I turned some bowls this weekend and ended up with a large trash can
full of shavings.
Can they be used as mulch for gardening? Are there any other
recommendations for the use of the shavings.

I've seen quite a few mulch-ish postings but not many other ideas.
For something different...

If you have/use either a fireplace, wood burning stove, or even
campfire, you can use the shavings to make fire starters. You can find
many recipes on the Internet for making those, but here are a few...

1. Put paper muffin wraps into muffin tins (or similar holder) and
melted wax (perfect use for old leftover candles) and shavings. You
can add a wick, stick, wooden match (or even nothing) to start them.

2. Use a paper tube (paper towels or toilette paper) and add wax and
shavings and fill. Once cooled, cut into slices. You can leave them as
is or wrap them in paper (newspaper works with a twist to create a
wick), or just bag them like I do in a zip-lock bag.

The muffin tin version is nice to make holiday gifts with for those
friends and family members who also can use fire starters.

eNjOy!
`Casper