A net to catch an imaginary owl

This took entirely too long to make considering how simple it is.

First, start with a dowel and the center piece of a wooden embroidery hoop. Screw them together and saw the dowel off at the desired length. (I wasn't able to screw the screw in all the way since the flimsy hoop started to crack, but it doesn't really show.)

Then spraypaint the whole thing. I painted it what was supposed to be brown but looked really gray, so I spritzed over it a bit with some copper spraypaint. Let it dry overnight.

Cut a thin strip of leather (or fake leather) of really any length. You can stop wrapping when you think it looks good or add more if you want. Lay a line of glue (Gem-Tac! My favorite! It smells just like Elmer's but it holds better) along the back side of the leather. Then press a few inches of the leather (glue side down, of course) along the dowel and over the end, then twist it around and wrap the strip around and around the dowel, covering the strip you laid down initially, until you run out of strip or decide it looks good and stop wrapping and cut off the rest. This took almost no time at all--seriously, I think it took longer for me to figure out how to explain what I did than it took to actually do it.

Then get a lot of string and...make a net.

The net took me hours. But look! I caught an owl.

(If you find the owl as adorable as I do, you can buy your very own on etsy at Green Owl Curiosities, and the proceeds go to an owl/raptor rehabilitation society. Yes, this little guy is going to DragonCon with me. I need to put my name and number on him somewhere in case he escapes.)

No update this week

Yeah, I got nothin'. Even with a four-day weekend, I didn't do anything. Well, I started one project but didn't get far (making moth hat/hair decorations; it's not working as well as I'd hoped) and I ordered some stuff to finish my goggles. Did you know there's a website called The Buckle Guy? I ordered some buckles and other stuff from the Buckle Guy, since it didn't seem worth it to just order, like, one buckle for my goggles and that was it. I also ordered the new Dragon*Con steampunk lanyard, because I always forget to bring a lanyard and end up having to buy one when I finally get to the dealer's room. The trick will be to not forget to bring my steampunk lanyard.

Oh wait, I did do one thing. It took about thirty seconds, but here's a picture.
 

It's a tiny copper owl charm I found on etsy, which I strung on some copper-ish links and pinned to my hatband. I'm going to try to find some more charms to put with it. Here's another picture of the hat, along with my owl goggles and a cheap pocket watch that I found half-price ($5! and so far the watch hasn't broken!) and bought because there's an owl on it.

So in other words, I have my accessories set. I should have my faux-leather corset any day now too, and the shoes will work as they are if necessary. All I need is the rest of my freaking costume.

Owl Goggles

I hadn't planned to add so many feathers. I'm still not completely happy with them, and of course I still need to make a strap. And they won't sit on the brim of my awesome hat so I'll have to figure out some other way to display them that doesn't involve wearing them. But here they are, my very first pair of goggles, and a pair of the original welding goggles they started life as:

For those of you who are interested in making your own, it's a lot easier than I thought it would be. My first step was to remove the original strap, the plastic piece over the chain connecting the eyepieces, and remove the lenses (the eyepieces unscrew so you can remove them easily). Then I spraypainted them copper, making sure to get all the surfaces including the chain, and let them dry overnight.

Once they were dry, I put the lenses back in and adjusted the chain so that the goggles fit me. You can move the chain while the eyepieces are unscrewed; trim off excess so the ends won't gouge you in the eyeball. That would be pretty ironic if your eye protection blinded you. I noticed that there were two round pieces on the sides of the goggles, attached with a plastic pin through a hole. I have no idea what these are for, but I removed them and set them aside.

At this point I wasn't sure what to do. I had planned on painting decorations on the sides and then gluing some feathers on, and then I figured I'd be done. But they looked kind of boring, and I have all this leather scrap. I idly picked up a piece of pliable brown leather and wrapped it around the edge of an eyepiece.

It looked amazing! So I got out the glue, Gem-Tac, and put a line of it along the straight edge of the leather (on the wrong side, of course). I separated the eyepieces (took the chain off) so I could handle them more easily. Then I wrapped the leather around the edge of the eyepiece, leaving a small gap for the chain, tugging and stretching the leather to make it fit snugly over the plastic.

Gem-Tac turned out to be perfect for this kind of project. It starts to dry quickly so it held the leather in place as I worked, but it doesn't dry crazy fast like epoxy or superglue, so I could make adjustments after a few minutes if the leather wasn't quite where I wanted it.

Then I wrapped the leather around to the inside of the eyepiece. I didn't try to cover the inside completely and I did a messy job, but keep in mind that at this point I still didn't think the leather was going to actually work at all. I trimmed and cut notches as necessary to make it snug.

When I finished, I was blown away by how good it looked.

I put the chain back in place before the glue had completely set--I was worried I might have glued the lenses to the eyepieces and wouldn't be able to open them later. I also cut a piece of leather and glued it in place around the chain. Then I noticed the plastic pieces I'd removed earlier. I used my awl to poke holes in the leather so I could put the pieces back.

Then I took a break and ran to the store, and while I was gone I picked up some little brass acorn nuts at Lowe's. I was going to buy two dozen, since each eyepiece has a dozen spaces, but they're too damn expensive--almost $2.50 for four. I bought one dozen instead (if I were going to make a lot of goggles, I'd buy the acorn nuts in bulk, maybe from here). When I got them home, though, they looked awfully shiny. I set them out on a piece of cardboard and gave them one quick spritz of copper spraypaint--I didn't try to cover them completely, I just wanted to dim the shininess a bit. I let it dry overnight, then in the morning glued them on along with some other deco.

Next I considered what to do about a headstrap. Saturday I'd made the rounds of thrift shops and got two black leather purses (one for 99 cents and the other, a Liz Claiborne bag, for $1.50. Damn!), but both had straps that were a tad too wide. Plus the black leather looked funny next to the brown leather and copper/brass. So I decided to make a strap from leather scraps, but I wanted it to be a bit wider than the original strap. To solve the problem of getting a wider strap through the premade plastic gaps, I decided to attach loops with D-rings, to which I could attach a wider strap. As it happens, I had two D-rings of the right size that came off one of the purses, so I cut two pieces of thicker leather--in fact, I used the thickest, sturdiest leather I had, the same kind I used last week for my lawnmower handlebar grips.

Getting the straps through the little holes, which I had covered with leather and glue, was not easy. I used an X-acto knife to open up the gaps, then cut each leather strap at an angle. I used the awl to help cram the tip of the angle-cut end through the gap. As soon as I could grip it on the other side with needle-nosed pliers, I was able to pull it through. Then I trimmed the end straight, put the D-ring on, and glued it. For extra strength I also put a few stitches through the leather. I did a piss-poor job of it since I couldn't get the awl to go through all three thicknesses at the correct angle, and ended up using the needle-nosed pliers to force the needle through. KIDS, DON'T EVER DO THIS. It's dangerous! Not only are needles not meant for that sort of pressure and could break, sending a very sharp piece of metal into your eyeball (see irony, above), it's really easy to stab yourself in the finger like I did.

(Incidentally, a good thing to trim leather with is a wire cutter. Works better than scissors.)

Anyway, I got it finished and decided to wait on the strap itself until I can order some things I can't get locally. I almost declared myself finished. Then I remembered I'm going to DragonCon dressed inexplicably like a steampunk owl, which meant I had to add feathers. I probably should have just left well alone, I don't know. I could have created a lady naturalist persona and been perfectly happy, but noooo, I had to stick feathers on everything.

As I said earlier, I never intended to add many. I used pheasant feathers, which looked most owl-like of all the feathers I'd bought (I also have guinea hen, chicken, and turkey feathers). I chose three for each eyepiece, hampered a bit by the light but pleasant breeze blowing through the garage from the open doors. Then I held my breath, because I was about to do something irreversible. I put a triangle of glue on the edge of the first lens, thereby permanently gluing them closed. Then I pressed the feathers in place, arranged them carefully so they'd make a bird-of-prey frown, and held them there until the glue dried enough that I could let go. Then I did the same to the other lens.

And then I realized I'd RUINED MY GOGGLES, because I overlooked the fact that the eyepieces were sitting on a flat surface and not at the same angle they'd be when worn. You know that little scene in WALL*E when Wall-E wakes up and comes back to himself, and he adjusts his eyes until they're at just the right angle? Well, when I held my goggles up to my face, the angle of the feathers changed from fierce bird-of-prey frown to an anxious Wall-E expression.

I had to add more feathers. Then the goggles looked unbalanced, so I had to add a few feathers at the bottom too. They're more feathery than I wanted, but they also have a definitely owlish look, so maybe I'll get used to them.

I realized something while I was working, though. Back in April when I started this steampunk-my-garage project, all I really wanted was a space where I could work on crafts without making a mess in the house or running out of room. Well, I succeeded. Maybe the garage isn't as steampunky as I'd like--I can't afford to do more with it at this point--but I've got an awesome workspace.

Leather lawnmower grips

I'm proud of myself. I got this project done start to finish this afternoon, something I'd been planning to do for months.

This is my lawnmower, before I worked on it (that's an old picture, obviously; I forgot to take a new before picture). I've had it about three years now and really like it. Today I had just started mowing the lawn when a storm moved in fast; I hurried into the garage just as the sky opened up, so I was stuck there for a while unless I wanted to get wet. Then I realized I had everything I needed to try replacing the torn-up sponge handlebar grips with leather.

This is the tutorial I read originally and wanted to try. I couldn't find anything that resembled what that guy calls cotton tape, though. Eventually I gave up looking. But the other day I was in the Dollar General, poking around so it wouldn't look like I'd only really come in to buy a candy bar, and I found some of that rubbery stuff they sell for putting in the bottom of drawers.

Wait, I'm going to do this as a proper tutorial because the project turned out so well.

YOU WILL NEED: some fairly thick leather (most big craft stores sell bags of leather scrap for about $5 each), that rubbery stuff that goes in the bottom of drawers, embroidery needles (they're sharp but have big eyes JUST LIKE ME), upholstery thread or other strong thread, cheap scissors don't use your good scissors what is wrong with you (or an X-acto knife or rotary blade), awl. Not pictured: awl.

The drawer liner goes first, giving the grips some cushion and acting as a non-slip surface. Figure out what size you need and cut two pieces. I used masking tape to hold it in place while I wrapped each piece around the handlebar. I made my pieces long enough to wrap two or three times. Wrap firmly but don't be obsessive about it--this stuff stretches. Once it's wrapped, hold it in place with another piece of masking tape.

Now sew the drawer liner in place. I used a blanket stitch but whatever you want to use will work. No one will see this part. Make sure to pick up all the layers when stitching; you want to feel that needle slide off the metal when you stitch. Knot securely when you're done.

Next cut a piece of leather for each grip, making it just big enough to wrap around but not overlap itself. It's better to cut the piece a tiny bit too small than too big. Leather stretches and you can pull the ends together if you need to, but if it's too big it'll look messy. I used a scrap piece of drawer liner to measure what size piece I needed because it's a lot easier to cut. Then I used that piece as a template, placed it on the back side of the leather, and used tailor's chalk (what I had on hand; anything will work) to mark out the pieces. Then I used cheap scissors to cut the leather. I had to trim a bit to get the pieces just right, holding them onto the handlebars to see how well they fit before I put them in place. This is worth taking your time over.

Now you need an awl. As it happens I do have an awl, and I'm so pleased I finally needed it for something. I didn't measure this part, just eyeballed it, because I'm not obsessive about detail and I like stuff to look sort of homemade and organic. Also I was already getting bored. Just make sure you put the same number of holes in each long side and that they have about the same spacing. After I did one side, I folded the top over to use as a guide for the other side. I still had to add a hole while sewing later.

Now go over to that other guy's tutorial and read it, because he makes it way clearer than I do and also he did a better job with his grips. Basically, you have a very long (about a yard) piece of thread with a needle at each end, and you use those needles to seam the grips just like lacing a tennis shoe. I used a rubber band to keep the leather in place while I was sewing, so I would have both hands free. As you complete each new pair of stitches, pull the previous pair good and tight. You don't want any loose threads that could snag on anything and snap later.

Doesn't that look good? I'm so proud of myself. They're nice and comfortable too.

By the time I'd finished, it had stopped raining, so I took the mower into the driveway and used copper spraypaint to paint the orange discs on the sides of the wheels. The orange still shows through but it looks a lot better than it did. I'm very pleased with the result!

Of course I still need to mow the lawn.

First steps of two projects

I forgot to post yesterday, so this post will go over two very different steampunk projects that I've started. In both cases I've got a long way to go.

First, I finally bought an antique brass blowtorch. I love it so much I can hardly stand it. I mean, look at it!

I bought this particular blowtorch because it looks so much like a weapon to start with. I have plans to mod it a bit--nothing drastic, and certainly nothing permanent; I want to be able to remove all the modding if I like so I can appreciate the blowtorch's elegant simplicity all on its own.

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of supplies yet. I do have this heavy copper wire that I found at work (really, I did actually find it--it was on the floor and I was about to pitch it in the trash, thinking, "Why don't those construction guys ever clean up after themselves?" when I realized I was holding copper wire and ooh shiny want). I tried wrapping it around the "barrel" of the blowtorch, but it's such thick copper that it's not very bendy and I don't know if I love it. I'll probably remove it once I find something else to replace it with. But I also had some jewelry wire that's thin and very flexible. It looks much better. (I especially like the little coil stuck into a perfectly sized hole in the cap where you pour the paraffin inside; I made it by wrapping the wire around a pencil.) It looks much better, although it's so very bendy that it's not going to keep its shape. I need to find a wire that's the same diameter but a bit stronger.

One of the things I'm hoping to do with the blowtorch, if I can manage it, is install a bright blue LED and a reflector down into the barrel, with a switch I can toggle with my thumb. But I have never tried wiring anything ever in my life, so it's going to be a steep learning curve.

So that's one project. The other is a pair of bloomers that I bought the cloth for several weeks ago. Today I finally decided it was time to start on them. I'm still about halfway through making the nightgown that inspired this stupid garage makeover in the first place, but I've stalled out because the embroidery is taking so long. The bloomers should go much faster.

Here's the cutting table--formerly a dining table that no one in the family wants, and which was holding a TV before I moved it out to the garage--being used for its new purpose. It works quite well. The groove between the table and the leaf isn't as deep as a real cutting table's, but it does the trick. In this picture, I'm cutting the muslin.

And here are the pieces (and the muslin) after I cut them. I had to move the lamp, but it's easy enough to move back when I'm done.

To get the full impact of the pictures, you should imagine me carefully cutting the cloth while wearing Animal PJ bottoms and a Clan Shaw t-shirt. And orange flip-flops. And keep in mind that the garage door was wide open, like this (bonus Jekyll picture).

Antiquing haul

After yardwork, garage cleaning, and lunch, I went antiquing. I went to four different shops and spent--gulp--fifty bucks all told. But I got some fun stuff.

For some reason I was suddenly drawn to bottles. I'll have to figure out some way to display them, maybe on a shelf.

From left to right: an empty Sloan's Liniment bottle, a full bottle of clock oil YES CLOCK OIL OMG NOW I NEED A CLOCK, an empty bottle that might have been hand lotion or something--it says something about rose water and glycerin, two full bottles of litmus paper (red and blue), and a full bottle of "parchment black" ink.

I also got this rusty and gummy oil can, because I liked it and it wasn't very expensive.

I love old photos, and I got three very interesting ones. Two are of children. The first picture is of a little girl, who looks exactly like she was just told to sit there and "don't move," and she's tired and wants to change out of her good clothes so she can go play. The second picture is of a fat little baby who looks adorably squashy, sitting in a chair with...rocks in the background. And apparently those things in the foreground are rugs that are probably sitting out to dry. Because nothing says "I love my baby" like having its picture taken in front of rocks.

Lastly is this guy's picture. I spent considerable time digging through boxes of old photos, looking for a debonair gentleman to swoon over. As you do. Obviously I couldn't quite find one, but the more I looked at this guy's picture the more I liked him. He's reasonably good-looking, but even better, he clearly has a sense of humor. It was as though he knew, when the photographer was taking his picture, that a hundred years later some woman was going to find it in an antique shop and decide to make him her imaginary boyfriend. I wish it had his name on it.

Now, things I didn't get because they were too expensive. I wish I'd taken pictures, but I suspect that as soon as I can scrape up the money for them I'll go back and buy them if they're still available. The one thing I practically drooled over and must own eventually is an old brass blowtorch. YES. It was $90. It will one day be mine, at least as soon as I sell another story and can justify spending that much. I also really wanted the Underwood typewriter even though it needs refurbishing before it works. It was $95, which really isn't bad considering what good shape it's in. And I wanted the Singer foot treadle sewing machine for $125, but I'm actually not sure if the sewing machine was part of it; in those models (which are not uncommon) the machine folds down into the cabinet so it can be used as a table, and it was folded down. I didn't open it up since I couldn't have afforded it anyway.

When I got home, I spraypainted three hideous fakey-gold picture stands bronze, which will hopefully make them look less hideous. Once they're dry I can display my new photos.

Paint and paint and paint

Everything was ready for me to paint today. The first thing I did was examine the cans of leftover paint I'd intended to use.

There were three cans, one almost full, one half-full, and one almost empty, the latter two the same shade of brown. I started with the nearly empty can and on the back wall.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but the paint covered the chipboard (that is chipboard, right? I have no idea) quite well and looked good. The shade was listed as creme brulee and the paint was from 2009. It also happens to be the same shade in the living room and hallway of the house.

The painting didn't seem very difficult, not when I could work from section to section between those strut things. I emptied the first paint can and moved on to the next, only taking a break to bring an old CD player out into the garage to listen to. But the CD player was broken, with only the radio still working. It may be the crappiest radio ever made. Almost the only station I could tune in seemed to be the Alede/Mumford & Sons station. Finally I just turned it off and listened to birdsong and rain.

If I ever offer to help you paint, you might want to give me the task of holding the ladder. My middle name should probably be slapdash. I slapped paint onto the walls with more speed than accuracy.

After I finished the back wall and a few panels on the front wall to empty the second paint can, I took a break for lunch. When I came back, I opened the nearly full paint can.

It was labeled beige. Who buys beige paint on purpose? I think this was the shade on the bedroom walls, but I (okay, my brother and I; he did the edges and corners, I did the middles and held the ladder) painted those rooms pale blue before moving in.

Really it was just a few shades lighter than the creme brulee, but those few shades were enough to make it really unattractive. It was yellowish-green more than brown, reminiscent of infant diarrhea. And because it was so much lighter in color, it didn't cover as well.

It was also clear that even with nearly a gallon of the paint, I wasn't going to have enough. I put the beige away and went to the store.

I went for a darker, warmer brown but only got a gallon. I don't know why I didn't get two. I also got a can of copper spraypaint and three outlet covers--just unfinished wood, but practically the first thing I did when I got home was spraypaint them copper.

Then I went around and spraypainted all the exposed wires I could reach. Exposed wires, sure; that goes well with what my garage will eventually look like. But bright yellow insulating coating? No way. I sprayed that stuff. I also sprayed a piece of PVC pipe that was protecting a grounding wire, so now it looks like a piece of copper tubing.

It looks awesome. I love that paint. I would have continued to use it, on the ladder and the lawnmower and anything else metal, but I wanted to finish the walls. I opened the new paint and got started.

The dark brown looked great. I liked it even better than the creme brulee. Unfortunately, of course, I didn't have enough to do both side walls. By the time I'd finished one, I was down to a quarter of a gallon.

I considered going back to the store for more. But I still had that beige paint that I needed to use up. After all, I'd decided to paint the garage initially just to use up old paint.

I looked at what was left of the brown paint. I looked at the beige paint. What if...I mixed the paints?

I poured about a half gallon of the beige into the brown and mixed them well. I was surprised at the shade that resulted, darker than the beige but with a robust color more like a paler shade of the brown.

But I still didn't have enough. There were still seven strips to paint when I ran out.

So I used the beige for the rest. The effect is less than beautiful, but I think I can line up shelves or something with the change of color to make it less noticeable.

I had intended to stain the shelf boards today too, but it was past eight by the time I finished. So I just replaced the old outlet covers with the newly painted ones and called it a day.

Now that the painting is done, I need to finish decluttering and start arranging. And I have this copper spraypaint to use up.