The Fickle Hobbyist

So, in continuation of yesterday’s post, here goes!  (if you missed how to create the base, check out the previous post to catch up)

Now all I had to do was the tedious stuff.  I have to say, this part was a bit time consuming.  All in the name of love, right?

Remember, the right and left edges that we created using the thin dowels?  We are going to use the same thin dowels to create the X pattern in that empty space.  Like always, I don’t measure.  In fact, this is what I do to get the sizing correct.

I will hold the stick up, put my finger where  need to cut, and then just cut.  It eliminates a lot of steps you’d use if you actually measured.  Of course, you’re left with a less perfect product, but really this doesn’t look JUST like the Eiffel Tower anyway.  It’s just my interpretation.  So I’m ok with some imperfections.  I hope you are too!

I started by cutting the edge of the stick at an angle.  Then, I held the stick up to the side where it was going to be glued, and marked it with my finger and cut that side at an angle as well.  I started by doing all the same leaning angles on the back side of the edge like this.  See if you understand what I mean.

See the right vertical stick?  See how the first part of the X falls behind that stick?  Do this all the way up that one side.

By gluing these sticks to the back, it leaves an open space for the second half of the X to be adhered, while at the same time, keeping the front edge neat.

For the next part, you’re going to again cut an angled edge, hold it in place,  and mark it with your finger, just like I showed above.  Instead, this time, you will cut the piece to fit inside those two vertical pieces.  Again, this leaves the front more neat.

I’ll be honest, though, you can really glue the pieces however you like.  I am just kind of anal and this is the system that I found worked for me both aesthetically and functionally.

For the area below the horizontal sticks, I just made two Xs on each side.  The final product, when all sides were Xed, looked like this.

You’ll see I left the top, skinnier part bare of the Xs.  I was honestly done doing Xs by that point.  I had burned my fingers 3 times with my glue gun and I just wanted to paint this already!

I have to say, I thought it looked pretty awesome the way it was, but it REALLY came to life for me when I began spraying it!  I just picked up the cheapest, HD brand spray paint for this project because it was bare wood, and there wasn’t a lot of it to cover.

I gave it a few coats, being sure to spray on the inside as well, and turning it upside down to get the underside edges.

I have to say…I  LOVE  IT!!!!!

I cannot wait to put this on my dessert table!!!!!

Yeah, so it took me a while, and I have the glue gun burns to prove it, but I’d do this one over in a heartbeat!  I am so very happy with the outcome.  And the fact that I didn’t have to spend $60?  Perfect.

Here’s how much it cost me:

$.19 x 12= $2.28 (small dowels)

$.20 x 4= $.80 (medium dowels)

$.97 for paint

$0 for glue on hand

Total cost= $4.05

$4.05!!!!! I’ll always take the less expensive price with a little bit of elbow grease every time.

-Autumn

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