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You are here: Home / Inspiration / Christmas Ornaments: Build Your Inventory Fast
Christmas Projects Title

Christmas Ornaments: Build Your Inventory Fast

By //  by Robin 5 Comments

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Its that time of year.  Early fall, the children are back in school, and you’re still working at harvesting the garden.  Way too early to think about Christmas, but it is the right time for some quick wood turning production work.  That’s right, getting ready for the Christmas Fairs in November and early December.  Turn some Christmas ornaments to complement your main products.  These are easy between centers turning and are an opportunity to show off your turning talents.Christmas Projects Title

Turned Christmas ornaments can also give you a range of products and prices to satisfy your customers.  It is a great way to utilize off cuts and small pieces of wood in your shop.  Give yourself some time to consider your requirements, your resources, and to get yourself organized for some enjoyable production wood turning.

Quick and Easy Christmas Ornaments

Using small pieces of exotic wood adds color and texture to these small Christmas ornaments.  With a little bit of practice these can be turned in less than 5 minutes.

Light bulb, Christmas tree, snowman, pine cone, bell or anything small will do.  Keep the details simple and smooth flowing for ease of production.  Small brass eyelets and some ribbon are the only extra materials required.

 Christmas Trees

This is a quick project using lighter wood such as Poplar or Aspen.  Once the shape has been turned, the tree is painted green, snow is added, then finally colored dots to represent ornaments.  This is a bigger ornament and that is why you want to use a very light wood.

Good example of how to use the skew chisel to advantage in shaping the tree.  A narrow parting tool will be an advantage as well.

Stand Alone Christmas Trees

These Christmas Ornaments are designed to stand by themselves rather than being hung on a Christmas Tree.  Slightly larger turnings they can be made out of any wood you have available.  This is another opportunity for you to try different techniques and see how they turn out.  tp-christmas-trees-set-of-3This is my project tutorial on turning wooden Christmas Trees.  These are easy to turn and provide a nice touch for a nativity or a table center piece.

Wooden Icicles

Use these to show off the grain of the wood and the thinness of your turnings.  Turning  icicles out of pen blanks makes great Christmas Ornaments.  This is my tutorial on how to do just that.  Real icicles are not even or symmetrical so you can be creative in your designs.  Give them a shiny finish to reflect the Christmas tree lights.Christmas Ornaments: A set of three wooden iciclesYou need to focus on long and thin so that the ornament will be light on the tree.  Again brass eyelets and ribbon will be needed to finish the product.  A smooth glossy finish will enhance the icicle and make it shine under the Christmas lights.

Christmas Ornaments(2 different types of wood)

This video takes you through all three pieces needed to produce the final ornament.  The ball is made of maple and requires hollow turning.  The top finial and bottom icicle are made from a different, and contrasting, wood, with tenons to insert into the maple ball.

Finishing is again crucial to the final product.  A nice glossy finish will reflect lots of light.

I hope this gives you inspiration as you prepare for the busy season ahead.  Obviously you need to price your work according to the amount of time and effort to produce it.  Doing a production run should give you more efficiencies and better turning skills as well.  If you are looking for other turning projects check out out my listing of all the projects available on turning for profit.

I hope you’re getting excited about the upcoming season whether you are aiming for Christmas Fairs or doing your turning for the family.  What Christmas projects have you got in mind?

Each day I share a wood turning project on my Facebook page.  Join me there and get the turning project of the day, delivered to your Facebook homepage.  You can also sign up for my newsletter (scroll down a little bit) which will notify you, on a weekly basis, of new projects and post for you to enjoy.  Remember to turn safely.

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Filed Under: Inspiration, Projects, Technique Tagged With: beginner turners, merchandizing, small turnings, turning Christmas ornaments, turning tips, wood turning, wood turning videos

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Previous Post: «Olive Wood, honey dipper, pen blanks, and olive platters Olive Wood for Your Turning Projects
Next Post: Product Combinations that Sell at Craft Fairs Product Combinations like bowls and garden turnings»

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Comments

  1. Woodwitch

    December 11, 2018 at 5:26 pm

    Thank u, very interesting n simply explained!
    I asked Santa for a mini lathe n I think it arrived today!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How to Choose a Mini Lathe - Turning for Profit says:
    July 27, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    […] feet from the wood stove. A mini lathe would let me turn pens, small spindle turnings, bird houses, Christmas ornaments, small bowls, and boxes. The larger stuff would have to wait for the shop to be warmer.  So what […]

    Reply
  2. Wooden Icicles – A Turned Christmas Ornament says:
    December 7, 2015 at 11:40 am

    […] easier each time you turn a new one. If you are looking for other ornaments to make for Christmas check turning ornaments.  Two other similar projects would make great Christmas presents.  These are kitchen utensils, a […]

    Reply
  3. Woodturning Projects: Christmas Trees - Turning for Profit says:
    December 20, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    […] turn a new one. If you are looking for other ornaments to make for Christmas check out my posts on turning ornaments and wooden […]

    Reply
  4. Product Combinations that Sell at Craft Fairs - Turning for Profit says:
    October 13, 2016 at 11:18 pm

    […] that is unique to that event?  If it is a Christmas Craft Fair I would include a selection of Christmas turnings.  If it was a farmer’s market in the spring then garden utensils would be included.  This is in […]

    Reply

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Welcome to the Turning For Profit Community! I'm Robin. Turning for Profit is about helping you find hope and joy in your woodturning hobby. It's about projects that fill your inventory and inspire your creativity. It's business help to get you set up and making a profit quickly. If you've always wanted to work from home playing with wood, let me help you realize your dream of Turning for Profit. Read More…

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