Cheap engagment ring: Art?

November 6, 2006 6:47 PM

He proposed to me on a whim with a $8 engagement-style ring (I said yes!). My real engagement ring is now in the mail, but what can I do with the original ring?

There's still meaning attached to the $8 ring, of course! I would wear it long term, but I don't want to wreck it. It also leaves an icky green ring around my finger. I would eventually like to use it in the wedding ceremony.

In the meantime, because I now have a nice, high-quality ring, I want to make or do something cool and meaningful with the original cheapo ring. I have no ideas. A neat art piece? Fashion it into another piece of jewelry? Bronze it? Please provide me with your ideas, from the subdued to the wacky!

posted anonymously because mefi-reading family doesn't know yet! =)

posted by anonymous to grab bag (17 comments total)

You could put it on a chain and wear it around your neck.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 6:56 PM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

I'd say an art piece. I bought a shadowbox like this at The Container store and filled it with the rose blossoms from my wedding bouquet. (mine was divided into 12 boxes) Mounting this ring and other items from your courtship would be very easy to do. For a background I used wedding themed wrapping paper.
posted by saffry at 6:58 PM on November 6, 2006 [2 favorites]

And please report back in the thread with who you are once this topic no longer needs to be anonymous so we can properly congratulate you :-D
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:11 PM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

Congrads! My fiancée wants to second the shadow box idea. She loves shadow boxes and I fear that someday I may end up in one…

I would recommend one of two things… A.) Somewhere you will see it everyday (a special spot in a jewelry box for example that you always take your earrings out of, etc.)
Or B.) Somehow incorporated into the first photo album you two will start together. The next months/years will involve a lot of photos and to have something to mark where it began might be neat.

Good luck! Finding that right someone is the best thing ever…
posted by meta x zen at 7:26 PM on November 6, 2006

cast it in a resin block and keep it on your desk or next to your bed.
posted by judith at 7:33 PM on November 6, 2006

Encase it in carbonite. . .

errrr . . . or maybe lucite
posted by chrisamiller at 7:41 PM on November 6, 2006

I gave my wife a $0.25 ring first. Actually it cost me $1.00 because it took 4 tries in the gumball machine to get the right one. She wore it around her neck on a chain after we got married. She wore it on her right hand with the "real" engagement ring on her left for a few months before we got married. I had intended it for a placeholder because I wanted to get engaged at a set time in a set place and the ring I had ordered wasn't ready. Now, it is in the safe deposit box. She treasures it more than I really thought she would. Our 12 year old daughter wants it for her engagement someday. Everytime we go past a gumball machine at the grocery, my boys try to tease me into buying mom another ring.

Whatever you do, save it in its original form. The sentimental value is worth way more than anything you could ever imagine.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:42 PM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

Can I just say that I think it's so fantastic that your fiance proposed in such an adorable manner. I only hope that someday, someone loves me so much that he just has to propose to me right there on the spot with whatever ring he can find. Congratulations! I think the affection you're both clearly putting into this bodes well for your marriage.

By the way, if you take the ring to a good jeweler, they may be able to coat the band with something that will strengthen it and prevent your finger from turning green. Then you can wear it whenever you want.
posted by decathecting at 8:08 PM on November 6, 2006

Frame it and hang it on the wall.
posted by winston at 8:11 PM on November 6, 2006

I was going to say the same thing saffry already said. So, I'll second the shadowbox idea.
posted by dejah420 at 8:51 PM on November 6, 2006

Pray I do not change the deal further.
posted by oxford blue at 9:18 PM on November 6, 2006 [1 favorite]

Shadowbox it. Do it asap, because things get lost and messed up in the run up to a wedding.
posted by ewkpates at 5:48 AM on November 7, 2006

Incorporate it into a Christmas ornament. Hang it on your tree. Admire it every year. We did this with some of the flowers from my wedding bouquet.
posted by onhazier at 6:06 AM on November 7, 2006

Shadowbox it with the wedding invite?
posted by kdern at 6:31 AM on November 7, 2006

Also you could get the ring cast in real gold or silver, so that you could wear it. Everytime you looked at it, you'd remember the cheap trinket ring. Some little things just aren't meant to last forever, and something that's identical to it, only more durable, will be jus as sentimental. Framing it is a lovely idea, though.
posted by hermitosis at 7:13 AM on November 7, 2006

What a fantastic idea, hermitosis!
posted by MrMoonPie at 7:40 AM on November 7, 2006

Good advice is always good, MrMoonPie. I wasn't ripping you off, I swear :)

I forgot all about your great answer to that post. A friend of mine is heavily into jewelry design and manufacture, so that was my instinctual response.
posted by hermitosis at 9:31 AM on November 7, 2006