Wedding Box + Mugs

vsur Feb 14, 2016

This is a box and mugs I made a while back for a friend to give as a wedding present. The lid is carved with the character for 'double happiness' and the sides are carved with the respective family names. Inside is lined with maroon felt to match the red stain of the box. All the decoration was initially carved in, and then highlighted with gold ink markers for contrast.

The box construction is very simple, featuring only mitre joints for the box sides, and a lid made of several jointed boards. To reduce the blotchiness from the staining, I first coated all pieces with a very thin layer of shellac.

I printed out the characters in 1:1 scale on my printer, and traced them onto the timber so I would have an accurate pattern to carve to.

The mugs were made in the same way as the other mugs n my profile, except that the circumferential bands were made of wood instead of steel. I made these by cutting a thin strip on the table saw, soaking them in water overnight, and then heating them with an iron whilst bending them around the mug, and then clamping in place with rope or laundry pegs.

The studs are purely decorative. I felt the mug looked a bit drab without them, especially since unlike steel bands, there was no colour contrast between the barrel and bands in these mugs.