Hawaiian-Themed Corkboard

Awkward Moment of the Month:  I fulfilled my civil duties earlier this week at jury duty, and on the first day I perused the rack full of magazines there.  Since I had already read my monthly subscriptions to Women’ s Health and Lucky, I reached for the second most mindless piece of reading imaginable (after Cosmo) – Glamour.  I flipped about halfway through the magazine when a gentleman and fellow juror asked to borrow my pen.  He bent over next to me, filled out his summons form, turned bright red, gave my pen back, and then sheepishly scuttled away.  Strange.  Then, when I turned my attention back to the page I had flipped to, the words: “ARE YOU NORMAL ABOUT PORN?” in giant red letters glared back at me.  Needless to say, I will probably never be caught with an issue of Glamour in my hands ever again.

Anyway, I noticed my latest posts have been sewing-heavy as of late, so I’m mixing it up a bit!  Today’s post is from a project that goes all the way back to 2004 when I customized a corkboard as a housewarming gift.  I didn’t really have a plan of execution at the time or even a good idea of what I wanted it to look like for that matter, but since the giftee was born in Hawaii, I knew it had to have some tropical elements to it.

The "Before"

I purchased three 8-foot bamboo poles from Stats Floral in Pasadena and literally used a handsaw to cut each and every piece of bamboo you see below.  Let me just tell you – treated bamboo is REALLY difficult to saw because it’s such a sturdy wood.  It also leaves a LOT of dust – I vividly remember seeing the dregs of khaki bamboo sawdust every time I blew my nose the next day.  I staggered the length of most bamboo pieces, while longer pieces run up the far sides to make whatever gets pinned to the board feel somewhat “framed”.  The plastic bamboo leaves and silk flowers were purchased at Michael’s.  I had to cut off the flowers from their plastic-covered metal stems, and snipped the fake bamboo leaves from the bouquet-like arrangement they came in.  I glue-gunned my faux shrubbery and blooms down at the top, so that the leaves hung down the sides.

Finished Product

Not sure if you could have guessed, but the recipient’s name was Matt.  I cut the name out in one shape (as opposed to cutting out individual letters) from black foam paper, and bordered it with a yellow/orange/red pseudo-gradient using puffy paint.  I drew the hibiscus using puffy paint as well.

Close-Up

As another aside (yes, I’m giving in to ADD today),  I am really beginning to see similarities between blogging and the female psyche.  As much as normal women want to be liked more for their personality and not solely for their looks (“it’s what’s inside that counts!”), they also want others to find them physically attractive.  The same goes for me and my writing, but since this is a product blog I do want people to think the things I make are attractive.  On that note, I do plan to acquire some picture taking and editing skills in the near future for any new projects – perhaps the blog-equivalent to a boob job if we are continuing the tangent.  Until then, I’m stuck with my bad shots (a.k.a. small boobs) until I’m no longer posting backlogged projects.  Many thanks to all two (three?) of my readers for enduring my aesthetically unpleasing photos.  Hopefully you still enjoy the writing.  🙂