My Crafty Better Half

Last month, I wrote about how my husband comes from a crafting family, and I mentioned that I wanted to share photos of the special box he made for my birthday a few years ago. I'm finally getting around to it now.

He and I were talking with our friend M about our hobbies a couple of days ago, and I remarked that I was starting to become obsessed with fabric. I jokingly said something to my husband like "You were hounding me for a long time to get a hobby besides reading, but now I bet you're sorry." He responded, "Not at all. I'm just jealous since I haven't been able to work on any of my hobbies."

That made me a little sad. It's mostly because he's been working so hard on the yard at our new house that he hasn't found the time to clear off his work bench in the garage, but I know that he needs a creative outlet given the kind of person he is. When he said that, it made me want not only to ensure that he gets some extra time to himself to work on personal projects (and, yes, I need to get cracking on clearing out the random boxes in the garage), but also to share some of his work with you.

First, here is the palm-sized wooden puzzle box that he made for my birthday. There are four pieces all together, made using a scroll saw and sander, and they have to be put together in a specific order to close properly. Hence the "puzzle." He shaped the agate into a heart and polished it. I love the gorgeous color of the stone -- he knows me so well -- and it contrasts perfectly with the stained walnut. When I opened the gift, I admit that I teared up. Wouldn't you have? :-)

This lovely wooden grasshopper is actually a pull toy that he made for the birth of our good friend E's son. He doesn't quite like the way it turned out functionally (the back wheels don't turn when the toy is pulled by the string because they are too small to power the long legs -- a leverage issue?), but I think it's SOOOO adorable! And so do our friend and her son!

Finally, this is a cookie-sized dealer button that he invented for our good friend M mentioned above, who loves card games and taught us how to play Texas Hold 'em poker. We were using random kid toys to designate the dealer during our games...which was fine until one of the kids wanted to play with them. The picture of the winking kid on the back of the button was taken from a package of horchata mix, to which she also introduced us. This button took a long time to make as he was experimenting with paint color and finish. But it turned out fantastically, and the vintage-y look is icing on the cake.

Cheers to my crafty better half! I'd love it if I were half as talented!

xo, Gladys