Most of the projects I make are for gifts or charity. But every once in a while I make a project just for me. I think this one is a keeper. This is a Patrick Speilman and James Reidel pattern. It is made from 1/4” baltic Birch plywood.

First, I want to give credit where credit is due. The pattern for this project came from Steve Good. Steve produces a blog for scrollers and offers a ton of free patterns. If you haven’t yet checked out his blog I would encourage you to do so at http://scrollsawworkshop.blogspot.com/.

Some of you may remember the crayon dogs I posted last month. Well this is the second such project that I have made this year for two different charities that I support. There is a local organization called Christmas Toy Shop that provides toys for under priviliged children and a second organization that provides toys to children in the hospital with cancer.

A quick note about the production. Steve’s pattern is designed to be cut from a standard 2×4. I found if you lay the pattern out right, you can get about two trucks per linear foot of lumber. So I got 10 truck bodies out a 5 foot 2×4! I also found that when I drilled for a through axel, I could slip a dowel through the axel holes and by holding the dowels I could stain all side of the truck at one time. Proped up on two running 2×4 held them up off of the table to dry. When it came time to spray on a finish you can spray the top then flip them over and spray the bottom. What a time saver.

Let me know what you think.

Don

I have been married to the same wonderful woman for 31 years now and I wouldn’t change a day of the entire experience. Last year was our 30th and yellow roses were our signature flower at our wedding because they are my wife’s favorite flower.

So, last year when I saw this pattern by Robert Anderson, I knew I just had to make it for my wife. The wood is yellow heart. I enhanced the color just a bit on the box with some yellow stain to get the color just right.

I haven’t posted any projects for a while so I thought I would share. I hope you like it.

Don

I call this an “experiment box” because that is exactly what it started out to be; an experiment.

I wanted to try making finger joints. I had purchased a jig that I had never used. I set it up, took some scrap pine out of the wood bin and gave it a try. They turned out fitting pretty well (just don’t look too closely) so I trimmed the boards into dimensions I could use to make a box.

I cut panels for the top and bottom but decided I didn’t want just a flat top. So I tried chamfering the edges of the top. I kind of liked that but the top was till too plain. So I used a pattern by Kathy Wise and segmented a poinsettia into the top panel. A little sanding and some dremel work later, I kind of liked that …

I really wanted a true red for the box so I decided to try a water-based stain that I found at a local woodworking dealer. That turned out pretty nicely so I decided to try some forest green gell stain for the green top. Well, that went …well, so I invested in a little hardware.

Several experiments later … it turned out Ok. Just don’t look too closely …

Don

Crayon Dogs are a simple toy project that make great presents for children. But I have also found that adults like them as well to have around when the grandkids come over. I originally made 13 of these. 3 were spoke for immediately by my mother-in-law for presents for her friends. 5 I painted for a local charity that provides holiday gifts for children in the hospital with cancer. 5 went unpainted to a project called the Christmas Toy Shop.

The Christmas Toy Shop is a really exciting charity where they combine the talents of local carfts people into great gifts for under-priviledged children. For example, I make the crayon dogs and take them unpainted to the toy shop. There is a painting club that takes the dogs fromt he toy shop and paints them into beautiful dogs. Finally the toy shop uses donations to add the crayons and coloring books. Our woodworking club also makes doll beds. The painting club paints flowers and pictures on the beds. A sewing club sews the bed linens, pillows etc. And finally a charity group provides the dolls. All of the presents made go to local children who would otherwise not have any presents for Christmas.

Don

Have you ever received a present from someone and thought to yourself, “I should really give this to my friend. He (or she) could really use this?” Or remember that re-gifted fruitcake at Christmas that is probably 100 years old by now because it just keeps being passed (re-gifted) from person to person? Well, here is a gift that is SUPPOSED to be re-gifted.

These little puzzles are no bigger than a business card and they only have about 6 pieces each. These particular ones have Christian messages that are intended to inspire or bring peace. I give them away in a tiny mesh bag (like rice comes in at weddings) and the tag says “Play with and enjoy your puzzle. Keep it as long as you like. Then pass it along to someone else.” (The tag also says “Caution: small parts – Choking Hazard Do Not Give To Small Children.” But that’s just because I am a Safety Guy by profession.)

The idea is that people enjoy getting presents but they also enjoy giving presents. Give them something fun that they will enjoy giving away. And if the message or image on the puzzle brings joy, fun, peace or laughter … all the better. Enjoy Don

My mother is living in an assisted living facility. She asked for a bird feeder for Mother’s Day to place in their garden. I found the plans on a 4H site on the internet. This was a very easy build and a lot of fun. There were only 2 things I added to the plans. The first was a mounting board on the back of the feeder that reinforced the back for mounting and allowed the lid to raise up without being jammed by the mounting post or tree. The second was a small wedge in bottom of the seed bin that directs the seeed to the opening in the front under the plexiglass. Don

I actually made these Easter crosses last year for my family. I came across the pictures because another woodworker had asked about the boxes I also made for the crosses so I thought I would go ahead and post this in my projects list. The pattern is by Sue Mey. I designed the box for storage of the crosses during the off season. Don

I made this last summer for my Church. The pattern is by Santomarco Enzo and was published in Scrollsaw Woodworking and Crafts Spring 2007. The article included the plans for the frame. The portrait is Baltic birch plywood and the frame is solid birch that has been stained.

A close friend of mine is celebrating a milestone birthday this week. She loves horses so I thought this Rearing Horse Sun Catcher would make a great gift for her. The wood is canary wood and the colors in the first picture are pretty true. Several coats of srpay lacquer and a leather strap to hang it with finished the project. The pattern is by Jacob Fowler and was published in Creative Woodworks and Crafts January 2007 edition.

The weather finally warmed up in Florida long enough for me to finish my Valentines.

The first pattern is by Joe Preston and was published in Creative Woodworks and Crafts April 2006. The pattern is fantastic and is based on German paper cutting techniques called “Scherenshnitte.” A lot of detailed fretwork make this a very special valentine.

The second pattern is a simple design by Tom Zeig and was published in a book called Scroll Saw Christmas Ornaments. I stack cut a lot of these as remembrances for my mother to hand out to her fellow residents at her assisted living facility.