Personalized Traverse City map ornament made in the USA

I recently had the opportunity to visit Traverse City, and it is one of my most favorite places now! I absolutely love the nature focus of the area, seeing Lake Michigan, the downtown area is great and walkable, definitely a great city. I liked it so much that I even designed a Traverse City ornament!

The ornament is made from solid cherry wood. I personally process rough-from-the-sawmill cherry lumber into laser-ready wood through a series of planing, jointing, and resawing steps then laser cut it in my wood shop in Oklahoma. While it is labor intensive to process solid cherry into wood that can be laser cut, the effort is definitely worth it. The appearance of a solid hardwood is far better than something like birch plywood or alder wood, and additionally cherry wood is noted for it's deepening color over time; while it starts out light, cherry eventually will darken into a warm orange color. Additionally, the cherry wood is sourced from a sawmill in western Michigan that produces lumber exclusively using street trees that have been removed due to construction or storm damage. I strongly believe in what they do and my dream is to open a similar operation myself!

The writing shown is merely a suggestion and can be customized however you like. Other ideas could be: an ornament simply stating "Traverse City Trip 2017" to commemorate a memorable vacation there, or an ornament celebrating a marriage or a graduation. The cutout shown is a heart but it could be another shape like a star, or nothing at all if you prefer that. Also I'd change the location of the text box if it happens to be situated on top of the location being commemorated.

When ordering, please leave a detailed description of the writing that you would like, along with the desired location and shape of cutout if one is desired. If you would like to have the text box moved, also please let me know.

The wood measures 3 inches from top to bottom and it comes at no extra charge in a gift box as shown in the pictures, which also is useful for keeping the ornament safely stored until the holidays roll around again. The wood is protected with food safe cutting board oil and additional mineral oil can be applied at any time if the wood starts looking dry.

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Utilizing yard trees for wood is one of the most eco-friendly and sustainable ways to source lumber as it does not contribute to deforestation or environmental destruction. It also gives a positive outcome for trees that are lost due to disease, pests, or construction, and gives additional positive value to the urban forest. Making a conscious decision to purchase products made from urban wood is a way of showing support for the urban forest and local craftsman.