I received this question from bead enthusiast Lynda.

I have been saving my sterling silver bits and pieces for two years.  I have a baggie full of scraps and don’t have a clue about what to do with them.  Any thoughts?

Our fabulous teacher Donna Struthers was kind enough to answer it for me.

Some sterling scraps may be more useful than you think. I keep a separate bowl for larger scraps of sheet and wire. A few inches of wire may be all you need to make a jump ring in just the right gauge for your project. Keep a metal gauge nearby to use two like pieces of wire for a pair of ear wires. You can ball the end of a piece of wire for a headpin or use as a rivet. A small scrap of sheet may be all you need to punch out a small decorative element for a pendant or a pair of earrings. One more idea is to melt a piece of scrap to make a  ’glob’ of silver to solder on a project as a decorative ball.  When you’ve used all you can, send the rest in and get a silver ‘credit’ from your favorite jewelry supply store!
Thanks Donna and I hope that helps you out Lynda with all your silver scraps! Donna teaches here at The Bouncing Bead and we are working on more workshops for the next quarter.

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