Awhile back I shared my new obsession with bottle cutters. One of the reasons for the obsession was that I really wanted to experiment with the material, and I had the idea to make a wind spinner.
I love the wooden wind spinners that look like they transform their shape as they spin. I thought: “Could I do that with recycled materials?” Turns out I can! The bottle string is light and strong and fairly easy to shape with a little heat. And if anyone else wants to make a cool looking spinner with recycled materials, I made a video to show how I did it.
Not only is the spinner fun to watch in the wind, I hung it near the coop to scare away aerial predators and wild birds that may be carrying avian bird flu. (That is my story and I’m sticking to it. It is not at all that I have a fixation with kinetic sculpture.)
I’ve been working on my chisel skills again. It is a good thing that I’m making stuff for chickens and they aren’t known to be tough critics, as I still need more practice! But I’m pleased with the way this table is coming out, all things said.
I decided a while ago that I wanted to make chicken “furniture” for the coop; items that are movable rather than built-in so I can rearrange. Being a first time chicken owner, I know I’m going to want to rearrange. (Heck, I just like rearranging in general.) So with all our designs, we are thinking flexibility first.
I’ve read that chicks are more traumatized by being picked up from above, rather than approached from the side, not surprising since most threats come from above). I’ve also read that Faverolle chicks are particularly prone to little chicky terror. I have a 2×3 foot dog crate that I planned on using as the brooder, so to raise it up, I decided to build a table. The shelf underneath will hold nesting boxes when the hens reach that age, and the crate will be my isolation unit for injured chickens when I no longer need it as a brooder. Once the whole thing goes in the coop, I will install a 45 degree “roof” over the crate so the chickens can’t roost up there.
I went to the lumber store and was absolutely thrilled that there were prefabricated slabs in the sizes I was planning to make. (I do have a biscuit joiner, and was going to biscuit together 1×4″ lumber, but this saved me time and, believe it or not, money!) So then I just needed three 2x4x8 pine boards. The legs are 36″ tall, and the outside dimensions are 24″x36″. For the top rail I made a large dovetail joint, and for the shelf (which is 18″ off the ground), I cut mortise and tenons. I did take pictures of the best cuts, but all the joins needed to be filled with wood filler. I sanded down the whole thing and rounded the edges to reduce splintering and potential harm to my hip if I run into the thing.
Dovetail joint joining two 2x4s
I have not finished it yet, but am planning on rubbing it with Tung oil, just to make it easier to clean later. When the coop is done, I will assemble the top and shelves permanently, but for now it will stay in 4 pieces because those are easier to store!
I love hexaflexagons. I first learned about them when I saw Vi Hart’s video on flexagons. Turns out they have been magical mathematical fun since 1939 when Arthur H. Stone was playing with cutoff strips of paper in class. (My kids do this too. Good to know it is not new.)
We do the obligatory elementary Valentine’s cards for the kid’s classmates (and everyone gets one, no singling out!) But I do like to give toys instead of candy (my youngest isn’t a fan of candy anyway, so bonus). And since there are usually at least 20 kids in class, I like paper toys because they are inexpensive. I also love origami, so crafting with paper is no hardship. And introducing more people to the joy of hexaflexagons? Priceless!
So this year I put my Photoshop skills to the test and made a Valentine Minecraft Hexaflexagon. I admit, I played Minecraft when my kids were at school to get the screenshots (my oldest wouldn’t do it for me, bummer). FYI, computer screen shots are much better than xbox screen shots. Just saying. Then I used frames in Photoshop to set up the hexaflexagon. The frames gave me stable shapes, but also the flexibility to adjust the image within the frame to get the final picture to line up nicely. I did have to adjust and tweak while to get everything where I wanted it, but now that I have, it should be easier the next time I want to make a custom printed hexaflexagon! (Want your own customized hexaflexagon? Contact me!)
And here is the freebie! Feel free to print the following image (I recommend getting it as large as possible on your paper using your printer settings, mine worked with 93% without cutting bits off).
Valentine’s Minecraft Hexaflexagon Freebie
And here is a video explaining how to get it folded up and flexing!
I love the pantry in our house, but there wasn’t an area to put spices that made them easy to find. I recently sorted the spices and discovered three containers of garlic salt. Apparently I thought I was out because I couldn’t find any so bought more. Three times.
I decided to make my own spice rack for the pantry door. I’ve tried the wire racks screwed to the door, but they tend to fall off when accidentally bumped. (And I often forget my edges and bump into things! Ugh.) Not to mention cleaning up glass and wasted spice from the floor is not a preferred activity. So I measured my space and my largest containers and made my plan.
I went to the lumber store and picked out 1x4x8 select pine, and found some beautiful embossed pine trim. There are several ways to construct spice racks; I could use rabbet and dado joints, biscuit joints, or mortis and tenon joints. I decided to work on my chisel and hand saw skills and do mortis and tenon joints. It took me a while, but the last mortis was much cleaner than my first! Here is a picture of the side boards with all the mortises cut.
The saw I used is a Marples hand saw, fine cut double blade pull saw, which I absolutely love for fine cuts. (Especially when my band saw is buried at the back of the garage. Cleaning out the garage will take a couple stages and the chicken coop comes first!) I also used a 1/2″ straight chisel that I made sure was nice and sharp before I started.
I was pleased when I glued everything together how well it came out! I was planning on painting it white, but the wood looked so pretty I changed my mind and put on a couple coats of clear. After filling the nail holes and a few gaps with wood filler. (Have you tried the color changing wood filler? I haven’t used it before, but it worked well. A little shocking to spread bright pink paste on my project, but when it was dry it faded to a nice natural color, and sanded well.)
So here is the final project all ready for my spices! I’ve made the mistake of putting items on a finished shelf before the recommended 24 hours, and have had things stick to the shelf. So I’ll give it a good 48 hours then load it up! Yay for pantry reorganization!
Critters and Craft 