I had one small block of ugly ply that I haven't used because it is ugly. Drab colors and it didn't seem to be worth working with.  It was among several blocks that I received as a gift. So I again tried to make a difficult, time consuming  project. (Covid 19 isolated shop work)

As I progressed, it didn't get any prettier and remained ugly. Then I got the bright (no pun intended) idea of using paint and glitter on the inside. Worked good. I added a center swing ball and it started to look better. It is actually a lot brighter than the picture shows. I prefer natural wood, but thats all of the UGLY colored ply left

I see it's not an inside out turning. Did you carve out the center?

 

Pretty good looking!

I shall call this ornament The Swan! It started out as an ugly duckling, but through an artiste’s touch it is now beautiful.

2 hours ago, lew said:

I see it's not an inside out turning. Did you carve out the center?

 

I drilled thru all four sides of the block at the same location, then tried to saw the rest out with my portable jig saw. That only worked on one side and messed up the other because of the blade bending. I resawed the bad sides and sanded till they looked decent. Then proceeded to the lathe for the turning. I don't know if a stationary jigsaw would do it better, never used one. Any way, it kept me busy and wondering for quite a while. Wondering if it would have the strength to stay in one piece. I was surprised and pleased that it did. My original thought was to experiment and if it failed........no big loss, I had plenty of time and it was ugly anyway. It came out nice but I prefer to see real wood

Thanks for the explanation

OHHH Ugly no Mo

I'm with Gerald on this one.  I do not think that it is ugly.  Maybe the color is not that great but what you did is awesome.  I know folks who would pay for that.  Did you get the ball and decorations at Hobby Lobby?  

Yep, Hobby Lobby

Thank you, Ron.  Will be shopping after the first of the month.  Have spent too much money this month.  Rockler sent a letter with a 15 per cent discount.  Then Winfield Collection sent a new catalogue with a discount.  I got a bit carried away.  

 I think I should clarify what "ugly" meant.  The striped ply I started with had ugly color combinations of dull colors. I had to enhance it quite a bit to get it where it ended.