Don’t let your jewelry box have all the fun. Make beautiful and functional items for your house.These also make great housewarming and hostess gifts.
All of the items can be made in multiple ways, depending on your skill level and the tools available for use, but the goal for each of the projects is to keep the process simple but the wow-factor out of this world!
You’ll make several items from copper, but the techniques translate to any metal you could cold work in a similar manner.
Project 1 is a small bowl and spoon set perfect for fancy salts and herbs, or glam it up and use it to sprinkle edible glitter on your baked goods. You’ll learn sinking for the bowl, dapping for the scoop of the spoon, riveting, and forging for the handle.
Project 2 is an herb stripper made from thick sheet metal. Texturing this piece all over, especially with a round hammer, will give you the slightly cupped shape that makes this piece easier to hold and use. You’ll cut it from the sheet and use various tools to create the holes,
then round the edges to make it comfortable in the hand.
Project 3 is a cocktail pick set forged from round wire. The holder is made from tubing and has a secret trick to help keep those picks wrangled. We’ll use a forging technique borrowed from wrought iron to create the cool twist, but you’ll have other options as well to make the ends decorative and unique. You’ll learn how to taper the point end and smooth it out to make a nice sharp point for spearing hors d'oeuvres of all kinds.
And finally, Project 4 is a small dish that can be used as a spoon rest or ring bowl. It’s made a little differently than the bowl for the salt cellar, so you can see how you can take the same basic technique and customize it.
You’ll learn about different types of hammers and how they make the metal move in different ways, as well as what kind of textures they impart. We’ll talk about how to make your own sinking block for taking sheet metal of all sizes and giving it volume and how to color, patina,
and seal your metal to make it not only beautiful but also safe to use with food.
