Knick Knack Shelf

Knick Knack Shelf

Hey look, I made a thing!  Unfortunately, it’s a shelf, which I seem to make a lot of.

I have a tendency to buy lots of little trinkets and toys I want to put on my desk, and then not have much actual space to place them, so I made a double decker shelf.  I decided not to do any fancy routing of even finish for the time being, because I just wanted to get it done.  My wife and I think it actually looks nice unfinished.  I also thought I would use pocket screws to mate the top and bottom to the sides, not thinking that I would not have much room inside to drive the screw into the final side.  I ended up having to use the smallest socket wrench I had, a 1/4″ socket and a bit to screw on the top.

I decided to build a french cleat into the back of the shelf instead of traditional hangers.  I made a bunch of little 1×2″ cleats and screwed two into the wall to mount it.  I think that will give me more flexibility in the future if I want to adjust it or make something bigger.

The last little job I did today was to add another small shelf off my monitor stand to hold up my LEGO Saturn V rocket.  I’m calling it launch pad 39V.

 

Knick Knack Shelf Cleat

Knick Knack Shelf Loaded

Knick Knack Shelf Plans

Pad 39V

Eeyore with Scarf

Eeyore Scarf

My awesome mother-in-law has been working for sometime now to thoughtfully knit scarves that would be given to people receiving various treatments at her local hospital.  Her spirit animal is Eeyore, so I doodled up a version of him that would show up well at about a nickel size, and made some tags for her on my cutter.  The pose was heavily influenced by one I saw online, but I redrew the whole thing from scratch to clean it up and added the scarf.  Hopefully the little guy, the message of the tags, and the knowledge that someone is wishing the patients well will bring some joy to their hearts and speed along their healing.

Drawn in Krita, process GIF done in GIMP.

eeyore scarf tags

eeyore process

Saxophone Print Frame

Saxophone Print Frame

A few months back, we visited New Orleans while on vacation, and my youngest son bought a print from an artist named Tesfaye Negusse.  He decided on the size, design, and color for the frame I built for it.

2018 LEGO Winter Village

2018 LEGO Winter Village

First Apologies for the awful cellphone pictures, I forgot to come back and take some better ones.  This year with the addition of the LEGO train and the train station, we had to add extra space to the front of our buffet. Next year, I plan to get an even bigger rectangular table and make them the same height so I can weave the train track through the town.  It was also a frequent thing that our young cat would go Meowthra on the display and there would be a few things to put back when I got home.

2018 LEGO Winter Village Labelled

The whole thing broken down and filling a large tub.

LEGO Micro AT-AT

LEGO Micro AT-AT

Another LEGO build I finished up before the new year was thanks to the building instruction of Miro Dudas.  I simplified the main body, changed out the parts for the side cannons, and I am still trying to figure out the best piece for the front of the head/cockpit.  So far, Mixel eyes are my favorite…

LEGO Micro AT-AT googly

LEGO Iron Giant Bust

LEGO Iron Giant Bust

Ever since I saw Tyler Clites creation of a LEGO Iron Giant bust about a year ago, I have wanted to make one for myself.  It took some time to assemble to parts, an order to bricklink for the dome pieces, and a trip to the local LEGO resale store, but I finally had everything I thought I would need to build a darker version of Tyler’s bust (early hiding in the woods part of the movie).  The head was inspired by Tyler’s build, with a bunch of little tweaks to get it where I wanted it.

LEGO Iron Giant Head Detail

Wooden Scion xB Toy Car

Scion xB Wooden Car

About the same time I was making my last toy car, I thought to make one for some friends of ours that would be having a little boy shortly before Christmas.  Since it was a gift, I didn’t want to post it until they had received it.  I didn’t have any particularly sentimental piece of wood to make it out of, but I did pattern it after her car, a Scion xB.

Window Cling Frame

Window Cling Frame

Hello 2018!  It’s been a busy last few months, so I am way behind posting stuff here.  But I have been working on a few projects that I took some pictures of, so here’s a few rapid-fire posts to catch up.

My wife keeps finding these really cute foil window cling stickers that we’ve decided to put into floating frames and give as gifts.  First, we figure out how we want to arrange them and then I build a custom frame to that size.  Short of cleaning the glass a dozen times, that’s all there is to it.

Window Cling Detail