Handmade in the USA by t Grace

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Handmade in the USA by t Grace

Hand crafted wooden items: trinket, Keepsake, valet and jewelry boxes; toys and games; frames; shadow boxes

09/11/2025

Had a great time at the St. Brendan Catholic School Holiday Craft Fair. Did well selling a lot of my creations. The snowmen were a big hit this time out, as were the little lanterns and the gnomes. Special thanks to my friend Bridget, who came and helped out. Hopefully, I will be selected again next year.

26/08/2025

Been a little busy in the shop, lately. Gail has made a few comments about being a shop widow.
Sister Mary asked me to make a noodle board for her sister-in-law. I got that done and shipped out. BTW, it cost more to ship than it did to build. For those that don't know, a noodle board is basically a range cover that serves as additional counter space.
I don't know if I mentioned it previously, but I also made a carver's mallet out of ash and walnut. This has been a huge help around the shop when using my chisels.
I also finished up a couple of commission pieces. I was asked to make a bowl and a troth out of some apple wood. The customer's grandfather had found an apple tree growing in the middle of nowhere while hunting and transplanted it a couple of times. When he ended up cutting it down, he kept a few logs.
Anyway, the bowl was a huge challenge for several reasons. The first is the shear size and weight. I had to use the outboard turning set up to actually get it round (16" max diameter, and used all of the capacity). It was heavy enough that my lathe had difficulty maintaining speed through the cuts. The second is that the wood was not dried slowly enough to reduce cracking/checking. The more I turned it, the more cracks were exposed. I did let the customer know of the issues (several were more than 1½" deep.) I filled exposed cracks with epoxy resin several times - a difficult task on a round object. I did get it finished, but not as well as I had hoped. The piece is thicker than I would have liked because I didn't want it flying apart trying to make it thinner. The bowl ended up being about 11" in diameter and about 8" tall.
The troth was easy enough, the toughest part was trying to decide how to tackle the project. The nameplate was a quick "bonus" using one of the off-cuts from the troth.
The customer has also asked me to make a box out of one of the remaining pieces of apple wood so I'm attempting to make something appropriate.

12/07/2025

I've spent a bit of time in the shop lately. I made a couple of knock-down shelving units to use at the St. Brendan Catholic School Holiday Craft Fair in November. Those did take some time, especially the folding one. No pics of those.
I did finish up a few more mushrooms. Those I will sell at $40.
Gail also asked me to make a gnome for one of her friends. I didn't get a picture of it, but had a blast making it, so made a few more. I'm thinking about $15. For each of them.
I also did a couple of cutting board/serving trays. I'm selling the larger (about 12"x20", zebra wood, maple, wenge, cherry, padauk and walnut) for $125. The smaller (about 12"x18", maple, wenge, cherry, bloodwood and walnut) for $100.
Lastly, I made an ornament with a snowman inside. $25.

29/05/2025

So, I finished up this cigar box guitar, thanks to a lot of advice from the folks at Bigfoot Music and a couple of cigar box guitar groups/You Tubes.
The cigar box part I made from birch and walnut. The neck is maple with a walnut fret board. The fret markers are inlaid with the inverse (maple on the fret board, walnut on the neck.). The tuning head, nut, bridge, saddle and volume k**b (it has a piezoelectric pick-up to plug into amp) are all of padauk.
I also made a stand for it out of ash.
Fret board is on a 24.5 inch scale.
$300.

20/04/2025

Finished up these Mushrooms. Wood used varies. These are just over 6" tall and 6" in diameter.

$40 each

06/04/2025

Completed this at the request of one of my sisters. Cherry & padauk, measures approximately 12"x6"x6". Laser engraved lid & front. Trap door on the bottom.

:::SOLD:::

10/11/2024

Had a great day as a vendor at the St Brendan's Catholic School craft fair. Special thanks to the "Chaos Coordinators" for putting it all together. St. Brendan Catholic School Holiday Craft Fair

21/08/2024

I finally finished up that segmented vessel. It ended up with 649 individual pieces. It didn't turn out quite like I originally planned, but still turned out ok. One of the pics with it still on the lathe before I finished turning the bottom. The other with the polyurethane finish on it. The primary rings are cherry, the decorative rings are walnut, koa and cherry.

::: SOLD :::

Edited to correct the price

26/06/2024

While I am working on the segmented vessel (a lot of waiting for glue to dry), I've done a couple other small projects.
At one of our meetings at work, someone mentioned something about "Harry Potter crochet hooks" and showed me a photo. I thought I could do something like that, this is the result. I've since been asked to do another set (though not necessarily Harry Potter). I am in the process of making those, as well. I am buying the hooks to put on the ends of the handles, though I did think of trying to make them. I rejected the idea for several reasons, one being that the smaller, more common sizes would easily break.
BTW, I messed up the one of the rings on the segmented vessel, so have to get more stock to redo the ring.

30/04/2024

Finished up this serving tray. Made from cherry, walnut, maple, canary wood and bloodwood. It is finished with cutting board conditioner and can double as a cutting board. $135.

28/03/2024

I've been working on the pieces for that chess board and finally got them all (almost) finished. I need to weight the bases of the pieces and still get a finish on everything. It has been too cold in the shop to even attempt doing a finish. I'll most likely go with a satin finish lacquer on everything. Once that is done, I'll have to put felt on the bottom of each piece.

Once I am done, I'll sell this set for $390.

08/03/2024

Finally got the bed extension/outboard turning set for my new lathe last week. The outboard extension will allow me to turn items up to 16 inches in diameter instead of just 12 inches.
In addition to the chess boards and chess pieces, I got the cart/stand all set up for it. It has been put to use despite not having all the pieces yet (there is a bottle stopper mounted, just need warmer weather to get the finish on it. A duck call is sitting on the old lathe waiting for the same thing).
Today, I'll be working on the drawer dividers for the first chess board and laser cutting the templates I'll use to make the pieces

Address

10049 NE 195th St

98011

Website

https://www.etsy.com/shop/tGraceWoodcrafting

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