I hope you like the final state of this project. It was quite a bit of work, but now I have a fantastical home decoration or centerpiece. I may eventually list it for sale on Etsy.com, although for now we’re treating it as a quirky new house guest.

It is not notably functional; although I have had friends offer their suggestions. Sadly most good ideas ( “Make it a lamp!” ) would require a completely new build: utility would have to be part of it’s design from the beginning of the project. It does however make a nice candle holder / nightlight:

Nightlight mode: activated.

I came up with a quick project to do this weekend, but there were some challenges I hadn’t expected.

Pictures from the build below.

The first pickle I encountered was that it can be ver tricky to drill through porcelain:
1) Too much pressure and you break this brittle material,
2) Go too fast without lubrication and you can overheat you drill bit,
3) Using lubrication virtually prevents drill bit from digging at all,
4) You must use a drill bit specifically designed for glass & tile with a carbide tip. If you can’t get your hands on that at least use a masonry bit.

The easiest way to get me to take an interest in something is to ask me for advice. Tony did that the other day: he asked how he could get one of his designs on some t-shirts and avoid the iron-on transfer process.  I read an Instructable by Threadbanger and thought, “I could do this!”. I was right. Read on.

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I found this picture of the bed frame we made, inspired by a similar construction by my dad (Big Fig). Want to make one? (more…)

Just wanted to let you in on a little secret project of mine. I started by combining a few of the best photographs of the It’s a Small World ride facade in paint.net (Windows only), manipulating the images until vertical & horizontal lines were (moire or less) straight. In new layers above the composite image, I drew line-art of the major features of the ride building’s design.

It's a Small World project progress photo, at the top-left you can see my inspiration file. I hope to somehow digitize it to allow you to peruse what fascinates me.

My intention is to cut basswood or balsa to match the individual geometric design elements, then position/arrange & glue them in place to make a faux-3D IASW which I will place in a 20″ x 9″, 1″ deep shadowbox. If it goes easily enough, I’ll probably make a few more to sell on Etsy. I’m still having trouble deciding against taking the time, using thicker basswood planks & carving the elements in relief.

In the most recent Tales From the Laughing Place, there is a feature article on the creation of It’s a Small World for Disney Hong Kong, there is an image of a simplified (and somewhat larger) IASW model. It’s flat, cut to profile & painted like the ride building. It looks like a great re-Make: as a gift for a young child’s.

Martha Stewart rocks.

There. I said it. I don’t care who hears it. Keep up with her Halloween Tip of the Day on her site.