Table Manners

Beauty can happen at the most mundane and unexpected times.  For instance, these are pictures of what happens when I make dinner...

Sketching Stoel

Bottled Up

17 March 2008

Our assignment was to make an everyday item out of used bottle caps. Today we got into partners and decided on our design for our object we would be making. Katrina & I decided on making a lamp shade for our design and below we have included the steps and time it took to complete one lamp shade.

Step 1: Boiling the white and blue bottle caps



Step 2: Drilling holes through caps and tying them with old fishing line to a used coat hanger




Step 3: Glue down final ties and let dry!

19 March 2008

Today we presented our ideas to our teachers and got feedback for our final model. I think for our final model Katrina and I will make another lamp shade with only white and blue caps, and maybe some larger colorful caps. We will have to find a substitute for the glue we used but I think we will still use the used fishing line and possibly a used lamp shade wire instead of a coat hanger.

24 March 2008
Final Product

Terracycle will be very excited to see our idea for bottle cap lampshades because it is not hard to manufacture and will in the long run be good for the environment. Our lampshades will be able to be reused over and over again using the same materials or the materials can be recycled into different items.

Benefits
Reuse bottle caps over and over again to make new lamp shades

Materials:
Bottle Caps
Coat Hangers
Coccoina Almond Scented Paste: Eco-Friendly Glue

• Nontoxic
• Non-Solvent
• Acid-Free
• Tastes Of Marzipan
  

Dremel
Tin Snips
Pliers

Step 1: Separate top part of bottle cap from ring, using a dremel or tin snips


Step 2: Sand edges of bottle cap pieces
Step 3: Create lamp shade form with coat hanger
Step 4: Glue edges of bottle caps together forming lamp shade shape


Step 5: Bend bottle caps and connect with coat hanger in the middle

Snow Globe

Drawing class was canceled today due to snow. I took the opportunity to take a walk and snap pictures of the newly fallen snow.

Wooden Movements

Given 1 18" 2x4 and a minimum of 6 cuts any number of systems could be created. I chose to add a little movement. I kept everything very geometric in the interest of simplicity. The 'dangling' cards have notches cut in them that are just a hair larger than the piece they hang from, this allows them to turn and sway. When they are tapped they flutter like leaves in the wind giving an otherwise heavy system a certain lightness. The notches cut out of the bottom also lend themselves to that light feeling.

Good Bones

For our first drafting project of the semester, we were given a 4'x8' sheet of 3/4" MDF and told to make a workstation/all purpose piece of furniture for our newly graduated designer, Pat.
I built a tall desk at counter height easily used for preparing food or working. Attached is a small bench convenient for sitting at the table and writing, or eating, but short enough to be out of the way if Pat wishes to stand.
To the right is a tall storage space for keeping presentation boards and papers which should not be folded. There are also two smaller cubbies for keeping tools or maybe a bowl or two for all the ramen Pat eats.

House of Leaves

For part two of our drawing final we were assigned 9 drawings of a leaf. I chose a magnolia leaf. I chose the magnolia because I remember having one in the front yard of our house in Charlotte. When I moved back to North Carolina to go to school the smell of the magnolias was the most wonderful thing. It was a smell I had not experienced since I was 8 years old. Memories of playing in that tree are still so vivid. I remember hiding under the branches and watching the lightening bugs and pretending they were fairies.