Quarantine Wall Decor

TL;DR: Tiff and I took advantage of a few lazy quarantine weekends to plan and create a few custom pieces of wall décor.

A few weeks ago, I posted photos previewing string art Tiff and I started working on. We planned a series of four. While she focused on making the most adorable one, three fell to me. For the background of pieces, we upcycled an old dress otherwise destined for Goodwill. This was my first string art project in about 7 years and actually found the act of stringing quite meditative and refreshing.

A series of four string artworks we completed during the Great Coronatine of 2020

As a bonus art project, we also created a shattered mirror piece. I purchased “sliceable” adhesive-backed plastic mirrors for a different project but first wanted to experiment with how easily cut the parts were. I doodled a geometric hummingbird design while Tiff picked colors for and assembled the background from cardstock we had laying around. Cutting the mirror was harder than I expected, but got much better by the end.

I originally intended to add a simplified geometric rose to match the rest of the aesthetic, but it was difficult for my friends to figure out what it was. We went with a bundle of curvy cherry blossoms instead, and I think I dig the contrast in shape and colors.

Upper Right: Finished work; Everything else: various stages of planning/making

ButterBot Spotlight Lamp

TL;DR: I made a robot whose only purpose is to hold up a spotlight… At least it’s a step up from passing butter :D. I am extremely pleased with how this guy turned out. The light is adjustable both in leaf rotation and tilt angle.

A few weeks ago, I desperately wanted a lamp for my nightstand to keep me from needing to stumble around in the dark trying to find the bed while avoiding squishing the dog after turning off the lights at night. Thus, I decided to do the most practical thing, and began designing my own.

I began my design around the idea of creating something in a modular manner. I knew I wanted to have some sort of character holding up the light source, but was unsure about the specifics of what was going to be feasible, and what would be accepted by my landlord to have around the house. I landed on the idea of building around a spotlight—I like the simple shape and general aesthetics and the character-neutral nature.

Over the next few weekends, I kicked around a few ideas and asked some friends for inspiration when I had my eureka moment—THE BUTTER BOT FROM RICK AND MORTY IS PERFECT FOR THIS!!! I am a huge fan of the show, wanted to use up my silk silver plastic filament, and thought I could give this little guy a better purpose than just passing butter. Really, it was a win/win/win scenario.

I don’t have any photos detailing the electronics, but I’ve got a simple ATmega32U4-based Arduino board with a micro-USB interface. I found this awesome inline DC jack power switch and paired it with an even cooler DC jack to micro-USB cable to provide power and add the ability to turn the light on/off.

Designing and implementing my idea was relatively straightforward after deciding what to build. The trickiest part was designing the parts in such a way so they could be broken up and printed in different jobs—the overall size is roughly 7” x 8” x 18” (although the 7” width can change depending on how the spotlight leaves are oriented, and the height can change depending on the tilt angle). I am particularly proud of my insight of creating a domed peg to enable the printing of the main body without the need for supports.

The only thing missing from the completely finished design are a red wire, a yellow wire, and a red led bulb. Anyway, here’s a gallery of my design and build process:

Laundry Basket Divider

TL;DR: I made a divider for our new laundry bin using material from our old bin and printing some threaded pins to hold it in place.

We used to have a stiff cloth laundry basket, but there were two main problems with it. Whenever I tossed my clothes on it inaccurately (this happened all the time, let’s be real), the walls would buckle a bit under the weight. Secondly, there’s just a single compartment, and I’m allergic to the laundry detergent Tiff likes to use.

To fix the first problem, we actually used the ubiquitous 20% off Bed Bath and Beyond and bought a new hard plastic hamper. To address the second, I got a bit more creative. Since our old laundry basket was cloth-based, I was able to fold it up using binder clips. The divider fit very tightly near the bottom, so I only needed a way to hold it in place closer to the top. I created a pocket on each side by adding two binder clips around where I wanted to place the holder.

The custom design I went with was very simple—it’s a simple threaded pin and retaining nut. I measured the hole I needed to fill, extruded a few cylinders, and added threads, ezpz. About two hours on the printer later, I installed two pins with nuts on the basket and put the divider into place.

I’ll be the first to admit that this isn’t my sexiest design ever, but it’s quite utilitarian.

Here’s a few build photos: