You may have heard of Groupon. It has been around about 2 years and is growing into new markets all the time. I first became aware of it about a year ago and I am glad I did.
Groupon is a “deal of the day” website. You sign up and every day they send you an email with a new cool deal, usually about 50% off or more. They have a wide variety of deals such as restaurants, spas, sporting events, retailers, etc. I have used about a dozen groupons and have never been disappointed.
Why do I love Groupon?
Groupon is my “cheap gateway to adventure”! What do I mean? There are plenty of coupon sites for discounts on restaurants and e-retailers (and they can be pretty good), but only Groupon exposes to me to things I always thought were too expensive to try OR something I hadn’t never even thought of before.
Here are some examples of recent Groupon that were available in S. Florida: - Eight laps of an IndyCar Driving Walt Disney World Speedway (Orlando)
- Sunset Catamaran Cruise (2 hours) (Ft. Lauderdale)
- Parasailing (Miami)
- Kiteboarding (Ft. Lauderdale)
- Hot Air Balloon Ride (Orlando)
- Deep sea fishing (Ft. Lauderdale)
Just fun stuff at big discounts…some of the types of things that you would like to do, but never get the chance.
Some of the Groupons I have purchased are salsa dancing lessons, sailing lessons, sporting events and great restaurants.
The most recent Groupon I used was for a Jewelry Making Class in Miami. Now, I know that sounds a little strange, but I thought it would be a great way to make a unique gift for my wife for Christmas.
Jewelry Creations Workshop Review
The Groupon was for $45 for (2) three-hour beginners jewelry making class at Jewelry Creations Workshop. A two-day class is typically $120 dollars. In addition, the $45 tuition included the materials to make a silver ring.
The first class goes by quickly as you practice on copper to learn jewelry making techniques such as creating textures through hammering, heating the medal to make is soft to work with (aneeling) and soldering. Copper is a softer medal, so it is perfect to use for practice. I even made a simple copper ring.
On my second class, I started by measuring out a strip of silver that I would need to make the ring ( I brought one of my wife’s other rings to use to get the right size). The silver was slightly rounded and fairly thick. I think most student make a simple silver ring which when complete would end up looking like a silver wedding band.
I wanted to try something different.
I had thought a lot about what I could hope to accomplish in this class and what my wife would appreciate in a silver ring. I determined that if I hammered the silver, I could create some texture to the ring which would make it more appealing than a plain silver band. My instructor, Steven Brownlee, agreed and encouraged me to try it.
I hammered the silver first and then heated it prior to bending it around the mandrel (used to make the ring round and make sure it is the right size). Once the ring is roughly round, it is critical to get the two sides lined up so they are tightly touching so you can solder the pieces together.
This is a lot easier said than done.
It took me a very long time and multiple attempts to get the ends correctly aligned. To solder the ends together you have to heat small pieces of solder on the seam at about 450 degrees with a propane touch. If you have never used solder it is pretty interesting. You will be heating the metal and in an instant the solder liquefies to fill the seam. Solid to liquid and back to solid in a blink of an eye.
Once the soldering is complete, you now have a ring. A rough ring, which still needs work.
I put it back on the mandrel and hammered it more to make sure it exactly round and the right size. Then I took some sand paper to remove any rough spots on the metal. Once it is perfect, it is ready to polish.
They have a polishing machine which allows you to polish the inside and outside of the ring until it has a mirror like shine.
The instructor, Steven Brownlee, shows you the techniques and you observe him creating a ring as part of his instruction. He encourages questions, but wants you to figure things out on your own. Every time, I would ask him if it looked right, he would respond “does it look right to you?”.
Usually it didn’t. So, I learned to keep working at it until it looked right.
Here are before and after pictures.
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| Strip of Silver |
I hope she loves the ring.
If you have an interest in learning jewelry making, I highly recommend taking a class at Jewelry Creations Workshop.
Also, I really like Steven Brownlee's jewerly. He makes some unique pieces. He makes some amazing rings, pendants, cufflinks, earrings, etc. I especially like the pieces the jewelry that incorporate woods like red mahogany, Brazilian Macena or Brazilian Palm Wood. You can see some of his eye catching jewelry at Etsy (the handmade craft community site).
Groupons – Something New Daily
Who couldn’t use a little adventure? Try signing up for Groupon and see what catches your imagination!
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| Completed Ring |
And they make great gifts, too!!
If you have bought some great “adventure” groupons, I would love to hear about your experiences.
