Making Holly Wreaths

My thumb still sore from whittling  ....what was I thinking doing that yesterday , when I have so much to catch up on with  all the Christmas preparations .
  I always make my own holly wreath and a couple extra to give to friends .
Apart from prickling my poor hands all over..they really are so easy to make .
 I just keep it very simple , tying in two or three long  flexible strands  with string....wire if I have some ... weaving them together ..may be adding another branch or two . Sometimes I add ivy ....this time I just tied on some red  ribbon . ..and a long length of string to tie to the hook on  the door .......

.........or the gate !

The sun was shining this morning , so it was nice to be out in the garden doing a bit of tidying and making holly wreaths .

My broom needed a bit of maintenance , the tarred string I prefer to use doesn't last too long ...... a little gold thread and red ribbon should make it fly faster ..well I,ll give it a try !

                                                 Bibbity Bobbity Boo !

................. and then we switched on the Christmas lights on our little tree in the cottage window ......

......and only seven of the teeny tiny light bulbs came on ..tut... It will just have to do !  : )

Maritime thread winders !

 Back in the summer I had a go at carving a spoon , a couple of very simple crucifixes , a few nalbinding needles and a medieval lucet .  My father and his father before him were great carpenters..I could never be that good ! ...but whilst growing up just watching in the wings so to speak , I also love wood ....the look of it ...the smell of it and am having fun with it in a more humble way....the way of whittling !  So , along with what I,ve seen my father do , I am pretty much teaching myself .
 I have a simple sort of steel pocket knife which was easy to find in Wesley's hardware shop in Helston , it has replaceable blades , and folds up safely in my pocket .
I also invested in a treasure of a knife made by Ray Iles . It is curved for carving spoons .
 In the photo above .

 I am carving myself some jolly maritime thread winders in the shape of whales !

I make a little cut for the whale's mouth.... to catch and hold the end of the thread .It must all be smoothed with sandpaper and I really need to work on smoothing them some more .

I will use navy blue permanent pen to mark the whale's eyes on both sides Scrimshaw style...and give them a coat of " Traditional Treatex Hardwax Oil " which I bought online ...it brings out the beautiful natural colour of the wood .

 My tools.... and a few precious threads waiting to be organised .

How nice he would be wound round with blue thread , like a beautiful Blue Whale !
 He looks a little hungry ! : )

I could make a "Stargazey pie" of thread winders !  Actually  I need to make quite alot more to organise all my threads !      I hope you,ll be inspired to have a go at simple whittling . Keep warm ! x

Winter Whittling Me

I dont think that the weather will be anywhere near so bad here in Cornwall , as you are having up North . I,m feeling so sorry for you all up in Scotland where thousands are waking up to find they have no electricity.
We have been bringing in more firewood for our fire and as I sit whittling...I am thinking of you and pray it will pass over soon .
 I pulled this chunk of wood from the pile of split logs in the woodshed and with my little knife whittled into three not quite equal pieces . I do everything by eye and it really does not matter to me that these are going to be all slightly different sizes .

Whittling , whittling , whittling .... any ideas of what I might be making ?  Apart from a sore thumb that is  !  : )