I've found myself with an increasing number of 'projects' lately.
I'm currently planning/beginning the following:
Wooden Board Game, similar to Frustration, called Aggravation.
We love playing Frustration, but now Isabelle is old enough to get involved & they only make it for four players. Some googling found me the US version which has six players, but to get one here would cost around £20 for a used version, & it doesn't have the pop-o-matic which the kids love. I found adverts for wooden versions & realised I can simply copy their designs onto an oak worktop offcut, but some chinese checkers pegs & drill holes, & repurpose a pop-o-matic from an old Frustration by chiselling out a space for it to be attached slightly below the board (hiding the edges where it's been cut from the original game).
Total cost approx £35 (most of which is acrylic paint & the oak piece)
Charging Table.
We have a bundle of wires & an 8 plug adapter at the side of our couch. five chargers, plus wires, two of which are the long 10ft ones, & a laptop charger, makes a hell of a mess!
I've bought an Ikea Hol side-table, & I'm attaching the 8 plug adapter inside.
I've adapted it like my other Hol tables to have a pull-down front door.
Then attaching drawer runners for 6 shelves that slide out, each with cable clips & a cable hook at the front. The idea is you slide out the shelf, detach the wire from the front & plug it in, pop the tablet or laptop on the shelf & slide back.
Wires then stay inside the side-table at all times, except the long ones, I've bought two cable rollers for these, which I'll attach to the back of the table, this will enable them to be rolled away easily without getting tangled.
Total Cost approx £18 (I already have the table itself & wood for shelves)
Bathroom Mirrored Cabinet
We have an awkward thin wall above the bathroom sink, & I cannot find a cabinet to fit at all, plus they're all a little deep for me, protruding too far out. So I'm making one. This is by far the easiest project, just a white melamine chipboard box to build basically with soft close kitchen hinges attached to the mirrored door. Local Glazers will do the mirror for £15. I just need to work out the best way to frost a circle where the push to open latch will be so there isn't always a greasy finger mark in that spot!
Total Cost approx £26
Nightlight Wall Art
Bought a Captain America shield light for Luke's room last year, & was horrified at the shite quality. Great when up on the wall, but batteries needed changing every few days & the plastic fittings were wearing badly. Wanted to retrofit a power bank inside but it's near impossible thanks to the all plastic construction & lack of space, so I've adapted it to run off USB & have it plugged in, & the wire annoys me.
Finished Isabelle's room a few months back, & she's got pink glitter paint, which looks ace when lit up, so I had an idea.
I using canvas stretcher bars to make a frame, attaching a plywood front to the frame. Having my mate print a foam board with a Disney style quote 'When you wish upon a star Your dreams come true' surrounded by stars. This will be attached to the plywood. Marking small holes through the centre of the stars, then attaching 20 white LEDs (USB) behind the holes, adding a USB powered white dimmable strip led around the outside of the frame & connecting it all up to a USB switch & dual USB power bank on the inside. Just need to run the switch on the outside of the frame & a micro USB extender so I can switch it on & off & charge it without removing from the wall.
So when switched on it will provide a nightlight by shining onto the wall around the art, & the stars will light up too.
Total Cost approx £40
Harrison has asked for one too, but he wants the Batman logo, so I'm making it the same way, only cutting a large oval hole in the centre & attaching yellow transparent perspex in it with the batman symbol affixed to the centre. I'll then run the led strip inside & outside of the frame, RGB this time so I can make it yellow on the outside too.
Total cost approx £45
Just finished cutting the wood for a bleach box for the bathroom too, I'll be putting it together this week, it's just a simple wooden box that is sized to fit between the shelving unit & the bath exactly, with a pull up lid that holds the bleach & shower/bathroom cleaning stuff inside & hides them away.
Total cost £7 (I had all the wood, just needed to buy hinges & rubber feet)
Of course, money has been the main stumbling block for all of these, but I'm getting there slowly, & after our holiday next month I'll be able to start getting some of them boxed off.
So, I'm sure I can't be the only one who is continually finding themselves in the midst of doing these things? What have you lot got on?
I'm currently planning/beginning the following:
Wooden Board Game, similar to Frustration, called Aggravation.
We love playing Frustration, but now Isabelle is old enough to get involved & they only make it for four players. Some googling found me the US version which has six players, but to get one here would cost around £20 for a used version, & it doesn't have the pop-o-matic which the kids love. I found adverts for wooden versions & realised I can simply copy their designs onto an oak worktop offcut, but some chinese checkers pegs & drill holes, & repurpose a pop-o-matic from an old Frustration by chiselling out a space for it to be attached slightly below the board (hiding the edges where it's been cut from the original game).
Total cost approx £35 (most of which is acrylic paint & the oak piece)
Charging Table.
We have a bundle of wires & an 8 plug adapter at the side of our couch. five chargers, plus wires, two of which are the long 10ft ones, & a laptop charger, makes a hell of a mess!
I've bought an Ikea Hol side-table, & I'm attaching the 8 plug adapter inside.
I've adapted it like my other Hol tables to have a pull-down front door.
Then attaching drawer runners for 6 shelves that slide out, each with cable clips & a cable hook at the front. The idea is you slide out the shelf, detach the wire from the front & plug it in, pop the tablet or laptop on the shelf & slide back.
Wires then stay inside the side-table at all times, except the long ones, I've bought two cable rollers for these, which I'll attach to the back of the table, this will enable them to be rolled away easily without getting tangled.
Total Cost approx £18 (I already have the table itself & wood for shelves)
Bathroom Mirrored Cabinet
We have an awkward thin wall above the bathroom sink, & I cannot find a cabinet to fit at all, plus they're all a little deep for me, protruding too far out. So I'm making one. This is by far the easiest project, just a white melamine chipboard box to build basically with soft close kitchen hinges attached to the mirrored door. Local Glazers will do the mirror for £15. I just need to work out the best way to frost a circle where the push to open latch will be so there isn't always a greasy finger mark in that spot!
Total Cost approx £26
Nightlight Wall Art
Bought a Captain America shield light for Luke's room last year, & was horrified at the shite quality. Great when up on the wall, but batteries needed changing every few days & the plastic fittings were wearing badly. Wanted to retrofit a power bank inside but it's near impossible thanks to the all plastic construction & lack of space, so I've adapted it to run off USB & have it plugged in, & the wire annoys me.
Finished Isabelle's room a few months back, & she's got pink glitter paint, which looks ace when lit up, so I had an idea.
I using canvas stretcher bars to make a frame, attaching a plywood front to the frame. Having my mate print a foam board with a Disney style quote 'When you wish upon a star Your dreams come true' surrounded by stars. This will be attached to the plywood. Marking small holes through the centre of the stars, then attaching 20 white LEDs (USB) behind the holes, adding a USB powered white dimmable strip led around the outside of the frame & connecting it all up to a USB switch & dual USB power bank on the inside. Just need to run the switch on the outside of the frame & a micro USB extender so I can switch it on & off & charge it without removing from the wall.
So when switched on it will provide a nightlight by shining onto the wall around the art, & the stars will light up too.
Total Cost approx £40
Harrison has asked for one too, but he wants the Batman logo, so I'm making it the same way, only cutting a large oval hole in the centre & attaching yellow transparent perspex in it with the batman symbol affixed to the centre. I'll then run the led strip inside & outside of the frame, RGB this time so I can make it yellow on the outside too.
Total cost approx £45
Just finished cutting the wood for a bleach box for the bathroom too, I'll be putting it together this week, it's just a simple wooden box that is sized to fit between the shelving unit & the bath exactly, with a pull up lid that holds the bleach & shower/bathroom cleaning stuff inside & hides them away.
Total cost £7 (I had all the wood, just needed to buy hinges & rubber feet)
Of course, money has been the main stumbling block for all of these, but I'm getting there slowly, & after our holiday next month I'll be able to start getting some of them boxed off.
So, I'm sure I can't be the only one who is continually finding themselves in the midst of doing these things? What have you lot got on?
