Evens are Odds: UnnecessaryStuffbyThom

Pallet Dry Bar

So this one was also part of the wedding, but figured it deserved it's own entry: To be fair, my sister had been cooking up the idea of a bottle cap bar top for years, but then we kinda decided since a lot of the friends who'd been helping her stock up on caps were going to be guests at this thing, it'd make a good show to try to pull it together for the reception seeing as we needed something for drinks anyways. Which was all well and good, except for the little hiccup that this was about a week before I had to go back up to school...

All this basically to say, I may not have been so quickly inspired to suggest the idea of building it out of pallets if it hadn't been the expedient option, but again I'd say it was definitely one of those happy accidents that really worked out for the best. It was still a bit of a mad dash working it around all the other projects I was trying finish before I had to leave my shop behind, but at least the beauty of that reclaimed aesthetic means you don't have to be quite as careful swinging the hammer on the finishing nails, and I somehow managed to get it ready to pass off to the happy couple in time for them to tackle laying all the caps.
Even then, we were still checking the tackiness of the resin the morning of...

Wedding Tent

(and a couple of other inevitable bits of landscaping and decorative touches...)

So apparently I do weddings now?

IDK... Basically in the earlier stages of my sister's planning for her wedding she off-handed complained within my earshot about how much it was going to cost her to rent a tent, and I, having my brain, immediately started do some math and pricing 2x4's... I've yet to confirm whether or not this was intentional on her part, but I think we all agree the result ended up with much more to offer on the aesthetic front than something more generic, and we got to have it erected for setting up more than just the day of, at a much more palatable price point!.. And I even managed to have a bit of fun with it to boot! ;)

Final tent came in at about 212 m², or 120 people + dance floor. Was a bit worried using the 6 mil poly to skin it might skew a bit "Breaking Bad," but when you see the irl oil-painting-photoshop-filter it gave the background, it definitely stole the show!
Of course, we put it all on in the padres backyard, so I hand my hand in most of the other projects, lighting, and errant furniture you'll see around the place, but those were largely more spontaneous than the title number...

Architectural Trace Paper Lantern Desk Lamp

Sometime in my sleep deprived deliria last semester I was struck by the intricate patterns you get rolling layers of trace designs and scribbles back on themselves, and was inspired to laminate a couple layers of rejects together to make these lamps. Check 'em out on my etsy for more info.

"Authentic" Iron Throne Sculpture

Given my usual tendency toward erudite nerdom, I'm generally pretty impressed by HBO's take on "Game of Thrones." One thing that I do have to raise some issue with, however, is their interpretation of the iconic "Iron Throne." Forget timid symmetry, any proper Song of Ice and Fire fan will know, George R.R. Martin's actual vision is a seat of absolute power and dominance, not for the feint of heart. I was thus inspired one ill advised day to set about capturing this perilously commanding supremacy in the only medium that can truly do it justice: actual knives!

Availing myself, then, of the benefits of an Architecture studio's essentially inexhaustible supply of discarded X-Acto and Olfa blades ripe for the upcycling and a decent pair of work gloves, I got cracking, and this frightening little number was the ultimate result...
Check it out on my etsy for more info.