. So I have 6 spoons to make rings from.
I’ve made three rings so far and I really like these ones. Like the shell ones made from cake forks recently, these have a very simple pattern which is very spoon like as it’s quite a traditional standard pattern. They’re very nice to work with as the metal is nice and soft and easy to manipulate. They are also very delicate and light and perfect for my nimble fingers. These images aren’t the best I’ve taken, but the light today is awful, so will try and get some better pictures another time.
I’ve been wondering how I’ll display these rings at craft fairs and the red case this set came in has given me a great idea. I need to make small ridges out of something for the rings to slip into and this will sit within the case that I can have open and on display with small tags explaining the origin of the rings. I’ve been reading up on silverware hallmarks and learning what they all mean and I intend to write a little hostiry for each ring, so people know where and when it was made and who made it.
I’m a senior in high school and I’m making recycled jewelry for my AP Studio Art portfolio. One of my teachers gave me some really cool looking old silverware and after I found your page on Stumbleupon it got me interested in the idea of maybe making some rings and bracelets out of them. I was just wondering if there is any way you would be willing to tell me how you cut and bend them so well. I’m guessing you hammer the spoons around a mandrel, but that still seems like it would be really hard to do it that way so I wasn’t sure. I was also wondering how you polish them so well. I understand completely if you don’t want to share your process with me, but if you are willing to I would appreciate it so much because I just love learning about how to make new things. Especially jewelry!
Thanks!
-Lauren 🙂
Lauren – You need specialist tools and equipment and understand the basics of working with precious metals – so I’ve sent you an email with a list of books I think you should read to get you started. Hope that helps.
I would love to try this as well. I have some beautiful old spoons and forks. They are silver plated though, can I use them? Would you be willing to send me a list of those books?
Sincerely, Jerry
I’ve never worked with silver plated spoons and not sure whether you’d be able to make rings from them the way that I make mine as the process involves a lot of filing and sanding as well as heating. With silver plated spoons it might be matter of just using brute force to shape them as if you heat them up the silver plate will be damaged and if you file them down you’ll lose the silver plate as well. If I can find the email I sent to Lauren, I’d be happy to forward it onto you too, but it’s unlikely to still be in my sent folder as I did a bit of a cull on old emails recently.
Hi there, i work in Stockbridge and i had a customer who came into the shop last night wearing one of your teaspoon rings, i loved it! She said she purchased it somewhere in Stockbridge or Broughton Street but thinks the shop has now closed. I was wondering where you sell your jewellery too and how can i purchase one?
Best wishes,
Ashley
She’ll be thinking of Concrete Wardrobe on Broughton Street. I don’t think they’ve got any left in stock as I’ve not supplied them since I gave birth to my son… I will be getting back in touch with them soon though. In the meantime you can visit my online shop – here on this website – rings are all listed here: http://www.milomade.co.uk/milomade-shop.php#!/~/category/id=6351167&offset=0&sort=normal