Christmas Projects

Before it gets too much farther into the new year, I'd like to share some of the projects I made for Christmas. I didn't get to make much during the fall due to an epic adventure that Jerome and I went on.  But I did get lots of ideas while we were away, so I hope to have more to share soon. 

To begin this is the Lego Photo I made for Christmas this year.

Project 1: Necklace Hanger
A few years ago my mum requested a way to hang up her necklaces so that they wouldn't get all tangled. I measured everything, and made a really rough prototype to figure out the size and stuff. She's been using it ever since, and it was literally falling off the wall, as I hadn't made any of the joints properly. So this Christmas I dug out my notes and made a proper one.


It's made from maple and lacewood, with many Lee Valley hooks along the sides.


There's a dowel hinge so that it can lay against the wall most of the time, but she can swing it out to access all of the necklaces.


Here it is installed which gives a better idea of how it works.


Project 2: Wooden Necktie
I have seen photos of wooden ties before, and in November one of the woodworking youtube guys I watch did a video on making a wooden tie. I thought it would be fun to try, and so I made a few tweaks to build it with the tools I had. It turned out not too badly and I gave it to my dad for Christmas. I think there are a few things I'd do differently a second time, but that's part of the fun! He hasn't sent me a proper photo of him wearing it with a collared shirt yet, so here he is trying it on Christmas morning!





Project 3: Tiny Wooden Door
I saw the idea from this randomly online. A crafter installed tiny doors in her apartment to help her kids be less freaked out by the sounds of mice in the walls. She used doll house doors that you can buy and decorated them. I thought it was a fun idea, but didn't really want to buy anything. So I decided to attempt to build one. It was pretty fun making something so small, but a bit challenging. I did manage to get the door to open and close with tiny pins that I inserted. I also carved indents on the front and a peep hole, and installed a door knob made from another pin. The final size was 2"x4" x .1875" thick. I taped a cute picture in the back and on my last day at home, hid it behind some Christmas decorations so that my parents would find it as a surprise when they were putting everything away.



They thought it was pretty cute, and rehung it in another room.