Mike's Wood Gifts By Design: November 2009

Olive Wood Consecrated Oil Vial Keyring

Some olive trees have been alive since the time of Christ. A long-lived gnarled tree with a short bole, often with numerous holes and cavities, olive wood is one of the world's most beautiful woods. Heartwood is light brown to dark brown with irregular streaks of grey, brown, and black, giving a marble-like appearance. Irregular, interlocked grain is dense, turns easily and cuts very clean. These aromatic blanks are selecte

d for figure and color. And aromatic isn't putting it mildly - when cut, this wood smells very strongly of opened green olives and olive oil - I guess that shouldn't be a surprise. In addition to its beautiful caramel and chocolate swirling grain patterns, olive wood has special religious significance that makes a consecrated oil vial especially treasured and unique. It's somehow fitting to use olive wood to store the olive oil. For an additional $10.00, wood from prunings of live olive trees in the Holy Land can be used.

Laminated Hardwood Consecrated Oil Vial

As I work with exotic woods, I save the thin cut-offs, and combine them to create dramatic, beautiful results. Look closely at the first vial pictured and you'll see walnut, bloodwood, maple, and purpleheart. The second, from left to right, is made from padauk, zebrawood, ebony, purpleheart, zebrawood, blackwood, bloodwood, zebrawood, and purpleheart again. These vials are completely unique, as individual as the person they're made for.

Elm Keyring Consecrated Oil Vial

All my LDS Consecrated Oil Keyring Vials are made from gold or chrome-plated parts. A unique, handmade, a perfect gift for any Elder, whether dad for Fathers Day, brother for Mission Farewell, or a son for his ordination to the priesthood. Inside is a glass vial that can just as easily hold perfume or essential oils.

Elm wood is hard, with coarse, interlocking grain. It polishes to a satin sheen with no finish applied, and has a comfortable woody smell when cut or sanded. It is hard, and resistant to cracking and splitting. The vial shown above shows the darker heartwood, and the lighter sapwood, for a unique and beautiful vial. Please specify if you want sapwood in your vial.
Price: $25.00By clicking on "Order Now," buyer agrees to these terms.

Custom Party Favors - Can't Beat a Hand-Turned Pen!

I call my business Mike's Woodwork By Design for a reason - the projects I enjoy the most, and those that set me apart from mass-produced production lines, are the projects where I work with a customer (or as I think of them, a client) to design a solution that fits their unique needs. This project was another good example of that. My "client" was fast approaching his 40th birthday, and was having a special party of his close friends. He wanted to give them a party favor that was really nice, something they would never get from any other place, so he ordered hand-turned pens. Those on the left are ambrosia maple, those on the right are birdseye maple, and all of them are beaded Artisan slimline pens. He was in a real hurry to get them delivered on time - placed his order on Tuesday, delivered on Friday. It was a success, and he had a great party.

Imagine the possibilities - corporate gifts, company Christmas presents for your employees, Best Man present for your wedding, or a way to say "thank you, job well done" to your project team after they go the extra mile to meet a deadline on a critical project. Design your pens, place your order, and I'll make sure to give every attention to detail for a unique, meaningful gift. Prices start at $25 per pen for large orders like this.

Bloodwood LDS Consecrated Oil Vial

Bloodwood is actually a name for several types of reddish wood. This is the Brosimum Rubescens botanical name, and is hard and tough, with no smell at all, unless it's smoking hot, in which case it smells like coconut and sweet incense. Shavings are a striking bright red color, and it finishes nicely. Hard and strong, it's supposed to age to a deep brown color, but the finish will slow that down.
Price: $25.00By clicking on "Order Now," buyer agrees to these terms.

Apricot Wood Consecrated Oil Vial

These LDS Consecrated Oil Keyring Vials are made from gold or chrome-plated parts and Apricot wood. A unique, handmade, a perfect gift for any Elder, whether dad for Fathers Day, brother for Mission Farewell, or a son for his ordination to the priesthood. Inside is a glass vial that can just as easily hold perfume or essential oils.

Apricot wood is a favorite for woodturning - color varies from a vivid yellow-gold to orange to deep brown, often with contrasting and swirling grain. Random apricot trivia: Among American tank-driving soldiers, apricots are taboo, by superstition. Tankers will not eat apricots, allow apricots onto their vehicles, and often will not even say the word "apricot". This superstition stems from Sherman tank breakdowns purportedly happening in the presence of cans of apricots.
Price: $25.00
By clicking on "Order Now," buyer agrees to these terms.

Ambrosia Maple and Chrome - LDS Consecrated Oil Vial

These LDS Consecrated Oil Keyring Vials are made from chrome-plated parts and Ambrosia Maple. A unique, handmade, a perfect gift for any Elder, whether dad for Fathers Day, brother for Mission Farewell, or a son for his ordination to the priesthood. Inside is a glass vial that can just as easily hold perfume or essential oils.

Ambrosia Maple is one of my favorite woods for turning. Ambrosia refers to the fungus that causes the black streaks. It's introduced by beetles that cary the spores with them. They burrow in to dead maple trees, lay eggs, and leave, and the spores they leave behind begin to break down the walls of the hole into food the larvae can eat. When they grow up and leave, they take the spores with them. The fungus only exists in symbiosis with the beetles, and the beetles can't live without the fungus. Cool stuff. The resulting staining pattern in the maple is distinct, dramatic, and beautiful.

Price: $25.00
By clicking on "Order Now," buyer agrees to these terms.