Jewelry Lovers

Household spoons and forks are generally considered decorative when they are laid out on a table set for a dinner party. But even then their decorative qualities are taken for granted, or not seen at all. Bracelets and rings are extremely simple to make.

To get started does not mean you have to deplete the kitchen drawer of all its contents. You might have some odd pieces you can practice on, and attractive odds and ends can often be bought cheaply from bric-a-brac shops. If you buy forks make sure that they have handles long enough to bend around the average wrist. Small spoons, such as those used for mustard, can be made into -IV rings. You can use beads and stones from old costume jewelry or you can buy suitable beads from craft stores. The stones can be glued to the jewelry with an epoxy resin adhesive or you can bend the prongs of a fork to hold a stone. However, the jewelry is attractive enough without any added decoration.

The technique for making this kind of jewelry is simple and requires only a little experience before you will be able to produce pieces that appear to be marvellously intricate and skilful.

Fork bracelet

Lay the fork along the flat of the anvil. Use the mallet to flatten the the prongs and neck, but leave the curve at the extreme end of the handle. Make square, light blows to the fork to avoid damaging the surface. Hold the fork with the prongs facing you. Using ;the round-nosed pliers grip one of the outside prongs and bend it to an angle of about 45°. Repeat with the other outside prong. Do not try to force the metal and, above all, do not attempt to bend back to where you started from. Try to keep the positioning of the curves as even as possible. Now start curling the prong from the tip. Make a slight curl to the tip and then keep moving the pliers down along the prong until the curl is complete. Repeat for the other prong. The two inside prongs can now be curled. They can either curl towards each other or away from one another. Start the curl at the tip and work down along the prong as before. If you bend the prongs towards one another, start by bending them away from each other about halfway down their length. Then work from the tip. Check the design and make any adjustment necessary to balance it before proceeding to shape the handle.

Using the mallet start tapping the handle of the fork around the beak of the anvil (or the metal pipe), following the curve, Use square, light blows and move the fork along the beak so that you gradually cover the whole length and then the prongs. You can repeat this to get a tighter curve to make a smaller bracelet. Fit the bracelet on an arm and make any adjustments. Polish with metal polish. If your results are good, and the plating has come off the fork, then you can have the bracelet silver-plated by a jeweler. Beads are glued in position when the article is complete.

Alternative designs are easy as you can bend the prongs in various directions, but remember that the simplicity of design combined with the chunky [heavy] quality is appealing in itself.

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Bracelets from forks and spoons