A story of enchanting imagination, inspiration, sawdust, books, and a magical secret!

Harry Potter’s Wand?

Let me give you a super short summary first. This build was ignited by a simple request; can you make him a “Harry Potter’s Wand?” OH YES! This is the stuff I really live for. An eight year old boy that want’s a Harry Potter’s Wand? Not the latest electronic toy etc? Without a doubt Heck Yes!!!

Again, for summary’s sake, what I came up with was a hand-carved wand and a secret-bookshelf-slash-crate-of-books. It was the perfect place to hide his dangerous and powerful  wizard’s wand.

The Build:

Perhaps a little backwards from the original request, I first began the quest to build the box… Build the “Crate of Books” that would hold his magic wand and whatever other wonderful imaginative things he’d like to secretly store. The outside is to be of a weathered and almost insignificant look. The face is in appearance nothing more than a collection of various books.

Opening the secret doors reveals the secret self and the Hogwarts Train Station to transport his imagination any place he wishes.

Here’s a quick walk-through:

As you can see below, the secret bookshelf “Crate-Of-Books”, has a wonderful weathered and aged look. Each of the books you see have been sliced, leaving about an inch thick part of only the book binding. These were permanently attached to two swing open doors. The opening of these secret doors is done by pressing in on the Harry Potter book near the middle of the book set. Swinging open the doors reveals the single secret shelf, and the magical Hogwarts Station in the background.

Now back to Harry Potter’s Wand – It began as nothing more than about 18 inches of 1 inch diameter Maple Dowel I had in shop. Something I’ve never created before; which is also part of the fun – taking on a new challenge. The wand was shaped and carved through turning on the Shopsmith lathe and hand carving the details with both a Dremel tool and bits, and hand sanding. The wand was given an aged look using 3 different wood stains, and protected with gloss polyurethane finish.

Ps.

Like it, have questions, or want to know more… Please let me know in the comments below!

Bean Spoon

Wonderfully Whimsical and Humorous Bean Spoon is a welcome and fun feature for any kitchen!

These began for me about 25 years ago when a friend and coworker asked if I could make some bean spoons for her Brother’s Restaurant. I had toyed with making a few here and there mostly for family gifts until this restaurant request came in. We fine-tuned the design and of course HAD to include the info card. On the back of each card, we printed the restaurant’s name and details. The restaurant was the Oak Oven Beanery. A very fitting item indeed.

The Info card explains the Bean Spoon Novelty and it’s humorous use in ridding your beans of gas! Place spoon in pot while cooking any kind of beans. DO NOT REMOVE! Spoon will get the gas out of the beans. The little farts will climb up the ladder and jump over the side. 🙂

These make a great gift for all kitchens, cooks, and foodies!

The little “Farts” climb up the ladder and over the side.