Wax Wrapper Art

Maybe you got a a lot of wax in your stocking this year- and a lot of those wrappers. If you got those long wrappers, like those on Sticky Bumps, you can make some pretty cool woven art if you've got some holiday time on your hands, so try this.
First, you'll need some cardstock in a nice color, some tacky craft glue, an exacto knife, and a regular frame, in addition to several of your wax wrappers:

Next, cut your chosen color cardstock color (nice color in case it shows through!) to the size of the frame you're going to use using the exacto knife. Be sure to do this on a surface that won't be harmed by cutting through with a sharp knife:

After that, I started cutting my wax wrappers into about 1/8" strips long ways- I admit I just guessestimated, but you may want to measure to feel more confident.

Cutting the Wax wrappers into strips

Starting from the middle of the cardstock, I started to weave the strips together by placing one strip diagonally down across the middle, securing it with a dot of glue in the center:

Next, I crossed another one with a dot of glue on top:

Picking a direction, I started to "weave" strips across the strip dotting some glue as I went. Note I made sure to overhang the strips over the rectangle of the cardstock:

I kept doing this in every direction:

When I covered the cardstock, I trimmed off the overhanging strips to match the size of the cardstock and sprayed it with a spray sealant to keep everything in:

Once that was done and dried, I was ready to mount the piece in the frame:

DONE!
Kinda wild, if you ask me- you'd never know it came from wax wrappers unless you really looked. Takes a while, and a bit of patience, but a good way to recycle, and really fun to do! Trippy!

Fin Gift Tags

A surfer's gift doesn't always have to be a bottle of Cuervo or a case of Imperial, but, if you DO give those, make a supa cool tag that a surfer or non-surfer would think is pretty cool (even after the bottle is long drained).
First, I printed out a template of three tags on a PDF:

Fin Tag Template

These are best printed on some cardstock for tracing onto wood, since the cardstock will have a little edge to trace off of. I cut one out and traced it onto 1/4" plywood:

Template

Template cut out

Next, cut out the trace with a jig saw, like a Dremel:

 

Make sure to drill a hole in the bottom left corner for hanging (the presumption is that you'll hang it upside down), using a small drill. After sanding the edges to ensure a smooth finish, go ahead and paint it any color you want. I painted mine red with a palm tree:

 

 

After embellishing some more, it was ready to spray with some sealant. I used a gloss spray sealant like you can get in the spray paint section of the hardware store.

Here's the tag on a gift:

 

 

Obviously, you can hang it as an ornament afterwards, too. I'm imagining a Christmas Tree next year with nothing but these fin tags on it!!!

Last Minute Surfer Gifts

Good job. You waited until the last minute. I had a grown cousin who waited until the last minute to get Christmas gifts, and I ended up with a Jesus Portrait Paint-by-Number. Not kidding. Wonder where they got the original portrait?
But I digress...
If you want to look like you might give a damn about your friend or family member who is a surfer, consider these ideas instead of the 6 pack of Wine Spritzers you saw at Publix.
ALL of these projects take 2 hours OR LESS!!!

DIY Personalized Surf Wax
Fin Screw Keychain
DIY Wetsuit Wash
Surf Pic Magnets
Triple Stringer Picture Frame
DIY Surf Wax Candle
Surfer Necklace
Sex Wax Magnet
Blank Surfboard Shapes for Coloring
Save a Surf Kit
Surf Photo T Shirt
Mini Emergency Kit
DIY Wax Comb

Take just a few moments of your time, and you'll have a thoughtful gift on your hands.
Ok, ok, you can do the booze gift thing....just get Crown Royal so they get the drawstring bag to make a craft with while sloshed. Christmas Time!!! YAY!

A Surfer's Stocking

Hanging a stocking is one of the traditions of Christmas. But to be honest, I've refused to wear proper shoes going on 15 years now here in Florida, and definitely no socks. As with a lot of surfers, the footwear of choice is the humble flip flop, slap, slippah, or however it's known in that area of the world. I thought that would be a much better choice to make into a "stocking" for a surfer, and one that could hold a couple of bars of wax for a gift would be even better!
First, I got together my supplies: some craft store felt, colored heavy thread, scissors and some straight pins and my pattern printed out on an 8 1/2" by 11" piece of standard paper:
Flip Flop Pattern (it may not be the greatest sketch, but don't use it commercially please)

Next, I cut 2 pieces out of the same colored felt of the sole of the shoe, and 1 of the thong part of the sole out of contrasting fabric by pinning the pattern to the felt:

First, I'm going to whip stitch the thong piece onto the sole. I positioned it, then pinned it onto the sole:

I used contrasting embroidery thread to stitch the thong down:

Next, I started to sew the 2 sole pieces together (right sides out) using a blanket stitch around the edge. I started just a little above where the thong starts on the instep as shown by the needle in the picture:

 

 

I proceeded to stitch all the way around the heel until I got to just above the other side of the thong strap. This will leave a top opening to put goodies in:

 

I still wanted to finish up the edges around the top of each sole, so I blanket stitched those top edges as well:

I then made a little hanger by cutting out a small rectangle, folding it in half, and stitching it onto the back of the stocking:

That's it! Now you can fit a couple of bars of wax inside plus a cane:

Here's some more stockings hung on a wall:

And just to answer your question, a chimera DOES NOT count as a hearth to hang your stocking off of. As for your second question, yes, it could possibly fit a Tallboy.

Stink B Gone!

If you surf every day lately, you're probably wearing a wetsuit down here. You may be lazy and not giving it a good rinse or washing it everyday, knowing you're just turning around and going out the next morning. Or you're just leaving it in your car, either way, giving it a good opportunity to become a ripe stink fest.
Here's a no hassle solution to those situations that I've seen made commercially, but can be made for a few bucks.
To start, I used some basic cotton cloth that I preshrunk by washing on hot and drying on high. I ironed it well before using also:

Like the fabric? I got it from Etsy!

Next, I cut it into a rectangle shape:

14 1/2" by 4 1/2"

I folded the fabric along the bottom edge, and sewed 1/2" in along the side seams, clipped the seams close and clipped the corners, turned the piece inside out using a pointed stick to turn the corners, then ironed:



This is the fun part. I got out my activated charcoal I picked up at the big box store that I got in the pet supply section by the fish stuff. It cost me all of 6 bucks, and could probably fill about 3 of these hangers:

Next, I got out a funnel, stuck it in the top of the rectangle, and began to slowly fill the rectangle until it was about 4/5 full:

When it's about 4/5 full, I stopped, cut a 1 foot length of 3/4" grosgrain ribbon, looped it, placed it about an inch down into the opening and sewed the opening shut, sealing the contents in. Be careful not to spill the charcoal! It gets black dust everywhere!!!
Here it is hanging up, like it would be inside a suit, or in a closet:

The nice thing about cotton is that it's quite permeable to let the charcoal work, and it won't get funky when wet. You will probably need to replace the cotton at the end of the season from wear and tear, but it's cheap enough, or you may even have scrap from old shirts laying around. To reactivate the charcoal, just let it sit out in the sun for a few hours, even while in the cotton is OK.
This would make a great surfer gift and would be great to use for storing a wetsuit long term.
One facet of your stinkiness, SOLVED!

Florida Palm Branch Christmas Tree

It never feels like the traditional holidays down here in Florida. No snow, no 20 degree temps (usually), and palm trees everywhere. I still wouldn't trade living here for anything, so I wanted to embrace it by making a Florida Christmas Tree.
Many palm trees down here produce inflorescence, which looks kind of like a little branch with fruit protruding from the heart area of the palm:

From davesgarden.com- Palm inflorescence on the tree

I took the dying inflorescence off at the base of one of our big palms and let it dry out for several days. This results in a little tree shape that is quite sturdy. I took a mason jar and filled it with local beach sand and "planted" it. I also added some local shells around the top for some added flair.
I decorated the tree with lots of ornaments, ribbons, and LED lights. It really holds quite a bit, and has lots of little branches to hang things from.
Here's my decorated "tree":

It's a Charlie Brown Christmas!

 

 

 

Super easy and Florida Festive!

Small Epoxy Project Tip

I got the flu recently, and as a result, I plowed through about 3 bottles of cough syrup and Robitussin. I recycled the bottles, but the dosing cups I wanted to keep, knowing they'd be good for something.
Turns out, I started a small project that needed some epoxy resin, so I used a dosing cup to mix my epoxy in. It's a mini measuring cup for the resin, and I didn't have to use one of my big mixing cups. Just make sure to wash it out really well before use.


I'm sure this secret is well known to surfboard repair guys, but it was a revelation to me that I wanted to share.
Enjoy!