Intro: Christmas Cocktail Picks

Tired of the same old straight cocktail picks?

Make a beautifaul christmas scene from your cocktail snacks.

Make your own proffesional looking cocktail picks specialy for christmas.

STEP 1: Search Inspiration for the Theme

Search for pictures in the theme.

If you want to find inspirational pictures fast on the nternet try pinterest.

STEP 2: Draw Your Picks

Start drawing on paper and move on to computer.

There are some nice open source drawing programs:

librecad http://librecad.org/
inkscape http://inkscape.org/

The program I used to draw is not open source but it's free :

draftsight:
http://www.3ds.com/products/draftsight/download-draftsight/

STEP 3: Laser Cutting

Once you've drawn your picks on computer you need to get them cutted.
I took 3mm birch triplex as material, but other thin sheet materials should also work.

For cutting there are some options:

1st: Cut them out manualy. This is the cheapest way to cut the pick out is with a figure saw, but the quality of the cut is limited by the qualities of the cutter (in my case quite a poor quality)

2nd: Let the picks be lasercutted by a service or in a fablab.

https://www.ponoko.com/
https://www.snijlab.nl/

This is a little bit more expensive, but it is worth it.

3th: Cut them on your own lassercutter or cnc router (there are some nice instructables on how to built a cnc router, check them out)

STEP 4: Packaging

If you give this as a gift, it's always nice to give it in a packaging.

With the open source software inkscape you can easily draw and print your own packaging;

If you want it you can put on a qr code (with a measage like: "merry christmas"
A QR-code can be made online, for example here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/ and gives a kind of professional look.

STEP 5: Use the Picks

Give the picks as a gift or open them up yourselve and use them (on scampi's for example) and enjoy.