Preserving precious memories

Three years ago, I spent a frantic Easter preparing for my eldest daugher’s wedding. It was a rustic wedding with the reception held in a country village hall. We decorated the tables with native Australian flowers, foliage and berries, and some gumnuts that reminded me of the Marri gumnuts from the very old tree outside my childhood home in country Western Australia.

I saved some of the table arrangements and dried them so my daughter would have them to keep. Three years on, some of the foliage is quite brittle and is starting to perish, so I decided to see what I could preserve in silver.

I made a mold of some dried berries and cast them in silver and I’m thrilled with how they turned out - the cast has captured so much of the detail. I then soldered the berries to sterling silver wire to create some berry chandelier earrings. And I gave them to my daugher for her third wedding anniversary. She’s thrilled with them. This is such a wonderful way to preserve important memories.

Now I just have to work out what to do with the gumnuts.