Well, gosh, that went very quickly!  It seems as if the week just began, and now, Iggy and I are sending all of you elves on your merry way. Hopefully, the projects we have featured and the links we have provide give you a bit of inspiration as you move ahead into the holiday season, ready to get to your workbenches and build something special for the ones you love.

But, before you begin, remember that there are two important things you have to keep in mind:

1. The only way you are going to get them built in time is if you actually get started.
2. Never say that you can’t build something that will be good enough for your recipient. Over the past years, I have seen many people build awesome projects, but spend all of their time pointing out all of their ‘mistakes’ and belittling their work. Believe me, the only way the recipients are going to know about that tiny, microscopic gap is if you point it out to them. Just give them the present, shut your mouth and say, “thank you” when the recipient expresses his or her recognition.

Now, if you will excuse me, I hear some of the power equipment running in the shop. I have to go see what Iggy is up to!

And, we even have some more links for you!

• Woodworking for Mere Mortals: Easy Christmas Woodworking Projects
• Sawtooth Ideas: Christmas Woodworking Plans
• Woodworking for Mere Mortals: Clever and fun Christmas Gift ideas.

Challenges.

Being a last minute builder myself, I have run into many challenges over the years trying to beat the clock for holiday presents.

I have had plenty of long shop nights, struggling to get everything done in time.  I have had to delay the giving of gifts because, well, they didn’t get done on time.

And, I can remember the one year that I was building a special train table for my nephew. The little guy wasn’t all that old – maybe five or six. And, he loved Thomas the Tank Engine more than life itself. And, I made the mistake of promising my sister-in-law that I would build the table.

Bad move.

Now, back then, my brother-in-law Larry was a much more accomplished woodworker than I was (he was the first of us to get a table saw), and had built a simple train table for his daughter. He showed me the rough dimensions of the project, and, well, I knew I could build it.

Fortunately, it was easy to build with plywood. And, I was going to paint it, so some exposed sanded through plies or glue splotches weren’t going to be a big deal.

I was well into the build when it hit me. The scratchy throat. The runny nose. Body aches. Soon, I was deep in the middle of a bad cold, coughing up a storm and running a fever. All I wanted to do was to lay on the couch and sleep, but my brain kept screaming at me to finish the table, because we were less than a week away from the holiday.  I struggled through the rest of the build, stopping frequently to blow my nose, take more Advil and sit down when I felt woozy. Which was frequently.

But, I did it. Darned if it didn’t near kill me. My sister-in-law picked up the table and thanked me profusely, but I swore then that I would do two things…

First, I would never promise I was going to get anything done for a specific event…

And, number two, I always plan to give a back up gift, just in case those last minute plans don’t work out.

Just be sure to take your Vitamin C, eat well and get plenty of rest so you can fight off the bugs this holiday building season!

Sticking with the train theme today, our winner for the Last Minute Elf building contest today is Chris Crozier. Those toy train toys are totally awesome for kids to play with, but, come on, what’s a train without a tunnel?  I mean, you have to use that train whistle for something, right?  Chris was able to set up an Instructable on how to build this tunnel using basswood, although something like MDF would probably make for an interesting project as well.  Chris, how about a pair of of 24″ Revo Jr. K-Body Clamps from the folks over at Bessey?  They would make building your next train table scenery that much easier.

Today’s articles?  We got ’em!

• Tool Crib: 25 Fast, Easy and Free Woodworking plans for last minute Christmas Gifts
• The Reverend’s Workshop: Apparently, Birds are Picky
• Woodworking Guild of America: Easy wood projects that make great holiday gifts
• Instructables: Woodworking projects for beginners
• Beave’s Bench: A Tea Box for Christmas

Hey, everyone. Iggy again.

It’s a good thing that Tom has left me alone in the shop. Without having to stop to answer his inane questions, I have made good progress on the wine bottle topper. Which is good, because I have a feeling I may need to make a boatload of these babies.

But, first, I did the smart thing. I took the plans that David Piccuito sent me and made a template out of some 1/2 inch plywood. I resisted the urge to just slap the pattern down on the workpiece because I wanted to have a nice pattern to rout to, if I wanted to go that way. Plus, it would be a lot more durable for when I’m cranking out those babies.

Once I traced the outline, I took it over to the drill press to make the holes for the neck of the bottle and for the wine glasses. With the right size forstner bits, it’s a piece of cake to get some nice looking holes.

With this done, I turned to the jigsaw to make the cuts. With a good quality blade, it’s amazing how accurately you can cut with one of these. To snug the piece down for cutting, I used a holdfast in one of the new bench’s dog holes. Holds like a champ, and stays out of the way while I am cutting.

With the rough cutting out of the way, I used a Microplane rasp on the piece to ensure the curves were fair. These things are the bee’s knees.. great for making smooth cuts on board edges…

The next step was to sand and round over the edges. After I did some work on it, I had to take it for a ride. I think the lucky recipient of this is going to be very happy!

Now, maybe for a little nip. But, you all know I prefer banana daiquiris…

Today’s winner? Hmmm, let’s see… One skill I have always wanted to try, but have been afraid I might catch my tail on, is turning. Fortunately, Brian Benham has sent this entry for how to turn holiday ornaments. Using some glued up scraps, he was able to turn some sweet looking ornaments.  Great work, Brian. How would you like a copy of Popular Woodworking’s DVD of editions from 1995 – 2012, plus a one-year subscription to their magazine?  I think you may find some more ideas in there.

Now, for today’s articles… how about these?

• Brian over at Construction Boss has been working on a Christmas Workbench for his nearly three year old sons. I have to warn you, the pictures of his son working in the shop are definitely hitting cute overload, so be prepared!
• Fine Woodworking: Great Christmas Gift, done in an hour
• Woodworking for Mere Mortals: Tips for making last-minute Christmas gifts
• The Renaissance Woodworker: Woodworking Gift ideas from Christmases past

Memories.

Aren’t they awesome? I mean, think about some of the best holiday celebrations you have ever enjoyed. What were some of the things you can remember? The smell of the special food? The sights and sounds? The gifts you received?

Some gifts you remember for a good long time. Two years ago, I got a new stereo for my base-model Toyota Corolla. Because it was built in 2007, no one had given any thought to making an easy connection from an iPod or other digital music device to the stereo. I had tried many different tuners and other patches to try to get the car to play my iPod, but they didn’t really work. That’s when my wife gave me a nice Pioneer sound system, complete with a USB connection. Right after we opened the gifts, I raced out to the car, tools in hand, to install it.

It took some time, but went in with no problems. Today, whenever I drive, I can listen to my music whenever I want to. I see it every day, and I am immediately whisked back to that Christmas morning.

I also have many memories of the presents I have built for others. So, I wasn’t surprised when I started posting about the Last Minute Elf a few months ago, there would be stories about woodworking projects that would be totally heartwarming. One came from reader George Bouchard. It was such a great story, I have to share it with you as he wrote it:

I built my sister-in law a cedar chest for Christmas one year, but told her we had hit on hard times and couldn’t afford much that year. There was a look of total disbelief when she opened up the ugliest pair of socks I could buy, she cried when the brother-in-law and I walked in the room with her cedar chest. We still exchange ugly socks every year for the past thirty years or so.

Now, that’s the kind of memory that will last a lifetime. Remember, when you are in your shop building those projects, you are doing so much more than assembling pieces of wood – you are making memories which may last decades.

Today’s winner tried to get his project in as many different categories as possible. Andrew Arndts told me that it could go in the turned category, or perhaps the greenest project. Maybe a child would like it, but an adult would certainly enjoy it as well. Yeah, he covered the bases. But, this simple cut off of cocobolo, with a chain attached and a simple clock insert certainly makes a handsome pocket watch, and it makes him our winner!  Hey, Andrew, you are going to receive two pairs of MicroJig’s Zero Play guide bars for making the jigs of your dreams and a Consulting Woodworker’s two-book combo – Sand Shading and Frontier Log Building – for when you want to build your next awesome gifts!

The gift ideas keep pouring in!  There are a lot of friends out there in the online woodworking world who are helping to come up with some great Last Minute Elf ideas. Today’s batch is a Doozy!

• The Wood Lab: Waffle Trivets
• Popular Woodworking: The Last Minute Elf
• Wood Magazine: Holiday Gift Giving Giveaway
• The Drunken Woodworker: Making Wooden Pencil Holders (video)
• Woodwork Guy: Give the the business! 
• Woodwork Guy: A puzzling gift
• The Wood Whisperer: Non-Woodworking gifts for the woodworker in your life
• Chris Schwarz: The Anarchist’s Gift Guide (This is just a link to the first of his SIX entries.. more to come!)
• Popular Woodworking: The Hegemonist’s Gift Guide (their counterpunch to Chris…)

Hold on a minute… is this thing on?

OK, you have to forgive me. I’m just a trained shop monkey, and Tom left me in charge of the blog today during his big holiday building event.

First, let’s get one thing straight. He recently ‘finished’ the new workbench. But, as with everything he tells you, that’s not 100% true. In fact, I drew up the plans, shopped for the lumber, cut everything to size, cut the mortises and tenons, screwed the thing together. Yeah, so it’s ‘his’ bench only in the sense that it resides in the house he pays mortgage for…

Since he’s supposed to be busy building projects – but he’s inside, watching some kind of random sporting event on TV, it’s going to be up to me to get this building stuff done. So, the theme is something quick and easy, ready to be given to a lucky recipient in time for the holidays.

I know Tom knows a lot of folks who like wine, and he can’t push any more of those silly wine bottle balancers on his poor, unsuspecting family… So, I decided to ask our good friend David Picciuto of the Drunken Woodworker if it was OK for me to build one of his totally awesome wine bottle caddies. He said yes (probably because I asked, not Tom).  Thanks, David.

Now, to pick out some choice hardwood for this piece. I’m thinking these two pieces of mahogany and tiger maple may do the trick. Fortunately, these projects don’t take a lot of material, so I can probably get a few of these babies out of these two boards.

With my hand planes tuned to the finest level, I threw on my Santa hat (I had to get into the spirit), put some Bing Crosby crooning Mele Kalikimaka on the stereo and set to work. I’ll show you my results later this week…

But, I would be remiss if I didn’t pick today’s winner of a Last Minute Elf reader submitted project. Today, we have a pair!

First up, Charlie Baker put up an Instructable on how to make tiny tree ornaments using a band saw and a plug cutter. For a simple little project, these things make some awesome ornaments! Charlie – how would one of Infinity Cutting Tools’ six-piece router bit essentials kits look in your shop?

And, let’s give it up for Cindy Schmid. Her project is very heart warming. When her son was stationed in Korea, she wanted to build something for him to be able to celebrate the holiday far from home. So, she built – get ready for it – Christmas in a box.  Basically, it was a way for her son to decorate his barracks area to have a bit of a homey touch. She didn’t include a drawn out plan per se, but she did a write up about the project you can find by clicking here.  Cindy – you are going to love your prize.. because it comes from someone hairier than me.  Marc Spagnuolo is going to send you a copy of his latest book, Hybrid Woodworking, as well as a copy of his book on finishing. Hope you enjoy!

Today, I wanted to post a special link to someone who has taken the spirit of the Last Minute Elf to heart for years. In fact, I told Tom to check out Steve Ramsey’s (Woodworking for Mere Mortals) stuff from years past to inspire the mook. Steve has posted some awesome plans for this year that you won’t want to miss:

• Snowflakes
• Shut the Box game
• Wooden Gift Bow
• Cheese Cutting Board

The best part is that he’s coming out with a new plan just about every day! Be sure to swing by his busy shop to see what new and off-the-wall ideas he has.

Remember, if you have posted a Last Minute Elf idea on your site, or see one posted somewhere, be sure to send the link to tom@tomsworkbench.com so he can post it here this week!

“It’s the thought that counts.”

Ugh. How many times have I heard that expression. Usually, it means, “Way to go, bonehead. I really didn’t need a Pepe Le Pew key chain for the holidays, but wow, you must have really been desperate to find a last-minute gift at the local gas station before you stopped here.”

Yeah, I’ve done stupid stuff like that.

But, I can also tell you that while getting something you may not want could be a disappointment, not getting anything – when others around you are receiving gifts – can really be a blow. That says that, yes, it’s true, that no one thought about you. It’s happened to me a few times, and it did not feel good…

That’s part of the reason why I enjoy building gifts for friends and relatives. It doesn’t only show that yes, I thought of you, it also shows much more importantly that not only did I think of you, but I carved hours out of my free time to make something especially for you.

The first year I built holiday gifts was when I made some mitered boxes for my parents and my in-laws. No, they weren’t all that great. I can still remember trying to figure out how to hide some gappy miter joints after I had assembled the pieces. And, there were more than a few puzzled looks on the faces of the recipients when they got them.

But, ten years later, when I walk into my mom’s or my in-law’s homes, I can see those boxes still out on display. I know that they are still being appreciated.

So, if you have never built a gift for the holiday season, give it a go. While you may not think the project is a big deal, it may be a huge deal for the person who receives it.

Yes, it certainly is the thought that counts.

Today’s winner?  Well, when you get an entry from someone known as The Woodfather, it’s an offer you cannot refuse, capisce?  That’s what happened when Mario Cappellano sent me the plans for his children’s picnic table.

Mario – I’d say the kids are liking that table. And, when the weather gets warmer, it will be a great place to gather with friends to enjoy some fresh air and sunshine – and a good snack!

For being today’s winner, how about Fine Woodworking’s Basic Box Making DVD with Doug Stowe?

And, here are some Last Minute Elf links for some really cool quick holiday ideas.

• Wood Magazine: Countdown to Christmas Finishes
• The Wood Whisperer: Holiday Project Ideas for Everyone
• Tom Hintz: Building End Grain cutting boards
• Iggy the Trained Shop Monkey: Magic wine bottle balancers

Remember, if you have posted a Last Minute Elf idea on your site, or see one posted somewhere, be sure to send me the link at tom@tomsworkbench.com so I can post it here this week!