Weeell, I hope you find out!
I have some pieces I have cut and even drilled the holes into, and I know that you have to heat them to bend them, but I'm stumped on the what to bend them on, part!
I know you can buy ring mandrals (sp?) to get rings round and the right size, so I've been trying to think of something to use for a bracelet, myself. I've been considering something like an axe handle....

Kelly what did you cut them with and what kind of bit did you drill them with? At least your 2 steps ahead...lol..

here's diy's version.

justjody

Here is a link that might be useful: silver fork bracelet

JustJody, THANKS!!! I've been most worried about the heating and bending, I was afraid I had bend it while it was hot. That article was very helpful. hmmm, I may be encouraged to work on my bracelet this weekend.....

Leveta, what I have are spoons, that I had the bowl portion cut off - I asked a couple of the guys here in the warehouse to use bolt cutters to cut them off, then I used my grinder to sand them down and my ex has a drill press that he used to put in the holes. I don't like having to wait on the other people, so I'll have to try the rotary tool way the article mentions.

Yes Justjody, Thank you...It does give me an ideal of what's involved. Kelly I want to do the bracelets with the stem of the flatware. My Dh also has a drillpress and torch, vice ect. I'm a little slow witted I guess. LOL...I need a step by step for the first time or two. I'd love to see your spoons...Thank You guys for your help...

I have been making and selling these for a while. The method I use to cut the bowl of the spoon or fork off with is the bolt cutters,too, which is really handy for cutting up all kinds of garden junk. My DH bought me a slightly smaller version, it cuts like butter,though :) It even cuts the knife handles off for making lapel pins or small vases out of the hollow knife handles.
So here's what I do:

Sorta eyeball the size of the handle around your wrist:) Cut it off with the bolt cutters,checking for engraved designs you'd like to keep on or cut off the handle. I go to the dollar store and buy those huge packs of really cheap coarse emery boards, then use them to file the cut edge of the handle. Works great. I went to Harbor Freight and bought a few packs of the cheap small drill bits, they worked much better than the expensive titanium bits I got at Home Depot for some reason. Of course if you have something better to drill holes with, use that! LOL I usually use just one handle for making a bracelet, so I drill a hole in each end, large enough for a jump ring to fit through. I bought some silver plated jump rings and some clasps and something like 5 feet of silver plated chain at Walmart, cost about $6 altogether. You'll need one or two pairs of pliers to cut a piece of chain off. Again,eyeball the length you want..smaller if you want a short length hanging off the end,longer if you want more hanging down off the end. I also bought some bead pins, and made quite a few so my bracelets will be covered in a lot of beads. Beads are always on clearance at WalMart and Michaels and Hobby Lobby, my favorite place to get them is yard sales and friends giving me broken jewelry and watches :) I sometimes add silver plated charms, also found at the craft stores on sale or bought with a coupon.
Save the bowl of the spoon to make a really nice pendant or pin with, even the fork can make a beautiful piece of jewelry.
Here's some pics. Sorry this kinda got long and rambling..LOL
I'll check back later, I'll be very happy to help ya'll...I love making these, very relaxing!

Here is a link that might be useful: Cherry-stuff I made

OH MY GOSH!!! Ok, Kudzu, let's talk. 1. how are you making those gorgeous spoon pendants? dipping in resin or something?? spill!!!
2. your bracelets, heck, all your stuff is way cool! the bracelets I'm wanting to make are like the last 2 on your page 3, and
3. I am totally in love with your gold bead/moon charm bracelet, do you sell these or make them as gifts??

Kudzukween, Thank you so much for the info!!! I LOVE your stuff. It must be so satisfing(sp) to make such wonderful things. I have to ask the same question as Kelly...What do you dip your spoons in and where do you get such wonderful pictures or what ever they are for on them. They are remarkable. I'm going to try and get this stuff this weekend. I'm tring to make several things at one time. THe teacup feeders and I want to do this to. I wish you lived in Ky. You don't do you.....lol...

kudzukween-your album is adorable... Lots of cute stuff...

I like the way you made your silverware bracelet... it's a nice twist.

I also like you spoon pendants.. I wasn't a big fan of that type of pendant until now... Your cowgirl, lace & keys, mermaids.... (I could go on) as ALL so stinkin cute. Very nice indeed!

Thanks ya'll,so much*blush* the spoon pendants are made with Clear Cast, it's a type of resin, it has fumes, so be careful, you can mix up a small amount, I do more than a few spoons at one time,though,and I even used it over photographs that were glued to a plate, and it worked great on those(they're somewhere in my albums if you want to see those) I find pictures and words in my old greeting cards, or I find images online and print them out. They need to be on heavier paper or they get really transparent. I fill them in with pieces of broken jewelry and beads, and charms,whatever I have,even some beautiful turquoise feathers my sister saves for me from her bird. Sprinkle some glitter if you like, but go easy on it,it goes a long way,just a small itsy bitsy pinch of it.I usually glue my pictures and trinkets on the spoon before I mix and pour the resin.

And I forgot a big step in the spoon bracelet..that's how I bend them. I use slip joint pliers on one end,and hold the other end with pliers,and I use an old soft thick cloth to keep from getting teeth marks in the metal...just sorta wrap the ends with the cloth. You could try taping the pliers to keep the metal from getting marked up. The slip joint pliers help make it rounded to go over the wrist. I do one side,then the other. Some silver plate is softer than others. A friend made me something to help bend my spoon handles, it's a piece of PVC pipe with a hole about the size of the spoon handle. I slip it through the hole and bend it around the pipe, but it's not always easy. It does help,though. Or try wrapping the handle in a towel and hitting it with a hammer a little bit,that will help it start curving some. Just use something to keep the tool marks off of it....I hope that helps!

I sell these, but a lot of friends and family have gotten one or two to wear as "advertising" :)

I also make wind chimes from silver plated flatware and trays,etc.

Great stuff, Kudzukween! Can you tell me about the black spoon pendant with the copper swirl? I love all of them, but that's by far my favorite. Is it made on the back of the bowl of the spoon?

Thanks!

You are so gracious! LOL Do you hammer your wind chime spoons flat? I have stainless... so they won't bend easily but I may can pound them pretty good...

Wow! Great info and BEEEutiful stuff Kudzukween!
I do have a question (that is what I came to post about!) the drill you use. I have a dremel and it takes forever to drill the holes.
What do you use? I am so anxious to make a windchime.
Again, great stuff!

I use a dremem to cut mine...

But I use the handle not the eating part.

I was attaching two handles together with an "O" ring...so they would wrap around the wrist then clasp shut.

Then I saw kudzukween's....She makes them with one handle and the rest chain with beads hanging on it...they are beautiful...So that's what I've been doing. I love them and the spoons and forks go further..lol

patti

Kudzukween, could you tell me what size drill bit you use for the bracelet holes. You have been a godsend...

Your jewelry and windchimes are very very nice. .thanks for sharing your album. .If you would. .could you please share how you made the adorable jars with lights and the kids pictures in them? I would really appreciate that. .thanks Debbie

Additional tips:

1. Get a few refractory bricks, you will be able to heat up your flatware much hotter and faster.
2. You need locking pliers to hold the hot flatware.
3. Some stainless steel is very difficult to drill thru. You need carbide bits to do it.
4. Sanding flap wheel, sanding cup brush, and sanding block work better then steel brush.
5. Have a container of cold water around to dip your work to cool it down quicker.

dcarch

Thanks ya'll, so much. I love working with the silver plated flatware,so many projects you can make for your garden and to wear.

I use 1/16" drill bits with my cordless drill. I am ashamed to say I have a Dremel and I never use it( don't tell the DH!!) I use the same size for drilling my bracelets and for drilling my wind chimes, and Scrabble tiles. For the wind chimes, I use beading wire and crimping beads that I use my pliers to tighten after I string the beads on(two crimping beads). I have a small 4x4 block of wood I use to do my work on, like drilling holes, or flattening silverware (soften it by sandwiching it between some old towels or soft cloth to prevent tool marks)I curl the fork tines by flattening them with my ball peen hammer(this seems to make the metal softer,too) and using my pliers to twist them. If you have a vise it's much easier. If you're selling bracelets, it does go much further using one handle,LOL! My DH bought me some of the magnetic clasps,those are so nice,but get expensive after a while :)
The spoon pendant with the copper swirl is an old copper earring that was my mothers. I also printed out a picture of some brown velvet and glued that in the bottom of the spoon before I set the earring in it.
The flatware pins are short tips of the handle, with a hole drilled in the bottom for a charm, some are not drilled, I glued bead fringe on them. I use very small porcelain roses I chop off of trinket boxes I buy at TS's and yard sales( I use those in my mosaics for inside and in the garden,too)I use a flathead screwdriver and hit it with a hammer to break flowers off the trinket boxes. Hopefully they break off clean,if they are broken just a little, I'll glue them back together with superglue and it holds up really well. And glue on pearls and beads with those, with E6000,onto the pin,glue a pin back on with E6000,too. I use silver plated coasters or trays, the small ones, to hang my wind chimes from, and I will sometimes glue the porcelain roses and beads with E6000 onto the tray.
The "pixie" or "fairy" jars are old blue canning jars I collect. You can use anything,even the frappicino milk bottles. I use photoshop to make wings on the photos, you could find wings online and print them out and cut them and glue them to the back of the photos. I go to Walmart to print them out sometimes, it's about 12 cents a photo,saves my printer ink. Then I used glitter glue pens to decorate them,maybe some rhinestones,what have you...and cut them out.I kinda curled the photo to make it fit flat against the front of the jar, and the filler holds it up more. I think I got the blue Easter grass or gift bag filler at a yard sale in a box of things I bought...but that's what I used, the pearly kind.I used adhesive velcro tabs inside the lid to hold a battery operated votive for the light. They looked great outside, but I finally brought them back in. You could use other paper sent through your paper shredder for filler ( sheet music is pretty)or old book pages. I gave these to my daughter and ex DIL for Christmas.
Sorry this was so long...I hope it helped!

I "clipped" these for sure.
I am still not sure what kind of drillbit to use.
Did I miss something?
Thanks for your sharing.

Well I got my rings and clasp ect. today. Got the flatware. Got pvc to make some teacup feeders. Painted it copper. Got chain and S hooks the other day for hanging teacup feeders. Got the drill bits today also. Now it's getting time to put it all together. Kudzukween I hope I can do you proud....lol

Way to go...Leveta! It's either too hot to go out, or raining, so we've been stuck inside seems like forever,and you gotta have lots of projects for working on in the house:)
Texasfern...I use 1/16" drill bits, some are titanium but those break just as easy. I have better luck with the cheap ones we got at Harbor Freight for about $2 or $3 a pack, I don't remember now, but I still have an unopened pack, plus most of the ones from the first pack, had maybe 10 or so drill bits in each pack.
I painted some pvc pipe copper a few years ago,and it still looks just almost as nice as the day I did it, very realistic.

Happy Junqueing
Cherry

Thanks Cherry. When the thought of building a shop to sell my pumpkins and things started I wanted to be a faimly thing. I have 500.00 worth of silk flowers and the things that go with it sitting in a storage building cause my sister who has a wonderful talent for that stuff was suppose to do...I won't hold my breath now...MY SDD's were suppose to make different things...So as of right now it looks like me for any craft things. DH does help. I will be opening shop towards the 3rd or 4th week of sept. so time is getting short, and shop isn't ready yet either. Calgon take me away....lol...Plus they are having Hwy 60 yard sale the first weekend in Oct. So I hope to get some of that. I'm only a stone throw from 60. I sure wish you guys were here....(sigh)...lol

Sounds like a great idea to open a shop...good luck! Did you see the recent post about decorating pumpkins..I think it was this forum, but I'm all over the net and sometimes forget where I read things! :) I meant to post on it,as I'd just gotten through tearing out pages of a magazine that had that very topic in it. They had used black paint and paper doilies as stencils,you cut slits into the paper doilies to make it fit around the top of the pumpkin..looks like black lace around it,very simply beautiful. Another had used different kinds of black and black and white ribbon and rickrack to go from top to bottom following the lines of the pumpkin. And yet another was pumpkins on urns sitting on spanish moss.
I also recall seeing someone from last year stacking a few pumpkins with the beaded candle rings between the pumpkins...I loved that idea! These would all be great ideas to stage your pumpkins for sale, let them know they don't need just ONE pumpkin...when SIX would be much better..and some silk flowers to decorate them with :)

Cherry

We been selling pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn for yrs. Then we had to stop after dad have several massive strokes. We took care of him for 6yrs at home. He died in 2002. So last yr i started again. And done very well. Now I want to go a little deeper with crafts. I got my saucers siliconed to the pieces that go on the pvc. We also pick out black waluts and hickory nuts and sell them. Fall is a very busy time here. Thanks for all your help kudzukween.