Chez Larsson

Scanning

My mom and our dog Trixie cirka 1963. Pre Photoshop.

I'm in scanning mode.

I've had this large box forever in the basement with slides and an old slide projector. I think I've brought the slides out twice since we moved here eleven years ago and I've moved the box around I don't know how many times. Time for drastic measures.

A few weeks ago I searched the internet after I got some scanning advice from some readers. Turned out my favorite nerd store (said with endearment) has a Plexgear scanner for sale which has got ok reviews so I got it the next day and immediately started to scan all the slides. Let me tell you they are filthy! I'm probably to blame myself as I remember looking at them when I was a little girl and probably finger marked them all as I went along.

My mom and our dog Trixie cirka 1963. Post Photoshop.

Besides from being filthy they were also completely disorganized. How about photos of me aged two in Helsinki (that would be 1966) in a box labeled Leningrad 1960? In the same box were also photos of the house I grew up in in Stockholm. We didn't move there until 1969...

That's all history now though. I've scanned them all and organized them into files on my lap top (with external back up). I'm now in the process of cropping them if needed, cleaning them up in Photoshop and tagging them. I'm not by any means done yet and after the slides are done I'm moving on to all our 35 mm negatives. So bear with me, I'll be sharing as I go along.

La Lampe

Another idea I got this weekend from the BHG DIY mag was to make a lamp. They showed some cool ideas on recycling random stuff (zip ties on a grill grate above for example) and make it into a lamp. At the back of my mind I had these plastic strips that Martin brought home from work a long time ago.

The plastic strips are of this cool material which is used to line those tubes where you can get sunlight in the basement kind of things. It's cool looking, very reflective and supposedly super expensive and although I'm the tosser in this family even I have hung onto them these past five years or so after Martin brought them home after they had been discarded. In addition to the strips I used a light fixture which I found in the electrics dumpster in the basement at work (I know! It's a gold mine down there!).

I temporarily removed the top bits of the light fixture and simply punched holes (had to make three overlapping holes to accommodate the diameter of the cable because my heavy duty punch couldn't make any bigger holes) at both ends of the strips for the cable of the light fixture to run through and hung the ends over the cable creating oval shapes. 

 After adding the strips one after the other on top of each other I secured them with a metal washer where the hole in the same size as the cable .

These projects are about trial and error. I never expect it to go well straight away and in this case after I assembled the whole thing and hung it I realized I should have used all the strips instead of leaving four out so I disassembled and tried again.

 Better! The four added strips cover the light bulb better and the whole thing feels much more complete.

Day

Night

~

I hope you can see this post alright. I had a really hard time posting, my photos went missing, the site shut down on me numerous times and I had problems saving. Typepad seems to be having the flu...  

Fall Inspiration

I recently asked you guys if you had any spare BHG DIY mags and I was lucky to get a couple sent over. Thanks, Tracy! I've started an international subscription so future issues will arrive via my mail box.

Wille asked me what I like about it because he couldn't really see past the not always so stylish articles (being my very style concious son). I have to agree, some stuff in there looks like crap, some craft projects are less than awesome and some are even to awful to mention but I like the fact that there are a great deal of handy tips on techniques and tools and some great ideas too if you skip their color choices. And of course, there's Sherry and John :).

So to get to the point here. In the current Fall issue I saw this article on dressing up your front porch for fall and I was totally inspired to do some decorating of our front door. Usually I just decorate for Halloween and Christmas and the rest of the year there are flowers in planters and that's basically it. I didn't go as far as the photo above but I did make the maple leaf wreath you see here. Here's how:

I picked fallen leaves off my lawn and stuck the stems in a solution of 1/3 glycerol and 2/3 water and left them there for a couple of days. The glycerol (available over here in pharmacies) helps preserve the color of the leaves.

 The leaves were then left to dry on our old patio table in the garage for another day or so. I made two times what you see above which was enough for one medium sized wreath.

I bought a styrofoam wreath ring at the craft store and hot glued the leaves onto it one by one. Pleeeeease be careful with the hot glue! I was but still burned myself a couple of times. A bowl with ice water next to your project to dip your fingers into is a good thing as Martha would say.

Back in 1992 I made a wreath like this for a (old ladies...) magazine and at the time I hadn't seen them around much. Since then they've appeared in all sorts of places but I still think it's an awesome fall décore item.

Ps. I'm still interested in the Spring, Summer and Fall issues of 2008 and the summer 2009 issue of the magazine if you're finished with yours and wants to sell them to me. E-mail me!

The Cat Cabin

After the success of the coffee table Wille and Martin were eager to build one more thing. 

 

So the carpentry began. The size of the build was detemined by what was to go inside and the width of the untreated wood planks that were used.

Clue. Someone's checking out the building process... Four walls assembled by bracing, gluing, nailing and clamping

Further assembly. Nailing, gluing and clamping. Entry tunnel (four mitered and sanded pieces) inserted into opening.

Faux window and decorative/wind protective strips of wood were glued and nailed to the ousides of the walls.

A plinth was added at the bottom and floor was laid inside.

Bonus checks out the roof of the newly built... kitty cabin! Roof needs some perfecting according to the mr.  

After roof covering (found in our attic) and trim was added and the little hut was painted Mini decided it was time for a test run.

Yay! Mini approves and so does Bonus who spent hours in there yesterday. Mission accomplished.

  

Brainstorm #3

Time for another Brainstorm. This time it's Lindzi's. Her son Elmer is now a big boy and has gotten his Big Boy Bed. Yay!

But what to do with the bottom of the bed? Seemed to good to toss while all the rest of it was ready for the trash. Here are our two (well actually more like seven) cents. 

  

How about a kid's art wall, mounting it on a wall and using the biggest baddest bulldog clips to attach the art to the strips of wood? 

With a bit of additional diy to the sides and top it could be turned into a radiator cover.

Mounted with hinges at the bottom and a simple pulley system at the top it could serve as a drying rack in the laundry room.

Martin's skeptical to this one but I claim you could stretch and staple a (vintage?) fabric onto it to get an instant piece of art.  

It could serve as a batterie de cuisine over a kitchen island with pots and pans hanging down form s-hooks.

This one's my favorite. Add a thin board on top and little wheels at the bottom and use it as an under bed play board thingy. A neat and organized way to be able to build something up, play with it and shove it in under the bed until the next day. No more stepping on pointy trees and train sets (or Lego's... ouch!) in the middle of the night.

Another idea is to use it as a temporary indoor gate to prevent visiting curious toddlers or doggies to go into certain rooms or areas in the house. When not in use it could be stored in a closet behind the hanging clothes or in a storage area.

So what do you guys think? Will these work or do you have other ideas for Lindzi to try?
Do you have an object you would like for us (that's Martin, Wille and I) to find alternate uses for send me an e-mail  with Brainstorm as the subject!