Wooden Spooncarving with Brendan McGarry

SAT, OCT 3 | 10 AM National Nordic Museum

Tickets: $150, $160

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Oct 3, 2026

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Members: $150
General Admission: $160

Brendan McGarry teaches the basics of carving a wooden spoon from green wood, using traditional hand tools. There are many ways to carve a wooden spoon, but Brendan will demonstrate the process of creating a spoon starting with a log of wood and ending up with a finished spoon.

While he carves, he’ll discuss the design, safety, and a bit of history behind this style of spoon carving. In the tradition of Sloyd, all carving will be done with only a few simple tools: an axe, a saw, a straight knife, and a hook knife. By combining these four tools you can make a plethora of spoon shapes and sizes, as well as small bowls.

Brendan has been an artist and naturalist all his life but first discovered spoon carving in 2017 while studying for a Master’s in Environmental Education.

He views spoon carving as a way of connecting to nature and place and has fallen deep into carving spoons and other forms of green woodworking since that introduction. You can follow his various woodworking journeys @thenorthernshoveler on Instagram.

National Nordic Museum

2655 NW Market Street
District: Ballard Area: Ballard / Fremont