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I built 16 houses in about a month! OK, so they're very little houses. There's not much here by way of woodworking skill or difficulty. Still, there is a fair amount of tedious and repetitive work.

These are 16 maple Christmas tree ornaments in the shape of a house. The story behind these is as follows. Hurricane Irene hit the east coast in 2011 and it was a pretty destructive storm. We still owned my parents' home at the time and the maple tree in the back yard lost a significantly sized limb. As I cut the limb into manageable logs, something moved me to keep three of them. I brought them home, band sawed them into rough boards and stored them (stickered) in my shed for two years. When a moisture meter indicated the boards were at about 7%, I milled them into finished lumber boards. As you can imagine, the yield was not great (photos #5 and #6) but still, I knew I could make something from them and during the "drying years" I had decided to make a small gift for each of my parents' 16 grandchildren. I kept putting off the project until, this year, I resolved to do it. I have two daughters. I asked both of them, independently, what I might make, given the limited supply of maple. They both suggested a tree ornament.

Knowing how much the grandkids enjoyed family gatherings at the old homestead, I came up with the idea of a house ornament and thought it might be nice to include the house number. I made a template of the house shape from 1/8 inch Baltic birch and cut most of the house shape at the band saw and the numbers at the scroll saw. I ran into a snag when I realized I would lose the center of the zero! Plan B was to use the template for the shape of the house and then temporarily glue printed numbers on the pieces for scroll sawing. To save time and effort I used double stick tape to do the sawing in pairs. I used the disc section of my belt/disc sander to refine the rough cuts as well as some hand sanding and filing. I added a thin piece of maple behind the zero and glued the centers to it. I then sanded that support piece even thinner.

The finish is several coats of spray shellac and a coat of Howard's Feed n Wax.

My siblings and I have fond memories of growing up in that house and our children have similar memories of time spent visiting Nana and Grandpa. With these little ornaments, they will always have a piece or a part of that home to cherish. And, they can pass them on to their children, etc. I presented the ornaments at a family Christmas party yesterday and they were well received.

Gallery

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That is what I would call "Labor of love"! That is really awesome.

Every year when they put up the tree they will remember and tell fun filled stories of their grandparents.

Your he best Uncle they could ask for Lenny. Christmas is not about receiving, it is about giving!

Thank you for sharing this story and your talents with us

Merry Christmas to you and all your family!!

Steve
 

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very nice work, they will enjoy those ornaments for years to come.
 

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Gr8 story and momento's Lenny.
 

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Very Thoughtful Project and Gift Idea Lenny…
Well Done, and a Very Merry Christmas to You and Yours!
 

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Hello Lenny
you are a fantastic builder !!! 16 houses in a month Woaou !

Nice work and great story

Thanks for sharing
 

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Thank you Steve. Merry Christmas to you and yours. Thank you Tooch and Roger. Thank you Mike and Merry Christmas to you also.
 

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Great story Lenny, nice work on saving apart of family history. It goes to show that trees can talk.
 

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Wow, what an awesome gift. I always thought the idea of using wood that was from your own land would be amazing. Great work friend.
 

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Many thanks Wilson and Cathie.
 

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Fun project. These will be treasured for a long time.
 

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Matt, my daughters and nieces/nephews were genuinely touched by these gifts.
 
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