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11 janvier 2016

CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING: HOMEMADE WHISK


Yes, we know, you still love your Christmas tree as you put all your love in it when decorating it. It has become a whole member of your family over the last weeks. It even offered you some presents on Christmas eve! But now, let me assure you, it’s about time to finally take it down (… as long as it has not already been done… ) and to recycle some parts of it.

Today we will show you how to craft a whisk out of the top of your old tree that you can use for cooking.

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As you probably know, we just love to cook and to try out things. So I found out that you can craft yourself a beater made out of your old Christmas tree (a normal fir would also be ok but you will hurt it as you need to cut down its top…). And it’s funnier if you can tell your friends afterwards that your new old-fashioned beater is made out of your old Christmas tree!

Start to take off all of your Christmas ornaments, as they are no longer needed. Now cut off the top of your tree underneath some of the first little branches. You can use the rest of your tree in your fireplace. Don’t you love the smell of burnt fir like I do?

You have first to decide in which direction the branches of your new whisk should turn: up or down. In our case, we decided to fix them up, in the direction where the branches of the tree grew. Fix the branches with some cord and cut off the part of the trunk which is not needed. The stronger you fix the branches, the closer to the stalk they will stay afterwards…

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As you might know, wood is thermoplastic. That’s the reason why we are going to boil the treetop for about 20 minutes.

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After this hot bath, let your treetop cool down. With the pruning shears, cut of the small branches to the desired length (around 4-5 cm) before removing the bark and the remaining needles (most of them will already have fallen down during the boiling process) with a woodcarving knife. The wood needs to be dried. It can be easier to carve it when the wood is dry.

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But pay attention: it’s important when you are carving that you always do it away of your body! You do not want to hurt yourself… If you are planning to do this with kids, well then, please stay behind and watch them closely, so that they won’t hurt themselves…

At this point you can continue carving, polishing and grinding it until the form of the handle and the whisk does suit you. You can even paint the upper part of the stalk and pierce a hole in it for storage or just leave it blank. It’s up to you!

Tip: drench your new wooden beater in oil! It will make your beater hard-wearing and will avoid that it cracks. We used the oil we normally use to treat all our wooden kitchen utensils.

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Now, you can use your finished beater to prepare your scrambled eggs, fruit yogurt or muesli. We wish a lot of fun with your new kitchen utensil! And we are going to have some pancakes today for lunch! Bon appétit!

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Concerning the history of the wooden whisk: it does already exist since centuries. But when, in the fifties/sixties, the trend went to plastic kitchen utensils, it got forgotten but it now lives its revival!

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Fredke
Fredke

I’m Frédérique, fortysomething, mum, maker and craft blogger with a penchant for chaos...

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