I had not tried one of the “spiny” urchin shells and happened to find a nice store with tons of shells down in Chincoteague this week. With the irregular surface on this it was hard to get a “gap-free” fit but the overall look is pretty good. I wish I had picked up a couple more while down there (but there’s always the on-line stores!)

I have made a ton of these urchin sea shell ornaments. The key to making these spectacular is a delicate finial. I had seen some done that were balky looking so I kept turning ’til I was satisfied This particular is made from teak since we generate a lot of scrap teak down at the yard but have have turned them out of a lot of scrap wood I find in the shop left over from other projects. Approx 4″ tall.

I found a lot of ways of doing these but my personal favorite is Brian Havens’ method — it made the most sense.

This little bird house ornament is turned out of a piece of my neighbors silver maple that was cut down last fall. I just grabbed a couple of branches to have some to play with and this little project was perfect. I left just a hint of the bark on to give it a rustic look. Now if I could only find some wee little birds to live in it. Approximately 3″ tall.

I saw someone turning wooden flowers and thought I’d give them a try. Two are cedar and the colored one is poplar. It is possible to get them real thin but almost impossible to sand them properly. But I don’t suppose real flowers have mirror finish either.  They are definitely a test of patience. The vase was turned from the heart of a rotten log out in the garden. The wood was “just wood” — I have no idea what it started it’s life as!