diy wedding bands

last night in class my friend and classmate TJ was sitting next to me playing with his wedding ring. at a break in the conversation he said to me, knowing i'm in the midst of wedding planning while holding the ring out in his hand, i made this out of a quarter. what?! yeah i made my ring and my wife's ring out of quarters. tell me more! how? did you melt them? you're not going to believe the love and dedication he put into these hand made circles of commitment.

TJ went on to explain to me that quarters made before 1964 are pure silver and therefore mailable. by standing the quarter on its side and hitting it with the back side of a spoon, repeatedly, while spinning the ridges eventually smooth out and start to spread the quarter as it flattens. For three years, before he asked his now wife to marry him he worked on the rings in his spare time. once the quarters were flattened to the size of the ring finger he took them to a jeweler to have the center cut out properly without jeopardizing the hours of tedious work he had put into them. when he finally proposed he had the two handmade rings to show in support of his love and commitment. amazing, right?
photo credit: dum spiro spero

when i asked TJ how he heard that such a thing could be done he said he heard a story once of a vietnam soldier who, while at war and missing his girl, used the same technique to return home to his sweetheart with wedding rings in hand.

one of the coolest things about the actual ring (aside from all of the obvious love, time, and work) is that you can actually see some of the writing of the quarter on the inside. amazing.