Handcarved Christmas, Updated Second Edition: 40 Beginner-Friendly Projects for Santas, Ornaments, Angels & More

Ornaments

Ornaments have a special place in many Christmas traditions. It’s more than just the colors and themes—ornaments are about memories, about people, about love. That’s why carving ornaments for the special people in your life is a great way to remind them that you care. This chapter offers choices ranging from whimsical to sentimental to beautiful, for beginners to more experienced carvers, so you can make treasures for your own tree or gifts that will be cherished for years.

Power Carved Dove,

by Hugh Parks, page 37.

Scrap Wood Santa

By Jim Feather

Tiny ornaments like this Santa challenge your imagination, require little roughing out, and take on the shape of the wood scrap.

I carry small scraps of wood and a folding carving knife in my pocket so I can carve anytime I have a few spare minutes. These miniature carvings can be completed quickly and make wonderful gifts.

Carving

I use three tools for this Santa: a small detail knife, a small V-tool, and a pounce wheel. Carve off the sharp corners to round the blank. Mark the bottom of the nose, the center of the eyes, and the edges of the beard with a pencil. Using a detail knife, cut in the facial features and shape the beard and hat. Add texture to the beard, hat trim, and ball with a small V-tool. Roll a small metal pounce wheel around the red portion of the hat to add texture.

Finishing

Thin acrylic paint with water to the consistency of a stain. Apply the colors from light to dark. Use white for the beard and fur trim and dark flesh for the face.

Apply a coat of black, thinned extensively with water, to the textured hat. Dry the black with a hair dryer. Pick up undiluted tompte red with a stiff-bristle brush and work the brush back and forth across a paper towel. Apply a light coat of tompte red over the black base coat. The black will highlight the texture.

Materials & Tools

Materials

•Basswood, 1 (2.5cm) square: 4 (10.2cm) long

•Finish: clear satin acrylic

•Acrylic paints:

•black

•burnt umber

•dark flesh

•denim blue

•tompte red

•white

•Paper towels

Tools

•Detail knife

•V-tool: 1 / 16 " (2mm) 60°

•Metal pounce wheel: small

•Paintbrushes: assorted, stiff-bristle

•Hair dryer

I use undiluted white, denim blue, and black for the eyes. After the paint dries, seal the carving with satin acrylic sealer. Allow the sealer to dry, then apply a thin wash of burnt umber acrylic paint to the entire carving. Immediately wipe off as much of the wash as possible with a paper towel.

Scrap Wood Santa Pattern

Easy Santa

By Dan Haack

I designed this Santa ornament specifically for simplicity. I make a template out of thin plastic, such as a coffee container lid, to quickly transfer guidelines. I carve wooden stamps to make painting Santa’s eyes a snap.

These jolly Santas always attract attention. Carve them from butternut or red cedar and finish them naturally to highlight the beautiful grain of the wood.

I finish most of my carvings with paint washes. But I have discovered that people like Christmas ornaments shiny, so for these I use full-strength paint.

Tip

Eye Stamps

Rather than painting the tiny eyes with a paintbrush, I carve wooden stamps for the iris and pupil. Carve one end of a ¼ (6mm) square by 2 (5.1cm) long blank into a ⅛(3mm)-diameter cylinder for the iris. Carve the other end or a similar blank into a 3/32 (2.4mm)-diameter cylinder for the pupil. Dip the cylinders in the appropriate paint and touch it to the carving for quick and easy eyes.

Materials & Tools

Materials

•Basswood, 1 (2.5cm) square: 4 (10.2cm) long

•Paste wax

•Pencil

•Acrylic paints:

•antique white

•black

•blue

•bright red

•Santa flesh

•white

•Paper towels

•Shop-made eye stamps

•Eye hook

Tools

•Knives: rough out, detail

•#9 gouge: 1 / 16 " (2mm)

•#11 gouge: ⅛" (3mm)

•V-tool: 1 / 16 " (2mm) 45°

•Square

•Paintbrushes: assorted

•Brushes:

•Stiff vegetable or denture

•Soft buffing

•Eye hook

•Toothpick

1Create the template and transfer the guidelines. Trace the template pattern onto thin plastic and cut out the plastic template. Align the template with the top of the blank and trace the blue and red lines on one side of the blank. Use a square to transfer the lines of the hat brim to all four sides of the blank.

2Complete the guidelines. Flip the template and trace the blue lines on the second side of the blank so the triangle of the nose meets at the corner of the blank. Trace the red lines on the third side of the blank so the square of the hat ball meets at the corner. Make an X on the top and bottom of the blank to keep the carving symmetrical.

3Remove the sharp corners. With the knife, make stop cuts under the tip of the nose and under the bottom of the hat brim above the nose. Carve up to the stop cuts to remove the triangular chips. Make a stop cut at the bottom of the ball on the hat and cut up to the stop cut to leave the ball raised. Round off all of the corners except the brim of the hat.

4Draw the nose and shape the hat tail. Sketch in the triangle of the nose. Use the corner of the blank to keep the nose centered on the face. Carve the hat tail at a 45° angle toward the top center of the blank. The angled cut starts just above the brim of the hat.

5Carve the nose and hat details. Carve around the nose. Leave enough wood for the forehead and eyebrows. Carve off the bottom corners of the nose. Shape the hat tail and ball. Use a detail knife to lower the face. Leave wood for the cheeks, eyebrows, and the portion of the beard above the mustache.

6Draw in the mustache. Start the left side of the mustache at the bottom right corner of the hat ball. Draw in the matching right curve of the mustache that ends directly below the right corner of the hat brim. Draw the sides of the face, eyebrows, and bottom of the mustache, leaving room for the lip.

7Carve the mustache. Use a detail knife to carve the bottom of the mustache and start shaping the bottom of the blank into the beard. Use the X on the bottom of the blank to maintain symmetry. Carve the sides of the face and shape the cheeks.

8Shape the hat brim and beard. Round the hat brim. Carve in the bottom lip. The lip is lower than the mustache because the mustache covers the upper lip but stands proud of the beard. Round and shape the beard.

9Add facial details. Round the bridge of the nose. Carve the eyebrows and round the forehead so it appears to be under the hat. Carve small triangles to represent simple nostrils. Refine the shape of the mustache. Draw in curved upper eyelids and carve them with a detail knife.

10 Add texture to the hat and hair. Carve small notches around the hat brim and hat ball with a ⅛" (3mm) #11 gouge to make them appear fluffy. Use the same tool to carve grooves in the beard and upward swoops in the mustache.

11 Carve the final details. Remove the high points in the beard and mustache with a 1 / 16 (2mm) #9 gouge. Then remove the high points left from the #9 gouge with a 1 / 16 (2mm) 45° V-tool. Deepen some of the gouge grooves with the V-tool. Remove any chips with a stiff brush.

Painting and Finishing

Apply an antique white base coat to the entire carving. Paint the hat brim, hat ball, and eyes white. Paint the exposed skin with Santa flesh. Paint the hat bright red. Paint the eyes blue and add black pupils; use the eye stamps described on page 9 if you wish. Add white highlights to the eyes with a toothpick. Add a small eye hook, apply a coat of wax, and buff to a nice shine.

Easy Santa Patterns

Nativity Ornaments

By Janet Bolyard

These simple designs are easy to carve and paint, making them perfect last-minute holiday gifts or sales-table stock. You can stack-cut the blanks and carve them production-style to make several sets quickly. Paint each set in coordinating colors, or experiment with simply woodburning the details to speed your production further.

My instructions show you how to carve the Holy Family design. Use the same general techniques to carve the other three ornaments.

Getting Started

Transfer the patterns to the wood and cut them with a scroll saw or coping saw. Lightly sand the edges with 320-grit sandpaper if necessary.

Rather than marking my carving, I make notes about the levels and shadows on my pattern sheet. This keeps the graphite on the paper rather than my hands, project, and carving glove. It also creates a pattern blueprint for a future ornament or projects.

Materials & Tools

Materials

•Basswood, ¼ (6mm) thick: ornaments 4 each, 4 x 24" (10.2cm x 61cm)

•Graphite paper

•Sandpaper: assorted grits to 400

•Acrylic paint:

•Americana

•antique gold

•black

•flesh tone

•primary yellow

•sand

•warm white

•Ceramcoat

•tompte red

•Glitter paint

•Wood filler (optional)

•Spray lacquer, such as Deft: satin, gloss

•Arm-R-Seal gloss (optional)

Tools

•Scroll saw or coping saw

•Detail knife

•#3 gouge: ⅜" (10mm)

•#11 gouge: ⅛" (3mm)

•Micro V-tool: 1 / 32 " (1mm)

•Variable-temperature woodburner with nib: skew

•Drill with bit: small

•Paintbrushes: assorted

•Hook or ribbon

1Make vertical stop cuts around the background area. Cut deeply to ensure the chips come out cleanly. Use a ⅜ (10mm) #3 gouge to carve the background at least ⅛ (3mm) deep. This is the lowest level of the ornament.