The DIY 'Crafts' Sharing Thread...

OK, so.. In an effort to Try and keep Some sort of 'personal development / great-ideas inspiration' alive in this Site (amidst the daily 'churning Sea' of bad news, devolving events, and general craziness goin on.. *sigh*

..Here's Your chance to Share your Crafts / DIY Projects (and any 'Stories behind them' (sometimes, the Best Part..) that you're Proud of, or that have, at least, 'Inspired others'. And, perhaps, in so-doing, Others, herein, will draw inspiration / ideas / tips, etc - and/or just plain 'water thier plant of hope and faith in Humanity'. Orrr, somethin like that.

Inspired by this Gent's Craftsmanship, myself (hand-tied 'Flys', Gold-nugget Ring, so many others.. ) -

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunkerbuster ..if you make/build something... Make it well enough, you can be proud of it...

Amen. Thus, I'll kick off with a couple - Moved here from a different Thread (more 'OT', here:

So, I've been Drawing anything / everything I could since very young (~3, according to Mom..) And, specifically, been 'smitten' by Calligraphy / Illumination since I was ~7-8.

Favorite callig-project as a kid, was Trying to 'duplicate' the Constitution, by taking store-bought 'parchment', and wetting it / slow-baking overnight on a cookie sheet to get the 'crinkle', then 'aging' with coffee, etc.. I must have written 'We The People' 500x.. Loved trying to master the Declaration title, and some of the manuscript as well.. and all those crazy-Sigs..

Favorite callig-project as a 'Dad', though, was a whole 'story line' I developed when my Boys were ~4 / 8, respectively, for our annual camping / cottage-vacations up in Canada.. Revolved around the "Legend of the Stoco (Lake in Tweed, Ontario, where the cottage was..) Treasure", and even modded an old chest / 'weathered' (torched / re-stained / engraved, etc) into the "Treasure chest" (complete with Gigantic crystal 'Diamond', and some other large cut-crystal stones / Pyrite nuggets, etc)...

..but the Best / funnest part, was the 'Map' - found an Awesome piece of Birch-bark 'peel', and proceeded to 'weather' it, as well (again, some Instant Coffee to colorize / stain, and marker-washes, etc)...

..and then proceeded to develop this Whole story line (around this "clue" (the little bark-strip, at the bottom, there..) to - first - Find the main Map.. (pre-planted in the surrounting Forest, of course..) then use clues embedded in the Map, relating to 'landmarks' in the area (ie: the 'Rock of William' - some random name assigned to one of our favorite fishing-rock spots, etc..)

I actually made it 'tiered', where the First year, we only found a Smaller 'chest' (not pictured..) that, sure - had a Bit of "treasure" (chocolate 'gold coins', and Herkimer diamonds, etc) but they had to wait a Whole Year - till the next camping trip at the Lake - for them to actually Find the "Real Map" (lesson in 'you don't always, at first, get what you Want'.. )

..Needless to say, there was Quite a bit of 'excitement' when we finally 'found' the "full Treasure Chest", there (again, pre-buried in the woods, after they were in bed one nite, early in the trip..) and dug it up, etc.. They were.. beside themselves. Of course - eventually - they 'figured out' that this was all BS.. but that they had a really cool Dad who went to silly lengths to build Great memories together

..OK, so the 'Legend' wasn't "true", But.. Hey - Some people do "Santa" - I did 'Captain Morgan', what can I say..

Other notable (also For them..) was a 'from Scratch' (..Not a 'kit', no 'instructions', etc - Nothing of this Existed, except just a 'concept drawing' from one of my Favorite Book-Illustrators / Authors..) 'Rocking Triceratops'...

..'Body' was an old Log-section, chainsawed in 1/2, then block-planed down (bottom) and top was rasp and machete-shaped, and the 'blanket' was Dremel-routed in (then 'woodburning iron detailed'..) The 'color' was Wood-stain, colors as you see.. Otherwise, was all just finished with Tung-oil, and some Polyurethane, to 'seal'...

...'Frill' was an old Oak 'Schoolchair seat' (garage-sale or something, don't exactly recall..) sabre-cut and routered / rasped to-shape, and, again, 'wood-iron' detailed..

..'Legs' and 'horns' were just Tree branches, hand-cut / machete-shaped, and rasped / chisel-carved into form. 'Beak', tail, and 'rocking rails' (intentionally made 'narrow-angle' to keep the 'Faceplants' minimized were just some scrap Pine 2"x6", and, again, rasped / chisel-detailed, etc..

..and, the 'Eyes' were those really cool 'Cobalt Blue' glass-marbles, press-fit into the sockets - which were lined with the 'bright-side' of some Alum-foil - so-as to 'glow a bit', from light reflected back.. Worked quite well.. And the 'sig' on the bottom was just wood-iron burnt in.. (not sure, tho, Why I didn't do that in 'calligraphy'?? Oh well.. They 'got the point'.

PS, and Man - this thing turned out So Strong.. Built for the 'kids', but I could rock on it - 'violently', even, and nary a 'creak'.. We must have used it as a 'step-stool' a hundred times over the years - nary a creak. 21 yrs later, it's Still in top shape ('scuffed' / faded a bit, but Still Solid..) and will, within the year, be 'passed down' from my eldest Son - to our Incredible little Grandaughter, who just turned 1.. (though, She'll prolly be the one to finally Break it..

So.. I'm'a shuddup now, and let ya'll Share and Wow the rest of us. And Hey - maybe this Thread, if nothing else, can be the Ultimate answer-for / place to point 'newbies' to, for the timeless, "..Whatever will I Do to keep the kids entertained, whilst "living in the Woods" when SHTF??

Fire away..
jd

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The DIY 'Crafts' Sharing Thread...