MY BIG BACKYARD...
Recently got on a hiking kick. Here's a few pics of some of our latest excursions. I really love Beacon and am stoked that all of these trails are so close.
These first pics are from Breakneck Ridge...


















Then, a week later we visited Fishkill Ridge...

COLUMBIA TRIBUNE PROJECT GETS UNDERWAY...
Here are the first few pics of the Columbia restoration.
This bike needed a lot more work than the previous Schwinn. I show you guys all the fun pics, but before any work can be done the bike has to be disassembled and go through a serious clean up. This entails everything from grinding, sanding, steel wool, degreasing, etc. This bike in particular was so rusted in some spots that I actually had to drill out a few bolts and rivets.
Once all that's done the fun begins...
Had to do a little patch work on the fenders. I'm getting pretty good with Bondo. You really have to sand it down as smooth as possible because just the slightest bump, divit, etc shows up in paint. The edges of the fenders were nicked up and rusted bad so I spent a bit of time smoothing and rounding them back out.


Decided to switch up the color a bit on the restoration. Michelle actually picked out this great pistachio color. On both this bike and the Schwinn I wanted to stay fairly close to the original but not get too caught up in to matching the original perfectly. I like to add my own extra touches whether it be paint, accessories, or whatever.

Here is the finished painted fork complete with fork darts!


The fenders cleaned up amazing. You cant even tell there was any patch work done. Here is the rear fender with finished paint.

Here is the horn tank with finished paint.


Frame masked and painted... almost finished.

Front fender with finished paint.

WINDOW SHOPPING
This post is a little late, but I'm still trying to get caught up. Here is another of my projects from this past winter. This is the winter store display for my girlfriend Michelle's consignment store

Blackbird Attic

This project was a lot of fun. I love decorating for the holidays, and the fact that it was a store display allowed us to go a little over the top.
I painted the tree silhouettes right on the window and then scratched off the line detail with a razorblade. The fabric tree was made out of chicken wire paper and fabric. We got the idea from a store display we had seen online.

I thought it was cool how the tree wrapped around the wall on to the ceiling. Also hung some snowflakes and ornaments from the ceiling.

The idea was to create one warm indoor cozy window and another cold blustery winter wonderland type window. Here is the indoor scene. I built the fireplace from scratch by cutting and reshaping cardboard boxes. Then I spray painted it red, black, and cream for the trim. The brick "mortar" is actually masking tape.


My family is insane about wrapping gifts. They've always been so particular and perfect with their gift presentation. The paper had to be perfectly creased, bows had to be just so, with ornaments and extra flair hanging off of each gift. So I guess this is just a little something I picked up over the years myself.



If you follow my blog you probably recognize a few of the "props" from my bedroom. We took a few things from our woodsy bedroom decor and incorporated them in to this display.





...and a little spray snow tops it all off!