How To Cut Flatware For Crafts And Jewelry

Hi friends! I just uploaded a new video to my YouTube channel. It's a short one, but while I was working I thought I'd use the opportunity to record for you and share what I was doing.

I have a few jewelry projects in my first book, Boho Chic Jewelry, that use vintage cast off pieces of silverware—forks, spoons and butter knives—and turn them into unique pieces of jewelry. Each project in the book has detailed instructions with great photos to teach you how to do it all, but still, there's nothing like being there and seeing firsthand how something is done! 

Enter my messy workbench and a handful of vintage silver plated butter knives—a recent thrift store find at only 10 cents each!

To turn these vintage finds into usable components, all you need are a few simple tools, the know-how, and a little elbow grease. Really, anyone can do it!

Here's the prize that you end up with in the end - a beautiful, vintage component that you can use for jewelry or in your craft creations. How sweet is that? 

And of course at the end of the video, I always offer suggestions for how you can reuse every last bit. 

I use these components to create my necklaces (shown above), and like I said, you can find the complete step by step instructions for this particular project in my book, but check out the video for a behind the scenes sneak peek! 

You can watch the new video here, and while you're there, don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to be the first to get updates when I post new videos! 

Here's an entire bowl full of these beauties. I love just sifting through them and admiring their beautiful patterns. 

Want one but don't want to make your own? I have just a few available here in my Etsy Shop, so be sure to check them out! 

Check out the video here!

Have a great week!

 Laura

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs

Article, images, and designs copyright ©Laura Beth Love for Dishfunctional Designs™ 2018

all rights reserved

How To Make A Boho Chic Soldered Crystal Point Ring

I just finished making this awesome ring for my daughter Erica, who had asked me to make her a Boho style amethyst crystal point ring. 

I snapped a few photos during the process, so I thought I'd share them here with you. This is not a complete, standard step-by-step tutorial, but just a simple glimpse into the process that will maybe offer you some creative inspiration!

Check out how I made this pretty, awesome soldered crystal ring!

Soldering level: Beginner to Intermediate

Materials & tools needed:

• 1 large crystal point or other similar rough-cut stone bead with a center-drilled hole
• Silver or copper wire (whatever gauge fits through the hole in your bead, 20 gauge or 18 gauge)
• Ring mandrel or circular object the size of your finger to form the ring around
• Nylon jaw pliers for straightening the wire
• Wire cutters
• Soldering tools (silver lead-free jewelry solder, flux, soldering iron, etc. - if you are unfamiliar with soldering or need to know what materials or exact tools to use, see my book Boho Chic Jewelry for my complete recommended soldering set up and tools list!)

It all started with a rough crystal point bead! Who doesn't love purple amethyst crystals? My daughter Erica picked this amethyst crystal bead out of one of my bead boxes and asked me to design it into a ring for her.

Choose a crystal or rough cut gemstone rock with a center-drilled hole. You can also use any type of  large stone bead for this project.

First you will need to form your wire in the shape of a circle to create the shank of the ring. Use your nylon jaw pliers to straighten a length of copper or silver wire - I used about 12 to 14 inches of copper wire for this ring. Straighten the wire while it is on the spool and then cut the wire with your wire cutters. 

Shape the shank of the ring (form the circle): Hold one end of the wire against your ring mandrel at the desired ring size marking on the mandrel and use your other hand to wrap the wire snugly around the mandrel two times. If you do not have a ring mandrel you can use any circular shaped object that is the size of your finger (maybe a lipstick tube or other similar sized object). Then carefully remove the wire from the mandrel. 

Hold the wire circles that you just formed in place with your soldering pliers and use your other hand to solder the wire rings together with a small amount of solder, coating the wires on all sides and binding them to each other with solder. 

Next, thread your bead onto the long tail end of your wire and push the bead down the wire until it is flush against your ring's shank.

Bring the tail end of wire that traveled through the bead down toward the ring's shank and hold it against the ring's shank. Use a drop of solder to attach the tail of wire to the ring's shank as shown in the photo above. 

Your ring should now look something like this. 

Now slide the ring back onto the mandrel and carefully wrap the long tail end of wire around the mandrel again until all of the wire is used up. If you have excess wire you can snip the remaining wire off with your wire cutters. Tuck the pointy end of wire into the other wire wraps (try to hide the end). 

Remove the ring from the mandrel and now solder the rest of the wires together, adding more solder as needed, until all of the wires are completely soldered together and your ring is formed (photo below).  

If desired, add a few small droplets of decorative solder to the ring as I did in the photo above. 

Once you are finished, make sure there are no pointy ends of wire anywhere on your ring. If there are, cover them up with a small drop of solder.

Wash, dry, polish, and enjoy your ring! 

I hope you enjoyed this mini-tutorial! Check out my books Boho Chic Jewelry and Soldered Alchemy for tons of fun jewelry soldering projects, all kinds of soldering information, beautiful jewelry and soldering inspiration! 

I hope you have a great week! 

Love, 

Laura

My broken china jewelry is always available for purchase at https://www.etsy.com/shop/dishfunctionldesigns

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Learn how to solder and make unique jewelry!

Jewelry design, article and images ©Laura Beth Love 2016 all rights reserved. 
Project for personal use only. Commercial use forbidden under law without the express written permission of the copyright holder.