Quick Christmas ornament project

[Monty]

Quick little project - made a snowman ornament for each of my kids, then let them add the finishing touches with a Sharpie. Example:

Scrap maple, with walnut top hat. Turned out even better than I expected!

 

[McRabbet]

Cute and I'm sure the kids were thrilled to participate! I hope you put their names on the bottoms of each one so they'll know their own when they are grown up!

Rob

 

[DaveO]

Monty, I love it!! My daughter just watched Frosty the Snowman for the first time and realy enjoyed it. I think that I may have to "steal" your idea, she would love it.
Dave

BTW, nice job :icon_thum

 

[jeff...]

Speaking of that - I really need to get in the Christmas Spirit - nothing does it better than watching the orginal it's a wonderful life, in black and white of course. :drunken_s

Cool snow man :icon_thum

 

[Splinter]

Nice Monty. :eusa_clap I bet they will be keepsakes for your kids. Good to get them involved.

 

[NCPete]

I simply have to learn how to turn! Those are great ideas, and an easy way to cover all my nieces and nephews.

 

[michaelgarner]

pete,
come over this weekend and we will knock out our christmas gifts. I have a lot of cutoffs.

 

[NCPete]

cool! Saturday should be a short day for me

 

[michaelgarner]

I will glue some blanks this week. You will catch on quick, its fun turning. But I'm not responsible for what you buy after you spend a day turning. :icon_thum

 

[skeeter]

Nice looking snowman and gettingthe kids involved is what it's all about!!

 

[clowman]

Nice work Monty.. I think officially,... I'm gonna steal that....

 

[NZAPP1]

Same here I am using the design and making some:icon_thum

 

[Monty]

Thanks for all the comments. It really is a simple project. Since some people have expressed an interest in doing this, I'll point out a few things to keep in mind....

- Watch the weight! Heavy ornaments can really sag your boughs, and hardwoods are heavy even at this small scale. The snowmen I made are 2½" tall, and are OK in terms of weight but I wouldn't want them to be any heavier. I have heard of making ornaments out of basswood, but I don't have any of that stuff.

- Sharpies bleed. To keep the ink from bleeding into the wood fibers, I applied a couple of coats of spray lacquer before I let the kids loose with the Sharpies. Then I sprayed a couple of top coats of lacquer after the designs were complete.

- I soaked the knot in the "scarf" with a couple drops of thin CA glue to keep the knot from coming undone.

 

[NZAPP1]

Thanks for the info Monty:icon_thum That will help with the project. Now to see if I have some basswood :eusa_thin

 

[sapwood]

Very creative Monty and a great way to share the Xmas spirit :icon_thum

Roger

 

[woodguy1975]

Looks like a great project dude. Very good idea for the kids.

 

[Travis Porter]

I wondered about the weight. Basswood is pretty common at hobby shops. Cypress would probably be a good light weight wood as well.

I may whip out the lathe and make one for my little girl. She gets a kick out of "helping" finish stuff.

Nice job Monty.

 

[cskipper]

In addition to having them write their names on the bottom, be sure to put the year. They are cute.