The "Mapletoe" box

I thought I'd try something a little different with my box making. Here I'm using strips of wood molding, in this case, walnut-stained Polar wood to make the box sides. The top and bottom of the box is natural Mahogany. (click on the photos to see a larger version) For accents, I'm using what I'm calling "Mapletoe" wood. I have a large Maple tree in my backyard with a serious infestation of Mistl-etoe. Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that attaches to trees and taps the tree's nourishment for itself. On a large Mistletoe, a large bulge appears where it is attached to the tree branch. The wood in that bulge is not fully Mistletoe or Maple but something in between. I'm calling it Mapletoe. That wood has a lot  of natural wax in it providing its own natural finish. That wood is also kind of like a burl because it has so many Mistletoe branches coming out of it. I used a piece of this burl book-match sawn as an accent under the lids handle. The accents on the front and back of the box are longitudinal book-matched slices of the branch just as the Mapletoe bulge begins to form. The entire box is finished with a woodworker's wax.

Close view of the "Mapletoe" burl accent

click on photos to see larger version