Things nobody else needs!

My first addition to the projectitis blog. Not my first project and guaranteed not the last. In my quest for extra space in my many tool boxes I decided that the vice grips needed to find a new home. Just happened to have enough extra material to make these nifty aluminum holders.

I started out with 1.25" aluminum square stock and cut a slot down the length with the milling machine. Tapered one end and square cut the opposite. Scrounged up some 1/4" flat stock and drilled some holes. Fixtured up the two so they aligned and welded the joint out.
Hopefully will remember to take pictures of my future projects to share.

-Nitro

nursery update

So, remember those birds? And all that frustration? Yeah, it never really ended. I made all the felt birds, but then started to assemble the branches into a mobile and it ended up just looking lame. Also, it was really hard to screw the little screws into the branches, so I could do one, maybe two at a time before I had sore fingers and gave up for the day.
Several times throughout the process I said "This looks stupid. I'm not wasting any more time on it." But then I'd always think "Nah, it probably only looks stupid compared to the platonic ideal I have created in my head. The one that doesn't actually exist, that I can't even envision, but is far superior to the one that does exist here in the workshop."
So yeah, several times I gave up on the project. Which is why it's just now (sort of) finished. I say sort of because I think it needs more birds. Maybe just one more bird. And maybe more flowers. I like the flowers, which is surprising because I thought maybe they'd look stupid but I had them laying around and thought I'd see how it worked out. Anyway, it's hard to photograph, but I think you can get the idea.
I made the flowers on the wall, too. I might make another post showing the process of creating that... I'm proud of the way it came out, and it was way less frustrating than these silly birds.

last-minute gifts

A couple weeks ago I had a moment of panic: friends were throwing a dual baby shower for myself and another friend, and I'd completely spaced on getting my friend a shower gift! This shows you just how self-absorbed I've been lately. But yeah, I have two weeks left (more or less) of being pregnant, and I haven't had much room left in my brain for thinking of anything else.
So yeah.
I had this shower coming up, actually I thought it was the very next day, and I hadn't purchased a gift. I drove into Morro Bay thinking that there were a couple baby shops in town, and I could find some special, adorable baby boy outfit. And I did. Only, it was $75, and the idea of spending that much on something that will be worn once (probably) made me ill. But they did have some cute handmade "snuggly" type toys. I guess babies like little pieces of fabric, like blankies only smaller, that they can carry around, and that have lots of textures and colors and shapes to mess with. Personally, I don't really get it, but apparently they're all the rage in the baby world. I mean, I sort of get it... it's something they can grab and wave around and it makes noise and feels interesting and they can suck on it or what not. So I saw these things and thought "I could make that!" So I rushed home and I did.
Here it is, nearly complete.

The back side was the same polkadot fabric, with the colors reversed. So, after pinning everything down, I sewed the right sides together, flipped it right-side out and HOORAY... all the little pieces of ribbon and stuff stuck out the sides like spikes. In addition to the ribbons, the big blue triangle stuck out and it was filled with a piece of plastic bag so it crinkled. And there was a velcro strap too, so you could attach it to things. Or just play with the velcro. Also, the elephant ended up with a flappy ear out of the polkadot fabric.
So anyway, the really funny thing about this was that the shower turned out to be the FOLLOWING week, so I didn't need to rush at all. Sigh. And that's good because the gift was pretty lame on its own and I was happily able to go to San Luis Obispo and purchase some Burt's Bees baby lotions which are the bomb. And made me look like less of a slacker.

Why didn't I see this months ago?

This rug is amazing. And exactly what I want. But it's probably a bit late to try to make it before Emily arrives. But seriously. I want to make it.
Here's the link to how it's done.

three little birds

I have a song running through my head. It might go away, but then I start back up on sewing my little birds, and the darn thing is back again. That's okay, it's not a bad song. The bad part is really that I only know one line of it, and I'd just have that one line running through my head all day. So ... I looked it up. And I'll pass the gift along to you. It can run through your head all day too. :) You can thank me later.
In any case, in a previous post I mentioned the mobile I wanted to make for above Emily's crib (oh yeah, she has a name now, in case that wasn't mentioned before... that project is moving forward too). I found a site that had a pattern, so I diligently tried to copy the pattern (without a printer, I just eyeballed it) and numerous adjustments later, I still had only these stupid, retarded looking birds. More like jacked up seahorses than anything.

Embarrassing. I kept with it for longer than a person should admit to, so I won't tell. In any case, I discarded the "official" pattern found online and made up my own. These were significantly cuter, but I really struggled with them. Each one has flaws due to my inability to sew with precision in small tight spaces. These are little birds, you see. Sewing with the machine meant corners got all bunched up, thread got all tangled, fabric unraveled. I can't decide if it's my machine, or me. Regardless, sewing in small places inevitably leads to a jumble of threads knotted up with fabric all jammed into the machine's innards requiring scissors and patience to extract. I started sewing them by hand, which was much less frustrating.

But then I had a revelation. More like I saw some other cute birds online that were made of felt. Felt! That would solve all my problems! So here they are ... little birds.v3. I think these may very well be the final version. Using a whole www worth of inspiration, but maybe, finally, MINE. We'll see how the next step of the project comes together ... mounting them onto twigs. It could very well be just as irritating and drawn out as this has been.

Put a bird on it.

I know the bird thing is overplayed maybe, but I don't care. It's not overplayed in my house. And so anyway I had this idea to make a mobile for over the baby's crib, and it was originally spawned from something I saw in one of those freebie magazines I got from the first OB/GYN visit ... it was just a tree branch (no leaves) that was spray painted silver and had crystals dangling from it. I thought that was totally awesome. I love the DIY-ness of it, the fact that it's not some Disney character training my child to be a consumer before she can even focus her eyes properly. But the crystals thing? Smacked of princess-hood to me. Too girly. Too pretty-pretty. And then I thought that I'd make a bunch of tiny stuffed animals out of fabric scraps and hang them from the tree branch. All the different colored fabrics would be good for little eyes to examine!
And then I saw this and now I know exactly what I'm going to make. OH. MY. GOSH. Love it. I am drawing patterns as I type. :)

The Big Project

I've been without projects lately, having left the dance troupe for a while I'm taking a break from dance-related projects. Additionally, I've been engaged in what one friend called "some pretty complicated cell division." Which had wiped me out big time. But now that I'm feeling a lot better, I'm compelled to start another big project. For a long time I've wanted to paint the floor of my house, but the idea of the chaos that would be required to do so has had me cringing. But since I'm supremely motivated to create a healthy beautiful baby space, we're going to start with one room and make it beautiful. So far, just getting everything OUT of the room has proven to be a challenge.

First thing to do is to re-locate my office, so that there will actually be space for a crib in the room. And then, to paint the bookshelves (which means removing all the books, ugh) because I want to convert some of the squares into cubbies for storing clothes and diapers and toys and stuff. I'm fairly traumatized about getting rid of my books. I haven't made any decisions yet; they're all in the barn, waiting for me to get brutal. I just .. ugh. It's really hard to part with some of the books that have become treasured favorites, even if I don't think I'll read them again.

In any case, the painting of the shelf is going ridiculously slow. Short attention span, combined with the necessity of SEVERAL layers of paint, is making me full-on sick of the project. But I know it will be so beautiful when it's done (and practical!) so I'm more motivated then usual.
Anyway, I'll be sure to keep you posted on the progress. If any. The floor painting part of this job isn't even on the radar yet.