Magnets From the Gift Shop at Platform 9 3/4

Awhile back while perusing Etsy (I have no idea what I was looking for) I came across these magnets. They were cute cartoon versions of Harry Potter characters. My first thought was Fatts, (My best friend) loves Harry Potter. They were like nothing I had ever seen before. Her birthday was coming up and I thought they would be a perfect gift. I went back to Etsy and started looking around for them. Much to my surprise they were gone. It was a total bummer. I perused a little online for an alternative, but nothing was doing it for me. I don't know why but I had my heart set on magnets. So, magnets is what she was going to get. Since I couldn't find any, I decided to...make some! I'm nuts I know, and at this point I have at least 8 other projects going on. I don't know why I do this to myself. Fatima is the most awesomess friends ever, so it is worth it. We've been friends since we were in middle school.

Before I started, I had to make sure she was still into Harry Potter. The books and the movies have come to an end, so maybe it's not a big thing anymore. One day I concocted some made up story about there being another Harry Potter movie coming out (totally made up mind you). She apparently became intrigued and started Googling. What do you know, she found something. To both of our surprise, there is actually something in the works about a Harry Potter spin off. I don't know any of the details, but she found it and got real excited. So, I got my answer. She still likes Harry Potter, and I can move forward with the project. The funniest part will be when I remind her of this conversation. It is going to make it that much better.  

I never made magnets before so this is going to be an adventure. I decided on 10 magnets total. 8 characters, 9 3/4, and the Hogwarts crest. I started with a circle, and began sketching. The goal was to fit the entire face inside of the circle. My first attempt at Harry was a complete fail. Then I started drawing Ron, and he turned out quite nicely. So, I decided to use the Ron sketch as a template.

 I scanned the sketch into the computer, and imported it into my tablet sketch pad app. My Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 allows me to write and draw on it like a real piece of paper. It's A-MA-ZING!!!!! So first thing I did was buy a drawing app. Notice I said buy, because you know for me to buy an app it has to be pretty damn fantastic. It is by far the coolest app on there. I can take pictures and draw right on them as if I was using real life tools. Once the drawing was scanned in, I cleaned it up and created a base picture that I could use for all of them.

I took a stab at Harry again. Sketched a little, erased a little, played around a little more, and gave him a scarf. What do you know, attempt #2 was a success. I went back to Ron and did some more editing, and gave him a tie.

After the first 2, I was really digging the way they were turning out. The creativity had officially kicked in, and I finished all 8 sketches in a few days. Then came the color. My cool little sketch app also lets you color. (I told you it was awesome). One at a time I perfected them all. I couldn't help it, I was excited and couldn't put the project down. The whole thing was done in like a week. Can you tell who is who?

With the pictures done it was time to make the actual magnets. For this part I didn't have a specific direction. Like I said I have never made magnets before so I wandered around the craft store (Never a good idea. Always a surefire way of getting myself in trouble). They didn't have much in the way of just flat pieces. In Joanns I came across bottle cap shaped pieces. They were 1 inch in size, and came with clear pieces that fit on top. Not what I had originally pictured, but I liked them.

I created cropped versions of the images that would fit into 1 inch circles. I didn't want the pictures to be too small, so some of the image will get cut off. I printed 2 sheets just in case I jacked something up.

 I did a trial run with one first. I painted the inside of the bottle cap with mod podge, set the image inside the circle, and gave it a firm press. I let it sit for a few minutes, and then gave it a couple of extra coats of mod podge. Can never be too sure. 

I repeated the process for all 10 magnets

Now, to add the clear top pieces. They were actually intended to be adhesive. There was a sticky piece that was suppose to go in between the acrylic top and the picture. It took me awhile to realize this. I must have pulled off several circles before the light bulb went off.

I don't know if I was sold on the adhesive situation, but I gave it a go. I added the top piece, gave it a firm press, and crossed my fingers that it stayed.

The next morning I did an adhesive test. The top piece didn't move, so I figured it was okay. I went ahead and did the other 9.

I let them sit for a couple of days to really let the adhesive set in. Unfortunately, I picked one up and the clear acrylic dome fell off. Needless to say, I was annoyed and back to square one. I did some extra Googltubing on different solutions. The clear acrylic dome seemed to work sometimes, and other times not. An alternative was to use some sort of jewelry resin/sealer medium. The one everyone suggested required an Amazon purchase. I didn't have that kind of time so I went to Michaels and looked around. I came across Aleene's Jewelry Pendant Gel

I read the back directions, and it seemed to do what I needed. At this point there wasn't much time for trial and error. Her birthday was in a couple of weeks. I had to get this done. 

The directions were basically pour in the gel and let it dry for 24 hours, then apply a second layer if needed. Seemed easy enough. I tested out one magnet, and let it dry over night. It came out well. I was pleased with the end result so I did the remaining 9. When all 10 had spent a couple of days drying and setting I hot glued the magnets to the back. 

I let everything sit for a couple days, before I packed them up and sent them off to Fatima. I was hoping they got there in intact. I was worried the closed package might ruin them.

Fatima was out of town when they got there, but she got them a few days later. She LOVED them! Then I told her the story of me making up the Harry potter spin off to figure out if she was still into it or not. It was icing on the cake. We both just cracked up. Even more funny is that once she got them she didn't even want to use them. She wanted to frame them and hang them up on the wall. HA! I told her it was okay, I would send her the actual full drawings from my computer. So, some time in the coming months we'll be creating a poster version. One project ends and another one is created. That is my life....and I love it!

Ornament Wreathin' It!

Tis the season! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday...full of family, friends, the inevitable food coma, and Black Thursday Friday shopping. Now that Thanksgiving is over, you know what that means...it's CHRISTMAS TIME! I love Christmas. It is my absolute favorite holiday (Even more so than my birthday, and you know how all about that I am). Christmas in my family was always such a fun time for me and brings back memories of tree decorating, watching Rudolph and Frosty, making Christmas cookies, listening to Christmas music, and (my personal favorite) opening gifts on Christmas morning. I'm already excited over here, so let's bring the Christmas spirit into my new house. 

About a year ago while perusing Pinterest, I came across this wreathe. It wasn't your typical Christmas wreathe however. This one was made entirely of ornaments. It was Christmas love at first sight. It was so beautiful I just had to have one. I looked around last year, but the nice ones were pretty expensive. I saw some as much as $100-$150, and there was no way I was paying for that. They were nice, but it is never that serious. So, I decided....*wait for it*...TO MAKE ONE! After looking around (lots of YouTubing and Googling), it didn't seem to be that hard to do. Grab a bunch of ornaments, and get to gluing. Seemed easy enough, so I went for it. 

First I needed something to adhere the ornaments to, some sort of base. I came across lots of options, but I decided on a 16" styrofoam circle. I got mine from Michaels. It seemed to make the most sense, and be the easiest to work with. I noticed most people didn't use these because they are pretty pricey. I however, had a coupon (I ALWAYS have Michaels coupons), so it was 50% off. 

Color theme?...classic Christmas colors, red, green, white, and silver. I started gathering my large ornaments. For anyone who doesn't live in craft stores, they bring out their holiday stuff around September. (I know, crazy huh?) For the last month or so it's all been 50% off. To my delight I saw these large canisters of red, green, and white ornaments all for $25 each. At 1/2 off that makes them $12.50. That's not bad. I mean, I figured this was going to cost some money. Now comes in the real justification. They were big enough so they would cover a good portion of the wreathe, thus needing less smaller ones. Also, with there being so many in each canister, I figured I would use about half of each and what was left I could use to put on my tree. (Way to dual purpose!)

I came across so many methods on how to make one of these. The best way to start I found was to cover the inside and outside perimeter first. So, with my trusty gun in hand, I started gluing away. For extra hold I dabbed a little in between each ornament too. 

 I was on a roll. This wasn't hard at all. I was up watching movies and catching up on my DVR. So, I kept going. With the perimeter done, I tackled another full 2 rows on the inside and outside. Now, on a side note: One of the craziest things is that the minute I started working on this thing, they start putting the Christmas stuff out in all of the stores. Can you believe they sell these things EVERYWHERE now. Last year I couldn't find one to save my life. This year they're all over the place from Target, to Homegoods, to Home Depot, and they're not that pricey either. Just my luck! It's okay though. Mines is going to look soooo much better. (It has to if I'm going to justify to myself making instead of purchasing)

With the majority of the big ornaments placed, it was time to get the smaller ones. I went to Michaels and went crazy. They were having 50% off of some of their ornaments too. (I tell you there is never a reason to spend a lot of money on nice Christmas stuff. I don't think I have paid full price for anything yet.) I went in there and bought a ton of ornaments all different sizes, colors, and textures. I wasn't sure what I would need, and I would rather have too much than not enough. I just filled the basket. Whatever I didn't use I would just bring back (It's the American Way). Unfortunately, I realized once I had placed all of the big ornaments, I was a little too ambitious. I didn't plan right. The look I was going for was more of a cluster. With so many big ornaments on, it was quite difficult to easily place the smaller ones. I checked out my progress and knew, I wasn't gong to get the look that I was going for. I pondered and then headed back to Googltubing (Yes, I just made a word). I found out that after the beginning rows you should make a cluster and then build from there. Unfortunately, I got glue gun crazy, and put myself into a tight spot. 

They were already stuck on so I couldn't just move them. I tried working around them. That was a FAIL. It just started to look extra crazy. I really didn't want to start over from scratch. That would be a lot of ornaments wasted. It would be better if I could salvage them, but after being hot glued I didn't see this happening. I figured I had nothing to lose, so I yanked at one. I wiggled a little, yanked a lot, stabbed the styrofoam a couple of times, and what do you know it came off. *Sigh* A little scuffed and battered, but not bad. I could definitely work with it. I pulled off the remaining ornaments and went back to the original inner and outer rings. 

With a clean slate I started covering the wreathe, adding onto the cluster a little at a time. Placing the bigger ornaments, and then filling around with the smaller ones. Not as easy as I would have thought, but I did the best I could. I got about half of the way done when I realized it is almost impossible to fill in every hole and completely cover the styrofoam. It wasn't too bad, but bad enough for my OCD to kick in and not let me ignore it. I should have covered the styrofoam first but I didn't think it would be necessary. I saw where some people had covered their base first. I just thought they were doing too much, and trying to be overly fancy. Now I see why. At this point I was already half way done. I was not pulling them off again. So, I improvised. I smeared the styrofoam with glue, and then covered it with silver glitter. For the half I already did, I poured glue in between the cracks and from the under side

 You know, I should really have put something down. You can see the glitter mess that ensued. *My poor floors* I just get so caught up sometimes I never stop to protect the area around me. (That's probably why all of my sweatpants are ruined.) I kept gluing and arranging, arranging and gluing. I went through so many glue sticks it was unbelievable. Towards the end it got a little difficult. There was little room for shifting so every ornament had to fit perfectly. I covered what space was left until I was done. It took me awhile, but I finally got it. TA-DAH! We have an ornament wreathe!

She's a beauty! I'm kind of impressed with myself, especially for my first time *Doing my happy dance*. It was touch and go there a few times, but definitely pulled it through. It was perfect! I marveled for a few days at my handy work. It was finally done....now where was I going to put it?

I figured I would hang it somewhere, so I might as well go ahead and add a hook in the mean time. I got an eye hook, and screwed it into the back of the styrofoam. With the majority of it the way in, I shot it with a dab of hot glue to secure it. I found some red ribbon in my stash, and tied a few knots.

It ended up on my back patio door. Why is it not outside on the front door you ask? I thought about that. However, first I was thinking someone would take it. Sounds stupid, but I've had my welcome mat stolen before.*Who takes someone's door mat? Really?! How sketchy can you be.* Then we got a batch of really bad weather. The rain and the wind were howling something serious. I was kind of glad I didn't have it out there. I decided it might be best to just keep it inside. It's in my kitchen, so I get to see it everyday. I may put it outside for a couple of days, we'll see.

While we're on the topic of Christmas, let's talk about decorating. As many of you know this is my first year putting up a tree and decorating my house. I usually spend the holidays in Boston, so it didn't make much sense to decorate for a day I wouldn't be here to celebrate. Also, I didn't have anywhere to put the tree for the other 11 months that I wouldn't be using it. I wasn't a total Scrooge though. I did put up a table top tree and a wreathe I would hang on the chair. I promised myself that once I got a house I was getting a tree, and that's exactly what I did. 

I love it! They have definitely updated the technology since I was a kid putting up lights with my mom. These things sparkle like stars. It's quite magical. My neighbors have been decorating for a couple of weeks now, so I'm behind. I also decorated a wreathe (that I will actually put out on the front door). I decided to do a themed wreathe every year. I originally had the idea for a tree, but that's a lot of new bulbs every year. Besides, I like a more eclectic tree. This year's theme is "Classic Christmas".

So, I think I'm ready for Christmas. (I'm so excited I'm already thinking of next years wreathe theme) I think I did well for my first year. What do you think? I hope everyone else is enjoying the season as much as I am. Let me know if anyone needs a boost of cheer because I have plenty!

.....On to the next project

DIY Floating Shelves (Why the heck didn't I just go to IKEA)

I can't believe it is already November. Where did the time go? How is the year almost over? Am I the only one who thinks this year just flew by. I have so much going on, an extra month would be nice. Honestly, if I could get an extra hour some days I would be happy. So, before I get into the shelves let's talk about my issue with Blogger. In case you have not noticed, about a month ago I published a post about My Uninspiring Office. Then one day I logged in to check on some things, and the post was gone. In it's place was the same blog post but 20 drafts before that. I had to do a double take. WHAT?! Where the heck did my post go! I take this blog thing seriously, and spend quite a bit of time trying to get them just right for you all. To have it just disappear... absolutely OUTRAGEOUS! I did some research on the message boards and apparently it happens once in awhile. Not exactly sure how or why, seems like a glitch of some sort. I don't care though really. I just want my post back. Don't worry, I am slightly calmer now. A few weeks ago though when I first saw it, I almost fell out. So, for right now I will just have to let it go and leave it as a lesson learned. Always make sure to keep a backup copy of my blog post. Sorry for anyone that missed it. I was thinking that I would rewrite it  paraphrase it in a new post. However, since it seems like a lot of people already saw it, it's probably not necessary. Still annoyed though. Not cool Blogger. Not Cool!

Now that that is out of the way, let's talk shelves! You ever have those moments when you want some nice floating shelves. The obvious answer is to go to IKEA. Only to find that once you get there nothing works. They're either not the right size, they poke out too far, not the right color, or simply they're just not what you want. Well that's where I'm at right now. In my world that's okay though, because I can just make my own. You know, as much as I complain sometimes that I would like to just walk in a store and buy what I want, the ability to design and create things as a back up definitely has its perks. These particular shelves were for the back wall of my office. 

As you can see my first attempt at shelving was a dud. I essentially took some shelves I got from Target and put them together. Nice idea in theory, but not so impressive in real life. For one, I had way too many pictures. They didn't even all make it to the wall, and the ones that did were squished together. Secondly, the look of the wall entirely was off scale. The wall too big, and the shelves too small. So, on to plan B. Only problem is I had no idea what plan B was. I had been pondering this for awhile and thought I had it with the last idea. I knew I still wanted some sort of shelving but what? Then one day in the dressing room of H&M, Frickin' EUREKA...I got it!

This was my first time making floating shelves. I actually had to talk myself into it. Why I couldn't just screw a few L brackets into the wall and place an 8ft long board on top, boggles me. Never the easy route. My plan was, 2 8ft shelves and 4 3ft shelves. Allow me to draw a diagram. I'm leaving space in the middle for some sort of painting or picture.

Off to Home Depot I go! I made a list of supplies the night before. The plan was to stick to the list, not wander, and be in and out pretty quickly. Notice I said that "was" the plan. I started out well, then half way through I started changing my mind about the design. Originally, I was pretty set on the design of the shelves. However, when I got to the lumber aisle and began counting up how many flat pieces of wood I needed, the thought crosses my head if it's all worth it. How bad do I want these shelves? I could just go to IKEA and be done by the morning. Then as I'm trying to get a straight 1x2, (Yes, picking lumber is a process) I think to myself what if I just double up a couple of 1x4s. That would have been cheaper and easier and very close to the desired look. The only problem is they wouldn't float. I would have to get some small brackets to hold them up. I thought about it. Did I really need them to float? Would it be really so bad if they didn't? I could just paint the visible bracket the same color as the wall, so it had the appearance of floating. Still not sure, I continued picking out my wood. I was determined to leave the store with something. I packed them all in the Corolla and headed home. 

The next morning I woke up still not sure. So, whenever I am not sure about something I confer with good ole Uncle Francis. I told him my dilemma. He suggested that my original idea would look better, and if I could do it to just go for it. So I did. I had 3 days off from work, and was determined to use them wisely. I headed down to the garage, took out my Miter Saw and got working. The basic design of the shelves would be 4" wide and 2" tall. I laid the flat piece down (1), then placed the white pieces around the outside (2&3), and then laid another flat piece (1) on top. This took some time, as getting them to all line up perfectly never goes as smoothly as you would think. The 8ft shelves were a definite task. The longer the piece, the greater the challenge. 

I put all of the shelves together using wood glue, and let them set overnight. The next morning I got up and finished the edges. 

I made a point to get nice wood so that I wouldn't need to partake in a lot of sanding. Unfortunately, I lost my ability to measure accurately because I was still quite off. I used wood filler, wood glue, and scrap wood to fill in and clean up the edges and sides. As you can see from the picture, I had quite a bit of compensating to do in some cases. I made sure every shelf looked as perfect as I could get it. I let all of the pieces dry and set overnight. The next day I gave them one last sanding and clean up.

To make sure that I would like the design, I arranged them on the floor like my diagram. I would hate to realize that I wasn't impressed...after they were already on the wall. 

At this point in the process I realized how thankful I was for a clear space to lay things out. My garage was another story. It looked crazy in there. You know, I'm noticing part of the humor in me building is the conversations I have with people about it. I took a break Saturday night to go out with my friends. I started telling them about my project pandemonium. 

Me: I'm building some floating shelves for the big wall in my office. 

Friends: What's wrong with the ones that were there?

Me: They weren't long enough for the wall. I had some small ones from Target, and put a bunch together to make bigger ones. They're still not long enough though. I have a bunch of pictures still laying on the table. So, I'm making some new ones that will span the whole wall.

Friends: Oh wow...I would have just bought more shelves, and added on. 

Me: I thought about that, but I wasn't feeling it. I had a different idea entirely so I'm doing what I should have done in the first place...just make some. It's a disaster downstairs. I'm glad you all came to get me because there's clearly lumber on my car right now. 

Friends: HA! You know if anyone else just said that, I would think they were crazy. But coming from you it just sounds normal.

Can't help but smile and laugh. What can I say. Just another day in my world. Now from the picture it really doesn't look so bad, but believe me it was a war zone in there. You're seeing the "neat" side.

As you can see in the photo I already started painting. I set up my trusty blocks (Which are actually my old coffee table. I use these things for a ton of carpentry purposes. They make awesome weights) and propped up all of the pieces. I primed them first with Kilz, let them dry, and then preceded with the black paint. I had a can of Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover in black semi-gloss. I was worried because I didn't want them to come out too glossy. So, I decided to get a can of flat paint. I wasn't sure because I usually never paint with flat paint. I really wanted satin, but didn't see it and I knew semi-gloss would be too shiny. I figured if anything I could paint it with the flat paint, and then go over it with a satin or semi gloss varnish if the black was too dull. To my delight though when I got home I came up with a better solution. I found leftover paint from the end table project in the color Black Onyx, which happened to be a satin finish. I combined that with the Rust-Oleum semi-gloss black. The combination...was perfection. 

Now comes the real fun. Let's hang these things. Before I decided to embark on this endeavor I researched how to make them. I read that the way you get them to have a floating appearance, is to hang a bracket to the wall and then attach the shelf to the bracket. Seemed easy enough. If you look up at the above picture, on the ground, next to the car are some raw wood pieces. Those are my brackets. 

You're suppose to use wall anchors to secure heavy things into drywall. However, the whole thought of that process seemed agonizing. Trying to line up the shelf and the screw, through the wood and into the anchor...all while keeping it level. I decided to avoid my future misery and just use the studs in the wall. Now, for those of you who don't know, studs are the vertical wood beams behind the drywall that help to support the wall. Usually if you can screw something into the stud, an anchor isn't necessary. They make stud finders, but I don't own one. The last time I had a project, I read another way to find them...with magnets! Makes a lot of sense doesn't it. Drywall is held to the wall using screws, and screws are metal. If you run the magnet around the wall, they will attract to the screw. I know some of you were wondering how I got my magnets to float on the wall like that. If you can find one, then the others next to them are pretty easy. Studs are usually set approximately 16 inches apart. Just measure 16 inches from the first spot and then go hover the magnet around there, and VOILA! 

I used this method to attach all of the brackets to the wall. I decided to attach all of them first. I wanted to test the scale and placement of the whole project. Honestly, I was still quite unsure about the size. I was secretly afraid the whole thing would be too big.

I was wrong though. I was totally feeling it, and I hadn't even put the shelves up. The size was nice, good scale for the wall, but not too intrusive into the rest of the space. I didn't get a lot of pictures of the process, but allow me to give you a visual. Picture one 5 ft woman, an 8 ft shelf, a chair, a step stool, a drill with 2 attachments, and a level to make sure it all stayed straight. Yes, it took everything in me just to prevent injury. I thought, this is the moment when having another one of me would be quite helpful. Now, to add the actual shelves. This posed a whole other battle. I was going to wait until the next day, but I was so anxious I couldn't hold off. I grabbed the shelf and slid it over the bracket. (Actual visual: 5ft woman, 8ft shelf, sliding, pushing, tugging, banging, cursing, shelf comes down, unscrewing, rescrewing, shelf goes back up, resetting, squeezing, more banging, and a few extra expletives. All while still trying to prevent injury) I'm making it sound simple, but boy this was a task. By the time I was done, I was sweating. When all was set and done, I sat down looked at the wall, and took a breathe. I had floating shelves!

They were beautiful! What an accomplishment, and after what I just went through to get them on the wall, it made the ending so much better.

The shelves were up, now what? The whole point was to have something to place all of my pictures on. I still had so many. I sorted them out, and just went for it. 

 What do you think? Turned out pretty nice. Just enough space. (...and I do mean "just" enough) 5 days well spent. Now, if I could just find the same excitement to go clean the garage. As for the painting/picture in the middle, I have an idea of what is going to go in there but not settled on anything. I'll be sure to update you when that happens. Until then...I suppose it's on to the next project! (Which I actually just finished. So stay tuned =) *emoticons Blogger. Where are the emoticons?*)