My assistant is retiring at the end of the year, so I made this serving tray as a thank you gift.  It is similar to a design from a year or so ago, but a bit narrower, has more splay to the ends, and is in red oak with a book-matched solid bottom.

I shaped the edges similarly, with a roundover that increases towards the middle, but this time I left the outside edge as a sharp corner.  I like the contrast between hard and soft edges and I think it makes the inside edge design pop more.

For Christmas, my parents wanted me to make a second rolling cabinet for their camper, matching one I made two years ago.  

It was interesting to go through a process again with so much time - and hopefully more skill - in between.  Many parts of the build went more smoothly than I remember.  In particular, building and attaching the face frame and rear panels was much easier with Dominos.  Last time I did it with splines and brads.

I do still get frustrated working in plywood.  It just seems too easy to plane or sand through the veneer.  Also, I made the same mistake I made two years ago with the hinges.  The description on Lee Valley does not make the overlap measurement obvious and my design different from the hinges.  I ended up buying some adapters - a waste of money if I would have taken better notes or had better memory.

One more box
Showing off the last boxes led to a little commission from our friend Elizabeth for a small box to use as a salt cellar.  The box, bottom, and pull are cherry.  The top was more of that book-matched poplar panel I made up from some wood a neighbor pulled out of their attic.

More boxes
The last boxes were a "pre-reading" of sorts for a class I took last weekend with Fine Woodworking editor Matt Kenney.  It was a great experience up in Beverly, MA at Phil Lowe's school.  Here's Matt's tweet of the group and the result:

After the bed, I worked on a few small boxes.  The first started with a book-matched panel of some poplar with rich color.  I added tiny inlaid corners and a handle of walnut.  Shellac and wax finished it.

The second was a very small box, about 3x3x6.  I used straight grained cherry and arranged the top cross-grain for a change.  I finished with shellac.

It was time to move Lexie off a mattress on the floor and into a read bed.  I made this cherry twin bed for her.  It was my first bed build and it went very well.  Finish was arm-r-seal varnish.

For at least the last year, Cate wanted a tray wide enough to fit our plates for eating outside in the summer.  I finally got around to make this for Mother's Day.

I used cedar for the sides, joined with my new Domino.  The bottom is red oak plywood.  Finished with 3 coats of Waterlox.  I shaped the edges to a taper/bevel in the middle.

For the last two years, I have been participating in a program called Contemplative Leaders in Action (CLA), which is coming to an end next month.  The 15 participants have gone through a lot together and we have become very close.  As a farewell, I made these tea-light holders.  Each person gets to take home their "piece of the circle" to keep the group in their thoughts.

I used Southern Yellow pine sandwiched between thinner red oak slices.  One coat of boiled linseed oil smoothed the feel but kept the rustic look.

I made this table for my sister and brother-in-law's birthdays.  It came together nicely, but slowly - working through the cold and snow always slows things down, especially this winter.

It's cherry with a poplar drawer box.  I used my new Domino in the back of the drawer and hand cut the half-blind dovetails in the front.  The finish is shellac on the inside for less small and arm-r-seal varnish on the outside.  It should stand up to their two little girls and dog.  I hope they like it - I'm finding it hard to think about parting with it.

It's not exactly a fine furniture commissions, but I had to put together a perch for some young chicks.  We are taking care of them for a few weeks for a farm we belong to.  There is just too much snow outside still.

I overdid it a bit.  I used some cherry off-cuts, reinforced the miter on top with splines, and set the cross bars into dadoes.  I rounded over all the inside edges to soften things for the little ladies.  They seem to like it.

Christmas gifts
December 2014
Near Christmas, I wanted to do some quick projects for small gifts.  It was also time to clean up the shop to allow for getting a car in there during winter snowstorms, so I tried to use up some scrap.

I made two small cutting boards in cherry and maple; one for each of my girls.

The I made two simple votive holders from layered cherry and southern yellow pine.

My wife broke our toothpick holder, so I made a new one out of maple.  I was making up the design on the fly and it works very well.

Finally, I made a set of refrigerator magnets with layered cherry and maple.  I set small rare-earth magnets in them which are very strong.

Everything but the cutting boards were finished with shellac.  It seems to tolerate the colder temperatures better than other finishes.

Lexie's treasure box
January 2015
I made this little treasure box for my daughter Lexie's 3rd birthday.  She uses it to stash her special things, but has also turned it into a seat, step stool, doll table, play stove, and doll bed.  I never could have planned for all that.

The case is cherry, with walnut breadboard ends on the top.  It is constructed like a traditional 6 board chest, with wrought nails.  I finished it in shellac - too many coats to count.  After a week of curing, I polished it with 400-grit sandpaper and buffed in wax with 0000 steel wool.