Those of us lucky enough to call Western Australia home know that the delightfully tropical holiday destination of Bali is only a three and a half hour flight away. This makes it especially tempting for a cheeky weekend getaway which is how I found myself there earlier in the month. A little while ago, my husband and I were discussing what we wanted to do for our anniversary this year to celebrate four years of marriage and as a joke I suggested Bali. Well, we ended up in Bali spending a few very special days in Ubud. For our actual anniversary, we wanted to do something special and decided to take a silver jewellery making class which was such a great way of spending our afternoon.
For those who are unaware, Bali and especially Ubud, is famous for its amazing silver production and artisanal crafts. There are heaps of little art studios where you can go and make a custom piece of jewellery which is a pretty cool, and pretty budget friendly, activity to do. As great as sightseeing is, as this was not our first trip to Bali we wanted to choose a unique activity and we couldn’t have chosen better. When it came to finding a studio, there are many ways you can go. Start by just doing a Google search for silver jewellery classes in Ubud or look up travel sites such as booking.com or SeekSophie.com. I did a lot of research when it came to choosing the right studio. Personally I found a lot of studios seemed to produce a similar ring which was a plain band, a flattened face with a punched symbol in it. Although this is super cute and I’d happily make one, I wanted a studio where I could be a bit more creative. Every studio I looked up I tried to find images of what people had made and I read a lot of review, in the end, I decided to book through SeekSophie and we went to WS Art Studio in Ubud. (It’s worth noting this is not a sponsored post/review. I’m just sharing my honest experience).
We chose the morning time slot as it allowed up to enjoy the rest of the day in Ubud so we go ourselves to WS Art Studio via taxi and rocked up at a super cute location surrounded by farm and fields. The Art Studio does a lot more types of craft than just silver making; you can learn weaving, batik painting, mask painting and many more activities so feel free to make a day of it. After being welcomed, we were taken to the outdoor open area (it’s fully undercover so don’t worry) and it was really pleasant to sit outside and enjoy the scenery. We met our teachers, had the process explained to us and then we were given some light refreshments. The studio was clean and quiet which was delightful and a chance to create calmly.
When you choose the jewellery making option at the studio, you can make a ring, a pair of earrings or a necklace pendant. After a little scrolling through Pinterest for inspiration, we both decided on rings but I’d love to go back and do the earring option sometime in the future.
Despite how much effort I put into choosing the right art studio for us, I kind of blanked when it came time to design my ring. I was given a piece of paper and a pencil and told to draw something. I started doodling, thinking about my relationship with my husband and how I wanted that to be symbolised in a ring. An infinity symbol became two leaves, and soon enough a flower was added and some vines. The design really developed and grew as the process went on and the amazing gentlemen helping us were very patient, kind and encouraging. My husband went for a simple band with a slight lift which he planned to create a pattern depicting four stars, one for each year of marriage, and a central moon. Once we were happy with our designs, we started making our rings.
We started out my cutting our bands thickness, and then filing down the edges so they were smooth. I also drew out my shapes on silver plates which were then cut out for me and I filed back. I started with my little leaves first (they were so fiddly!) and I was then encouraged to add a flower. My flower was curved for me but I got to watch and be apart of the whole process. My band was sized to my finger of choice and then everything was put together. I had a lot of help but really enjoyed the process of everything coming together.
My husband on the other hand had his ring band bent to his desired shape and then he was taught how to use special chisel pieces which formed his desired star shapes. Now making silver has a little bit of a leaning curve which meant that it took my husband a few goes to get his ring to look the way he wanted. As hubby had never made a ring before, I wasn’t expecting perfect but I really love the way his ring came out. He really did a good job and it’s imperfect just like we are.
Once our rings were done, they were dropped in an acid bath followed by a sand, buff and polish. Due to us having left over silver, we were kindly made another ring; a wave shape design for my husband as he was gifting me his creation. I’m so happy he got a little ring for himself and the design was really fun. When we were handed our final rings I loved how mine and the hubby’s came out. Although this is not my normal go to design, I actually really like wearing mine and it feels really comfortable. Although I’m normally a pretty dainty jewellery person, it’s the experience and background of this ring that I love so much.
When we were leaving the studio, we both agreed that this was a great activity and we loved having so much creative freedom. I’m really happy with the way our lesson was laid out and even more so that we were the only ones booked for the morning session so we got a lot more attention and time working on everything. If you find yourself in Bali or Ubud, I’d definitely recommend checking out WS Art Studio if you plan on making your own jewellery but keep in mind there are heaps of other studios. We chose WS because they gave us more artistic freedom and creativity but certainly shop around.
Making custom rings was a lovely way to spend our anniversary. I made myself a dress just for the occasion and we wore our rings the rest of the trip. Even as I type this, I am looking down at both of the rings we made and it’s an experience I’ll recommend to anyone. If you plan to use SeekSophie, they were great to deal with and had so many unique experiences available. The cost of this experience was around $42 per person which included the lesson and 10 grams of silver to use for your jewellery. We definitely thought the experience was worth what we got and such an experience at home would have been much more out of our budget. There are definitely a range of prices for these types of classes so I would recommend looking around before booking your own experience. I’d highly recommend the WS Art Studio in Ubud in case you can’t decide on your own.
Since it was my anniversary, I decided to do something a little bit special and make my dress. Yes I know I look absolutely sweaty and red in these images but I’m actually quite comfortable in my home made dress. I have a full review on this pattern here for those interested. Plus there are more photos of the dress on there where I don’t look so flushed.
Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.