
12 Days of Carvemas: Carve an Angel Tree Topper
Lorem Ipsum

Outline the bottom of the hat and tassel.
Make a mark 11/2" down from the top on the corner of the blank. Draw an angled line from this point to the right side of the blank. Draw in the fold of the hat and the round tassel on the left. Make 1/8" (3mm)-deep stop cuts along these lines with a carving knife

Separate the face from the hat.
Start about 1/4" (6mm) down from the stop cut and slice up to the stop cuts at the bottom of the hat. This separates the face from the hat. Remove a chip from below the tassel to separate it from the beard.

Define the bottom of the nose.
Make a deep stop cut on the corner of the blank 1/4" (6mm) down from the bottom of the hat. Cut up to this stop cut from below to separate the bottom of the nose from the mustache. Leave enough wood under the nose for the mustache.

Rough Out the Nose and the Eyes
Draw in the round nose and the top of the eyes. Plunge the knife tip into the inside corner of the eye and cut down to the bottom of the nose. Do not undercut the nose. Plunge the tip of the knife into the inside corner of the eye and make a deep curved stop cut along the top of each eye.

Separate the Nose From the Cheeks
Cut up to the stop cuts made in step 4 using the tip of the knife. Remove a chip from either side of the nose to separate the nose from the cheeks. This creates the eye cavities. Round the tip of the nose with a series of small cuts.

Separate the Mustache and Hat From the Cheeks
Draw in the top of the hat, mustache, beard, and cheeks. The top of the mustache forms circular cheek areas. Make curved stop cuts from the nose, across the top of the mustache, up to the stop cut at the top of the eyes.

Shape the Cheeks
Round the cheeks down into the stop cuts defining the mustache and nose. Shave down the top of the nose to create the bridge of the nose.

Shape the bottom of the Mustache
Remove a small triangular wedge of wood from the corner of the blank at the bottom of the mustache for the mouth. Stop cut along the bottom of the mustache and cut up to this stop cut to separate the mustache from the beard.

Shape the Hat
Slice from the top of the hat to the bottom to remove the sharp corner. Slice up from the bottom and round the front and sides of the hat. Taper the hat toward the top. Use a push cut and curl the knife blade up and away from the hat toward the end of the cut. Remove a small wedge of wood from the bottom left side of the hat and shape the tassel.

Shape the Beard
Make paring cuts up and down (depending on the grain direction) to the pencil lines defining the beard. Round the bottom of the beard. Round any remaining flat uncarved planes.

Finish carving the Santa
Draw in upside down Vs for the eyes. Make stab cuts in along these lines. Make a 1/16" (2mm)-deep stop cut 1/4" (6mm) above the bottom of the hat. Slice down to this stop cut to separate the hat band from the hat. Use a V-tool and gouge to create the beard texture. Use your thumbnail to press in the eyebrows.