Made by Hand

Kym's spinning wheel got me thinking about the handmade treasures here in my house. I'm lucky enough to have some creative and crafty family members, past and present, so I'm going to occasionally "show and tell" you about a few of the things they've made by hand.

I'm not much for keeping little tchotchkes around, mainly because I'm not a terrific housekeeper and they need to be dusted. I do have a small desk in the kitchen (the desk's made by hand story is here if you're interested), and the shelf on top is an ideal place to display some things that are important enough that I'm even willing to dust them (just not very often).

There are lots of memories displayed there, but today is about the two little wooden boxes. My grandfather was a shop teacher and it always seemed to me that he could make anything out of wood - coasters, salt and pepper shakers, chairs, desks, beds, even my grandparents' house. Not only was he an extraordinary maker, he also used every scrap possible. These two boxes are good examples.

He made these boxes from cut-off bed posts. The larger one came from a high-top bed that was in my grandparents' spare room. It was always a treat to be able to sleep in the bed when we visited, and the box was on the nightstand. I loved hearing my grandfather tell the story of how they tried to move his parents' bed into that room after he had built the house, but the posts were too tall to fit. He cut them off and then use a lathe to turn a box and a lid. The wood is lovely, smooth, and feels wonderful in your hand. As part of the story, he always used to show me the three little lathe chuck holes on the bottom of the box.

The smaller box is also a cut-off bed post, but sadly, I don't remember the whole story and don't know why this one was removed. I do remember my grandfather saying that he couldn't use the lathe for that one because it was too small, and he had to carve it instead. That's why the underside just shows the cut-off wooden support in the middle that was part of the bedpost and no lathe holes.

I wish I had asked my grandfather more about the techniques he used, but as a young child I was more fascinated by these wonderful little boxes than details about how they had been made. Sometimes special treasures are held within boxes, but I think these boxes are treasures themselves.