Illuminating Secrets
There is something amazing about owning a home. When I first received my key, the 10-year-old Dean in me saw it for what it truly was, a gigantic, expensive fort and fully customizable. When I originally measured and mapped out my new playground, it was in hopes I would discover a secret room. That kid in me was only slightly devastated when none were found.
However, if I had found a room, the entrance would most definitely have been behind a bookcase accessible only by pulling a secret book lever. This week I created such a lever, and since I was lacking a secret room, I constructed a neat lamp base from some spare wire and wood that I had laying around the garage. I also picked up an equally neat light bulb to finish it all off. Now when you tug on the correct book… voilà! — the light illuminates and the kid in me smiles with glee!
There is something amazing about owning a home. When I first received my key, the 10-year-old Dean in me saw it for what it truly was, a gigantic, expensive fort and fully customizable. When I originally measured and mapped out my new playground, it was in hopes I would discover a secret room. That kid in me was only slightly devastated when none were found.
However, if I had found a room, the entrance would most definitely have been behind a bookcase accessible only by pulling a secret book lever. This week I created such a lever, and since I was lacking a secret room, I constructed a neat lamp base from some spare wire and wood that I had laying around the garage. I also picked up an equally neat light bulb to finish it all off. Now when you tug on the correct book… voilà! — the light illuminates and the kid in me smiles with glee!
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
Hobbes Imagined
I grew up reading Garfield and Peanuts comic strips. It wasn’t until somewhere in my teenage years I was introduced to Calvin and Hobbes — I instantly fell in love. These comics were intelligent, hilarious, and poignant. Like many, I saw a little of myself in both Calvin and Hobbes. So when I heard my 5-year-old niece was being read these comic strips every night before bed, I thought what better a birthday gift than her very own Hobbes stuffed animal. So, I grabbed the instructions I found online and went to town. Again I relied heavily on my mother’s sewing expertise to help complete this project in time to surprise my niece with her gift. And like any Calvin and Hobbes fan would, she loved it.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
Drink Up-cycled
After drinking all the wine for my last project, I had a bunch of empty wine bottles hanging out all over my house. So, I decided to slash the tops off and turn them into cocktail glasses because frankly, I was quite over wine. However, I figured that wasn’t enough, so I grabbed some vinyl from a nearby shop, slapped it on the glasses, and sandblasted a nice frosty pattern on them.
Now, the thing about glass is…it breaks. You see, not all wine and liquor bottles are created equal. Your bottle of two-buck chuck has thinner and cheaper glass than say a bottle of Kettle One. Keep that in mind if you plan to attempt this project. I found a candle flame then ice water to stress the score worked best for me. Also, expect to break many in the process. In just the removing of the top, about 30% ended up unusable whether it was stress fractures or just bad breaks. I was fortunate enough to have a friend behind the bar of my local pub supplying me with an unlimited supply of their leftover bottles. I think I owe him a drink.
Cheers!
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
A Pixilated Childhood
I grew up loving Star Wars. I had a whole slew of toys, posters, and magazines devoted to the revolutionary film. However, where I had Luke and Vader, my mother had Ken and Barbie. Through the years she has amassed an impressive collection of dolls and memorabilia. So, for this Mother’s Day, I found it fitting to add to her collection and created a portrait made up of painted corks of the very first Barbie doll.
Much wine was harmed in making this portrait.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
lighthouse
One does not find adventure atop a lighthouse,
we must lose sight of our shores,
meet in the chaos of the vast oceans
passionately colliding, evolving with every crash
slowly becoming one.
That’s No Flashlight. It’s a Lightsaber.
Ever since I first wielded that cardboard tube while watching Star Wars on VHS, wearing of course my Boba Fett underoos, I wanted my own lightsaber. This dream, however muted, did not fade with time. Cardboard tubes were replaced with flashlights, but that was not enough. It soon occurred to me that I could dress up a flashlight with a little aluminum tubing and a few select pieces from my junk drawer.
A week ago in a garage not-so far away…
I began with a Mag-Lite flashlight and an aluminum tube. The tube needed to be machined to a size that would fit the flashlight. After that was done, it was quick work to cut the tube up with a Dremel, tap some screw holes, and attach the remaining parts with Sugru.
The child in me is more excited about the finished product than anything I’ve created thus far. Finally, I own my own eloquent weapon for this most uncivilized age.
“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or as random as a blaster, but an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times, before the Empire.”
―Obi-Wan Kenobi
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
Design First, Party Hard, Show No Mercy!
The 80s are back. For one night only, I invited the 80s to come chill under my roof along with some most excellent friends to honor the decade of my youth. So, I totally broke out the VCR to play my old VHS tapes of The Goonies, Top Gun, and The Lost Boys. It was righteous.
But there was only one movie that inspired my love of martial arts, bonsai trees, and kicking ass — The Karate Kid. However, being blonde and in no way Italian, I had more looks-wise to play Johnny, the antagonist with the most!
My sensei while creating this costume was none other than my own epitome of creativity, my mother. During the 80s, when not raising three hellions, she spent hours sewing and creating many magnificent quilts. This week, she showed me how to pattern out the vest, pin it together, and sew it to completion. A belt and headband were then made out of the remaining fabric. Finally, I burned a few silk screens to use in order to finish off the costume. The party was a huge hit and of course…totally radical.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
The Terrarium That Time Forgot
I love dinosaurs. So for Earth Day this year, I decided to not only bring a little more green into my home, but to also create an alter to these amazing animals that lived for millions of years and managed to not destroy the planet.
This project was as simple as buying the supplies and knowing which planets would survive together and didn’t need direct sunlight. If you’re inclined to make your own, hit me up as I still have plenty of stuff…including a dino or two.
Bonus: For a fantastic, futuristic, science fiction story about dinosaurs check out this audiobook file of “Our Lady of the Sauropods” by Robert Silverberg.
I had a lot of supplies leftover, so I decided to make another, smaller terrarium.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
Concrete Garden
I kill plants. Succulents, luckily, are pretty hardy and incidentally the only thing I’ve ever managed to keep alive. Like a proud parent, I surveyed my year-old, barely wilted succulents and decide it’s high time to expand my mini porch-oasis. So using some leftover concrete mix from the Stone Bookend project, I decided to create homes for my new additions.
I made these simply by pouring concrete into random plastic containers I had around the house and then setting a smaller container inside to create a recess. Once cured, I cut and peeled off the container and used a masonry drill bit to create drainage holes. Then it was time to populate these homes with new sprouts of life.
I’m fortunate enough to have amazing friends like Jeff and Wendy who sell cactus and succulents through their semi-annual “Operation Art Gardens” fundraisers. These fundraisers help fund new equipment for Jeff’s video production class which he teaches at local middle and high schools.
So, I shot Jeff a message that I was in desperate need of some small succulents and he gladly invited me on over to pick from the hundreds he had in his backyard. I, of course, snatched up more than I had made pots for, requiring me to eventually create a second wave. Perhaps I’ll experiment with adding interesting stuff like stones or dye to the concrete or perhaps painting them afterward. Whatever I do, I’m extremely happy how beautiful and easy this project turned out to be.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.
Table for Feets and Coffee
I once had a girlfriend, years ago, who scoffed when I told her I wanted to have my house full of furniture I had made. I think she was worried that she would live in a house with ugly and possibly dangerous furniture. She did have a valid reason to think this — I had never made a piece of furniture in my life.
A while back I acquired a stereo cabinet my father made when he was young and it got me thinking of this cabinet’s unique story. It began in my father’s apartments in his 20’s, then in his house when he married my mom, this cabinet was there to greet me when I was born, then it sat in my grandparents’ entry room throughout most of my childhood. And now it sits in my living room, a small part of my father’s legacy that will outlast him and eventually outlast me.
How amazing it is to create something out of so little? And not just create, but create art that is functional? How many drinks will sit on my table? How many card games will be played on top of it through its lifetime? How many amazing conversations will be had around it? As I sit with my feet propped up on it, I dream of the travels it shall have, with and without me. And I smile.
This entry is part of 2012’s Project 365 – A Creative Thing a Week.