March means Saint Patrick's Day whittlins!

I've been whittlin' up some decorations and door prizes for this year's Saint Patrick's Day celebration.

While many Americans treat March 17th as "Irish-American Mardi Gras," with green plastic beads, dyed green beer, and giant foam shamrocks, my family has always looked at it as "Irish-American Thanksgiving." In addition to great food, drinks, and music, we hold a trivia contest with prizes for our guests.

So far I've made a horse, some fridge magnets, and a handful of leprechauns. Prizes for the kids and grown-up kids alike!

Shamrock bottle stoppers and other St. Patrick's Day gifts

It' s nearly time for our St. Patrick's day party! For many Americans, St. Patrick's day is Irish Mardi Gras. With their green beads, cat-in-the-hat hats, and the dreaded green beer. Not around here.

I prefer to think of it as Irish Thanksgiving. Our home will be filled with good friends, great music, and traditional Irish and Irish/American food, just like Grandma used to make. We'll serve colcannon, corned beef, ham, cabbage, carrots, onions, potatoes, spicy potato soup, and enough soda bread to feed an army. There'll be vegan options for our vegan friends, and beer and whiskey for our drinking friends. Maybe even some whiskey punch.

I'm especially looking forward to playing my Grandpa's old records. From John MacCormack to the Clancy Bros & Tommy Makem, The Dubliners, the Irish Balladeers, and more, his music always reminds me of him. As the son of an Irish immigrant, St. Patrick's day was always my grandpa's favorite holiday.

Of course I'll add in my own music as well, adding the likes of Christy Moore, Planxty, and Pat Kane into the mix.

I've carved over twenty little giveaways, including harp-shaped pins, shamrocks, fridge magnets, and the pins and bottle stoppers seen here. I'm making some green spike trolls for the kids to find. I might have another idea or two, and would love to carve more gifts for our guests, but we'll have to see how the chips fly.

More Spool Carvings

More spool carvings! These four spools are destined to become bottle stoppers. All they need now is some dowels and corks. I'm pretty sure these are pine, but I'll admit my wood ID skills need honing. They carve well though, with no splitting or unexpected chipping. The wood responds well to linseed oil, giving it a waxy look and nice warm glow.

Also, my CaseXX Texas Jack knife is working out well. I favor the smaller of it's two blades for whittlin'. It's easy to control and plenty sharp.

Claddagh pin

So I decided to mend the broken carving. I sheared off the tip of a small sewing needle, then used it to reattach the broken piece. After a linseed oil soak I think it looks pretty good!

Shamrock baby spoon made it into an Etsy Treasury!

My shamrock baby spoon has been included in an Etsy Treasury! There's lots of green in this treasury, and even a Claddagh ring. Some nice items just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Check it out!

Only I didn't say fudge...

Why do carvings only break when they're almost done? Although this claddagh is no longer a "one piece carving," I am very tempted in this case to reattach the offending chip and call it macaroni. Frustrations aside, is a broken and glued carving still a whittlin? Or is it, being infected with a foreign adhesive, some lesser thing?

Becker Knives fork carving competition (part 2- completed)

The difficult parts of any carving are also the most delicate. On this fork those parts would be the tines. They have to be thin enough to spear food, but thin means vulnerable to breakage. A broken tine would stick out like a missing thumb.

When I started my foray into whittling I was very hesitant to carve away too much material. This reluctance resulted in lots of "fat" whittlins early on. While it's true you can't put those wood chips back on, you do need to shave enough of them off so your projects don't look like Hurley from "Lost." It was a lesson learned the slow way.

So this fork was carved to be thin, like an actual functional fork you'd find on the dinner table. The only blade used was the Becker BK11, as per the contest rules. I sanded it smooth with some beach stones, then dyed it by soaking it in berry juice. I really like how it turned out.

Becker Knives fork carving competition

The Beckerheads over on BladeForums are holding a fork carving contest. The top three prizes are Becker knives!

The fork must be carved using a Becker knife, so I'm using my BK11, aka the Becker Necker. I'm learning that it's a good knife with a nice thin blade suitable for carving but it could use some more comfortable scales. Occasionally the finger guard gets in the way of a good grip, but overall it's an excellent knife for the task. Also, my cord wrapping skills need improvement. The orange 550 cord I wrapped keeps coming loose.

This is my fork so far. I'll post again when it's all done.

St. Patrick's Day party favors (part 3: pins)

Here's the completed pins (magnets are still to come.) I glued some brass clasp pins to each carving. The clasp type pin feels more secure than the straight pin/frog type, though the clasps tend to sit slightly away from your shirt or coat once pinned in place. The one-piece design of the clasp is better, I think. There's no extra parts to lose.

A slideshow of past whittlins

Here's a slideshow of some of my carvings. There's all sorts of stuff in here, from the rustic little spike trolls to the painted and finished toy soldiers. I'm proud of the variety and feel like I've made progress toward a higher level of detail and control. Let me know what you think!

St. Patrick's Day party favors (part 2)

As you can see, some of these pins and fridge magnets are soaked in linseed oil while others are painted with acrylics. It's a nice break to carve these simple little items, plus I'm using up scrap wood from other projects. (and yet the clutter continues to build.) Next I'll add pin backs and glue on magnets.

St. Patrick's Day party favors

I love making little pins, magnets, and other carvings for guests at our annual St. Patrick's Day party. Last year I made shamrock pins out of basswood and cedar. This year I'm adding some more variety with flags, harps, and pints of stout. Here's an early in-progress look at this year's giveaways.

The Moonshiners (part 4) Completed!

"Swing to the left, swing to the right,
The excise men will dance all night,
Drinking up the tay till the broad day light,
In the hills of Connemara.

Stand your ground it is too late
The excise men are at the gate,
Glory be to Paddy but they're drinking it straight!
In the hills of Connemara."

So in the end, the excise men are won over by the magic that is homemade whiskey. Whether moonshiner or government agent, all are united in friendship and joy until the next day's inevitable splitting headache.





As far as design, the still is one solid piece with most of it's weight on the bottom. Each of the figures has some item or items (barrels, jugs, etc) at it's feet in order to make the base wider, and give it a low center of gravity. They stand very well.

Everything is non-toxic and play safe. Experience helped me to design short, blunt noses, hat brims, and other features that will resist breakage and wear. Sure there will be some dings and chips eventually, but this play set should last for years. Some day when Murphy is all grown up, he may even hand it down to his own kids.

The Moonshiners (part 3) -The Still

"I've been a moonshiner for many a year
I've spent all me money on whiskey and beer
I'll go to some hollow, I'll set up my still
And I'll make you a gallon for a ten shilling bill"





I designed this whiskey still to be rugged and play-safe, yet look fairly realistic. A one-piece carving, all the edges are blunted and sanded smooth before applying linseed oil, acrylic paint, and a few coats of shellac. All non-toxic and safe for tiny hands.

As the center piece of the Moonshiners Playset, the still is very important. I'm happy with how it turned out.

The Moonshiners (part 2) -The Excise Man

"Now keep your eyes well peeled today,
The big, tall men are on the way,
Searching for the mountain tay
In the hills of Connemara"

Here's the Excise Man, all carved and ready for sanding. I suppose he's the bad guy, at least until the fellas share their booze with him. At that point, he forgets all about arrests or fines, and focuses soley on sampling that sweet potcheen from Ireland green.

The Moonshiners (part 1)

"Gather up the pots and the old tin cans,
The mash, the corn, the barley and the bran,
Run like the devil from the excise man,
Keep the smoke from rising...Barney!"

So goes the traditional Irish song "The Hills of Connemara." It tells the timeless tale of illicit booze-making, running from the authorities, and bribery. Inspired by this and other songs of Poitín, especially "The Rare Old Mountain Dew," my current project is a set of moonshiners. This set will consist of four pieces: Two happy moonshiners, one whiskey still, and a stern-looking excise man (aka a revenuer to our own Southern Highlanders.)

To add weight to each figure's base, I've designed them with a barrel, jug, or sack of grain by the feet. At this point they're still pretty rough, but they should look fine after sanding and finishing. This set will be a 1st birthday present for my friend's son Murphy.

(Also, Happy New Year!)