Ever wondered what's simmering in the world of wooden spoons? Dive into the hottest trends reshaping this timeless craft, from daring decoration to sustainable sourcing, here are some of the hot topics you might encounter this year 1. Templates On The Rise When I carved full-time, I made great use of templates to create batches of spoons with the same design. Templates are a great way to quickly and confidently get a design onto wood. While traditionalists might scoff, spoon carving templates are gaining traction, especially for beginners. These offer pre-printed shapes to trace onto wood ..read more

10 Reasons to Learn How to Carve a Spoon New year, new you? Ditch the resolutions and try spoon carving - a rewarding hobby that boosts mindfulness, creativity, and more. If you’re thinking of picking up some tools to begin carving, or, like me, you need a little push to get back into a familiar hobby, here are some reasons spoon carving might be what you need. 1) Spoon Carving Boosts Mindfulness Spoon carving demands focus and full immersion in the moment. Every stroke of the knife is a step toward mindfulness, encouraging you to leave behind your daily worries and live entirely in the prese ..read more

In an age where our eyes are glued to screens and our minds are bombarded by endless notifications, the craft of spoon carving emerges as a surprisingly profound remedy. This simple yet immersive hobby offers not just a creative outlet, but a path to rediscover our lost sense of purpose in the digital whirlwind of modern life. The Plight of Modern Distraction: Externalizing Our Attention My work, probably much like your own, is dominated by technology. From the buzz of social media to the allure of endless online content, we've become spectators of others' lives, losing touch with our inner vo ..read more

Loneliness is bad. Real bad. Loneliness has studies linking it to diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer's, heart disease and cancer. 61% of Americans are lonely 42 million Americans over 45 suffer from chronic loneliness Loneliness increases risk of premature death up to 32%. While gender seems to have little impact on loneliness, this blog post will be looking at combating the impact loneliness has on men. 86% of my YouTube audience is male. Same for my Instagram followers. 70% of my Facebook followers are male. Even on Pinterest, where 67% of the users are female, my audience is 57% male. So ..read more

While the world often celebrates extroverted qualities and social activities, it's essential to recognize the unique needs and strengths of introverts. I’m certainly an introvert. While socializing is enjoyable, I find it draining. I need the solace and fulfillment found in activities that allow for solitude and self-expression. One such activity that perfectly aligns with the introvert's disposition is spoon carving. My happy place. In this article, I will share with you why I think spoon carving is the perfect hobby for introverts, providing a creative outlet, fostering introspection, and o ..read more

Imagine two distinct activities: one, delving into the rich philosophies of Marcus Aurelius, an emperor who ruled the world's most powerful empire two millennia ago. The other, carving wooden spoons. These activities seem worlds apart. But we can find some common threads that aligns the ancient wisdom of Stoic philosophy with the peaceful act of crafting wooden utensils. Guess what I’ve been reading… Gleaning Wisdom from the Stoics A big part of Marcus Aurelius's philosophy is the Stoic idea of living each day as if it were our last. This concept encourages us to put people first, adopt resil ..read more

One of my favourite things about spoon carving is the minimal tool kit required. If you buy some spoon blanks all you really need is a straight knife and a hook knife. But these 5 tools are the essentials that should be at the core of every spoon carving kit. Pruning Saw Totally not compensating. Shut up. Designed for cutting through green wood, a pruning saw is great for cutting logs to length, ready to be split. They’re also useful for putting in stop cuts when roughing out a spoon. A few quick passes with a good saw and you won’t be axing off more wood than you intended. When selecting ..read more

The best way to improve your spoon carving is to carve lots of spoons. Getting the reps in is the fastest route to improvement in any field. That said, here are 5 tips that will help you get more out of your time spent carving. Sharpen Your Tools In all the classes I’ve taught where students have brought their own tools, they’ve been in need of a sharpen. Heck, I have tools that could do with some work. SHARPEN ALL THE THINGS! You know your tools should be sharp. Spending time getting good at sharpening will improve your carving. Sharpening is a skill, give it the time and effort it deserves ..read more

It’s easy to carve a spoon. Take a piece of wood. Shape it into a stick with a hollowed out scoop on the end. That is a spoon. But is it a good spoon? It’s certainly describes a lot of spoons I carved when I first started out. Definitely a spoon If you just enjoy whittling and seeing what happens, you’ve already found your happy place. Just enjoying the process without caring about the outcome is a great way to approach any task. But that’s not what this article is about. When I started out out, I carved a lot of bad spoons. It took a long time to figure out certain tips and tricks to making ..read more

Spoon carving is a fantastic hobby. It’s incredibly easy to get started with. It can be done almost anywhere, with a minimum of tools. Here’s a quick look at what different spoon carving setups might look like. Beginner All you need to start spoon carving is a straight knife, a hook knife and spoon blanks. For under $100 you can have a go and see if spoon carving is something you’ll enjoy. Mora 106, spoon blank and Mora 164 Once you’ve got all that, all you need is a place to sit. I prefer a firm seat you can scoot to the edge of. In that position you’ve got a greater range of motion for your ..read more