Making Christmas gifts on the laser engraver

Every year around this time, I dive into making Christmas-related projects and presents. There’s just something fun about creating gifts from scratch—and this year, I’ve been putting my laser engraver to good use. It’s been the perfect tool for two projects I’ve been working on: a wooden advent calendar and personalized leather eyeglass cases, and in my latest youtube video I share these two projects and the process of making them.

A Wooden Advent Calendar with Mini Note Boxes

Advent calendars are a classic holiday tradition, but I wanted to do something a bit different this year. Instead of trinkets, I designed a wooden advent calendar with tiny boxes for little notes.

Find the plan (svg, pdf, eps, dxf and crv formats) here if you want to make your own.

Using the laser engraver, I cut out panels and pieces to assemble the calendar, giving it a clean, detailed look. The boxes are just big enough to hold little messages—things like poems, verses, or small pieces of candy. It’s a simple way to add a personal touch to the countdown to Christmas.

The precision of the laser engraver made it easy to get clean cuts and intricate details, which would have been much harder (and way less fun) by hand. I stuck with a natural wood finish and also added some raised letters and numbers as well as little cut out painted Christmas trees.

Leather Eyeglass Cases with a Personal Touch

The second project on my list was leather eyeglass cases—practical, customizable, and great for gifts. I designed a simple pattern, cleaned it up in the computer, and added the holes for punching, as well as the cutting of the leather. For closure, I went with small magnets, a rather clean and practical choice which ensures you don’t have to push down too hard on the case to close it. If you’d like to cut out your own eyeglass case (whether by hand or by a cnc or laser engraver), I have it here: leather eyeglass pattern

To watch these two projects come to life, make sure to check out the video!