Christmas projects - bamboo

[wfarley]

I am a total newbie to this forum. I have wild bamboo growing all over where I live. I'm strapped for cash and looking for ways to make Christmas gifts for friends and family.

Nothing too complicated, although I'm not averse to drying and weaving, if someone could walk me through it.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

WF

[Mark Meckes]

Hi,
That date is getting near, so it'll depend on what tools that you have available, and what to make.
Your foremost tool will be a fine tooth saw. Have you got to this stage yet?
Do you have access to a bandsaw?

If you can cut bamboo into pieces and sections and you're happy with the edge of the cut, ie, not frayed and splintered, then, after filing, sanding, splitting, carving, drilling, bending, tying, gluing ,staining, painting, etching waxing, sealing, weaving and any futher embellishing,... you've got a gift, (or a batch of gifts) to give.

So, what you make will depend on your tools, other materials, budget, skills, amount of time, and what it is that you'd like to make.

Whatever you make, and however you make it, there's a process involved and a certain level of skill required, generally acquired with practice.

Some crafts require a group of pieces to be made for it. Some things require duplicate pieces, and this can be a real challange with bamboo, but overall, focusing on a given task by making a group of pieces or batches of an item improves skills and dexterity faster then going from here to there to here then there etc.

If time is a factor, then you'll have to weigh up how much time you can allot for each stage of the work process.

The biggest consumer of time in the making of one's craft is spent in the finishing and detailing, and this is where one inevitably has to cut corners if one is pernickidy about details.
Well, as the world of art has proven, even works that are basic, or crudely expressed can also attain the highest value.
Turns out that how you feel during the making of your work is the most important thing that matters...

One added benefit of working with bamboo is that it is of itself, beautiful!
Not always, but often the principle of `Less is more holds true in the making of a bamboo item.
Examples are vases, cups brush and pen and nick-knack holders, or napkin rings that can be simply bamboo or extensively carved etc....

If you add many other materials to your bamboo work, then the merit of your work will depend more so on what you did to the bamboo.
The bamboo is there more as a supportive element.
An example is a bamboo wreath frame which can be the primary feature of the wreath, or on the other hand it can be covered extensively with beads berrys and bows, barely visible, but integral to the work.

Well, there's some ramblings, so now, what are you interested in making? and what tools do you have to work with?
Check out the pics in the Bamboo Arts and Craft Gallery (http://www.bamboocraft.net/gallery) for ideas...

Here's a thread called...
Looking for bamboo party favors (http://www.bamboocraft.net/forums/showthread.php?t=799)
Though not necessarily what you were thinking of, there may be some small bamboo gift ideas there.

Mark