Four New Slingshots

Can you tell we did some pruning? The top left is my husbands work.

Holly Lends Itself to Burnishing

My new favorite wood to work with.

I tend to dislike anything that stabs me in the garden...

 but now I have a new appreciation.

While working with the holly Y's I noticed the wood was very different, it tended to fray especially when I filed it.

But I also noticed, when it was rubbed hard, it shined as though it had a gloss coat on it. 

Wow, so I kept rubbing! I used cut-offs of the holly at first... 

 but then got the job done with a big screw driver!

On the left, white and frayed and on the right shiny and smooth.

I wish all wood was like this!

I Picked Up

Where He Left Off.

I just discovered that I like making slingshots.

Gil needed more slingshot supplies which was going to cost some money.

He left many undone Y's laying around when he left for the farm. So I started working on them.

I rather like it but my fingers hurt after two days of it.

Here's some of Gil's slingshots that I banded, you see I have banding skills also. These went out to an Etsy buyer.

The ones I'm making will pay for Gil's supplies.

Make Made Buttons

I used to have a subscription to Craft Magazine and my husband got Make. Craft went internet only but Make survives. Thank goodness I like it also. It's a publication of makers for makers and they do just about everything. They had a TV show also! Here's their address: http://makezine.com/

There are lots of projects they do that I'd like to try but I don't always get to them. This one I did. I can use these little babies in my projects.

Let me tell you a few of the easy steps. First you need a branch. I'm fortunate enough to have a vice grip on our work bench. You'll need a coping or pull saw. These have small teeth that grip and cut well. I went for a rustic look so don't get hung up on perfection. Anywhere between an 1/8th of an inch to 1/4 will be fine. Are you gonna ask me what size drill bit I used? I figured I'd be using my buttons with fairly thick yarn so keep that in mind when drilling holes.

I need to sand my buttons and put a clear coat on them. The family was concerned about washing and such but I'm thinking that I'll use them for bags and decorations. I like when they get involved.

Working On Day 2

It's not the prettiest swallowtail but I enjoyed having a good look at how beautiful his body was. He didn't mind me staring at him at all.

 OK day 2, here's what we'll start off with. These are 7" x 2 3/4" wood slats and 3/8" wood buttons.

Can you see where I'm going with this. I still need to think this one over. Do we draw panels on the door, does it have hinges???