Thoughts of Christmas Gifts

I could write some articles about working on your home and getting some nagging jobs done, but I know that you're thinking about something else. For most of us that try to be kind of handy, we are right now trying to figure out ways that we can make some appreciated Christmas gifts rather than going shopping like everyone else.

The trick to this of course is not to come up with something that you like and know how to make, but rather to look for an idea of something that you can do with some direction and that the givee will like.

One population segment that I have found that is very easy to work for are children. In fact, you may have their favorite toy already in your shop or garage--WOOD! I was recently looking through a toy catalog and they were selling blocks. I know that we all had blocks when we were growing up, but those blocks had numbers and letters on them. These in this catalog were not of that sort. These were just blocks for building things. There were round blocks, square blocks, triangle blocks, cylender blocks, and rectangle blocks. In otherwords, I could make these blocks myself, and I already had some sitting on the floor from projects past.

I would recommend that if you go with this toy project that you consider a harder wood than pine. Pop for the Oak and it will last longer. Its amazing how quickly some of these blocks met their doom. If you need a little more inspiration consider what would be needed for building a nice fort or castle. I'm not suggesting hundreds of blocks, but you're going to need a good number to have some sort of effect.

If you are looking for something for the older crowd, I also saw a project that looked so simple it was scary that someone was asking money for it. Get yourself three peices of round firewood that are of different lengths and preferably flat on each end. If they aren't flat, use a chop saw to make them flat. Try to find some that have bark on them. Once these are found, lock one in a vise with one of the flat end pointing up. Make sure it is locked in tight, but don't cruch the bark. Get a tea-light candle and use it as a template to make a circle in the center of the top end. With your circle marked, take a router and router out the circle about the depth of the tea-light candle and a little wider in the circumference. Once this is completed to the same to the other two pieces of firewood. You have now built a rustic-looking candleabra. With each next to the other, and tea-lights in each hole, it will make a great center-piece for a holiday table, and it only took you maybe a half-hour depending on how far you had to go for the firewood.

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