Craft, Home Interior, Art and Design

While a lot of the direction in woodturning tends to be in the way of larger and larger pieces, there are advantages to turning small items. Here are three ways to develop satisfaction in the art and craft of woodturning by going small.

One of the questions that haunts a woodturner throughout their career is how to get the ultimate curve and proportion for each piece turned. While this is one of those elusive, artistic questions without an answer there are times when a piece is very definitively on or off. For a large turning this may require a lot of wood and time to answer the question and if the result is poor the time and wood may be considered wasted.

While it may be easily argued that this is a learning experience and that no education is without worth, there is an easier way to acquire an answer before committing to the large block of wood and time, turning small. A small piece of wood may be mounted on the lathe and a scaled down version of the planned piece may be turned. If desired, in the case of hollow pieces such as bowls and vases, the small piece may even be left solid if the only reason for the turning is to be the check on proportions and lines. However, a well designed piece is a well designed piece and the smaller one would be a good turning in its own right. For this reason it is a good idea to turn the small, practice piece from a good wood with a nice grain.

Second, there are many directions to take in woodturning. Some turners focus on faceplate work and others on spindles. It is very easy to find woodturners who focus intensely even within those categories such as on bowls, candlesticks or boxes. Turning small pieces allows one to experiment in different directions without a great outlay in tools or wood.

Third the direction of experimenting may also go in the direction of different woods. The variety of wood types, colors and grains in the world is staggering and many of them are readily available from wood suppliers in most cities. Unfortunately, there are significant costs associated with them and most are only available in board form. This makes them prohibitive in cost and appropriateness for many turners and especially faceplate turners such as bowl makers.

Enter the small woodturning experience. All of a sudden a two by six is a good choice for a small bowl and the world of exotic woods open up immediately. The cost for a small piece is much less than the cost for a large one and boards are easily cut to turning squares for small items.

Fourth is the simple reasoning that small pieces are faster to turn than are large ones. For many woodturners who only get a couple of hours at a time in the workshop, this makes the difference between getting a project finished and risking it splitting on the lathe until more time is found.

Fifth of course is simply that small woodturning is fun. It is challenging in its own right to get a curve, bead or cove right in very tight circumstances. Plus there are many things that simply lend themselves to small turning practices such as jewellery or Christmas tree ornaments not to mention the pens that have become a woodturning favorite.

There are likely many reasons to turn small but these five may make someone consider the world of small turnings. It will open a new phase of enjoyment for many a woodturner.

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Decorating for Christmas is one of the best things about the holidays. The twinkling of lights, the sight of a perfectly trimmed tree and a perfectly placed wreath adorning your front door are all gentle reminders of the joyous Christmas season.

When decorating your home, you want the decor to reflect your own personal style while keeping the Christmas tradition always present. A few tips can help make this holiday decorating season even brighter. Christmas Decoration Tips:

1. Lights Out

With each year that passes, Christmas lights tend to burn out at some point. Unless you have a strand that burns with the exception of the troublesome light, it can be a real headache to find the faulty bulb. Consider investing in a light tester, which will check each individual light and detect the one that needs replacing. These can be found with the Christmas supplies at most department stores.

2. Angels Nearby

Whenever possible, decorate your home with angels. They add a touch of peace and tranquility to your home and we all need to know that there are angels watching over us.

3. Be fruity

Prepare a fruit-filled clear glass bowl as a centerpiece for your dining room table. Nothing smells like Christmas as much as an orange or a nice fruit combination.

4. Add a personal touch

If you hang Christmas stockings, consider personalizing them with your name, your spouses name and those of your children. These days, even pets have stockings, so don’t forget to add Fido’s name on a stocking. You can easily personalize a traditional stocking using a glitter pen, preferably one that writes in silver or gold. A personalized stocking is a nice idea and a special added touch.

5. Pucker up

Decorate your home with poinsettia and mistletoe, which are both holiday traditions. A nice artificial poinsettia plant will always be beautiful and is easy to take care of – no water required. A mistletoe is always a nice touch and especially if you just need one more reason to smooch.

6. Working with wreaths

Don’t forget to place a beautiful green wreath on the front door of your home. Make sure to add a red bow for a brightening touch! Artificial wreaths will last year after year, but real wreaths do have a wonderful scent. If you want to add wreath’s to the windows in your home, consider purchasing a magnetic wreath hanger. This type of hanger comes in two parts – one goes on the inside of your home and the piece with the hook will go on the outside. These hangers have been around for years, but they are steadily beginning to gain in popularity. The magnets are so strong that they can work through doors and windows, which is ideal for hanging wreaths on the outside of your home without the fuss of a traditional plastic wreath hanger, which drapes across the top of your door.

7. A perfect fit

When choosing a Christmas tree, make sure to measure the preferred location from side to side and from floor to roof. You will want to make sure that perfect tree fits when you bring it home. Artificial trees are easy care, but a real tree requires plenty of water.

8. It’s all about tradition

It’s nice to start a family tradition by decorating your tree on a certain day each year. Perhaps after Thanksgiving dinner, the whole family can spend the evening dressing their home for Santa.

9. Shop smart

Make sure that all electric decorations are UL listed to ensure that they have been tested for quality and safety. Don’t forget to unplug everything before you leave home or go to bed at night.

10. Say Cheese

Always remember to have plenty of film and batteries for the camera. Now that you have the perfect decorations, don’t forget to capture them on film.

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Days are gone when we used to buy natural Christmas tree every year. These days’ artificial Christmas trees are in demand. More and more people are buying artificial Christmas trees due to their obvious advantages over natural ones.

So what advantages do artificial Christmas trees have?

* Long life: Artificial Christmas trees are reusable and can be reused in the subsequent years to come. While natural trees have to be thrown after one use. So, the best advantage of artificial Christmas tree is that it saves lot of money.
* Pretty safe: artificial Christmas trees are safe from many hassles’. They don’t catch fire easily unlike natural trees. Also, they do not have thorns and prickles, which can prick during decoration of natural Christmas trees.
* Maintenance: At times, we see that our natural Christmas tree sheds plenty of leaves, also I have seen cases in which natural Christmas tree dry out before the Christmas day. These things are not problems with artificial Christmas trees.
* Size and shape: Artificial Christmas trees are available in different sizes and shapes that suits everyone’s need. Some are fold-able too, so can adjust in any lobby or room. Just choose the one which fits in the area you assigned for it.
* Different Colors: This is one of the important reasons why people are attracted towards artificial Christmas trees. They are available in variety of colors like green, golden, silver etc., which suits your need. While, this option is not available with the natural trees.
* Decoration: Many artificial Christmas trees come with preinstalled decoration, so you don’t have to spend on buying the lighting and other stuff.
* Easy availability: Nowadays artificial Christmas trees are available in variety of stores; you can even buy them from many online stores.

Seeing these advantages, we can definitely say that artificial Christmas trees have an advantage over natural trees.

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