Unique Gifts Under $65
Display-Worthy, Useful Objects for Kitchen, Table, & Personal Use, including:
Ink Pens & Letter Openers
French Rolling Pins
Ice Cream & Coffee Scoops
Pizza Cutters
Stainless Pie/Pizza Servers
7-Function Ratcheting Screwdrivers, and
Badger Hair Shaving Brushes
(scroll down to see items and where they may be purchased)
The Unique Gifts Collection...
Unique Gift: "Historic Places" Ink Pens! - $65
We've been busy turning small "leftover" wood from our "Historic Places" series of wood turnings into classy writing instruments for the history lover in your life. See Historic Places Ink Pens & Letter Openers for details!
Unique Gift: The Tapered French Rolling Pin - $45
The French Rolling Pin is the only pin Dame Julia Child deemed worthy of the name (see her epic "diss" of the classic American handled rolling pin here). Here's our version, which features the following benefits:
Control: the hands are closer to and can indeed feel the thickness of the dough;
Balance: even, continuous pressure on the dough is easy to achieve, with "oomph" when needed;
Tapered ends: allow easy rotation and tight turns, while being gentle on the hands and wrists;
Cleaning: no crevices for dough to hide in; just wipe clean
Once we were sold on the French Pin style, we did some research and testing to come up with our own version. Our French Rolling Pins are crafted from carefully selected Sugar Maple and Cherry. Finished with a food-grade, penetrating oil, these pins are easy to clean and care for (instructions come with each pin). They measure a generous 19 inches (long enough to be effective with pie crusts and pizza dough, but short enough to fit inside a standard cabinet drawer), and vary between 1 3/4 and 1 1/2 inches thick (along a 12 inch span, giving the user plenty of flat rolling surface before tapering at either end). We think you'll find this useful tool elegant and display-worthy (Julia Child kept hers in in a copper pot on the counter of her famous TV kitchen).
Control: the hands are closer to and can indeed feel the thickness of the dough;
Balance: even, continuous pressure on the dough is easy to achieve, with "oomph" when needed;
Tapered ends: allow easy rotation and tight turns, while being gentle on the hands and wrists;
Cleaning: no crevices for dough to hide in; just wipe clean
Once we were sold on the French Pin style, we did some research and testing to come up with our own version. Our French Rolling Pins are crafted from carefully selected Sugar Maple and Cherry. Finished with a food-grade, penetrating oil, these pins are easy to clean and care for (instructions come with each pin). They measure a generous 19 inches (long enough to be effective with pie crusts and pizza dough, but short enough to fit inside a standard cabinet drawer), and vary between 1 3/4 and 1 1/2 inches thick (along a 12 inch span, giving the user plenty of flat rolling surface before tapering at either end). We think you'll find this useful tool elegant and display-worthy (Julia Child kept hers in in a copper pot on the counter of her famous TV kitchen).
Unique Gift: The World's Classiest Ice Cream Scoop - $45
(Featured in the July/August 2018 edition of
Taste of the South Magazine)
Do you like ice cream?
Okay, dumb question. How about this instead: do you like bending a perfectly good spoon on hard ice cream, or the epic fail of a cheaply made ice cream scoop, or the blasphemous prospect of waiting while your ice cream softens (or worse) "nuking " your ice cream in the microwave? Didn't think so. Well, we've been busy making something we think you'll like - it is literally the last ice cream scoop you will ever need, and it's classy enough to display in your kitchen! Our popular ice cream scoop - featured in "Taste of the South" Magazine in the summer of 2018 - features a handle of locally harvested, artfully turned fine hardwood, finished with a penetrating food-grade oil finish that with a little care will make it last a lifetime. Since we're not about to go cheap after handcrafting such an elegant handle, our scoop is a stainless steel beauty with a "hawk" nose, and features a ferrule and cap that keeps moisture out of the end grain. We've sold a ton of these scoops and have gotten used to people coming back for more when they need a unique gift. Generally available in Black Walnut and Cherry (shown), White Oak, Red Oak, Wormy American Chestnut, Sugar Maple and Mahogany.
Okay, dumb question. How about this instead: do you like bending a perfectly good spoon on hard ice cream, or the epic fail of a cheaply made ice cream scoop, or the blasphemous prospect of waiting while your ice cream softens (or worse) "nuking " your ice cream in the microwave? Didn't think so. Well, we've been busy making something we think you'll like - it is literally the last ice cream scoop you will ever need, and it's classy enough to display in your kitchen! Our popular ice cream scoop - featured in "Taste of the South" Magazine in the summer of 2018 - features a handle of locally harvested, artfully turned fine hardwood, finished with a penetrating food-grade oil finish that with a little care will make it last a lifetime. Since we're not about to go cheap after handcrafting such an elegant handle, our scoop is a stainless steel beauty with a "hawk" nose, and features a ferrule and cap that keeps moisture out of the end grain. We've sold a ton of these scoops and have gotten used to people coming back for more when they need a unique gift. Generally available in Black Walnut and Cherry (shown), White Oak, Red Oak, Wormy American Chestnut, Sugar Maple and Mahogany.
Unique Gift: Deluxe Stainless Pizza Cutter - $45
Whether you make your own pizza pies (French Rolling Pin, anyone?), or just need to re-cut the delivery order, our well-balanced, heavy-duty chrome plated pizza cutter can handle whatever is tossed in front of it. At 4 inches, the pre-sharpened stainless steel cutting wheel tackles the thickest of crusts with ease - 'nuff said. Turned handles available in Maple, Red or White Oak, Cherry, Walnut (shown), Reclaimed American Chestnut, and Mahogany (species subject to availability).
Unique Gift: Stainless Pie/Pizza Server - $45
Constructed from 304 food-grade stainless steel this generous 3 5/8' wide x 7 1/2" long server on our elegant turned hardwood handle (shown in Black Walnut; app. 4 1/4" long)) is one handsome kitchen and table tool you won't want to put away when the serving's done, and makes an excellent companion to the stainless Pizza Cutter above. Available in all the same species, subject to availability.
Unique Gift: Classy Coffee Scoop - $25
You love coffee and you love the look and feel of fine hardwood, and you wouldn't mind starting your day with both. This classy chrome scoop (equal to one tablespoon) with our turned wood handle is shown above in Black Walnut, just one of our species choices for that early morning, "hello darkness, my old friend" coffee moment. Typical length between 5-6 inches. We're also making these in quartersawn White Oak, Cherry and Maple and, until we've used up our dwindling supply of exotic wood, Mahogany.
Unique Gift: The 7-Function Ratcheting Screwdriver - $30
This is a truly handy replacement for 7 different tools; and we think it looks so good that you won't lose it. Our Red or White Oak (foreground) handles come with #1 and #2 Phillips tips and slotted tips (1 through 4 functions), a 7/16" hex driver (a 5th function), and a reversible shaft that can be used as a 1/4" or 5/16" hex driver (6th and 7th functions!), all with a convenient ratcheting feature. Really, don't ever be without the right screw or nut driver - or lose the most useful household tool you own - again!
Unique Gift: Badger Hair Shaving Brush - $25
(currently unavailable)
The hard part, of course, is catching and shaving a live badger. Ok, just kidding! The modern shaving brush can be traced back to France to the 1750’s. While the overall design has changed very little since, it's popularity has not diminished. This brush is made from 100% badger hair, traditionally known to hold significant amounts of water when mixed with shaving soap, making a great lather. The unique hardwood handle - no two are alike - is finished with 3 durable oil and urethane topcoats, and features a flat bottom so the brush can stand up. Shown in Mahogany, Figured Hard Maple, Reclaimed Heart Pine, and Black Walnut.
Where Can I Buy These Things?
Most of these items are for sale at the following fine craft galleries (or may be purchased directly from me)
In West Virginia:
Shepherdstown - Dickinson and Wait Craft Gallery
Beckley - Tamarack (West Virginia's Artisan Retail Center)
Lewisburg - Harmony Ridge Gallery
In Maryland
Hagerstown, MD - Washington County Arts Council
Boonsboro, MD - Gifts Inn Boonsboro
In West Virginia:
Shepherdstown - Dickinson and Wait Craft Gallery
Beckley - Tamarack (West Virginia's Artisan Retail Center)
Lewisburg - Harmony Ridge Gallery
In Maryland
Hagerstown, MD - Washington County Arts Council
Boonsboro, MD - Gifts Inn Boonsboro