Category: Curiosities

Sherlock Booknook: Part 2

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Previously:

Sherlock Booknook: Part 1

Work on the Sherlock Booknook continues. Remember back in the first post? I’m using a Rose Detective Agency kit to make a Sherlock booknook. I’m gonna share the journey cause I am enjoying the HELL out of making little customizations. And what fun is doing it if I don’t show it off? And if you wanna feel like my husband, JOIN ME.

I was going to wait until the end to show it off. But 1, I’m taking a lot of time. 2, That would be a massive post. And 3, I can get better photos before the full assembly. So first, here is where we are currently. These next two pictures show that I’ve done most of the street and staircase area. Then I can go into details. This is… Like 3 sessions of work?

So in the above you can see the murder/case board — but I’m going to go into big detail on that in a bit. From the first post, you knew I redid the wallpaper. I’ll talk about the hall in a bit too. So you can see that I’ve made most of the street scene. I’m missing the fire hydrant and the streetlamp with the street sign. Those will come in later. Same with the hanging lanterns. I think those are the next step.

One thing I’ve been doing is painting the raw edges. The raw edges are brown because these are all flat pack, and basically 3D puzzles. So I think that makes a HUGE difference on the white parts (like the mailbox), and it makes the iron pieces in this kit better too. However, I did discover one really bad thing.

These kits are all available from multiple brands. They’re clearly drop ship items and some are better than others. For instance on Reddit, someone was asking about the same Garden House kit I made. Their instructions said to peel off the windows but they were confused because there was no film. Well, mine had film. She had the same instructions but a lesser quality kit. And on this one, I drew the short straw. This kit isn’t wood — it’s compressed paper. Now this has advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages: The pieces are cut great. Extremely fine details. Also, the clicking things together is more secure. Since the paper has a bit of give, the “female” connections/holes are not perfectly square. They curve in a bit so they can be stretched ever so slightly when you click it together. I might not have even noticed except for a few things. So far only two connections have failed me. When I put together the globe (not seen, it will come in later) — I totally smashed the end. The fit was too tight and I tried to force it. More obvious though is the railing by the door. So the right railing wouldn’t go in all the way. I pushed and tried my best. I used pliers to try to get the force straight down. And… the paper structure failed. It buckled. Had it been wood, it would have snapped — so I’m not sure that’s that big a deal — but still. Ugh. So I straightened it out to my best abilities — wood would have looked better glued back together. I just had to commit to both railings being a little further out than they should be.

Another huge disadvantage to paper. It sucks up paint like nobody’s business. I’ve been using a metallic gold that it doesn’t suck in. If you’re using black, maybe 2 coats will do. It you’re trying to get it white though — 5 coats minimum. The first two coats will barely show. I bought paint pens to do this and the white paint pen was worthless. Too watery. Made no difference. Just soaked it right up. I switched to acrylic paint. That’s what you see in the pictures. Look at the mailbox — that’s like 5 or 6 coats of white acrylic paint on the edges and they still aren’t a solid bright white. Same on the front of the stairs, ect. Still worth it because I don’t like the dark edges showing. I think it even makes a difference on the windows and door cutouts.

So you can see, I corrected the house number from 210B to 221B, because this is SHERLOCK. I cut a piece of wood and colored it gold to make a mail slot on the door. I know it’s stupid because there’s a mail box but I just didn’t like that the door looked so… suburban house? Nothing like Sherlock’s door. So I needed some gold detail.

The paper in the mailbox is printed newspaper I rolled. Better than their sticker. I replaced all the 2D flowers with flocked flowers made for train sets. HUGE difference. Like upscaled the look by 1,000%. For the crime scene, I replaced the flat wood flower pot bits with clay bits I baked. And it’s not in place yet, but instead of the flat printed wood gun, I bought TOY GUNS. Yes. I ordered two 1/12 scale toy guns for action figures. They were like 90 cents each with $6 shipping. On thought just now, I could have ordered more for future projects, but whatever. It’s not in place yet because I have 2 different ones and I haven’t decided which will be upstairs and which will be in the crime scene.

I didn’t change much about the investigation kit because I thought it was super cute as is. I did add a more modern envelope tucked in the lid. I also didn’t use the smokers pipe. So to fill in the empty space, I threw in a few seed beads. I used the seed beads for a few things. They’re on top of the police bollards and as a doorknob. They’re pins in the case board as well.

Speaking of case board…

OH MY GOD! I’m so chuffed. And yes, I’m using the word chuffed because I’m just so tickled with myself. So you can see on the left here, I’ve shown you the original — I had to get a snapshot from a youtube video so sorry it’s not great quality. As you can see, the wall was originally green and the case board — like everything else was dingy toned down colors. I did take a picture of the provided stickers so you could see them better. TELL ME THAT’S NOT JAYNE COBB (Played by Adam Baldwin) IN THE BOTTOM CORNER. You cannot convince me it is not. That might even be Mal above him.

Listen, this is ripped off chinese drop ship crap. You know they’re just stealing images. Hell, on the side of the actual booknook there’s a typo. That’s fucking Jayne Cobb and I LOVE JAYNE. He’s my favorite Firefly character so he TOTALLY made it on the board.

Ehem. Ok. So, the case board. Well, like I said — I’m going for the exact vibe the show had — old Victorian with a current person in it. So Sherlock would use color. He’d use sticky notes. He’d use Google Maps. So I’ve got a modern map of London, a Google Map of best sites to visit, and a map of the Underground. From the show, I pulled Mycroft, Moriarty, and Irene Adler AKA “The Woman.” And yall, I am just taking my time and having so much fun with this. So yeah, I added seed beads for pins. Then I used a set of tweezers to thread red sewing thread between them like a real case board. Pro Tip — I printed all of these images on a good quality thick paper (though my color printer, obviously doesn’t print to a great quality at such small scale). To make these images show a bit more from each other when overlapping, I ran a sharpie over THE EDGE of the paper cutouts. //Pro Tip

Then the next time I worked on it, I was like fuck it, I’m adding Jayne. I also added a little tiny sticky note “stuck” to the picture frame with the “I O U” Moriarty left. So I’m really excited about this case board. It looks amazing. It’s from the show. It’s also got a lot of 3D going on with the pins and thread and now the sticky note stuck on the frame instead of the wall. Oh and because my wall is black and white, I made the background a color so it stands out. I went with green.

So, you can tell I added a lot of my own printed elements. Here. The above image shows two of the pages I created. I scanned in the original sticker sheet and wall boards to get the scale. Then I put that in photoshop and just started grabbing all sorts of shit and shrinking it down to the scale of the sticker sheet. Some of them are multiple sizes so I could see what I liked best. So yeah, that’s how I’ve got all these tiny things, if anyone wanted to ask. You can even see all the book covers I printed in various sizes so I could pick the ones that looked best. (Books were already shared in part one).

I also changed a few more of the “old” Victorian bits. You can see here in the wall “pieces.” The secret door behind the sliding bookcase was like a medieval castle door with a candle — that’s a city fire escape now. Scotland yard was a kid lighting the lanterns by hand. That’s just a cobblestone alley now.

Another problem was all the old-timey notices and wanted posters printed on the boards for the street area. So I thought about playbills and theater adds. So I just googled “Playbill” and found one for “Cats” (me) and “Beyond Therapy” which I thought would be a funny joke. Those went by Scotland Yard.

Now that bit of brick with the windows snuck up on me. I didn’t see it so I had not planned for it. But, I had printed a few extra things for my murder/case board that didn’t get used. So you can see I used the same two playbills, but replaced the plays with the graffiti-ed painting from “The Blind Banker” and one of the books I printed called “The Mind Palace.” So more references to the show. I had also printed the bit of graffiti the people were finding before their deaths that was a big part of the “Blind Banker” episode. So I put that up too.

And yall, I’m so tickled. I found an advert for Benedict Cumberbatch staring in London Theater’s Hamlet. So fuck yeah I put that in there. (Benedict Cumberbatch plays Sherlock in the show I’m imitating here, for those not familiar with it). I had to put stuff on there to cover up the old shit anyway, so I used it to my theme advantage. And inside jokes.

So on the second night of assembly, I tweaked a few things. I took out the lantern from the crime scene and just covered that spot with more flowers from the broken pot. And I overhauled the table inside the window.

Originally, I put the table together as intended. It’s only seen though the window in the finished build, so why bother? I used the flat 2D flower vase and candle. But naw, we’re going all out — so I exacto-knifed that candle out. Now there’s more flocked flowers in the vase (I think the package I got had 10 colors. I mixed pink and yellow here because that’s Mrs Hudson’s space). And I covered where the candle had been with letters. Including one of Moriarty’s clues from “The Game” sealed with red wax. Oh and I made a tiny package. I know that’s USPS, but I don’t care. It’s an adorable little package Mrs Hudson left for Sherlock to pick up.

So the last thing I did last night was finish up this side wall and glue it to the main piece. As you can see, I had to replace the paintings in the stairwell that I wallpapered over. I used the shiny gold marker pen for frames, so I hope they shine in the LED when it’s lit. Do you see that picture on the left? Is that the scene in the BBC Sherlock’s intro? YES IT IS.

This is fun.

Next Up:

Sherlock Booknook: Part 3

Sherlock Booknook: Part 4

Sherlock Booknook: Part 5: The Finale

Sherlock Booknook: Part 1

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After finishing up the Garden House Booknook, I wanted to do another. I looked over the dozens of options. I narrowed it down to two. One I wanted to do for the details. The other, I wanted to do for the theme. I went with the theme. Specifically: Sherlock Holmes. So I got The “Rose Detective Agency” kit.

Now, am I going to allow all the generics to stand? Fuck no. It’s not “Rose Street,” it’s “Bakers Street.” It’s not 210B, it’s 221B. So if I’m gonna edit shit, we’re going in. We’re going BBC Sherlock. Because that was the BEST Sherlock. And I’m a huge Robert Downey Jr fan, but nope — BBC Sherlock. Benedict Cumberbatch. That’s where we’re going.

I obviously can’t completely remake it. I’d have to build it from scratch, and I don’t have those skills. But I can do what they did with the show. They didn’t take away the old Victorian Sherlock Holmes, they just updated it. So I’m doing that. I’m tweaking the kit here and there. It will largely be the kit, but with some upgrades.

For instance, look at this atrocious chair. It’s front and center. It’s so FLAT. Well, with a bit of clay and paint, I can make it better:

See? I couldn’t have made that chair from scratch. But with some clay and paint, I can overhaul it. I did good, eh? I impressed myself. And all the little books!

On the left, are the books that I haven’t edited. They came with the kit. On the right, are the ones I’ve redone. I wanted to add a few brighter colors and more modern looking books with the old — much like Sherlock’s flat. Do you see that first large book? London A-Z — that’s the book they used to solve the code in Season 1, Episode 2: “The Blind Banker.” A forensics textbook. The two pink ones are “A Study in Pink” — John’s blog of the first episode. Do you see River Song’s diary from Doctor Who? A joke on “The Mind Palace” and an actual book on the “The Smoker’s Dilemma” and the benefits of Nicotine. A joke on Sherlock’s nicotine addiction. Oh yeah, I painted the page edges white too cause I can.

Oh and did I spend the majority of my day using photoshop to remake the infamous BBC Sherlock Bakers Street Wallpaper? Of course, I did! And then, I meticulously cut pieces and used ModPodge to rewallpaper the flat in the nook. I was super careful to line up the pattern. What did you do with YOUR Saturday?

I’m having fun with it. I need to find more pictures and modern newspapers to replace the old school ones that came with it. I’ve already got some cool stuff for his case board from the show. Pictures of Irene Adler, Moriarty, Mycroft, modern London, a map of the Tube. This is fun!

Next Up:

Sherlock Booknook: Part 2

Sherlock Booknook: Part 3

Sherlock Booknook: Part 4

Sherlock Booknook: Part 5: The Finale

Beetlejuice 2

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I cannot believe that we’re getting a sequel to Beetlejuice 35 years later. Not a reboot — we’ve go the original Deetz mom and daughter — original Beetlejuice — original director. And we’re ADDING Jenna Ortega and William Dafoe. How does this happen?

This Halloween is gonna be THE SHIT.

Also, if you haven’t seen Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday — you are missing out. It was fucking fantastic.

Netflix’s Polar

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It’s my fake Friday. I took a long ass nap. I’m gonna make a frozen Quest pizza and stay up super late.

Some background: I decided to do another booknook. I ordered a generic “Rose Detective Agency.” One that is clearly knocking off Sherlock. The address is 210B Rose Street. Well, that can’t stand. Clearly I’ll have to fix the address and street sign. So if I’m doing that… I might as well do some other customizations… So this led me down a Sherlock (BBC, Benedict Cumberbatch) hole. I’ve decided I’ve just got to rewatch the show for inspiration. I was going to do it this weekend.

So I find myself up late with time to kill. I’ll start my Sherlock binge early! So I pull up Netflix as I assume it’s on there. And I see this:

Interesting, maybe I’ll add it to my watch list. The description: “John Wick meets The Equalizer.” John Wick kinda already was the Equalizer over the dog, but show me more. I watched the trailer.

Well, fuck. Now I’m waiting on my pizza to be done so I can start my movie. It’s totally Mads Mikkelsen as an over-the-top John Wick. It won’t be as good, but it looks like a damn good ride. I’m down.

REVIEW:

It takes over an hour before they even inspire the guy to do any vengeance. In that hour there’s a LOT of gratuitous sex. We’re talking a LOT. Even boobs against a window at one point. The characters are just insanely over the top caricatures of villains. I’ve paused here at the 1 hour and 21 minute mark and it’s FINALLY about to get good. With only 36 minutes left — at least 6 of which is probably credits.

To even compare this to John Wick is just insulting to everyone. I feel like this movie is insulting to Mads Mikkelsen’s talent, even. I mean fuck. It better be a damn good 30 minutes.

***SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT***

Not that he should be alive at this point, having been tortured for three days and I don’t think they gave him water to drink during any of that and he’s bleeding like a lot — for three days. So very implausible — but he’s finally about to escape and do some killing. Here we go.

So he’s escaping and kicking ass. Only the occasional stop to pant to show he’s struggling. He’s even been shot in the leg by this point. He’s missing an eye — part of the 3 days of being tortured and bleeding. Like maybe if they had only tortured and starved and dehydrated him for one day, I’d give it to you. I mean give me SOMETHING to buy here. But he was literally chained up the whole time. They made a point to show him still chained on the floor before and after each torture — next to a floor drain — for the blood, of course. So like, he hasn’t even been able to go shit or anything. Much less get a drink of water. This is stupid.

And surprising left filed twist ending plus a set up for a second movie.

THUMBS DOWN. You suck, Netflix. I should have watched Sherlock.

I can’t fucking believe you DARED to compare this to John Wick. Fuck.

BookNook!

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For Christmas this year, K gave K2 and I booknooks! And the gift of making them together. It took us 2 full days a month apart, but we did it, yall! Here’s the kit I was gifted:

The Rolife Booknook and Wonderland Garden House. I’ve seen it under two brands on Amazon and non-branded on Etsy. My little stickers even had “Rolife” printed on them so I think that’s the real brand. Plus it was on the box.

We started them on February 10th. It took us a month to be able to get together again and we finished them yesterday. March 10th.

I’m pretty sure my kit was by far the easiest of the kits. But dang, yall. Miniatures are hard. Here’s me questioning if my eye doctor was correct that I should start considering bifocals. Cause good GOD. That shit is so very tiny. Of course that’s what makes the book nooks awesome. The insane amount of details. And this kit was not short on the details. Look at my little shelves!

There are little wooden books wrapped with sticker labels and spines. Flower crates, pictures with frames, tiny flower pots (all 6 pots are different), the tiniest blue rose known to man… Look at it! The window even opens and closes!

Cause, I’m extra, I did do a few changes. Especially today. One, that chair is supposed to go inside and it is just not to scale. No. It is an outside chair now. I also added some extra “area rugs” to cover the marks on the floor where things were supposed to be placed. The basket of rolled papers goes in front of the stairs. Well, that blocks the stairs! How is that functional? And the chair fills the whole thing up. I like it much better less crowded and where I can imagine walking into it. And who doesn’t like an outside chair?

I also added and switched somethings around. Originally, all of the rolls of paper were stickers rolled together. Well, I apparently can’t do that without making them look like shit. So first, I got out some nice paper I had in my craft supplies and used it instead of the bright gingham colors that came with the kit. For the ones with the flower stickers, I put the sticker on the paper and gave it a good roll with the sticker ending up on the outside. Excellent. Oh, and speaking of stickers, I love that little detail of the tulip sticker that looks like it’s a poster that is just draped/fallen over the shelf there.

All of the pictures and intricate details are stickers. Much better than having to glue paper. But MAKE NO MISTAKE, you need glue for this bitch. It doesn’t come with glue, but it is required. Thankfully, I read a review about how you have to turn it over to wire it. Literally almost the very last step is turning it over to wire it up underneath. (Better pray those lights work when you connect the wires!) So everything needs to be glued the fuck down.

The first day, we had to make do with the gorilla glue I had in a junk drawer because only K2’s kit came with glue. For our next round, I ordered fast drying craft glue and tiny pinpoint dispenser bottles so we all had a bottle. PRICELESS. Absolute requirement for this. You think that door had that “glass” in it and trim on it? NO, it didn’t not. It had to be glued on. Parts of these kits expect you to glue a piece on the wall and then stand it up immediately. EXCUSE ME? No. Also, I ordered another pair of longer tweezers. Such a necessity here. I have gorilla fingers, or something. Who the hell can pick up those micro stickers on the drawer labels? They’re so tiny they didn’t even print 1, 2, 3, 4 — they’re all “No. 1.” So, be prepared.

In my extraness, I beefed up some of the plants with fake grass blades. I also added dried moss to all the planter boxes and pots. And do you see my Peacock Ore chips as rocks on display? I threw in a big clear quartz crystal too!

Then today, I saw some of the purple flowers I had dried in my collections of rose petals and it was ON. I ripped out a lot of the 1-dimensional paper flowers and replaced them with the real dried flowers. And where I left the paper flowers (like on top of the blue bookcase), I tucked them in various nooks. It adds so much texture! I even tucked a few petals in the boots with the sprig that is totally Wall-E vibes.

There’s actually a lot of depth in here too. There’s a whole second level balcony in the back with it’s own chest and flower box on top. And a cute railing all around. It’s the layers and layers of details that make it so cool.

Well, plus the lights. The little lamp works and there’s a utility light hanging from the ceiling.

Yesterday, we were exhausted. K2 was here until 9pm. So almost 9 hours straight or work to finish them. But yall, I kinda want to make another. I don’t need one or have a place to put it — but I really enjoyed putting it together! IT’S SO PRECIOUS!

Weekend in Review

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This weekend, I made Lumalee!

The mouth is pretty jacked up, so ill probably work on that. Also, I feel like the green should have started sooner. Did I do an extra blue row or something? And how did I jack up one leg so badly? I did not notice that at all while I was making it. There are parts of it I am unhappy with, but I think it’s cute. I enjoyed making it. It was very much trust the process because it look JACKED-THE-FUCK-UP until I stuffed it. I should have taken a picture.

I really liked how the designer did the top to split it off into two points — very clever IMO. There are changes I would make if I did it again, but I won’t be doing it again. Super glad I bought an extra skein of blue because I sure did need it. I want to do a red mushroom, but I think responsibly, I should do Mario first so I know I have enough red for him first.

The Christmas blanket saga continues. But I’m honestly thinking of putting it aside. It’s not a project I am enjoying at all. I hate the yarn. I have more amigurumis I want to do — but I also really want to do a sampler blanket in greys. I could pick a yarn I actually LIKE. And each rectangle will be a different stitch. I think I’ll pick like three shades of greys — like this kit on Amazon that I am not going to buy:

1) I’ve had to buy compression gloves because working the Christmas blanket has hurt my hand.

2) I’m not enjoying it. It’s a chore, not a fun hobby.

3) The sampler blanket would let me pick a yarn I enjoy working with and that isn’t so damn hard to work with!

4) I’d get to learn a lot of new stitches. And it would keep changing up and not being a slog because once I finish one rectangle, the next would be totally different.

So yeah, thinking of putting the Christmas blanket aside for more enjoyable projects.

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Also this weekend, I washed the cars! I meant to wash mine inside and out, but I only got the outside done. But I also did Husband’s car. And I put it off for so long that I was still washing at dusk and got to see BATS IN THE BATHOUSE!

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I bought some of these camisoles at Duluth Trading. I’ve been living in them since. I would live in camisoles if I could. I get hot so easy. And if I’m cold, I can throw something on over it. But I can’t live in camisoles because I don’t like not wearing bras around people. I’m sorry, I’m an older generation and I don’t like my nipples showing. My boobs are awesome and do not need support — but I still have pointy nipples. Also, my mom was always braless at home growing up and it embarrassed me. Sorry mom. I wouldn’t have worn bras 24/7 either for my kids. Fuck that.

Anyway — these camisoles have the worthless “shelf bra” built in. BUT BUT BUT — with PADDED CUPS.

Holy fuck, it’s like I unlocked a new life reward. The camisole stays in place — no nip slips. and also NO POINTY NIPPLES.

Yall, they were on sale and I bought one of every color. And when the season changes, I’m gonna see if they have more colors and buy them too. You think I’m kidding? Husband is reading this thinking I spend too much money — honey, have you noticed me wearing that purple one, then the grey one, and now this teal one? Have you seen me wear anything else for like over a week? Do I have too many camisoles? Fuck yes. Burn all the others if you want to use that line of thinking. These are all I want now.

I can go out to the mailbox. My sister slept over and I didn’t have to put on a bra. I can answer the door if needed. No bras or robes required. I can live in my camisole now. It’s fucking amazing. BUY THIS SHIT (Clicky). 10 out of 10, 5 stars all the way.

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EDIT: FUCK, How could I forget? I started my first ever seed babies!

It’s all lemongrass. Lemongrass is crazy expensive, I learned last year. SO I’m just seeding a fuckton of it. It keeps mosquitoes away. I’m also gonna try to grow pumpkins this year!

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Crochet pattern by AzeliaCrochet.

Review: Dremel Storage Box

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Two reviews in one day? WTF? I know. But in my last post, I mentioned modifying my rock display stands with my Dremel. Which reminded me that I love my Dremel and the case I got for it.

I mean come on, Dremels are awesome. You can cut wood, plastic, metal – etch glass, sand anything, polish, grind stuff down, drill holes, sharpen your lawn mower blades (I don’t know why I have that attachment). So versatile! It’s not something you use everyday, but it is a life saver. It’s like “oh I have this problem! Whatever shall I do?” “I have a Dremel.“

So the last time I used it for a big project was redoing the mailbox post. We moved our mailbox but I still wanted a house number stand out on the street. A fancy one. I was shopping for them and then thought — damn, I have a nice post out there — it just has a damn mailbox on it. It’s a nice cast iron post my neighbor let us have after mailbox 3.0 (or somewhere in there) went down. And those posts were expensive. So I looked it over and realized the box was only held on by brackets. Cast-iron brackets, but I have a Dremel! And a 100 foot extension cord! So I sawed the brackets off, used the grinding bits to even it up, a new coat of shiny black paint and added a house number plaque! Wha la!

Now after this wonderfulness, I realized, my Dremel deserved better. I’ve done other big projects with it (my nativity creche) but only had it in an open box in the garage on the shelves. So there might have been a ton of dust and a little rat poop in the box with everything… Sorry, dude. So I went looking for storage and I found this box. The “Portable Tool Box – Small Parts Organizer with Drawers and Customizable Compartments for Hardware, Fishing Tackle, Beads or Crafts by stalwart (Green)”. I’ve seen it in lots of other colors, but I like green.

The top is the perfect size for my Dremel with extension attached and a huge pair of safety goggles. I have to have big googles to fit over my cateye glasses. It’s a perfect fit! I even tossed in the manuals in an envelope. The envelope looks fancy but it’s really because they were filthy and bent up from the terrible storage before…

Then, when you open up the front, you have access to 4 individual latching tackle boxes. These are perfect because the short dividers are not permanently set, so you can move them around to make the compartments the size you need.

And yall know, the Dremel comes with a ton of shit. I mean it does do EVERYTHING. I’ve got one tray for attachments. One for sanding, one for more sanding and also polishing, one for cutting and grinding. Look at all this organized shit:

So when I needed to cut some metal last night, I went out to my garage and grabbed my green box. It also has a big sticker that says “Fuck” on it because it’s mine. All my shit was right there. It wasn’t dusty. I didn’t have to look around for what I needed. I even had my safety glasses right there to remind me to use them. It’s perfect.

5 stars, highly recommend. I love organization.

Review: Adjustable Metal Arm Display Stand Easel with Acrylic Base

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It’s been a while since I did an Amazon review. I worked on customizing these last night, so I’m going to review them. But, this means you get a preview of some of my new rock collection additions. I’m going to make a post more about those soon. I’m waiting until some more things come in too so that you get the full scoop. But that’s later. For NOW, Lets review: Amazon’s “4 Pcs Adjustable Metal Arm Display Stand Easel with Acrylic Base Rock Display Easel Holder Acrylic Easel Crystal Display Stand Clear Plate Stand for Geodes Mineral Agate (2 x 2 x 3.5 Inch)”

I’m torn between giving this 4 or 5 stars. In the end, I’m super happy with these. That said, I did do some heavy modifications on them.

My rock collection is small samples. My shelves are 2 inches deep and about 3 inches high. So my display samples are small. These were the smallest stands I could find. I love the super clean clinical look. It doesn’t take away from the stone at all. I like that adjustable arms can be moved to hold different stones. I love the clean look. I don’t want to just set a rock on the shelf. I want it displayed and labeled. I want a clean organized collection. Not just a pile of rocks.

So I thought these would be perfect. They almost were. Hence my considering 4 stars. If I were to use them as is, the only issue I have is the insanely tight fit in the base. One, I couldn’t get all the way in. I pushed on the top peg only and it pushed through the others. So then I pushed down on the lower pegs and that was enough to tear the thin metal wrapping them together. Not noticeable displayed on the shelf, but disappointing. It’s still just not fully inserted.

Now, another fact is that I heavily tweaked these. I need my specimens plus the stand to be around 3 inches. The stand actually holds the specimens a decent height off the shelf. I can’t measure this for you as I’ve already altered mine. I used my Dremel with a metal cutting wheel to take the height off the bottom (Dremels are magic). This allows the lower pegs to sit closer to the acrylic base.

This made me happy for some of my specimens, but wasn’t working for displaying the smaller slices and stones. They wanted to lay down because the arms are over 2 inches long. Time to get out the pliers. I was able to bend the back peg forward according to each stones need to display it exactly as I wanted (see picture). It’s a thick peg so it did require a bit of force.

Now they’re perfect! I added a tiny label to the acrylic and these look great on my shelves! Here are the 4 I ordered and tweaked (see picture). I’m very happy with the final result. I will buy again, but they need modification. I was also very disappointed in the one that tore the metal wrap when I tried to get it in the base. So I’m knocking it down the 4 stars.