Making of Minecraft Swords for Micah's Birthday Party

My grandson, Micah, is about to have a birthday, and his Dad, David, asked me if I could make some wood Minecraft swords for the party. So, of course, I had to.

I looked up what they look like and drew one out using Paint on my computer.

Then, I enlarged it and split the image so it would print to one 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper.

I pasted the images on a piece of cardboard and cut it out. Then, I used that as a template to draw swords on some 1/4 inch pieces of plywood.

Then, today, I cut the swords from the plywood pieces and sanded off the rough edges.

Jewelry Box

Update: May 6

What would it look like if...

"OK," said she. "I wonder what it would look like if you painted the top rail dark grey, too?"

"Your wish is my command," said he.

"Looks pretty good," said she.

Hand Rails for the Front Steps

On March 3, 2015, Marcia had her left knee replaced. I decided that she needed hand rails on the front steps. I built new rails and let them weather some. On March 30, I finished the rails by filling holes, sanding, and painted them. On April 3, I repainted the treads. Now it is finished. 

March 7, I painted the porch step. That is the one on the porch going into the house.

To start with, there was one concrete step in front of our porch. The porch was 16 inch high and the step was 7 inches high. That meant that there was a 9 inch step from the step to the porch. Uneven, and of course, difficult for some people, especially of the older variety. I had cut a couple of one inch boards and put them under each end of the step which made two 8 inch steps, but that is stretching it for normal steps which are between 6.5 and 7 inches. So, on June 20, 2013, I made new steps.

I built two steps so that it would be three equal steps to the porch.

Here's the finished product. Two 6.3 steps and one 6.3 step to the porch. So, now three small steps to get to the porch. Easy for young and old alike.

Here are the steps after painting. This is also after we got our new siding.

New Floors

Day 1

Son David inspired this home improvement. He replaced the flooring in his bathroom, and we saw his handiwork during our recent visit. We found a really good deal at the Home Depot in Hendersonville, and now I have one bathroom done and one to go.

Day 2

I stripped out two layers of flooring and replaced it with this. It took me about 4 hours today: work a little, rest a little, work a little, rest a little. My beautiful bride helped with the floor removal and clean up. Thanks, Sweetie.

Bathroom Vanity Redo

Wednesday, December 18.  Today, I ripped out the old vanity in the Master Bath. I was able to install the new countertop and sinks. I will be replacing the floor and making a new front with three doors.

This is the before picture.  We had already painted the walls.
The new top is an inch and a half deeper, and I raised it 3.5 inches.

Thursday, December 19

I rebuilt the floor for the vanity, and we bought new medicine 

cabinets/mirrors.  Tomorrow we will be redoing the water 

supplies and put in cut-off valves.

Friday, December 20, Happy birthday, Tim.

My neighbor friend, Phil L., came over and helped me redo the water supply
under the sinks. Now, I have cut-off valves.

After Phil left, I finished off the frame for the vanity. This
is the fitting. It fit.

Here it is sanded and stained.  Marcia picked out the stain,
Golden Oak. It is just right.

I also finished the doors and put concealed hinges on them. Tomorrow, I will be putting a couple of coats of poly on the frame and the doors. Because of the smell, I will leave them in the shed a day or two before final installation. More to come...

Saturday, December 21

Two coats of poly, new door knobs, doors hung, and initial final fitting.

I am very satisfied.

Before and after. Click on picture to enlarge.

December 23

I put in two slide out shelves in the middle section. Now, it is done.

New Blade Bank

Original Blade Bank

 A while back I made a blade bank out of an old Noxzema cream jar. It was a little small, so I was on the look for a similar jar but a little bigger. Well, I found one (a nasty smelling hand cream), and now I have a new blade bank. The first blade to go into the bank is the government shutdown blade. I started shaving with it on October 1, the first day of the government shutdown. I shaved every day with it until the end of the shutdown, October 17.  It was a good blade.

New Blade Bank

New Faucets

Eventually, I want to raise the counter top three inches and replace it with new sinks and counter top. However, today, I took a small step towards that goal. I replaced the original faucets with new ones. This small upgrade has made a difference in appearance already. New counter top and sinks will cost about $400. Hopefully, I may get that done before Christmas. We will see.

New Front Steps

To start with, there was one concrete step in front of our porch. The porch was 16 inch high and the step was 7 inches high. That meant that there was a 9 inch step from the step to the porch. Uneven, and of course, difficult for some people, especially of the older variety. I had cut a couple of one inch boards and put them under each end of the step which made two 8 inch steps, but that is stretching it for normal steps which are between 6.5 and 7 inches.

When I moved the step away, I found that a toad had made a nice home under it.

 

I cut out stringers and risers, and just laid them out to see how they fit.

Here's the finished product. Two 6.3 steps and one 6.3 step to the porch. So, now three small steps to get to the porch. Easy for young and old alike.

Big Desk Down-Size

Today's story begins with a desk that we got from son, David. It was a big desk, and was just too big for the room it was to go in when we moved to Hendersonville.

After discussing it with Marcia, we decided that we should take six inches off the back and remove the right side drawers. So, we emptied the desk and moved it outside on this beautiful day.

Desk before down-sizing

Six inches taken off the back of the desk

The right side has been removed.

Fitting the right side

Right side attached

Facing attached to the front

Down-sized desk back in its old home

Marcia was a great help in preparing for moving, clean-up and touch-up, and moving back in and setting up the newly down-sized desk. It is ready for its new home in Hendersonville now.