Bracelet
I’ve had spoon parts banging around in my leftovers box ever since I made some earrings from the end of the spoon handles. “Too short for bracelets,” I told myself. Then one day, just fooling around, I put one of the spoons through the rolling mill to see how how it looked. Interesting but still too short for a bracelet.
I threw the piece in with a batch of copper scraps and rusty pieces and it sat for a few more months until one day I decided to apply a verdigris-like patina on the bowl part. I liked how it looked. I had to make it into something now! Even though it was still too short for a bracelet, I knew it was meant to be a bracelet. So here’s what I did:
I drilled a hole in the tip of the spoon bowl, in the middle of the spoon bowl and on the end of what remained of the handle. Then I balled the end of two pieces of 14 gauge copper wire. I dropped one of the pieces of wire through the hole of a drill bit gauge with the balled end sticking out of the hole. I hammered the end flat and sanded it smooth . I repeated this with the other wire. Then I used a plastic mallet and a bracelet mandrel to hammer the spoon and handle into an oval bracelet-like shape. I cut one of the pieces of wire to about 1 and one half inches and flattened the other end and filed the tip smooth. Then I threaded it from the back of the bracelet through the hole in the tip of the spoon and used a pair of round nosed pliers to shape a clasp.
I fashioned the two pieces of figaro chain and jump rings to clear the tip of the clasp and hold the bracelet closed by tension. There’s not a lot of play in the closure and you have to squeeze the bracelet slightly to release the chain from the clasp. The bracelet isn’t tight fitting, however, so this is easy to do.
Why did I use two pieces of chain instead of one? I thought it looked better! One figaro chain looked too delicate for this bracelet.
To make the focal piece, I threaded the remaining piece of wire through the center hole, a rusty washer, a Danish 5 kroner coin and a piece of drilled tumbled glass. Then I cut it close and made a small loop in it. This was a challenge to do without breaking the glass! I finished the bracelet with a dangle attached to the loop. All the parts fit snugly. I made sure I filed the riveted ends of the wire inside the bracelet until they were smooth; I hate to wear anything that’s not comfortable. I coated the spoon and washer with Renaissance Wax to protect the finish before assembling the bracelet.
Here are some basic directions on how to make the bracelet. I would be thrilled to receive pictures from anyone who tries it!
Ornamento 
