Pose for a photo. Advertise for Liquid Nails.
We made a Home Depot stop this morning for our plywood and Liquid Nails (my dad's favorite binding material EVER) before getting started. Home Depot will even cut your wood into the dimensions you want, even lots and lots of 16" squares.
We also got some little felt pads to go between the cubes to avoid sticking once they are painted. I am thinking white on the inside and maybe a blue on the outside? Not sure yet.
Since our squares were cut at the store, all we had to do was jump right in with the glue and nail gun. Not sure why I have a different headband thing going on here-- I guess one photo was pre-pool. Oh, that's another step. Stop halfway through and take a dip in the local pool. You'll need it!
Anyway, these cubes aren't going anywhere with the amount of goo and nails we crammed in.
Oh, and the safety goggles are compliments of my dad, Mr. Safety. Of course.
Working on projects like this makes me think of all the handymen (and women) who have taught me so much about fixing, building, and restoring. The first to come to mind is, of course, my dad, who has been fixing and building things his whole life and has taught me everything I know. My mom also has a certain amount of fix-it in her, always restoring old furniture and finding her own quick solutions. One person she gets this from is her dad. Both of my grandfathers are quite the handymen. My grandpa Clyde is always finding some old cottage or cabin to completely remake, often gutting the whole place and starting over from floor to ceiling. My grandpa Dode is also good at making the old look new again, and was always building swings and tree dwellings for his lucky grandkids. I have also had time around various uncles who have each perfected an area of expertise from tile work to restoring stereo receivers. Aside from family, my high school science teacher took time to teach our senior Physics class of four students (AKA the Nerd Herd) how to use power tools to build a trebuchet, or a slingshot that uses a physics formula to aim very precisely. My boyfriend Mikey and good friend Nate have taught me that anything is fixable with a little (or a lot) duct tape and enough patience. Thank you to all those who have taught me so much about fixing and building!