Bone, horn, and antler

• Bone
  • Bone working is an old craft to make a slight understatement. Many handsome items can be crafted from the bones of animals. Some examples include buckles, sewing needles, weaving tablets, whistles, dice, spoons, boxes, pendants, decorative panels on things like crossbows, etc...
  • Bone is fairly easy to carve and work, and as a bonus is cheap or even free. Boneworking starts with cleaning up your materials. This can be done a few ways. First there's burying the bones and letting the soil microbes do the work for you, but there's the risk of local dogs or coyotes stealing it if it is not buried deep enough. Secondly one can insert a few bones into a wood ant nest and allow the ants take care of the cleaning. Thirdly there's boiling. Where as the first two are better for those who are in no hurry for their materials this is a more involved method that doesn't involve waiting. First remove as much foreign matter as you can from the bone. Next boil the bone and take care to keep it submerged at all times, if there are any unpleasant oders or too much humidity try cracking a window or cranking up your ventilation. An excellent page that describes how to carve bone can be found here.

• • Where do I get this stuff?

Locally- This isn't terribly difficult. Think of places where you might be able to procure your dead animal chunks such as the butcher, slaughterhouse, hunters, your kitchen, and even the pet store.

Internet- eBay Boone trading company Antlers unlimited