Descending Ashtray

Faithful readers will know of my weakness each December for Santa carvings. Each year, I try to carve something new for my Grandma Selden, who collects Santas.

I had some Alaskan Cedar laying around, some Northwest carving tools … and it sounded like fun. A Christmas totem pole, featuring Santa, Rudolph, and of course, Frosty.

I’ve been carving for about 6 hours on this thing, and it’s really coming along. I think another push this weekend should finish things up. I’m planning on adding some antlers to Rudolph, and a carrot for Frosty’s nose. A carrot made of wood, of course.

I’m thinking of limiting the paint to red, black, and possibly white, which are the traditional totem pole colors. Maybe green, too, but I want to keep it pretty simple and let quite a bit of the wood come through, although I have also been thinking of weathering the wood a little with some diluted vinegar-steel wool mixture.