Whittling a Bookworm

Have you ever had a kid bring you a stick and ask you to make something? No problem! This is an easy beginner project you can do with any piece of wood you find in the yard. On top of that, it doesn't disappoint. I'm a teacher, I see more than 100 kids a day. They constantly ask me to make them things, and to date, I have not had a single disappointed student with the reliable bookworm.

Must have

1) Stick

2) Knife

3) Pencil

Optional

1) Pink, white, and black acrylic paint

2) Paintbrush

3) Sealant (gloss or semigloss)

4) A piece of thin leather

5) Superglue

6) Scrap paper

7) A handout I borrowed from James River Woodcarvers about common cuts

•Chose a piece of wood. A softer wood such as pine and one without many knots would be best.

•Strip the bark.

•Smooth and shape wood with a knife.

•Make short controlled cuts.

•Shorten to the length you want.

•Shape both ends to a point.

•Round the edges and points. Not too much you still want it to have a point, you just don't need it to kill vampires.

•Decide the shape or position of your worm.

•I am making my worm into a sort of S shape. If you want a wiggle in your worm make a stop cut on the inside bend of your wiggle.

•Work into it from both sides.

•Make the slope more shallow.

•Keep one side fatter than the other side.

•Start your other bend with the same technique described above.

•If you feel the wood start to rip or split, stop and cut ahead of the rip.

•Make Short controlled cuts.

•Clean up the shape by making it more uniform

•Decide where the band, also called the clitellum, is going to be. Make sure it’s not in the middle, position it closer to the fat side.

•Draw your lines for the band (as well as for the segments later).

•Push your knife down into the pencil marks. You don’t have to push deep.

•Cut alone your drawn lines. The cuts don’t need to be deep but they do need to go straight into the wood. These will be your stop cuts.

•make sure these lines are very shallow stop cuts. Cut into this stop cut from both sides crating a V cut.

•Continue this all the way around the stick.

•Now do the same thing on the other line you drew.

•The next step is to draw the eyes and mouth. Make it a silly face, or simple like mine. Make sure you like it before you start cutting.

•Cut along your drawn lines. The cuts don’t need to be deep but they do need to go straight into the wood, again, these will be your stop cuts.

•Cut the rounded shapes of your eyes by working the knife gently into the stop cuts.

•Notice the rounded edges of the eyes.

•For the mouth carve into your stop cut just enough to round the sharp edge of your cut, along the pencil line.

•First the top of the mouth then the bottom.

•With the face done you can start to draw the lines of the worm. *Remember each line travels entirely around the worm. Spacing is up to you. Make sure you keep them close enough so that they don’t look like the clitellum but far enough from each other that the wood doesn’t crack off into pieces.

•The lines through the face are up to you. You can draw them through, curve them around, or stop them on the edge of the face.

•I chose to curve them around the face.

•Roll the worm around the knife. This makes a very shallow cut into the wood for the lines of the worm. You do this by rolling the worm against your knife with the blade turned out slightly.

•Complete this process until the entire length of the worm is segmented by lines.

•At this point you can sand the worm if you like. Sanding too long will remove the segments. Keep this step short. I also recommend using a high grit sandpaper like 300 to 500.

•The final stage of the book worm is painting. This is optional but it changes the project A LOT.

•Fortunately, the worm is as easy to paint as it is to carve. You only need 3 colors: pink, white, and black. I use acrylic paint because it dries fast.

•I start by painting the entire worm pink. As you paint make sure each crack is filled. Hold one end, paint a side. Let the paint dry then hold the other side while you paint. Again, acrylic paint doesn’t take long to dry. Blow on it for a few minutes or swing it around and it should be good.

•In between colors wash your brush unless you have one for each color. If you have 3 brushes save your detail brushes for the eyes.

•Paint the entire eye white. Let it sit for a few minutes while the paint dries.

•Then add the black dots for the eyes. If your worried about placement, mark the pupils with a light pencil mark first. Again let the paint dry.

•Finally a little white dot inside of each eye will make the worm come alive. It looks like the eye is catching light.

•When you are sure all the paint has dried and you’re happy with how the worm looks seal it with a glossy or semi gloss finish. This will protect the paint job and give your worm a sort of wet and slimy appearance.

•Lay the worm on a paper plate and spray one side. I will do 3 or 4 coats on each side. I just like the way it looks on the book worm. Wait about 10 minutes between each coat and at least 30 minutes before you roll the worm over and spray the other side. If you don’t wait at least 30 minutes you will likely end up ruining the finish you just did. Repeat this process on the next side.

•Once your worm is for sure dry (this can take up to 24 hours) you’re done and ready to move onto the book.

• Find a piece of scrap leather, the thinner the better. I used a piece of goat hide.

• Mark the size you want your cover to be. I just used the outline of a ruler because I’m lazy.

• Cut the leather using your knife.

• Mark your pages using the outside of your book cover.

• Cut your pages. Make sure they are just a little smaller than the cover of the book or they will stick out.

• Fold the paper in half, fold the leather in half. Glue the two together with a thin strip of super glue down the spine of your book cover.

• Hold the book cover closed for like 15 minutes while the glue dries to give it its shape.

• Once the glue is dry, super glue glue your book to a side of your worm in whatever way is most visually pleasing to you. Again, let the glue dry for like 15 minutes.

•Now what? Idk, stick him on your bookshelf or give him to a friend who likes to read. I personally give them to my students at work #teacherlife. What ever you decide, make sure you take some pictures of your amazing work before you give it away.

•P.S. Another bit of advice, make lots of them. Try different things with each one. Give them hats, glasses, or mustaches. It’s up to you, but the practice will lead to even better ideas of your own.