Building Something

I am not handy, and this is not changing anytime soon. And although I guess I am a creative thinker (ideas, theories and meaning), my hands lack the skills to create. However, about every 5 years I get an idea, and I become obsessed with creating the vision that is in my mind.

When I was 8 or so, I had in my mind this amazing and beautiful creation that would be a quit smoking survival kit for my dad. The large box would be raised up on a stick about 12 inches and would spin like a Lazy Susan. Each side of the box would have holes, flaps and openings for things my dad would eat or use to prevent him from smoking at any given time. The main materials for this creation were to come from my own gum ball machine. The gum ball machine would be accessible through one of the openings in the front of the box, and it would dispense jelly bellies, my dad's favorite. There would be a little shelve with life savers, openings for gum and other candy, and an emergencies only hole in the back with a pack of Marlboro's and a lighter, which I would put there so he would know I love him either way.

The final product was incredibly ugly. The glass from the gum ball machine broke during the building process and was replaced with a plastic bag or something. It was painted black with misspelled labels written in sloppy red paint. And now that I think about it, I am not sure it was refillable. But my dad kept it for a very long time.

Another time I fashioned a floppy disk file for him out of a plastic slinky and some globs of clay. (Pictured above, courtesy of my dad.)

I made a hand painted sign for a friend before she left on a life changing trip to Europe. It turned out ok. And I painted that shelf for Quinn's closet, which is super cute.

But for the most part, my creations do not usually turn out, and I don't have the patience to really do it right or fix it when it starts to go wrong. I like to start and finish in one day, which is usually not practical. I also hate to go from store to store to get supplies. Add all of this to my inexperience and my natural disability to measure, cut, draw, paint, or design, and you end up with a lot of Quit Smoking Survival Kits.

So, here we go again. I have a vision for a magic bulletin board. I think bulletin boards are really sloppy. I had bulletin board space in the office, and so now I want some in my home office. But I don't want my guest room/ office to look too much like an office. So, I have created in my head the "Wall art hidden Bulletin board." Basically, it will look like a framed piece of art work hanging on the wall over my desk, but the piece would open like shutters and expose 4 bulletin board panels where I can put cheat sheets, student info, and other fast facts I need on the phone. When I am done working, I can close the side panels and leave behind a clean looking office with a beautiful piece of art on the wall. It is a good theory and a fun idea.

1) I don't really need this because I saw a girl at academic meetings with all these papers in a binder, which is just as useful.
2) It is bound to not turn out.
3) It is bound to cost me a lot of money on it's road to not turning out.

But it is in my head and ready to go. I am trying to limit disaster by really thinking it through before I start. Anytime I make a change, I try to REALLY, REALLY think about how that will change it. I watched some videos online this morning about how to make various things like fabric covered boards and stuffed bulletin boards for photos. I figure if I study the art of the things people already do, I will be able to not botch my invention so badly.

The trick will be in the hinges and in the two end panels. The hinges have to be a little complex. Just normal hinges would prevent the boards from closing completely together once there are papers and pins on them. The hinges have to suspend the outside boards out a little further. The second tricky part is the inside side of the outside panels. I will be using a stuffed photo board technique for creating the "piece of art." But I need to do it in a way that the back side will look good when the boards are all open. Tricky, tricky.

So, I have a list of materials, a drawing of the design, a list of problems, along with zero measuring and no fabric.

Wish me luck!