Holiday musings and how to embarrass yourself with homemade gifts

This is a pretty good approximation of the hangers my mother sent
the 5 year old me to school with.
 I stole this from the internet because I thought you should see it.
 I think this is a plastic hanger though.  So not exactly right. 
 

This is a restrained version on a wire hanger.  Not nearly enough tulle.
And also my mother always wrapped the hanger in satin ribbon.
 Amateurs. 
Photo also stolen from the internet.
    

 

          When I was a kid, my mother made "drip dry" hangers for my teachers for the holidays every year.  I don't really remember there being plastic hangers, so I'm pretty sure they were the metal ones.  She would take metal hangers and wrap tulle around them.  She also made pot scrubbers to go with the hangers.  Then on the last day of school before winter break, I was forced to carry these puffy hangers, which were approximately twice my size, to school.  

       
        I don't know if the teachers were happy to have these handmade gifts or just relieved that it wasn't another coffee mug.  I don't know if people gave coffee mugs then, but I'm guessing that hasn't changed.  I'm sure this is where I learned to torture my own children by making teacher gifts each year.  At least they knew nobody else was getting that for the teacher.  

This is actually a handmade pot scrubber from, and I'm not kidding...www.themakeyourownzone.com  Go there

                  So my thought with this post was this.  I would go into the local home improvement store and see if I could find some materials that could be made into something that could be given as a gift this holiday season.  I did this and you will see the results but I'm not altogether sure I succeeded.  There are a couple reasons for that.  The biggest reason is probably that I was trying to work without tools or clamps.  I mean, why would you have tools and clamps.  I do, but as I understand the world, most people don't.  Plus I might have had some sort of brain freeze creatively.  It really didn't work out the way I thought it would but it is probably pathetically funny. 

         So here we go.....oh yeah, I haven't ever tried to take moving pictures of myself doing things so I hope they don't make you sick.  Also, the phone kept falling over and moving during taping so this will probably be rough.  

All the parts of this project.

 

You can take the sticker off

 

          I suppose, actually, I acknowledge that this first project is cheesy but it's no cheesier than a hanger wearing a tutu and for the incense lovers in your life it could distract them from ... something.  In my memory these straps were $ .88.  Eh, I bought them more than a week ago.  This incense holder takes no tools and maybe you could make it better with a little imagination.  Start with a $2.08 (at Home Depot) downspout strap.  I don't know why they sell these in Vegas because nobody has downspouts in the desert.  We just watch the water rise from all angles as it cascades off every part of our roofs.  It's too rare for actual downspouts.  Anyway, the straps are steel, I don't know if that matters for this, and they are scored (this is the wrong word for it but it's what I've got) so that they will bend easily only at 4 points.  I overdid the bend to start and the incense stick wouldn't stand.  Don't overdo your bend.  Also it's not my incense.  I don't want you getting the wrong idea about me.  I don't own any incense. Just like the tulle pictures, I stole this stick of incense.

After I got the bend right it works ok.

I don't think the incense lovers will notice.

          I am sorry about that video, but the next one will be worse.  So the incense holder isn't very exciting but you can make it whatever you want.  Just add you. 

          For my next trick I will be showing you how to make something even less useful which is amazing because that last thing wasn't useful at all.  Honestly, this is probably one of the worst ideas I've ever had and that's after a lifetime of bad ideas. 

          I thought I was making a soap dish or something, but maybe it's just another incense holder.  Try to remember that I was trying to do all this stuff with minimal tools. 

Tie plates????

      I found these tie plates.  It's some construction thing.  I guess they use these to make wood longer or something.  They are galvanized steel so they aren't supposed to rust but I bet if you actually use them for a soap dish they might.  I guess I could have tested that for you but I didn't think of it until just now.  These things are pretty cheap and with more imagination than I was able to muster, maybe they could become something.  To bend the tie plates I used a hammer and a piece of 2x4 wood.  You could use any hammer.  I did have to clamp the wood down.  If you have to buy any of those things this probably isn't worth it.  I used the $ .88 and $ .54 plates.  That's where I got that 88 cents.  I also riveted them together.  I cheated.  You would probably need to use screws and nuts because I think most people don't have rivets and rivet tools.  The screws are pretty cheap too.  So I'm guessing you could make this useless thing for about the same amount as the other useless thing. .... watch and learn. 

           It's a bit harder to make the bend between holes than it is to make the bend at the holes.  Sponge, soap, whatever.  Candle? 

I don't know why I do angled pictures. 

If you decide to try either of these projects, or if you are inspired to try something else after wandering the isles of your local home improvement or hardware store, send me pictures.  I know you can make a pipe fitting lamp.  There are about 70,000 YouTube videos of that, but these little things can be fun because you actually make the metal move.  I'm all about moving metal.  

Enjoy your holidays, and if you like incense, I apologize for my insensitivity.  It's just not my thing,  

Now back to work

j