Wedding Blog

During the two months I was “waiting” for Mr. Cubbie to officially propose, my mind wandered [fairly] often to rings. Big surprise, eh? Which of you couldn’t stop trolling eBay and Etsy and millions of other resources for engagement ring inspiration?

Mr. Cubbie was really good about my new hobby - he especially was trying to figure out if I wanted a diamond or another stone! Before I post about my engagement ring, I want to post about his engagement ring. I got kind of sick of thinking about the bling that would sooner or later be on my finger. A finger I’ve never worn jewelry on. Actually, I rarely ever wear rings at all! Don’t get me wrong - I was still happily giddy at the thought of the eternal (sparkly!) sentiment I could always peer at on my hand! The trouble is, I get a little uncomfortable when all attention is on me. Why should I be the only one getting an engagement ring? Why should I be the only one to shove my left hand in someone’s face as evidence of my new bridal gang sign?

To avoid the weightiness of someone thinking of me, I decided to craft my own little engagement surprise for Mr. Cubbie! I planned a weekend at home with my dad to hand-craft a wooden engagement ring!

My dad’s a pretty decent woodsmith - when I was a kid, he made all my toy trucks (yes, trucks! ) and rocking horses from scratch in his “shoppe” called The Elf Works. He didn’t make much when my siblings and I were in high school, but recently he’s been crafting elaborate cutting boards like these:

Etsy, you rock!

Even though he’s what I consider a master craftsman (of course! he’s my dad ), when I popped the idea of father-daughter DIY ring-making, he was a little nervous of his skills. One of my friends from college made me a wood ring, and I watched him make it, so I told my dad all I knew. You need a lathe, though!

From what I saw, you take a small block of wood (approximately 4 cubic inches on the side?), and affix it into the lathe. Set it spinning. Take one of the lathe tools, and slowly work half of the block down to a cylinder (the other half is necessary to keep the block affixed in the lathe). A ring isn’t 2 inches wide though, so there can be error in “height of cylinder” here. Once you’ve shaved off enough wood such that the height of the cylinder is relatively small (~ 1 in), then begin working on the inside. I think there should be another side to the lathe, perhaps something that resembles a drill bit? Bore a hole into the center of the cylinder (not too large, as the internal diameter will need to be a little smaller than the diameter of the ring finger — make it more accurate later by hand-sanding). Now the work with sanding begins. Take (roughly) coarse-grain sand paper. While the lathe is turning, sand the outside and edges of “ring”. The “ring” should now resemble a cylinder affixed to a wood block with a cylindrical hole bore in the center. Sanding the edges will make it smooth/rounded. Continue sanding, and increase grain density with sand paper (i.e. go towards more fine-grain). I think at this point, to work on the other side of the ring, it would be possible to take a very small/narrow lathe tool, and work down the other edge of the ring. This might not be entirely necessary, though. Once a desired outer diameter + (slightly larger than) inner diameter has been achieved, use a fine lathe tool (while the lathe is running) to detach the “ring” from the wood block. The finishing of the ring needs to be done by hand-sanding. Then oil (with olive oil?), and then seal, if desired. I believe it’s possible to do inlay (or to do two woods together), but I’m not the expert with that, these people are.

The weekend after we got back from Thailand, I flew to my parents’ home in Oklahoma for some good father-daughter DIY fun! (And some mom-sister bridal gown shopping madness!!) The size of his finger was a little tricky to figure out on the DL, but we got pretty close with our vernier caliper! What do you think?

Photo credit: Poppa Bear

We made two rings - one slightly large, and one slightly small, just in case the sizing was too off. The larger ring was also a little wider, so we put some beveled lines around it.

The day after I got back from my parents’ home, I couldn’t wait to “pop the question” to Mr. Cubbie! I have to admit, I felt a little sheepish! Especially considering he had proposed to me two weeks earlier. I even called his mom the night before, to “ask her permission” to propose to him ;). I’m very very lucky in the world of mother-in-laws—MIL Bear Cub is the sweetest ever, and thought it was cute of me to ask :).

So in my un-rehearsed, un-coordinated way, that night I put the ring in my pocket as we walked to the post office in our cute town of Mesilla, NM. Under the wide starry skies of Mesilla, I asked him if he would marry me, and I gave him the ring I made with my dad. And he said yes, too - he proudly wears it every day!

How did you feel about the moral weight of your engagement ring? Did you/would you try to give your fiancé an engagement ring of his own?