Chess Piece Christmas Ornaments

Because in the past this has been where I have posted artsy things I do, and also because writing is creative and so is art, and also because I don't have a craft blog, I would like to share with you one of my more recent better ideas. Note: this is not a tutorial, but sharing ideas. I used a drill press, jewelry wire (16 gauge for most parts), needle-nose pliers, a combination of hot glue and tacky glue, beads, and ribbons. I also had some leftover scrabble tiles from another project which I used.

Every year, I like to make ornaments, and give them to as many people as I can (sometimes time makes me prioritize). This year, I am doing custom ornaments for all my friends, family, and loved ones. The ones I'm most proud of, though, are the chess ornaments I am making for my boyfriend.

First, I'll start with a bit of a story: long ago (a couple months), in a shopping land far away (Amazon.com), my boyfriend (codename: Chad) bought some chess pieces to match a chess board he found at Goodwill to practice his endgames. I know, right? Nerd alert! Anywhoodles, eagerly he awaited the arrival of his goods, and also eagerly he opened that beautiful wooden box to bask in the glory of these beautiful, wooden chess pieces.

It was not to be.

For inside that box, nearly every piece was perfect...except for the white king. HIS HAT WAS CROOKED. And so, the story of the Meghan Intervention comes to pass, as Chad decides to simply leave his chess set as is (too eager to begin his study, you see) while in secret, Meghan bought another set to sneakily replace the king with a better one.

This, apparently, was also not to be. I bought and returned five sets of the same chess pieces, and in all of them, the king's hat was crooked! I eventually just replaced the original with one that was better (because none were as crooked as that first king).

Now, I was left with a set of chess pieces, one with a king who had a crooked hat. Since I don't play chess (seriously, who does?), I figured I'd turn them into an art project or something. So, without further ado, the chess piece ornaments!

Here are the pieces in the shop, waiting for the trepanning to occur

Hard at work with the drill press. It was my first time using it, but it's surprisingly easy.

MY BRAINS!

Six of each of the pawns became snowflakes. For the white ones, I hot-glued the bases to a wooden hexagon of about the same color. The black ones got holes drilled through the sides of their heads.

I used the beaded wire (above) to create a tangled bishop.

The first five (or so) days of Christmas. My queens became angels.

The next five days, and my favorites! I used gauge 20 wire for the reindeer antler wrapping.

I also made the black king and queen dancing partners, but I don't have a photo yet. The project is still under wraps! It's the 11th day of Christmas present (and a Santa king is for day 12!).