And people love their wares

When these woodworking elves hit the streets to spread their goods around town, it’s only the most Grinch-like person who isn’t amazed when faced with a freshly turned item that has been lovingly and carefully produced from a rough blank of wood. The precisely shaped edges and beautiful flowing curves come together with any brightly painted surfaces to guarantee a smile at first sight.

My turning experience

I’ve turned a few things in my life. Two things to be exact. The head of a mallet and the handle that fit into that head. In my mind, it’s a stunningly beautiful turning and incredibly functional piece of art that has impressed at least two people since I made it 29 years ago. One was my mom, who, in hindsight, has always been easily impressed by my work. My wife also casually said she likes it.

It’s about as utilitarian of a turning as you’ll ever see, but it works great at applying a bit of added force to a chisel or carving gouge when called upon. Safe to say, I don’t put myself in the same category as all the other turners who are carefully and frantically working right now.

My new ornaments

Last weekend we visited my in-laws. We looked through their collection of ornaments, most of which are family heirlooms at this point. They’ve always taken Christmas ornament collecting very seriously, and have an impressive and beautiful collection to show for it. But at this stage they’re hoping to share some of these ornaments with their family, as there’s not a Nova Scotia spruce strong enough to hold all of them.

There were beautiful, colourful glass ornaments. There were many ornaments made by kids over the years, some with handprints, others with photos. There were a lot of ornaments purchased on trips abroad that bring back good memories. There were also lots of ornaments that were gifted to them.

But it was the turned wooden ornaments that caught my eye. I was immediately shocked to see such beautifully made turnings. The walls of the wooden bells were almost thin enough to see through, yet showed no signs of weakness. Their edges were all extremely crisp, yet not at all chipped or uneven. All of the ornaments showed beautiful design sense from the maker. They were all light, yet strong. There was no chipping or tearing anywhere, and the finish (both inside and out) was smooth to the touch and looked perfect. It was obvious that this turning elf not only had great skill, but also took great care in making these little gems. These were the ornaments I wanted to take home, which my mother-in-law was more than happy to oblige.

Who made them?

My mother-in-law recalled when she got all of them. Years ago, she was at an art show that had an auction. Everyone was bidding on the other ornaments, but for some strange reason, nobody was bidding on these wooden ornaments. She put her name on them and won an entire tree’s worth of wooden ornaments; likely about 100 wooden bells, icicles, acorns and mini bird houses. She had no idea who the maker was and there’s really no way to figure that out at this stage.

Have you ever come across some wooden ornaments that were very carefully designed and made? Who was the maker? Or maybe you feel you’ve made some ornaments that fall into this category. Comment below or email me photos. I’d love to see some of the great works of art that have been made over the years.