When people first learn about Kintsugi, the first thing that usually goes through their mind is all of the precious things they threw out over the years because they broke them.
Many of us don't keep our broken things, so what happens if you sign up for a Kintsugi experience but don't have anything broken?
Breaking something on purpose for Kintsugi goes against the philosophy of Kintsugi which is to "mend to make new"
I have seen and heard of awful stories of people breaking something that is precious to them on purpose for Kintsugi, only to have their precious item shatter in to a thousand pieces.
In my own experience I have broken things for the purpose of Kintsugi practice too but found that I usually "Over break" my pieces.
But of course, we want to practice on something that is broken so how to we go about that?
Let's start with what to look for...
Ideal pieces to start Kintsugi
For first projects to practice on, I recommend finding a piece that is broken in to no more than 3-4 pieces (2 pieces is ideal!)
Other things are cups with broken or missing handles.
If a section of the handle or even all of the handle is missing we can rebuild those.
Plates with some small breaks.
I do not recommend anything made out of glass for your first time.
So how do we find these things?
1. Take a good look in your kitchen cabinet
I was amazed at how many chipped or cracked things I found in my own possession when I first started looking for them.
2. Talk about Kintsugi with your friends
Once my friends and family learned that I was practicing Kintsugi, they would keep broken things for me to mend.
3. Search / Post on "buy nothing" or community groups
Someone was giving away plates that had cracks in them and so I also put up a post asking if anyone had any broken things for me to collect and sure enough people responded!
4. Salvation army / Second hand shops.
You might find some gems looking through these types of places.
5. Give your ceramic bowl to a toddler.
This one needs no explanation.
I guarantee you will find some things to mend!
If all else fails and you need to break something yourself here is a blog post with some example videos here