Mad Scientist Monday #3: EuREKA!!

Day 180  Today we would like to introduce you to one of our favorite mad scientists from the TV show Eureka on the SyFy channel.  Now that the girls are older all of us watch it~giggling and quoting afterwards~this character is a intelligent, bumbler, who always makes the funniest mistakes.

Douglas Fargo, no evil laugh but can't resist pushing buttons and getting into unintended trouble Credit

This weekend we FINALLY got to cutting apart the tree trunk from our live Christmas tree (yea I know 9 months later but hey we were drying the wood, yea that's the ticket~ drying) and turning it into a few candle holders.  All it took was a drill with a large enough bit to bore a hole for the candle to sit in...although my hub said the hardest part was clamping down the wood to keep it steady.  An added bonus to waiting this long was the wonderful pine smell that permeated the garage and house afterwards!  Now I need to find some pretty candles that will fit right inside.

Pine tree candle holders!

Because the candle holders were such a small mad scientist creation I decided to show you one we made about 9 years ago...our dining, crafting, homework, catch all family table.  Take one piece of MDF (medium density fibreboard) cut it at the store to 6' x 5' ~makes it easier to haul home as well~ and this stuff is HEAVY folks so get a strong back to carry it, dropping it on your foot or any other body part is no fun.

This circular center was very hard but very rewarding to see finished.  We took a  tack tied to a pencil with string and placing the tack in the center drew a circle in the size we wanted.  Then we calculated how many 'pie' pieces we wanted and divided it up with a straight edge.  The hardest part of this was keeping the outside edges of the 'pie' to be angular but still circular and there were many touch-ups.

I painted a base coat of white acrylic, then the brown and bought acrylics to match the colors of our downstairs area.  Using Frank Lloyd Wright books on his art and architecture as inspiration I decided to create this design with the circular center and details in each corner.  The entire table is sealed with a clear acrylic coat that we lightly sand and redo regularly to keep the painted design intact.

These corners took a lot of patience taping, painting and letting things dry before moving on to the next step.

This table top sits on top of 2 large foot locker trunks we got from various thrifting adventures so when you come to craft or eat at our house you sit on pillows on the floor!  We also had 2 handles laying around that we put on either side of the underneath making it easier to lift up and access the trunks (storage bonus for blankets and table linens) and helps to keep it from sliding around on the trunks, but honestly it is heavy enough that it doesn't slide much.  Warning though remind your guests not to lean on the edges as they get up, the see saw effect can be disastrous!

All in all this table cost us less than $100 total and at a time when we moved into the new house we couldn't really afford the dining room table and chairs that we wanted and honestly we are sort of unconventional anyway so we wanted something unique!

Not wanting to leave the edges plain I bought this inexpensive trim that perfectly fit the edge and tacked it with small nails, glueing each of the corners.  I did not seal or paint this as I wanted it to age naturally.

This table is the center part of our lives.  You can see the many smudges and scrapes, look closer and you can see the  writing indentations~ I love all of it~ it makes it look used and loved.  Re-sealing it regularly keeps all of these memories intact~well we do wipe it down daily with a wet and dry cloth don't really want moldy memories.

One of the trunks the table sits on...it was hard finding 2 trunks the same height.  We did not seal or do anything to the underside of the MDF and it is covered in scribbles lol fun momentos of the kids growing up!  Yes that is official move in cheapo renter/builder generic carpet, glad you asked...hopefully soon we will be pulling that up and painting our cement floors!!

See you tomorrow with some scenes from my sketchbook....oh and perhaps some sewing as well lol I have been churning stuff out I just haven't had time to take pictures before it is out the door!  Happy Monday everyone...what will you create today?