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2011 Woodcarving Illustrated Forum Christmas Ornament Exchange

Dec 242011

It’s Christmas Eve and the 2011 Woodcarving Illustrated Forum Christmas Ornament Exchange has come to an end with all ornaments prepared and delivered. It has been a really fun endeavor participating in the ornament exchange for the first time. Last year I didn’t make the deadline, but this year I made sure that I got in early and had several ornaments ready to go early on.

I exchanged with 17 other wood carvers of all skill levels. Only one ornament is yet to arrive, but it is due to a family illness for one of our wood carving friends. The ornaments were all very enjoyable to receive and there was a fun anticipation when checking the mail each day. It felt like when I was a kid and longed to get mail. When mail arrived for me, it was so exciting.

Here are pictures of the 16 ornaments that I received in the exchange, along with the names of the wood carvers:

: loretta jonson ornament

: rusty peterson ornament

: bob kozawiewicz ornament

: harold mohr ornament

: jayson molitor ornament

: sean reynolds ornament

: deborah matias ornament

: robert cahill ornament

: steve reed ornament

: colin partridge ornament

: Wayne Smith ornament

: Tom Hindes ornaments

: jim brumm ornament

: carol levy ornament

: bob langan ornament

: jim mischel ornament

Hand Carved Santa Claus Earrings

Wood Carving Projects No Responses »

Nov 272011

I saw an article in Woodcarving Illustrated last year about how carvers can use scrap wood from other projects to make really neat small carvings. The carver that wrote the article, used some scraps to make earrings. So I took my Santa Claus carvings and shrunk them to the size of an earring.

My wife loved them. I gave them to her as a gift. Although they are slightly large for her ears, they still look really cool.

Hand Carved Santa Claus Earrings

Hand Carved Snowman Ornament Tutorial

Beginner Wood Carving Information, Wood Carving Projects, Wood Carving Studies/Tutorials 1 Response »

Nov 062011

It’s beginning to look like Christmas time again and therefore carvers are changing their focus towards carving Christmas ornaments, snowmen and santas. One of my favorite Christmas time carvings is to carve some really simple hand carved snowman ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree. If you like carving or are just beginning to show an interest, try out this simple beginner wood carving project.

Start by finding a branch that is about 1″ in diameter and about 4″ long. For best results, allow the branch to dry naturally for a few weeks. If you don’t time to wait, place the branch in a warm, dry place for at least a day. Trim the branch flush on both ends and remove the bark. Now divide the stick into three sections (2″ piece, 1 1/2″ piece and 1 1/4″ piece). After this process, the three pieces should look similar to this:

Hand Carved Snowman Ornament - raw pieces

Woodcarving Illustrated Christmas Ornament Exchange

Wood Carving Projects No Responses »

Oct 022011

Well I finally got into the WCI Christmas Ornament Exchange this year. I was so frustrated last year because I found out about it too late to participate. Then I got the thinking about whether or not I felt that I would be able to carve enough ornaments for an exchange in the first place.

This year I got my name in quickly and was confident that I could do enough Santa Ornaments. We ended the entry process with 19 people including one ornament for the magazine.

Here are the 19 Santa Ornaments that I carved for the exchange. They are all lined up ready to be packaged and shipped out to their new owners.

: More Hand Carved Santa Ornaments

: Hand Carved Santa Ornaments

Hand Carved Wooden Santa Ornament Tutorial

Beginner Wood Carving Information, Wood Carving Projects, Wood Carving Studies/Tutorials 1 Response »

Aug 242011

It’s almost Christmas time again and it’s time to start thinking about decorating the tree soon and what gifts you need to get to your loved ones. An awesome wood carving project that even the beginner can have fun completing, is a hand carved Santa Ornament. These really fun wood carved ornaments can be completed with just a small cylinder piece of wood (2 ½” long and 1” diameter), a carving knife and a small v-tool. They make great ornaments to hang on your own tree or to give as gifts for your loved ones trees. Trust me, you will be asked to carve more when you start handing these things out.

Safety is very important, so to start off this simple project, make sure your wood carving knife is sharp and you have your carving glove ready. Your first step is to mark a ring around the wood about 1/3 from the top of the block. Now draw in a line about a 1/4” above the previous line. Now with your v-tool, create a small separation around the wood that removes the lines that you just drew. When this is completed, it should look like this (click on images for larger view):