Holiday Gift Questions

[peter halle]

Happy Holidays!

I am starting this thread here because I hope that it will stimulate all of you to describe small or LARGE projects that could be made as gifts.  Here we go.

The Holiday season will soon be here and woodworkers have been making gifts ever since the first tool was made.  Although it is fun to receive, the old saying is that it is better to give.  Hopefully answers to the following questions will give ideas to those who are looking for a project.  Please give a description and other Foggers, please feel free to ask questions.  Have fun with this.  Visitors to the Forum are encouraged to register and post also.

1.  If you have made gifts for friends or family, what has been your favorite gift project?

2.  What is the one gift project that you would like to make before you hang up your tools?

3.  What woodworking gift would you wish that someone would make for you?

Please in the spirit of the Forum (which is to share information), and also in the spirit of the season, share your stories.  You may help make someone else's holiday season brighter.

Peter

 

[danrush]

I save up all the little ( 6" or so ) pieces of scrap from my installs.  Then on Thanksgiving weekend, I make a KA-BILLION  little gift boxes (OK, maybe more like 2-3 dozen) .  They range from 3" x 3" to 4" x 6", or so.  My honey uses them for small gifts filled with candy for her co-workers year round, and I use them for gift card holders for the kids.  They're a fun little touch that doesn't cost a dime.

Dan

 

[peter halle]

Dan,

Thanks for sharing - this weekend is your time.  I am sure you will describe your methods afterward won't you. [laughing]

Peter

 

[peter halle]

Hey Scrooges...

 

[peter halle]

I certainly didn?t want to be posting so soon in this thread, but maybe it will encourage others.  I rarely have made projects as gifts over the last 25+ years, but I have done a few.

Many years ago, after seeing an article in Wood magazine I decided to try my had at carving wooden Santa Clauses.  I made one the first year and gave it to my Mom in its unfinished state.  She made me sign and date it.  It wasn?t the prettiest ornamant on the tree, but over the next few years it developed a patina mainly caused by being handled ? and not by me.

About 9 years ago, I got interested in turning wooden pens.  I didn?t, and still don?t have a lathe.  I found a neat plastic jig that would allow me to ?turn? pens using a router and a router table. I turned well over 100 pens that year.  My Mom was from South Africa, so for her I made a pink ivory pen.  She was ill and for the next 4 years that pen stayed close to her ? under her pillow.  My brothers also got pens.  They use them for special occasions.  My youngest brother used his to sign the contract and all the paperwork when he bought his first home a few years ago. I do send them Mont Blanc refills once a year.

In the fall of 2007 I took a class at the local Woodcraft store to make an acoustical guitar.  The class got you to the point of doing the final sanding and finishing of the guitar.  My wife?s family has always been musical and she wanted this to become a present for her one local brother.  He had been a professional drummer and performed with her other brother (who still writes and performs).  He had talked about wanting to take up the guitar again.

My wife found a t-shirt with the bands logo from the early 70?s.  I scanned the logo from the t-shirt and then using the knowledge from a Woodcraft marquetry class from 1999 went ahead and personalized his guitar with his caricature from the logo.  The woods are birdseye maple and waterfall bubinga.

I never took photos of the pens or Santa.  But here are a couple of others.

Peter

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[johnsonri]

Very nice Peter. I am currently making a small old Ford truck from cutoffs of basswood, purple-heart and black walnut.

I also have a few boxes on my list.

Rey

 

[Dave Ronyak]

I have been making table-top napkin dispensers and cutting boards from short lengths, narrow cut-off strips, etc. that are scraps from cutting larger boards.  Lamination of various woods can produce some beautiful effects.  The only item I have to buy is 1/2 inch dowel rod for the napkin dispensers.  I have also found that people like to receive such items as house warming gifts -- for new home owners.

For the cutting boards that are made by laminating narrow (e.g 3/4 to 1 inch wide strips, I often make them with an integral handle by choosing a longer strip for the middle board.  I round all edges with a 1/4 or 3/8 inch round over bit, and drill a hole though the handle and tie a small loop of rawhide lacing through that hole so the cutting board can be hung up for display if desired.  Finish is simply mineral oil.

Dave R.

 

[richard.selwyn]

It doesn't really qualify as woodworking, but then I'm not technically qualified as a woodworker 
I had a bunch of real slate tiles left over - they were 30cm x 30cm.  I took some scraps of exotic hardwood decking and made square wooden bases about 14 cm x 14cm, glued them on the bottom, wiped the slate with food safe mineral oil and told people they were designer cheese boards.
I sometimes make small piggy bank boxes out of scrap for children - offcuts, a routed slot and 23 gauge pin and glue construction.  Don't know what happens when they want to get the money out....(I always put a coin in to get them going so at least I'm giving them something worth having  [laughing]

Richard