Showing posts with label wood carving. Show all posts

MorningWood Bracelets

I have always been a resourceful person who thinks it is important to come up with ideas that use things we already have. I feel like there is a lot of waste in the world and people take for granted the useful things we throw away every day. This is also why I believe in shopping small businesses. They have a dream and a focus to create useful things people want or need. This is what keeps the world going around and people grateful. 


I discovered a small business that uses donated scrap wood to make hand carved bracelets. Morning wood bracelets are family owned and operated right here in the USA since 2017. Their business began by accident when they hand carved a piece of jewelry for a friend and people fell in love with it. 

Each bracelet is carved by hand using recycled wooden materials. They do not use any paints or dyes in their art. The natural colors in the wood they use paint the story. Each design is unique and no two pieces are the same. I was excited to receive two Morningwood bracelets in the mail. Every bracelet comes with a handwritten note by the creator that lets you know what kind of wood was used to create your bracelet. This adds a special personal touch. 




I received a starfish made from reclaimed Maple.




I also received a little “ILY” hand sign made from a recycled skateboard. The wood on a skateboard is layered with different colors that bring out all the colors for the charm. 

Morningwood bracelets remind me of why I love shopping small businesses. They appreciate your business and find ways to give back. 
10% of their sales go to charities from helping families in need to disaster relief. How cool is that? Someone gives them scrap materials, they make it, you buy it, they give away portions to help others and you have a cool piece of handmade art to wear. 

You should go check them out at Morningwoodbracelets.com. You will be amazed at the delicate craftsmanship put into each piece. If you have Instagram, you can find them at @moringwoodbracelets where you might see videos of the bracelets in the making.
I love wearing my new bracelets and they are a fun conversation piece. I would love to know which design you like best. Check out their website and come back here and comment which one you like most. But let me warn you, the decision will be hard. 

Facebook: Morningwoodbracelets

Whittle a Little

I remember back when I was about twelve years old, my daddy gave me a pocket knife. Ever since then, I have always liked pocket knives. I remember it had about a 2 inch blade, a pearl handle and his company name down the side. There was a little beaded chain at the end so you could hang it from your key ring. I played with that little knife a lot. I used to find sticks and sit and whittle them into arrows. I would also find gigantic acorns and hollow out the inside and make beads. Through the years, daddy would give me a pocket knife. I wish I still had them.

I have a few pocket knives that Nick actually found on the road during his walks. My favorite is a little pink one. 


Speaking of walking, I told Nick during our walk the other day that I was looking for a stick so I could attempt to carve a crochet hook.
Nick thought I was crazy and said, “we can’t afford a hospital visit to get a finger sewn back on”. He wasn’t even aware that I liked to whittle. I reminded him that if I have the idea in my head, I was gonna make it happen. So I picked up a few sticks from the base of a maple tree and carried them home. 


I went outside on a beautiful sunny day and began to whittle a little. After a couple wasted sticks and an hour of chiseling and carving, I had created my very own hand crafted crochet hook. My fingers were sore and blistered. I felt pretty proud of myself. I gave it couple more days for my fingers to rest then made another one. The 2nd one was a little bigger and easier to carve. 


I had to try it out so I crocheted a little mug rug for a test run. 


It worked good but was a little rough gliding through the stitches. It needs to be smoothed out a little more and some adjustments need to be made so it will be more comfortable with my grip.


I may just leave them as they are and put them away. I accomplished what I wanted to do and that satisfies me. 

What do you think? 
Have you ever carved or whittled anything?