Topic: Christmas Ornaments

[Ken (OP)]

I've started turning some Christmas ornaments... my plan is to make a couple dozen of them.

There are lots of designs for these, so each one should be different and I'll post more later. 

 
...these are on our Christmas tree now but these pics were taken while they were hanging in the laundry waiting for the spray-on poly to dry.

[Skhilled]

Those are very beautiful! You could sell those and make a lot of money.

[Ken (OP)]

Those are very beautiful! You could sell those and make a lot of money.

It would have to be really big 'lot of money' because it takes me several hours to make each one!  :belly:

[Skhilled]

I'm not sure of the size of those but I'm pretty sure you could make a lot of money for those especially since they are handcrafted. Handcrafted items command a lot more money especially when they are well done like those.

Take some close-ups and display them. I'm sure you'll get pricey offers for them.  :2thumbs:

[Ken (OP)]

I'm not sure of the size of those but I'm pretty sure you could make a lot of money for those especially since they are handcrafted. Handcrafted items command a lot more money especially when they are well done like those.

Take some close-ups and display them. I'm sure you'll get pricey offers for them.  :2thumbs:

The scale for them is roughly 2" diameter on the ball and about 6-8" in overall height on the ones that I've made so far. Of course there's no rule on the size so they could be made much smaller or bigger. If they are to be hung on your Christmas tree they need to be very light so as to not pull the tree branch down, but for other types of displays the weight might not be as much of an issue.

One way to make them lighter is to hollow out the ball as seen in this video by 'bobham5'.
... he's a really slow talker, but one of the best for showing how to do a project.
Skip to about the 4 minute mark to see him hollow out the ornament ball.

Christmas ornament globe and assembly

[Ken (OP)]

And, here's Bob's video on making the finials (pendant):

Christmas ornament pendant

[Skhilled]

Ah! Weight would be an issue and now that you've mentioned it I do remember seeing the metal rods they were hanging from and briefly thought to myself that they did seem a bit thick for Xmas ornaments. LOL But didn't think nothing more of it.

Hollowed out would make them lighter and smaller would probably cut down on the time to make them. I still think they would sell very well. Maybe do different types of "holiday" ornaments. Some that could sit on a shelf for other holidays would be a good idea.

[Ken (OP)]

They do sell quite well according to postings on the woodworking sites that I go to... usually from about $10-12 each and up to $25-30 depending on the area. Most people seem to be doing their sales at craft shows and similar venues. My guess is that around this area the sales prices would be at the lower end of the scale.

[Skhilled]

Try the online sales. You might be able to up the price.

[Ken (OP)]

I've considered doing that and may still do so at some point. At one time we were able to run our own online store here on the FF through Amazon.com and that worked great, but then Amazon dropped support for North Carolina so we had to take that down.

[Skhilled]

your work is excellent so I'm sure you'd have no problem selling things. You just need to make things that are easy and quick but still look good and cost effective.

[Ken (OP)]

Anything can be improved with practice and I'm getting better and faster on these as more are completed... of course after the Christmas season sales may drop dramatically so I need to hurry up!  :08:

[Skhilled]

That's when you need to start of Valentine's Day.

Lealer makes t-shirts and has a machine that can print things on mugs, keychains, etc. About now she would be getting ideas ready for the next holiday because this one is almost here. She sets a cutoff date so she has enough time to make the items and get them to the customer in time for the holiday in question. She also targets schools, businesses, etc. with things showing their logos. There are many different ways to go about it. It's all in the marketing. That's what I tried to get Les and Kel to learn with TinyPortal Hosting...not trying to bring up old issues but that is how you do business.

[Ken (OP)]

Lealer is right about working well ahead of a holiday with items that are tied to the holiday in some way and I'll be trying to do that.

Just took another look at the Amazon aStore app and they still have NC excluded... I need to find a way around that.  :undecided2:

[Skhilled]

Not a problem...posting something in the admin board.