Spinning tops and ornaments

My ebay-order of dried wood came in on Friday, and the kids are at the grandparents house for the weekend. Perfect timing, eh? :)

I got some of the following species:

• Bolivian rosewood (morado)
• East-indian rosewood
• Lignum Vitea (iron wood)
• Black & white striped ebony
• Zebrawood
  

I started working on some christmas ornaments, and this one is the only complete one so far (the rest need some hand-finishing before they get pictures). It was my first attempt at making a multi-piece ornament, or multi-piece anything for that matter. It's decent, but there are some finer points that bug me. The ball is black & white striped ebony, and the top and bottom are east-indian rosewood.



My nephew is in town, so I wanted to make something for all three kids. I tried some spinning tops, from B&W striped ebony, east-indian rosewood, and Lignum Vitea (iron wood). They look pretty good and they work!

Ornaments

As part of my wife's birthday present, I turned this set of three Christmas ornaments. They have special significance, because they are made from pieces of her childhood armoire. She has moved a lot over the years, and has had to leave behind a lot of memories. Recently, we had to get rid of the armoire, because we just couldn't make room for it anymore. I felt bad, because she didn't want to give it up, so I saved some pieces with this project in mind.

The ornaments are 3-4 inches long, and are made from the molding from the doors. I took two sections and glued them face to face to make one block, and then turned them round and shaped the ornament. (I had originally tried to use the doors until I realized they're particle board.)