Handcraft Holiday Gifts This Year with Help from Woodcraft

Put handmade gifts under the tree this year – with help from Woodcraft!

Nothing says “I care” like a gift you make with your hands – from your heart. Woodcraft has an extensive selection of kits, plans and how-to videos and blogs to help the serious gift-giver create a present to remember. And, for the folks who don’t need a kit, Woodcraft offers all the tools, materials and supplies to create a gift “from scratch.”

Custom Knives

Whether you have a chef, an outdoorsman/camper, or a survivalist on your gift list, a handmade knife will be a welcome gift. Select a knife kit and wood or man-made scale (handle) material to build a custom outdoor or kitchen knife. WoodRiver® Mosaic Pins add a decorative touch.

WoodRiver® knife kits for camping, hunting, skinning, filleting, and other outdoor tasks include Drop Point Skinner or Modified Skinner, Fillet, Drop Point Hunter, Tanto Style, Spear Point, Alaskan ULU and a Camp Axe. Camillus and Sarge Knife Kits are also available at Woodcraft. 

ZHEN Kitchen Knife Kits include several types such as paring, chef’s, bread, cleaver, santoku, nakiri, and chopping – all with attractive steel blanks.

To learn about knife making, watch WoodRiver Knife Kit Build and read this blog: Handcrafting a Custom Knife on woodcraft.com.

Eye-Catching Cutting Boards

Cutting Boards the Easy Way – with Woodcraft Kits

A cutting board is the perfect present for those who love to cook, especially if it is attractive as well as functional. Make one or more custom cutting boards with a Woodcraft kit. To make the process easier, Woodcraft kits include a selection of different woods that have already been milled. Arrange wood pieces to please the artist in you, glue together, clamp, and then sand.

Watch The Quick, Customized Cutting Board in 6 Simple Steps on woodcraft.com to learn how to make a cutting board using a kit.

Cutting Boards from Wood Selection to Final Finish

If you prefer to select your own wood and build a cutting board without a kit, Woodcraft Magazine offers some helpful information. “Cut-Above Cutting Boards” from Issue 74 is available as a pdf download on woodcraft.com. The article is a guide to building extraordinary cutting boards that reflect the maker’s creativity. Directions are given to make different sizes and shapes and combine different woods to create eye-pleasing patterns.

Woodcraft Magazine also offers downloadable plans to make custom cutting boards in the shape of a football and a flag and a paper plan to build an end-grain cutting board that features a geometric pattern reminiscent of weaving.

To help cutting board makers who prefer rounded corners, Woodcraft carries the MDF Corner Radius Template to cut perfect corners.

Pens and Other Small Turned Project Kits

Pen turning is one of the easiest woodworking skills to learn – one that can become habit-forming. Woodcraft’s huge variety of pen kits and blanks make handcrafted pens the perfect custom gifts that can reflect the recipient’s favorite color, sport or hobby, military service, or profession (firefighter, police officer).

WoodRiver® 7mm Chrome Slim Style Hybrid Twist Ballpoint Pen Kit was completed with an Evergreen Poly Resin Pen Blank (sold separately).

The WoodRiver Thin Red Line Acrylic Pen Blank was designed for use with the WoodRiver Fireman's Click Ballpoint Pen Kit.

The WoodRiver Slim Style Satin Finish Straight Pen Kit shown here was completed with a cocobolo wood pen blank (sold separately).

For those who are not turners but want to turn a pen, watch Pen Turning 101 Presented by Woodcraft. “Pen Turning 101,” a Woodcraft Magazine article, may be read online or downloaded as a pdf on woodcraft.com.

To view more pen kits and blanks, read Woodcraft Pen Kits Celebrate Firefighters, EMTs, Police, Soldiers & Special Interests.

Other turning options include WoodRiver® kits for making bottle stoppers, ornaments, pepper and salt mills, pizza cutters, ice cream and coffee scoops, vegetable peelers, cheese planes, roasting forks, and canes, to name just a few items.

Create One-of-a-Kind Rings

Make unique jewelry with WoodRiver® Titanium Comfort Ring Cores. Select a core the size of the giftee’s finger, and then choose from Woodcraft’s attractive offering of wood and man-made blanks (sold separately) to turn a cover for the core. Bushings are required (sold separately). Ring sizing gauges and display boxes are also available.  

Watch How to Turn Our Comfort Core Ring Kits to learn the steps in using a ring core to make a beautiful piece of jewelry.

Woodcarving

For those interested in carving a present, Woodcraft carries an extensive selection of superior quality pfeil Swiss Made Carving Tools and Flexcut Carving Tools for carvers of all skill levels.

For beginners, Woodcraft carries two how-to products.

Fox Chapel Learn to Carve Kits – Renowned carver Harold Enlow has designed hand cast resin sticks with a natural wood stain that provide a visual step-by-step carving progression to make realistic caricatures and facial features. Kits also include a 32-page how-to booklet.

Record Power 12-Piece Carving Chisel Set – Each set includes a tutorial DVD and booklet from internationally acclaimed carver and teacher Mike Davies, who has developed a unique “carving by numbers” system that is ideal for the novice carving enthusiast. DVD features his Significant Six carving techniques that will form a solid foundation for an aspiring woodcarver’s skills

Build Beautiful Model Kits

UGears has created a series of wood Model Kits that range from miniature aircraft (10-19 parts; estimated completion in 10 minutes) to the Trimaran Merihobus Sailboat that takes about 15 hours to assemble its 237 parts.

Put down the electronics and build one of these attractive models – no glue or tools required – or give a model kit as a gift. To see other UGears model kits, click here.

Plans and Books

Woodcraft carries an extensive selection of paper and downloadable plans and books about making toys, jewelry boxes, furniture, and a lot more.

Don’t Forget Glues, Finishes and Other Supplies

To learn more about kits and other products for making gifts, as well as the glues, finishes and other supplies you may need, visit your local Woodcraft store, call (800) 535-4482, or go online at woodcraft.com.