Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

June 3, 2012

My New Toy & What I Used It For

I've had a new craft prepped for about a month now, but it needs a drill in order to assemble it.  I figured it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to have a small drill around the house anyway, since my squeeze's is in his truck and, last time I saw it, also covered in grease and grime.  So he took me to Home Depot to pick out a small one for myself.  Surprisingly I couldn't find one by Dremel.  It has all kinds of attachments but no drill bits.  So this small Ryobi is what I ended up purchasing.


And also picked up a goody pack of bits and stuff.

This is why I needed the drill.  This is a small piece of driftwood that I found either here or on the west coast, I just can't remember.  I brought some with me from my last trip to the Pacific Ocean last spring, but now it's all mixed in with Cape driftwood.  I made these dangling fringe pieces with crystals, and all that was left to do was put the holes into the wood, so as to attach the fringe.  Those two jewels on either end will go on top for the hanger.  

The hardest part of this for me was doing the measuring for the placement of the danglies and hanger.  I suck at math, and my question of, "Is half of six and a half, three and a quarter?" emitted a bemused and sympathetic chuckle from my honey as he answered, "Yes."  I selected the smallest drill bit and brought the wood outside to drill.  While it looked and seemed to me as though I was going straight down, the holes on the other side didn't line up well at all.  Russell suggested that I reverse it and that way I was ensured that the danglies would be even, and probably no one would even notice if the top beads weren't perfectly aligned.  So that's what I did and it worked out perfectly. I really could not have done this without his help!   

Now it was time to make the hanger!

It was really hard to get a decent photo of it.  It doesn't look bright enough in the shade, but there was also bad shadowing in the sun.


12 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:09 AM

    You have joined the ranks of girls with tools! You are now unstoppable! GO JO

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  2. How cool this is JoJo! I love the idea and it looks really great. Driftwood is amazing anyway...and then you took it and added sparklies. Doesn't get much better than that! Well done. :)

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  3. Your endless creativity amazes me!

    Hope you get more use from your drill than I get from mine. I think I've used it twice in about 15 years. It even doubles as a screwdriver if you can work out which way to push a little button...which I obviously have not yet done!

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  4. well worth a visit to the soulless store for the final results for sure.

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  5. Wow, what a cool crystal wall hanging! I love your new drill, I believe every girl needs a drill! Happy drilling.
    Valerie
    Everyday Inspired

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  6. Anonymous7:07 AM

    If you ever take up home repairs, give me a call!!!!

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  7. That is really cool and so creative! I love it!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  8. Oh how pretty is this. I bet it looks so beautiful when it's shimmering in the sunlight! Gorgeous!

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  9. I'm happy to get you back to 100! I hate it when someone leaves. I mean, I've certainly stopped reading blogs, but I've never gone back and removed myself from following. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings!
    I'm a beader, too and I LOVE this project. You've gotten me going again - need to make my new niece her first piece of bling!
    Tina @ Life is Good
    Co-Host of the A-Z Challenge
    Post A-Z Road trip!

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  10. Driftwood bling - love it :)

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  11. Seriously wonderful!!!

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  12. JoJo, I am very impressed! That is really nice.

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