Christmas Tree DIY the Second

You will recall last year I made a ceiling-high DIY Christmas tree, using patches of denim cloth.  Here is the post, if you're interested:
 http://tree-shades.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-tree-diy-us3000.html

Here's a quick peek at last year's tree...

It was skinny, as my living room space is rather small so the ladder under it was not spread out the full width.

This year, I decided it'll just have to go outside, so it won't be in the way.

As I was seriously lacking in time, I posted on facebook if there were any elves who could come help me. (I'd pay in pizza!)  And immediately this bunch volunteered!

How awesome are my friends, big and little.  Gelyn is Papua New Guinean, married to a Malaysian.

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Plain ol' newspaper.  Lots of it!  And staples - 1,509,267 of 'em.

Layer by layer.....

The top!

The baubles had to be toned down (less is more) so the newspaper could stand out.

 

 

  

So here's last year's... 

And here's this year's (I can't seem to put them side by side)...

 

 

What was my inspiration?  I remember seeing a fashion show on TV a long time back and this gorgeous gown stuck in my head!  I couldn't find the actual one but this Christian Dior dress with ruffles is something like what I saw. 

 

So yah, let's see......

I'm getting there, I'm getting there..... :)

Wagon!

This cutie pie above belongs to my friend.  She was turning one so I just had to make her something adorable.

As usual, I rummaged through my scrap wood pile...leftovers from other projects, or scraps my favourite paint shop man would sell to me for cheap.

First, get the base done.  Sanded everything till kingdom come as it had to be child-proof...no splinters sticking out here and there.

 

Then I realized it didn't occur to me I didn't measure if it was big enough for her.  oops.  Okay, find a stuffed toy that I thought might be about her size.                                                                                                                                                

How big is her body....this pillow is about right.  Okay, that'll have to do.

Make the sides...sand sand sand till eternity.

Put them all together....add casters.

Looking good, squeeeeeeeal!......why oh why didn't I do all these when I was a teenager?                                        

Embellishments....metal brackets!

Couldn't decide what colour to paint it....she's not the pink type, red would have been awesome, but ok, a happy yellow it is...with black undertones.




Oh my pigtails!! 

So cute had to take it outdoors somewhere for a photoshoot!

A shot with some flowers....

Add a little laminated nametag....

Here she is! 

Fit her (and Alex the lion) perfectly!!

 

 So cute I can't stand it.

*Thanks Abigail for some of the above photos!

Back to Nature - Cake Stand DIY

I have been making tree-inspired things (did I tell you I love trees?) for a long time.

For one thing, my curtain rods are branches.

I have used twigs to decorate my ceiling lamp for Christmas..

My beloved husband, partner, cheap labour and friend will go on tree adventures with me....hahhahaha! One time I found some tree stumps and he went with me to drag, lug, lift, hoist those crazy-heavy babies from the roadside, into our car.  Looking back, it's hilarious the things I do, but it wasn't funny at the time.

See how happy I was to have found them?

See how happy my husband was, to help me? (sighhhhhhhhhh....my hero...)

Yes, we do this in broad daylight, where we can be seen by the ....shhh...public!  My poor mum, if she had been in the car to see all this, she would've slunk under the seat.

We had to lug them across this drain, ok?

ummm....and this drain.

 

 Yes, and this drain, too....

Then we drove our trophies to a woodwork shop.  But the guy who has machines larger than my simple electric saw, refused to slice them for me!  He said it was too difficult, they would roll about etc.  So disappointing!  Other shops would have been too far for us to drive out to, so I had to abandon the project! :(  These photos above are at least a year or two old, by the way.

Recently I gave it another shot, but this time I got smaller stumps.  I sawed them myself  by hand (so determined was I).  And put together this cake stand.  The stumps are about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. The tin in this first picture is supposed to represent a cake!  I had to quickly photograph these pictures as this cake stand went to a customer. It's funny to say 'customer' because this really started out as a hobby only.

 I love the texture of the bark...

For another shot,  as I am no baker and dislike cooking, I used mashed potatoes to fill the cupcake cups...

This is how each 'tray' looks...

Oh my goodness, I LOVE my cake stand!  What do you think?

Superman Wall Hanger/Rainbow Slats

Some time ago I made this and gave it away as a prize...it's a wooden door'mat' made of scrapwood . You can read about that here...
 

Someone wanted a similar one, but in bright, actual rainbow colours...(her 8 year old son is currently into rainbows :) 

And another one to hang on the wall, with a Superman logo! (and there's that feeling that I'm using an eyeliner on 92 ... 46...  92 ladies...again)

This is before lacquering....

Lacquer, add some S hooks to hang stuff from...

Here it is, placed on a cupboard (I have nowhere to hang it to 'model')....I think it can be used right up to teen years :)

As all of it was made of scrapwood, the size of each rack couldn't be standard.  It ranged from 30inches to 36inches wide (currently I'm making a third one).

Hope someone's daughter will want one with a unicorn!  Imagine how fun it would be hanging stuff from its glittery horn! :)) 

Clearly I am such an amateur.  What should have taken two days to make (including drying time), ended up taking 5 days, for these two racks, because:

1.  I forgot that the thickness of the boards were not the same and used the same-length nails and hammered away.  And then found, horror of horrors, the nails sticking out the back, in a row.  Sigh.  Remove.  Use shorter nails.
2.  The lacquer I used turned the original purple of the rainbow to brown.  Sanded it again, re-painted, re-lacquered.
3.  I started to get a backache around the third day because I was doing all the work on the ground - not a good idea.
4.  The Superman logo did not stand out as much as I wanted it to until I added the plywood backing at the back, outlining the shape of the logo.  Draw outline, cut out of plywood, hammer at the back, mix paint again, paint into the grooves to complete the logo.  In short, more work.
5. I tried mixing all my leftover paint and by doing that, the paint somehow wouldn't spread evenly and I had to paint and re-paint several colours several times.

Somebody shoot me.

But yah.  I love how they turned out anyway.  It looks much better in these pictures, though.  Hahahahahahahahha!

Further notes to self:
1.  When are you ever going to learn to put on gloves so your thumb and finger prints don't disappear altogether from sanding all the itsy bitsy grooves?  Your thumbprint is important!  It's your identity!  Ain't nobody gonna know who you are if you are mysteriously found lying dead in a....

oh.  I guess there's always your DNA.

2.  Re-use the same tee-shirts for messy work since you don't like to wear an apron.  Otherwise you ruin a perfectly good tee.  Sigh.

What do you think? (about the hanger and the doormat, not the tee)