The girl with kaleidescope woodchips

I won’t have too much how-I-made-it type info for this one, but I’m so darn proud of it, I’ve got to post it anyway. I made a kaleidoscope. I made it for a raffle, and I want to make another for myself, because, well, I love kaleidoscopes. It’s little—maybe 2 ½” tall—but a good size to keep on a desk for the times when you just need to look at something prettier than a computer screen.

I actually turned the body of this out of poplar quite a while ago, but the tube that goes inside didn’t seem to fit (yes, the actual kaleidoscope part was from a kit). I was frustrated, but after a while, turned another body out of purpleheart using the tube as a guide for the length. Silly me, once I assembled the kaleidoscope into the tube, I found the second body was way too short, but the first one was actually only a little too long. 60 grit sandpaper took care of that problem fairly quickly (followed by other sanding, of course), and two coats of tung oil later, here’s my little kaleidoscope! I think it looks kind of like an urn or vase. It’s pretty, though, and stands up nicely on its own:Just for the fun of it, I tried taking a picture of the inside.

And let me tell you, whoever wins this in the raffle had better like it!