One of the more unusual gift commission requests I had was when a man brought me a pair of blue glass candlesticks. It turned out that he had bought them for his wife when they first met but unfortunately one of them had been broken. As these candlesticks had great sentimental value, he asked me to create something new using them as a surprise gift for their upcoming 20th wedding anniversary.

We discussed various options and I asked him more about her tastes so that I could personalise the piece for her.

Personalised anniversary gift

He explained that his wife’s favourite flowers were irises, roses and lilies, so I suggested that I could create a unique decorated vase featuring these flowers made from glass from the candlesticks and other stained glass I had. He thought this was a great idea.

I wrapped the candlesticks in a tea towel and set to work smashing them up to provide some curved pieces that I could reuse for the irises. It wasn’t an easy task as the glass was thick and curved and I had little control over how the pieces broke. However, I managed to select some nice pieces to wrap in copper foil and develop into petals. I added a few marbles to the design for added texture and interest.

Then red roses and white lilies were created and attached to a large, clear vase. Strips of black-backed copper foil were added to give a lattice effect on the glass.

Blue glass hearts

I then cut more of the blue glass pieces into 20 little glass hearts to represent each year of their marriage and mixed them with clear glass marbles in the bottom of the vase.

The man and his wife were delighted with the result – and especially with the extra touch of the little hearts, which he said was “inspired”.

What a kind and thoughtful husband he was to plan such a unique wedding anniversary present for her.

It was great fun planning and making such an unusual gift for them.

Read more about different commissions I have made here.