Towle Flatware

Teacher Repurposes Old Silver Flatware into Jewelry, Decoration

01.01.70

EVERETT, Pa. — Dina McGee, a fifth-grade teacher in Everett, Pa., has appreciative girl students when they receive a Christmas gift of handmade jewelry. McGee makes each of them a piece of jewelry out of old silver flatware.

It all began when she visited a craft show at the shore and saw a piece of jewelry made from silverplated flatware.

“I’ve always loved jewelry,” she said, “and the more I looked at it, the more I thought, I could do this.”

A few weeks later McGee attended a yard sale, purchased some old flatware and decided to put her creative self to work.

The ideal silverware used to create jewelry is made from silverplate.

“I’ve only run across two pieces of actual sterling silver,” she said. “And that was so soft, it was difficult to work with.”

Stainless is not even a consideration.

“I did what everyone else does these days,” she said. “I turned to the Internet, and then began a trial-and-error process using my imagination. My mom still had my dad’s tools and she lives close by. I started going to her house and using his old vice grip. Then, I had to buy a belt sander and a bolt cutter.”

Source: Lancaster Farming