Birch Tree Wall Art

So this is one that I ended up buying on etsy because WOW it is beautiful and I just don't have the equipment to vinyl cut a 12 ft birch tree art project.  And I quickly discovered all of my friends aka drafted assistants are afraid of heights, so guess who was the one to climb to the top step of the 10ft ladder? This Girl! Don't try that at home kids!

Before:


After:


But it was a lot of fun putting up all of the individual leaves and the big tree trunks!
 

Paper Roses

I'm still not 100% sure why I NEEDED to make a bouquet of paper roses, but no regrets here!  I followed these instructions, and sacrificed some discarded/weeded library books for the cause.  The ruler is for scale because they ended up to be a crazy huge bunch in comparison to their thin wire stems. For a couple of them I put fake pearls in the center of the rose to add a little something special.

Spaceships Attack!

I've been in a decorating mood lately and I have decided that I need something to spice up the walls in my bedroom.  Luckily for me, I live in the same town as three makerspaces, so I stopped by and made myself some custom spaceship vinyl cutouts!  I take no credit for drawing these or any such thing, I turned pictures from the internet into black and white images and traced the edges in the vinyl cutter program... so these guys are definitely not for sale.  But they are pretty and the perfect space battle!  Now I just need to make a couple of tentacles for my bathroom  :D



On a side note the best thing about vinyl is that its non damaging to the walls, perfect for renting.  These weren't meant to be reused BUT from experience they'll last one move if you transport them on freezer paper and are really careful when pealing them off the walls.

Doctor Who Cookie Cutters

I pulled out my TARDIS door covering and repurposed it for my new apartment door... why did it have to open from the opposite side as my last apartment?!?  Anyway it was a great way to start an all day Doctor Who Marathon party and cookie baking session.


But that's old news, the new addition to my crafty Doctor Who world are 3D printed cookie cutters!


Not too shabby!  Cybermen, adipose, Tardis, David Tennant, K9, Matt Smith, and (not featured because they were too delicious) daleks.  I tried out this pattern on thingiverse, the go to place for crowdsourcing 3D printed files.  It worked nicely but it didn't quite have the dalek angle that I wanted (more eyestalk!) and the second part of the cutter that made the impressions, well it wasn't impressive at all.  So I ended up making a lot of custom files using cookie caster and pics from the internet.  It took me a couple of tries to get the right thickness of cookie cutter.  On the thinest setting the makerbot I was using often translated the single line into two thin lines with space in-between. Queue hours of cleaning out cookie dough with a toothpick--no good.  The thickest setting was, well too thick and could probably be used for ink printing... but not cookies.  Somewhere along the way there is a happy medium for a solid reusable (handwash) cookie cutter.   I used PLA plastic and a Makerbot Replicator 2 and 2x.  Since the cookie cutters have such little surface area I had to put a raft on it so that it would stick to the print bed and not pop off mid print :(  which happened a fair amount especially on the Replicator 2x's heated print bed.  But hey cookie party achieved!

An Impromptu Christmas

Living in an apartment and traveling for the holidays, it didn't make sense to get a real tree so I decided to make one.  Weekend Challenge: no supplies runs, no prep work, using the materials currently in my house make a 3 dimensional Christmas Tree.  No problem!  1) Easel, 2) green fabric-ish stuff, 3) Construction Paper, 4) Penn State themed ribbon, 5) Buttons!    Done.

Tentacle Toothbrush Holder: 3D Printing

I'm so excited to test out the 3D printer in my local makerspace!  I'm using a Makerbot Replicator 2 with PLA and a Makerbot Replicator 2x with ABS plastic.  I've been browsing thingiverse to find the perfect projects.  I have discovered, I desperately want a Cthulhu toothbrush holder, but since that has yet to become a "thing" and I don't have the talent ie patience to design one... I guess I'll settle for tentacles!


On unrelated news I've also tested out 3D printing a spork (it was very sharp)


and this LionFish!  I actually made two because they printed out so beautifully!  But beware they tended to pop off the print bed if the temperature on the machine was a little off or the painters tape was old.

Daleks in School

The covert invasion has begun!  Beware of Daleks sneaking into your classrooms, your bars imitating lost college freshman with their eyestalk in a map.

Made from grey, black, and pale blue Caron Soft.  Pattern from Lucy Ravenscar on Ravelry