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Crafts & Decorations

Hollow Handled Knives-bud vase, ink pen, lapel pin

15 years ago

Posted this on Trash to Treasure,too. Cut the end off of an old silver plated knife and you can make several different crafts from it. A suction cup bud vase, a lapel pin bud vase, and an ink pen. Pics here:

Here is a link that might be useful: silver knife crafts

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Comments (7)

party_music50
15 years ago
Those are PRETTY!!! I wouldn't be able to cut the knife though (both literally and figuratively). lol!
sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
How neat!! Love the ink pen! The little vase could even be put on window or fridge, filing cabinet at work if space was tight. Do you throw out the blade or have you come up for craft for it also? You mentioned on your site about coffee service sets, I was just given 1 what do you do with it? OH save up your old Bic or papermate cheapo pens when out of ink. GF & I are almost finished with really neat & useful idea for them. Jan
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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!
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hi there! I've been out of the loop for the most part, but I do come back and try to post now and then :D Mostly I craft in my bedroom and make a lot of things,but I haven't been photographing them all, or getting the "how-to" photos like I should. I LOVE the pen made from the hollow silver handle, and this is how I do mine....you can search for more detailed and better how-to's,lol! I have a small pair of bolt cutters, and I recommend these for all of ya'll...you'd be amazed how often you'll use them! About $5 at Harbor Freight. Cut the knife handle off with the bolt cutters, being careful with the design in the handle, keeping the pretty design on the part you use. You might hit the stainless steel part of the knife blade, if you do, use pliers to pull them out, then you can re-cut the handle with the bolt cutters if you need to, to neaten them up. ( in fact, check first to see if the blade will come out with the pliers before you cut) After I cut them, I used my pliers closed, to slip inside the handle and round it out, keep checking here, to make sure you don't make it too big. I use Bic Stik type disposable ink pens....they're round. I use a coarse emery board to file the edges smooth, you don't want any bits of metal to snag and cut your hand! Polish it if you like...and you're done! When making a small flower vase....I drill a hole near the top on one side, and slip it on a clear suction cup to hang in a window or on a mirror, or glue on a pin for wearing a fresh flower on your lapel! Hope that was info you're looking for! :D kudzu/cherry Here is a link that might be useful: Kudzu's blog
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Comments (1)
Pretty! If you cut it close to the end you could wear a little flower as a pin. Then you would have a pretty tube to use in another craft. I've seen little bud vase pins they are quite nice. Not sure how they are to wear tho. kathy
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kudzukween
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks ya'll :D It is best to use knives from mis-matched pieces and that can't be polished clean. I don't have anything to make from the knife blades. But I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't some kind of craft out there for them!
Coffee and tea sets I mosaic. I like to paint them if they are really pitted, but if they will shine up, I'll just mosaic the bodies and the trays.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kudzu's Blog
sunnyca_gw
15 years ago
Wow!! That looks great!! Was it the gold color originally? Lady that gives me so much stuff gave it to me & I gave it to mom as she had the gold colored silverware. Since she doesn't entertain anymore she gave it back. She said it got a little silver looking when she used silver polish on it. Other than that looks new. Won't be able to sell it at yard sale as Spanish folks are mostly customers now & don't buy that type stuff(neither does anyone else as you have to clean it!! )LOL I think mine is same as yours. Jan
kudzukween
Original Author
15 years ago
This was the inexpensive silver tea service.Sometimes they're pitted. I've seen gold ones,too.The gold ones are probably electro-plated and some came off when it was cleaned. There's a lot of salt in the air down here, so they do tend to corrode. You can paint them, just roughen the surface with some steel wool and prime and paint. I use no name primer and paint usually. I'm not too worried about the paint, though, everyone still loves the chippy paint look. Then I use the silicone to "glue" my broken china and stained glass to it, and grout them,and use porcelain roses from jewelry boxes and other trinkets, pearls,buttons,charms, etc to decorate the lids. With the creamer, I just bundle some potpourri and set it in there.
I have two more teasets right now, one is painted white waiting for some mosaic, and another I haven't done anything with yet. It has no handles on the creamer or sugar, but I have some tea cup handles I want to glue on them. I don't worry if the tip is broken off the lids either, because I glue things to it and no one can tell.
I can't wait to see what you're doing with the ink pens!
leveta
15 years ago
Kudzu, have you ever tried or made necklaces from the vintage (broken)dishes and such. Useing sodering iron, soder and the coppertape, and flux? I would like to learn how to. But meed to know everything that's involve. I add a site I saved on the other PC that does this, BUT,...LOST IT...If anyone can help or send me in the right directions I believe you can....Thanks bunches....Leveta...the pest...
kudzukween
Original Author
15 years ago
Hi Leveta :D I saw your post on Garden Junk and replied there, but check out this site

http://simplyswank.net/basic_kit?b=1

this looks like it has everything....I need it.....mostly because it's pink :D

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