Cutting Swallowtails.

Eric's family has a fun Yankee Swap every year that is orchestrated by Aunt Betty. (A Yankee Swap is what the rest of the country, outside of New England, calls a 'Secret Santa' swap. And I do not think even one New Englander can tell you why we call it 'Yankee Swap'!) Anyways, Aunt Betty sends everyone a 'rules sheet' a couple weeks before Christmas but each year, everyone decides to ignore the rules. You just cannot trust a yankee to follow the rules. Eric's gift for the swap is usually one of his mini baskets or a mini shaker box. This year, he created a mini scaled shaker box. I took some pics of the process. Here he is in the workshop cutting out the swallowtails or fingers which overlap the side of the box. The final box is gorgeous! I will have to find the photo he took of it and post it later. His cousin Britta was the lucky one who unwrapped his gift and will be taking it back home to California. Eric will also be teaching this same box at the John C. Campbell Folk School in N.C. the first week in June. That's a trip I am looking forward to. If you don't know about John C. Campbell, look them up online!