Need a little advice, FAST!

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I'm making an artistic piece from metal for my wife for our first year anniversary. It's made up of two interlocking rings (1/4" thick) and letters (made from sheet metal) spelling out "Forever and Ever and Always". I put one "and" in in the middle to tidy it up and not have two and's. I've tacked the letters together in the words "forever" and "ever". My current dilemma is this: I first intended to attach the words to the rings with jb weld. Now I know what you're probably thinking, but I wanted to keep the piece a little cleaner and be able to paint the words before attaching them to the rings. Upon a little further investigation and experimenting with the jb weld, that way seems unstable and will make the whole thing easy to break. I want this to last forever, just like our marriage.I have a Northern Tool MIG/flux core machine and I'm only able to run what I have, which is .030 series flux wire. I don't have much experience with welding really thin material to a thicker material. Just tacking letters together was hard not to blow through the metal even on the lowest heat setting. I really wanna be able to do this and get it all finished and painted up by our anniversary, which is Sunday.Below is a pic of the mockup so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about. (If the pic doesn't show up, try the link below, I'm using my phone to post this) http://i459.photobucket.com/albums/q...AEAAMOCKUP.jpg
Reply:One way to do it would be to drill holes in the center of the letters and plug weld them to the rings. Then grind the welds down smooth and you shouldn't be able to see any welds. Thats just one way to do it with limited skill and time. Happy anniversary.CERTIFICATIONS:7018M- H.V.O10718M- H.V.O11018M- H.V.O9N10- H.V.O71T-1-HYM- H.O.V100S1 PULSE ARC 0,035- H.O.V100S1 PULSE ARC 0.045- H.O.VER70S-3 PULSE ARC 0.035 H.O.VER70S-3 PULSE ARC 0.045 H.O.VER5554- H.O.V
Reply:Thin to thick is tough with the gear you have.  I'm tending to agree with NHMatt.  Rosettes, or plug welds may be easiest.  But only if you can grind them flat without accidentally grinding through the thin section around it.Benson's Mobile Welding - Dayton, OH metro area - AWS Certified Welding Inspector
Reply:The only thing wrong with that is the letters have a curve to them to give them dimension. They don't sit flat on the rings where a plug weld would be ideal. I'm thinking of tacking something small like a piece of 1/4" rod or washers to thickened up the area to be tacked to the rings. I don't mind if I have one small tack at each end of each word.
Reply:You could  call around to a few welding shops and find a spot welder.  Shouldn't cost too much to get them stuck on.Dan
Reply:small self tappers, break or grind off the head. Then,fill and grind as necessary.