For Your Laughing Pleasure

This is my Cozy Coupe Pinewood Derby car.  

If you at all wondered how my car did...watch the video below.

By the way, in the rules there was no height restriction.  I'm sure there will be for next year.  My car did register a time since the front end did cross the finish line before making an abrupt stop and flying backwards.

Pinewood Derby: Stars and Stripes

The last car to show off is Maben's car.  I'm so very proud of all the hard work he put into it.

After studying several different designs from a book, Maben drew out his design on graph paper and my husband assisted Maben is using the bandsaw to cut it out.  Actually, Maben had a hand in almost every stage of the build.

My husband also taught Maben a very important lesson: Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. 

Here's hoping that all his hard work pays off and he does well. 

And here's Maben at check-in.  Very proud of his car and eager for some racing.  I'll let you know how it goes.

And if you  missed my car, or Colton's you can see them here and here.

Pinewood Derby: Cozy Coupe

For my car, I wanted to do something creative.  I honestly don't care if I win any races.  I like to challenge myself creatively.  I looked all over Pinterest and the internet for car ideas and wanted to pick something I hadn't seen done yet. 

While sitting in the backyard watching the kids play, I looked over and saw one of two Cozy Coupe cars and it hit me.  I wanted to make America's #1 selling car; the Cozy Coupe.

It was not an easy build.  There was a lot of cutting apart, gluing pieces back together and sanding some of those areas was really difficult, but I am ecstatic with the end result.

So, what do you think?  What other famous cars would you want to see recreated as a Pinewood Derby Car?  I have a few more years of doing this and appreciate the suggestions.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Maben's car.  If you missed Colton's car that I posted yesterday, click here.

Pinewood Derby: Bad Piggies

Our whole house has been busy, busy, busy working on pinewood derby cars.  Each of my boys and myself have cars.  Today I am unveiling Colton's car. 

Colton loves Bad Piggies and so we decided that we could make a car reflecting that.

Colton had a hand in helping build his car.  We used the scroll saw together and he helped with the drill press as well.

The eggs is a spray painted small Easter egg and the pig is from one of the Knex sets.  So I didn't ruin the pig with glue, I glued a small lego 2x2 plate that it would snap into.

To cover up the drilling in the back (to reduce weight), I painted, "Krak," on the back.  For those of you who don't play Bad Piggies, "Krak" is what appears right after you blow up a TNT box.  

Colton loves his car and can't wait to race it this weekend.

Do I have any followers that are Cub Scouts parents?  I would love to read about what your kiddos did.  Stay tuned tomorrow and Saturday to see mine and Maben's cars.

Custom Cufflink Box

I have partially shown off my husband's awesome Christmas gift that I built, but haven't shared much else. 

My husband works in the business world and at times wears cufflinks.  It's not easy to find a good looking jewelry box for a guy that is under a couple hundred dollars.  I set myself up with the task to build him a box (my first box ever) to house some of his cufflinks.

The top, bottom, front and back are birdseye maple and the sides are bloodwood.  I also burned a small blue jay feather in the top for decoration and as a nod to how awesomely supportive my husband is in all my creative pursuits.  He has shown off my blue jay and feather burnings to so many people, he's my number one fan and supporter. 

I didn't follow any plans for this piece as I couldn't find one that suited what I wanted to do.  I had to custom build the insert where they cufflinks sit.  I used wooden dowels, wrapped foam around them and adhered crushed velvet on top. 

I am extremely happy with how this turned out and my husband loves it!  I learned quite a great deal just from figuring it all out as I went.  I think I learn best that way. 

So, did anyone else make any awesome Christmas presents this year?  Comment below and include a link, I would love to see them!

...And I'm Back

I didn't mean to take a holiday hiatus from the blog, but it happened.  Now that the kids are back in school and we are all finally healthy, I will have the time and energy to pour back into the blog. 

So, what have I been up to?

Aside from the normal holiday chaos of Thanksgiving and Christmas as well as everyone in the house getting sick (myself twice within two weeks), I built my husband an amazing gift this year for Christmas.

The kids and I took a day at the zoo with friends and did the WHOLE Houston zoo!  That takes over 5 hours...it was a long but enjoyable day. 

And I have been playing with one of my new toys, the Fuji Instax.  Loving it!  Best photo I have ever taken of my dog, Doozer. 

So, I am back!  Going to try and keep strong...so long as I can keep sickness out of the house.