Vacation? I think not....

Wow, it's been more than a month since I last posted. It's been a pretty busy month. I moved and did a bunch of repairs and painting at my old place. I also worked props on a movie that was being made on the fly. The production was filmed over 5 days and I was awake for most of it.

An update on some of the projects:

- we decided only to cut the bed down to normal height, as we did not have time to concentrate on making drawers for it. We were both working on the movie.
- The ottoman I was working on somehow got lost in the move.

I have a few other projects in mind once things settle down, but there is a big one I would like to focus on right now.

My roommates parents were nice enough to give us a dining table and chairs for our new house. The chairs are sturdy but in okay condition. Also the seat is a very uncomfortable wood. I will be restoring and upholstering these chairs. I hope to start this week.

Just some random stuff

The ottoman is about half way done, but lack of a staple gun is holding me back. Here are a couple things I have done over the past week or so.

I made this apron from fabric I found at a a thrift store. Total cost: $1.50

I found a TDbank bag at a thrift store for $1.50 as well. I painted the gray parts black and attempted a Tron theme with the blue paint. 

That's all for now!

I've got a false bottom!

Box that is....

This project was part of the Reddit craft exchange, where people sign up to do a secret santa style exchange and are assigned a random person to craft for.

I started with this nice little Christmas box:

After painting it black, I decided to experiment with a reverse stencil technique, and stenciled the Reddit coat of arms onto the top:

I did the same with envelopes on the side:

I created the false bottom by gluing two 1.5" pieces of chipboard to either side:

Then I painted a yellow dot onto the bottom piece to indicate where it should be pushed:

That's it! 

I started on the ottoman, finally. Expect a post soon.

Done!

Painting and cleaning are finally finished, so I will be starting up on projects again.

Today I will be working on a craft exchange item. On Reddit, I am participating in a craft exchange. I will be  converting a circular box into a box with a false bottom. It's a pretty simple project.

On a related note, the new house in confirmed, so we will be making some of the furniture and decorations. Here's some projects I will complete in the next month:

- Throw pillows made with scrap fabric from a local fabric store and stuffed with stuffing from old broken pillows.
- My boyfriend has a loft bed we will be converting into a low lying bed with drawers underneath.
- possibly a book shelf for the living room, depending on the space plan.

The ottoman will still be finished this week.

Lots of painting.

I've been painting my house since monday. I will be painting the entire week. I really wanted to start on the ottoman, but my house needs to be in better shape so pictures can be taken and it can be shown.

I will be back on track next week most likely.

The Smart Water Hindenburg, part 2

The is a second of a 2 part project involving turning 2 bottles of Smart Water into a model of the Hindenburg. You can view the first part here, or take a look at the flickr set if you want to see more pictures.

After preparing the shell, I covered the model in papier mache.  It was much messier than this picture makes it look.

I had to make visible sections, which wouldn't show up so well if I did it directly on the wet papier mache, so I took pieces of thread, dipped them in a water/glue mixture and attached them to the blimp. To show it, I made this picture a little bit larger.

I primed the blimp and wings with light gray. I originally had smaller wings, but ended up cutting larger ones to  support the shape better.

I almost forgot to attach the cockpit...

I used a silver/black mixture to finish.

After letting it dry, I finally gave the Hindenburg its name:

Sealing it and letting it dry overnight was all that was left to be done. Here is the finished product:

Coming next week, I turn a broken chair into an ottoman using only recycled products. 

The Smart Water Hindenburg, part 1

To make a discernible shell, I cut the tops and bottoms off the two smart water bottles.

Using a tape measure, I marked the shell at regular intervals to get an idea of where I should cut it.

Keeping the marks straight didn't go so well, but good cuts were made in the shell to open it up to a blimp shape.

Octopus blimp. 

Next, I made supports for the  shell by using the bottom of the bottle as a guide and cutting circles progressively larger by 1/8". I thought I needed more, but 3 at 1/8" difference worked well.

I used the extra pieces of plastic to make cones to taper the ends:

Then I used glue and tape to place the supports inside the shell, and added masking tape to the outside to reinforce them.

I covered the blimp with masking tape to get it ready for papier mache

That's all for now. Coming soon: part 2.

I have a flickr account for more pictures and other work:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/process_2011/