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Friday, May 6, 2016

The Droid You've Been Looking For

15" tall BB-8 Droid Valentine's Mailbox DIY for less than $20



The Back Story
Walking through the halls of my son's elementary school on my way to help in his classroom I saw some of the most amazing works of art I have ever seen lined up against the walls. There were man eating flowers, Ghostbusters, angry birds, Mario, monsters, robots, tiny cities, mine craft, and anything and everything you could think of that a young child would be in too made from all types of craft and art media. Did I miss an email or a letter?! Was there some sort of Folk Art festival we were supposed to be crafting for?! Upon closer examination of these exhibits, I discovered that they were Valentine's Mailboxes for each kid in school. Quickly realizing what Noah had meant earlier that week when I had handed him a shoe box with a hole filled with various Valentine's themed decorating supplies for him to cover and glue with and he told me "that's not right." 
After school that day Noah and I got to work brainstorming some mailbox ideas. I was not surprised when he decided he wanted to make a BB-8 Droid after recently seeing the new Star Wars movie.

The Build
Where to start? Admittedly, I had to start with searching the Web to see what a BB-8 was exactly and happily agreed when I saw it was no more than a sphere with a bowl head. The next obstical was finding materials that would lightweight but durable enough for a 6 year old to carry without breaking that could quickly be assembled and ready to go to school the next morning.

We found this 10.5" plastic hamster running ball at the Restore for $3.


I removed the screws to make 2 halves.

Using longer screws and thread spools, I screwed the 2 halves back together leaving out the 2 front screws to create a gap for the mailbox slot.

Next, I needed to close up the little spaces for the air holes so the cards wouldn't fall out. Noah helped wrap 2 sided tape around the 2 halves of the ball to secure plastic shrink wrap commonly used for wrapping gift baskets in place while we shrank with a heat gun. I used a hobby knife and cut away the plastic to reveal the "mail slot."


I flipped one of the door pieces upside down and reattached it to the ball to make a flat bottom to keep the ball from rolling. 


Noah painted the shrink wrapped ball and a plastic tupperware mixing bowl (the head) with white paint.


I glued another plastic bowl to the inside of this dome bottom side down to create the head base.

We used orange electrical tape and silver duct tape to decorate. The big eye lens is a ceiling fan adapter for sloped ceilings found at the ResSore for $.50. Antennas were made from a cordless home phone base and handset ($2 .00).  The small sensor is one of the feet off of the cordless phone base. We added detail with a silver permanent marker and attached the head to the base by using self adhesive velcro. 


ReStore Receipt Recap:
Hamster Ball - $3
Fan adapter - $.50
Cordless phone - $2.00
2 plastic bowls - $1.00
Total = $6.50

Other materials used purchased from ReStore left over from past projects
Orange tape - $2.00
Silver duct tape - $3.00
2 sided tape - $2.00
Velcro - $1.00
Shrink wrap - $1.00
White Craft Paint - $.75
Total = $9.75
Grand Total = $16.25

I may not know a whole lot about Star Wars Movies or characters, but I do know what the retail price tag for these action figures and toys are. Not only is the ability to create this guy for under $20 a monumental savings, but being able to spend quality time with my son bringing his vision to life, is priceless to me.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
Until next time
Andrea

Shamrockin DIY

You have finally found a four leaf clover after years of searching through countless clover patches and want to preserve this tiny little illusive lucky charm forever. 
You could flatten in a book. But if your like me, you would probably forget which book it's in until one day by happenstance, you open the right book up and it falls out on the floor and you think it's a spider and stomp on it crushing it into bits of little dry green flakes... (true story)
Or maybe you would like to suspend it in glass like acrylic and make it into a necklace charm... (also a true story and today's DIY tutorial)

* First, a little bit of personal info to needs to be shared before we start: I posses the super amazing (or annoying according to my husband) skill and ability to find multitudes of Four Leaf Clovers anywhere and anytime. I can even find them while just walking through the yard not even trying to find them.  I started the project with 20 clovers I picked right before starting. 

I have worked with all types of 2 part resin and acrylic mixes before in large scale for countertops and tables. So I figured that I would be able to use jewelry resin to accomplish my goal. 
I rummaged around and got out the mixing cups and another tiny cup to use as a mold and prepared the resin according to instructions.
I poured a little in the mold just to cover the bottom and then used a toothpick to position it, then poured more of the mixture over the clover until it was covered up.


I precut my "mold cup" a bit to make it easier to remove the cured resin once it was done drying.


In full disclosure, I admit that I experienced a DIY fail with this project. And not just once, we are talking about the complete loss of 10 innocent four leaf clover lives while trying to get this to work. This is number 11. I systematically went through each step trying to figure out what I had been doing wrong and determined that it was several different factors... the jewelry resin seems to take longer to cure than what I am used to. There is also a "soft cure" and a "hard cure" time difference. I'm not exactly the patient kind of DIYer, so 24-72 is not only the number of curing hours, but is about also how many chances I will poke it or knock it over or accidentally get something in the drying mixture. I also needed mold release, but not just any brand or type worked, it needed to be the recommended brand in the instructions. I probably should have used the recommended brand specific molds too but I was getting a little flustered and about to throw the towel in when lucky number 11 finally came through acceptable enough. For all you patient types with no children or pets or husbands, this is the craft for you.

For the rest of us ADD crafters whose house can seem like a circus at times, I have a perfect alternative.

My husband has recently became what I call a "super nerd" and has taken up the hobby of building and flying RC planes and helicopters. (You would agree if you saw him rockin his FPV goggles that sort of resemble the head gear worn in some 90's movie about virtual reality video games)  And even though I normally scowl as I walk pass my dining room table turned tiny little airport hanger, today I was super excited when I saw his glue left out on the table. 

Meet the "Dream Team"
The purple labeled bottle is a super thick liquid super glue that dries crystal clear. The brown labeled bottle is a spray bottle that dispenses mists what can only be described as magic. 

I applied a thin layer of glue to the surface of this metal button and used a toothpick to carefully position the clover.
Then I cover the button and clover completely with more glue. Then I spray the Insta-cure on it. 
And POOF!! Like magic the glue is hard and crystal clear. It literally happens so fast that I don't even have a chance to snap a pic of the spray on the button.

  The best part of this is that if your glue dome isn't perfect, you can use a fingernail file to sand it down and simply wipe with glass cleaner to make it shiny again. I finished the button off with a coat of clear top coat fingernail polish and a little bit of glitter fingernail polish around the edge because no project is complete without glitter.


Wishing you much Luck on all your DIY's!

Until next time
~Andrea

DIY Bunny Door Wreath

In just 3 easy steps under 30 minutes time, this adorable bunny decor is sure to earn you extra chocolate in your basket from the Easter Bunny.

Materials
Frame
Rabbit Silhouette 
Twine
Paint
Glue (hot glue, wood glue, or all purpose adhesive)
(Embellishments)

Wood frame from $.50 at my local ReStore
Wood Rabbit Silhouette from ReStore - $1 
Huge roll of twine -  $5 at ReStore

Step 1
Wrap twine around frame.
*Tip: wrap twine around frame skipping the corners. Once fully wrapped, apply glue to corners and then wrap corners by alternating from one side to the other. This will help twine from gapping and slipping.

Step 2
Paint bunny and frame. I used spray paint on the frame and a chalk paint on the bunny.

Step 3
Once paint is dry, glue bunny to front of frame. Add embellishments if desired. I used washi tape for a neck bow and a twig off my cherry blossom tree that I sprayed with polyurethane to preserve.

Happy Easter!
Until next time
~Andrea