Having made an olive server, using my new gouge, I thought it would be good to use some of the remaining wood to make a spreader and olive fork. After cutting a length off, the first thing I did was split the wood down the middle. Here, you can clearly see the rotted out core … Continue reading Wood carving: completing the set
crafting
This year’s decorations; what’s working, and what isn’t!
I've already posted photos of dehydrating orange slices and using them to make decorations for Christmas this year. I will post more on those in a moment. The other experiment I tried was to make a baking soda and cornstarch dough (which I wrote about here), which was supposed to be good to roll out … Continue reading This year’s decorations; what’s working, and what isn’t!
This year’s decorations, in the works
Today, I finally started working on the Christmas decorations I was planning to make with the dehydrated orange slices I'd prepared earlier. Of course, things didn't work out to plan! π Do they ever? π I was going to use cinnamon sticks, plus some little decorations I'd saved from Christmas crackers over the years - … Continue reading This year’s decorations, in the works
This year’s decorations start: dehydrated orange slices
For many years, I would craft new decorations for our Christmas tree. It was a good opportunity to use small projects to try out new techniques and ideas. Our tree is basically a mad chaos of different styles and materials, and I love it! Life got in the way, and I stopped doing this for … Continue reading This year’s decorations start: dehydrated orange slices
Wood carving: lilac wood hair pin
I am actually not sure I would even call making this hair pin "carving"! I used the natural shape of the piece of wood, and just sort of whittled away a bit. The wood was already very close to the size needed. I didn't take a "before" picture, but you can see what the branch … Continue reading Wood carving: lilac wood hair pin
Spoon carving progress
Today, I got some really good progress on my practice carving, using the spoon blank that came with my carving kit. Also, the basement is nice and cool. π I was down to cutting the last few divots out of the morel mushroom on the end of the spoon, so that didn't take long. I … Continue reading Spoon carving progress
First attempt at wood carving
I just couldn't wait to try out the new carving knives! I ended up using only two of them, though. After looking at the bits and pieces in the basement, I chose a small piece of lilac to practice on. It is resting on the leather breastplate my husband made for me. I was not … Continue reading First attempt at wood carving
Recommended: XiaoXi’s Culinary Idyll
Welcome to my βRecommendedβ series of posts. These will be weekly β for now β posts about resources and sites I have found over the past while that I found so excellent, I want to share them with you, my dear readers. π Whether or not I continue to post these, and how often they … Continue reading Recommended: XiaoXi’s Culinary Idyll
More Lilac Wood, in progress
Our windy day continues! While we have a few millimeters of rain predicted for this evening, as I type this, I am hearing thunder rolling, and just saw a flash of lightning out my window! Here's hoping we don't loose power while I'm working on this post! π I have continued working on the section … Continue reading More Lilac Wood, in progress
Lilac wood
A storm last year damaged a lot of trees and bushes around the yard, including breaking off a large piece of a double lilac my mother planted in the little garden by the old kitchen. Noticing the beautiful pattern in the wood, I set the pieces aside for later. Today was "later." π I brought … Continue reading Lilac wood