Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label painting. Show all posts

January 4, 2013

A-Door-Aborable Wreath: Tech Edition, Part 1

      I know it has been a while since I've written a post (the combination of being in my best friend's wedding and the holidays), but I have another - perhaps now less timely- Christmas wreath project. This project is unique in that my brother and I collaborated on the design and implementation of the wreath. I also knew that I wanted to use cardboard in some way because I have a bunch of it at my house from work and it is a cheap material to work with. This post will just describe making the cardboard wreath. The next post will cover how to install LED lights and set up the arduino code to play Christmas music.

Materials:
  •  cardboard, lots of cardboard
  • wood or white glue (Elmer's or other brand)
  • An exacto knife or a box cutter
  • marker or pen
  • surface to cut on (one that you don't mind getting scratched up or marked on)
  • (optional) acrylic paint (red, green, white)
How To:

1.  The basic plan was to create a wreath of interlocking triangles. So, the first step was to cut out a bunch of similarly sized triangles in three different sizes. (I needed about 60-75 total for the project)
Triangles- so many to cut out. Get a cushy exacto knife or your hand is gonna kill you afterward

April 10, 2012

Gardening...on Wheels?

Finished project!
    Well, spring is here and being able to go outside again is both good and bad for my creative side. It means I spend less time indoors with idle time on my hands, but it also means more time spent in outdoor spaces. And since the backyard becomes an extension of our home in spring, what better craft project to do than one involving plants and our patio.

   Last summer, I found a few old drawers at an estate sale. The lady sold them to me and asked what I planned on doing with them. I said I wanted to make a planter out of them - of course, right? Now that was all well and good to say it, but actually getting there was kind of a struggle. First, I had to clean them out (they had sat outside all fall and winter) and put holes in them for drainage. Then I painted the decorative details purple and water proofed them using spar varnish. Next came the question of how to actually arrange them. My dad and I went through quite a number of configurations before settling on the final design. And then I was so happy, thinking all we had to do was put it together and we'd be done. But then my mom got in on the design process, suggesting we add height and wheels.

     Wheels? What? Why? But still, I was intrigued by the idea of a cart peddling herbs. So, we added old chair pieces and AV cart wheels my dad had lying around. And Tada! We were done, right? No, now we must paint the chair legs white so that they match the drawers. This is an example of a little input from others being a good idea, but too much having the potential to derail a project. My garden clock is ticking away, letting me know that time is running out for my herbs to be able to grow and flourish as the heated onslaught of summer peaks it head over the horizon, laughing that we are at a standstill.