Grandma's Sugar Tongs
I never knew my paternal Grandmother. All that I knew about her was that my Dad said that she had auburn hair that came down to her waist and taught at Binfield Church of England Primary School where her father (his Grandfather), Monday Bolton was Headmaster and Captain of Bell Ringers. My paternal grandfather fell in love with her – he’d never seen a beautiful girl with such a glorious head of hair!
When my grandad died everything came to his only son, my father. Among some of the items dad gave to me were a very old pair of silver sugar tongs. They had been in the family as long as he could remember, he said, and his mum had been very fond of them. The silver hallmark suggested a date of the 1790s, way before my Grandma was born and they were beautiful.
But what do you do with sugar tongs when you don’t use lump sugar – and have a pair of ice cube tongs with serrated edges that work really well? I also loved the feel of these tongs and the fact that my Gran had probably held them every day.
Problem……. What to do?
I thought long and hard about this problem then asked my Dad if he would mind if I imagineered the tongs into something I could use every day. His engineering juices were intrigued and we both looked at a You Tube video and he said he thought it was a good idea. So with feelings of great anxiety I started working on the sugar tongs and now have a beautiful and unique wrap around bangle! I wear it most of the time and feel my gran very close to me.
It was also interesting to find examples of other items of silver cutlery that could be made into earrings, torc bracelets, pendants and rings. I am sure that with additional thought other items of jewellery could be formed from domestic silver cutlery.
Sometime later a friend who had commented on my sugar tong bangle asked me if I would transform five pairs of her tongs as bridesmaid presents. They were a smash hit and much admired by the wedding guests.
