Febuary 2011

Knife Holder for “Josh”- Valentine’s Present:

Like everyone out there, I wanted to do something special for my boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. As I’m not your conventional girl, I wanted to create something he needed and would “love”’; brag to his friends about. Over the last few years, I have spent so much money on fancy knives for him as birthday or Christmas gifts, that I wanted a real home for these precious tools.  I contacted an old friend who has been making furniture and other small wooden objects: earrings, skateboards, cutting boards, etc.

I thought I would present an idea of a knife block and see what he would say. “That sounds interesting....” was what I got, with a: “I can do that!” Then we were in business. My friend Dan had all kinds of amazing wood around his shop: Purple Heart, yellow heart, Brazilian cherry, even a zebra kind, etc.. Super-amazing stuff. Now, you need to know Dan is a long time surfer, so the idea of shaping the knife block like a surfboard fin was a genius idea as my boyfriend is a native to Santa Cruz, CA.  So, the work began.

I went home, counted up the knives, and traced each one so there was no conflict later on their size. I handed off the traced items, and then waited.  Dan had the block done in no time at all, and the craftsmanship that went into the knife block is by far the best ever.

I remember sitting in the nearby coffee shop plotting our plan, when a woman said: “Oh my, that is pretty fancy for a knife block. My husband just went and picked one up at Costco the other day for $50.”  I had the feeling this woman hadn’t experienced the satisfaction of spending a little bit more, supporting a local artist/ craftsman, and receiving a superior product which is a piece of art. I have to say I plan on placing another order with Dan or other craftsmen or artist out there. With this economy, I feel the need to try to spend my money better and making sure it is ending up in places I’m proud of.

Needless to say, my boyfriend was so excited about the knife block. It was truly a Man Gift. Plus, I got to hear the words: “your gift is so much more awesome than mine.” Really, how can you compete with such a gift? He did manage to get me chocolate, wine and a Hawthorne Fern. I think he did great!