It’s not unusual for leaded glass in a residential entryway to have rosettes over the solder joints as a decorative feature.

When restoring a window, we often replace the old lead with new. Unless it has a protective covering, lead is typically replaced every hundred years.

If the window has rosettes, we’ll replace them as well.

To replace rosettes, I find the best original one and make a mold with a heat-resistant material. Then, it’s a simple matter of heating scrap lead to its melting point, and pouring it into the mold.

Sounds easy enough, but the trick is to pour just the right amount so it fills the void in the mold. If it overflows, we have to trim the excess or remelt the rosette and start over.

Either way, it’s not a big deal.

When teaching someone else how to make rosettes, they often ask me, “What if I mess one up? ” I always tell them you’ll mess quite a few up, but that’s okay. Then I found one they made that was near perfect and asked them to make the rest just like this one.

Creativity is fun when one knows they can play around without being judged. Then, they realize they can create what is needed because they have already made one.