By: Blake

We had just finished our flower garden in our backyard and we wanted to have a few decorations to liven it up. On our way to Walmart we came across a roadside merchant. He was selling tikis that he hand carved and painted. The price range was from $25 to $200 dollars depending on how much work he put into the carving.

While we were looking the seller told us that many people were using some of the tikis for stools for their tiki bar. He also showed us a tiki that he had carved a dip in the top of and was burning mosquito repellent in. It was a cool effect, the tiki looked like it was spewing smoke from its head. We found a couple that we wanted. One was a pelican and the other was a medium sized tiki. The great thing about buying from a roadside salesman is that you can haggle with the prices. Originally both the bird and tiki were $75 a piece, but we were able to get them both for $100.

Before we left I asked the seller what the tikis were made of and how he carved them. He said they were mostly cabbage palm trees. These trees are very abundant in Florida. Just where he was set up there were hundreds of small cabbage palms sprouting out of the ground. He said he carved the tikis with a chainsaw. With materials being free and an ability to create art from them I could understand how the seller could make decent money selling his carvings.

Since I am always looking for ways to make money this conversation got me thinking. I could attempt to make some tikis of my own and make a few bucks. Since the trees are plentiful getting wood wouldn’t be hard, but learning how to carve them would be. Most of the tikis he was selling didn’t look too difficult to carve, but I have never tried so I will have to experiment.  

As of yet I haven’t made any tikis, but certainly will make a post of what I have created when I do. If anyone has any helpful tips about tiki carving please comment.

Click here to see how to make your own tiki furniture

(pictures were taken with an Omnia)