The Most Difficult Part of Carving Spoons

The most difficult part of spoon carving for me, is the part where you box them up and mail them to loved ones. Parting with the spoons is not the hard part. It is the actual physical shipping and handling that is just no fun. 

These need to head out though. My goal is to take them to the post office on Monday. 

The spoon on the left gets delivered to a friend who lives near the post office, so that is handy. That one is oak and the wood came from my friend’s yard. 

The second from the left is from a piece of cherry that I got from a farmhouse in West Virginia; my favorite spot on the planet. The cherry branch had been in my freezer for a couple of years. That spoon goes to a friend who has been teaching yoga on Zoom for free during the pandemic. She isn’t expecting this gift.

The one in the middle and the one on the far right go to my daughter’s best friend from high school. She isn’t expecting anything either. The white one is (I think) tulip poplar and the large one on the far right is crabapple. Both pieces were sourced from my neighborhood. 

The apple had been trimmed from a yard up the street and was in a debris pile on the curb. The tulip poplar (or is it maple???) had fallen next to a creek in the woods across the street. This piece is intended as a coffee scoop and is two tablespoons deep. Upon reflection, a bright white wood may not have been the best choice for a coffee scoop. The discolorization it will get wouldn’t bother me, but it probably would bother a lot of folks.

The fourth spoon from the right goes to my sister. Her husband had to take down a tree in the front yard because it was dying. I love this wood!!! Hopefully I can get a few more pieces before it totally dries out. I grew up in the house my sister lives in so this wood is extra special for me. Kids from the old neighborhood have asked for a spoon made from that tree since it represents home. I need to made one for myself first.