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Thread: Quick gift ideas for Chrissy
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20th December 2013, 10:41 AM #1
Quick gift ideas for Chrissy
Well... it's approaching that time of year again (ie. I finally noticed that whopping great banner at the top of the forum pages) and it has been quite some time since I last posted any of the indignities I have put my lathes through.
So I spent a coupla days in the shed seeing what I could come up with to address both situations.
PC190002.jpg
In the past I've found that lidded jars always seem to be popular, esp. with people who like to cook. As I always seem to have an excess of empty Moccona coffee jars laying to hand... well... All timbers sourced from the firewood pile & silastic'd onto the original glass lids. Yellow Box, Ironbark & Redgum. I suspect that the large one in the back may be Vic Ash; it was one of many aliens in the woodpile, flying under false colours.
The 'thermos' started as a $2 anodised water bottle. The top ring and bottom cap are also aliens from the woodpile - I'll refrain from trying to make an ID - and are glued to the upper lower/edges of the leather. When the leather is unlaced the bottle is easily removed for cleaning or whatever.
The... ummm... "Chrissy Tree decos" were spun up from Jarrah & Radiata offcuts. The one on the left took a whole 15 minutes, to show a bloke the basic idea behind 'em. Just a solid Jarrah ball with chunky pine finials. The ringed one on the right is my showing him how I do things... and took the best part of a couple of hours.
It weighs a fraction of the other as the ball was hollowed out to scary thin and weighs in at not much more than a glass one! I'm a tad peeved at myself for not removing the thickness of the 'ring' from the circumference of the ball before gluing it in... now it looks egg-shaped rather than round. Also, I am not overly enamoured of the finials - I can and have turned much better, although I always struggle with 'em - but give me a break. Radiata, remember? I consider myself lucky to end up with four finials out of only four attempts, using the stuff.
So... all up I estimate that I'm out of pocket a whole $2 for the lot, not including the 'base' turning costs which are always incurred, such as time, power, wear'n'tear, grits and finishes. A pretty cheap day, given the results.
What odds 'n ends and scraps 'n sods do YOU have laying around in your shed that can be used to take the edge off this seasonal financial crisis?
PS: Should anyone with eagle eyes zoom in and notice that some of those jar lids show 'excess' wear'n'tear... well... guilty as charged, yer Honour. As fast as I make those jars they head out the door. So I resorted to substituting a couple of the users from our own kitchen to represent what I've done. But I really did turn others at the same time! Honest injun!
- Andy Mc
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20th December 2013 10:41 AM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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20th December 2013, 05:06 PM #2
Andy, I did a run of Bud Vases from offcuts in the scrap bin. The girls at work were happy with their xmas presents.
Pat
Work is a necessary evil to be avoided. Mark Twain
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20th December 2013, 05:36 PM #3Retired
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You smmooooth talking Devil.
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20th December 2013, 08:44 PM #4
I like what you have come up with. As I do not drink coffee it is going to be a challenge to get hold of one. Who knows maybe some other type of jars, chilli for instance(not the one with the nuts).
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20th December 2013, 08:51 PM #5SENIOR MEMBER
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What a nice creative way to quickly and simply add value to something fairly ordinary
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20th December 2013, 09:20 PM #6
Well that and his wiffy asking for something to give to a coworker for christmas.
They are from the thermos, Mountain Ash, Mango, Mountain Ash, Redgum and Yellow box; with the decos, out of Jarrah and Pine. An Ironbark and a Jarrah were given to our neighbour who fancied them. He's been busy
The Crissy present for a coworker. We thought at the last second to add a fishing spinner so it'd continue to spin for longer, but didn't have one on hand. This just means the set for our christmas tree will be much improved
Or up on the shelf! Hey, I married a woodturner for the pretties, cant give ALL of them away! Especially when they're Useful!
I got alot of the offcuts from a 'firewood' bin that a local timber yard puts out once in a while. Also scored Cypress flooring, Spalted Merbau, figured Jarrah, Blackwood, and a whole lot of pine offcuts for the homework gave me.
Merry Christmas!
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20th December 2013, 09:25 PM #7Retired
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homework gave me.
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21st December 2013, 02:23 PM #8Novice
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Presies for rellies
my rellies say I am a cheapskate if I give them something I have turned The call it "Home made". So they all get a box of bickies, and friends who like what I make get the turnings.
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21st December 2013, 09:10 PM #9
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24th December 2013, 04:38 PM #10GOLD MEMBER
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G'day
A week ago I gave the owner of our favourite Italian restaurant a nice laminated crushgrind peppergrinder and a few of my cards as a christmas present and ask him to refer any admireing customers to me.Today we had lunch there and he's still using his crappy grinder . I asked why he wasn't using my one and his reply was that it was too good to use in the resstaurant. So much for my promo .
Ted
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24th December 2013, 10:18 PM #11
That's bloody stupid! When you give someone a turning you had to do more than just walk down to Kmart and hand over $10.
You had to:
1) remember the person
2) remember what they like or don't like
3) go to the woodpile and actually use a piece that you've been nursing for years
4) come up with, given the wood, what to make
5) make the piece and depending on the size, complexity, wood type etc it could take a very long time especially if the wood is cranky and you have to make many attempts
6) properly finish and polish the piece
7) carefully package the piece and deliver
Spending money doesn't mean you care, while making something with your hands costs the most expensive thing you have, time.
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25th December 2013, 11:12 AM #12Retired
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I ABSOLUTELY agree with this.
For years I've simply gone with the crowd and been disgusted at the grotesque commercialisation of Christmas. Well, any holiday really. (I'm a militant atheist, but I do like ceremony and the fantasy of Santa for the kids)
It really gets my goat when people think that spending $15 at Kmart on a hurriedly chosen object somehow represents caring, or thought, or RESPECT.... After all, nothing says love like a plastic thing burped in bulk from a polluting machine in regional China.
This year I did the right thing. I made a large number of things. Cutting boards, pens (thanks to Corbs and Delbs!), a few bowls, etc. Nothing extraordinary, but they were MY EFFORT and time.
I hope people like them, but then again, if they don't that will be OK (it's art, and one cannot force a person to like your art) but I do know it means far more giving-wise than some arbitrary and quick purchase with a credit card.
What was very nice, we went out to quite a few markets and there were a few vendors selling hand made things that seemed to go well. Some of the vendors were being modest when I discussed sales volumes (I must look like the gestapo), but I think more people are looking for unique objects for gifts.
Let's hope that Christmas does get back to kids getting a single gift of a dad-made snow toboggan as a gift rather than an Xbox with 23 games. Fantasy perhaps, but so is Christmas. (might go watch Citizen Kane!)
Happy Festivus!
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26th December 2013, 01:41 PM #13
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26th December 2013, 01:55 PM #14
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26th December 2013, 04:25 PM #15Deceased
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