Thread: Ever notice how the simplest projects...

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turn out to be the biggest pain in the ass?!?

I've had two bluckies sitting around since last year, waiting to be fitted with pvc. I got everything I needed on Monday, came home, figured I'd have 'em knocked out in a couple of hours. Here it is Friday and I'm still working on 'em!
I keep making the stupidest mistakes. I cut a piece three times instead of two, so that leaves me short about 4 inches and I'll have to buy another ten foot length just to get four inches. Not much money spent but still...
The plastic is very soft and cuts too easily so I have to go very slowly. Then it splits up the seam anyway...
I put an upper arm piece where a lower arm piece should go, or is it vice versa? Anyway...

I'm about to scrap the whole thing and use them as a pile of bones!

Thanks for letting me vent!

Same thing happens to me. i always think "ok I'm gonna throw this together and it will be good enough for now" and then I get hung up and details and end up spending weeks making it perfect when i already didnt have the extra time.....

And so goes the wonderful world of "do it yourself". LOL

"This is easy, I'll just use wire!"

"This mache is dry enough, doncha think?"

"Wow. There's Monster Mud in my ears... and my hair - oh, okay, it's falling from the ceiling."

"Not a single store has foam or exterior latex paint... in the county. Nope, not there. Yeah, I've been to both locations."

"I knocked over the china cabinet and I think everything in it is broken, honey. What? Because hot glue gun tips hurt, that's why. Ya sure, now ask if I'm okay..."

"Yeah, just the other day I snapped a blade in a pumpkin, a chef's knife, about 70 dollars worth of steel. I looked around for the pliers to pull it out, and guess what? We don't have any pliers. So I'm just sittin' here, staring at this pumpkin with this shard of steel sticking out of it, drinkin' a beer and thinkin' of Christmas."

"Sweetie, whatcha makin'?"
"I don't know anymore. I don't know why I'm still doing this or what it's gonna be, but if I don't finish, whatever finishing is, I'll have to burn down the house to erase my memory of it."

Oh that's really bad when you start thinking about christmas lol

The worse part of pain in the butt props is that you tend to forget about them from year to year.
For instance, hubby made a devil that popped out from behind a bush. After having his devilsh head fly off three times (and I was the one who had to fix the head) he realizes that he forgot to adjust the valve thing on the cylinder.
Do you think he rememberd that little detail the next time he did a pneumatic prop??? NO!
He broke the pvc pipe on the body of the werewolf 2 times before he thought, yeah I need to adjust the amt of air coming out!
So this year we're going to have a pneumatic coffin....I'm putting a sticky note on it reminding him to check the valve

MsM

Originally Posted by Spats

"This is easy, I'll just use wire!"

"This mache is dry enough, doncha think?"

"Wow. There's Monster Mud in my ears... and my hair - oh, okay, it's falling from the ceiling."

"Not a single store has foam or exterior latex paint... in the county. Nope, not there. Yeah, I've been to both locations."

"I knocked over the china cabinet and I think everything in it is broken, honey. What? Because hot glue gun tips hurt, that's why. Ya sure, now ask if I'm okay..."

"Yeah, just the other day I snapped a blade in a pumpkin, a chef's knife, about 70 dollars worth of steel. I looked around for the pliers to pull it out, and guess what? We don't have any pliers. So I'm just sittin' here, staring at this pumpkin with this shard of steel sticking out of it, drinkin' a beer and thinkin' of Christmas."

"Sweetie, whatcha makin'?"
"I don't know anymore. I don't know why I'm still doing this or what it's gonna be, but if I don't finish, whatever finishing is, I'll have to burn down the house to erase my memory of it."

Thanks for sharing, Spats! I needed the laugh!

I'm now thinking my bluckie project may become my "pile of bones" prop. Every graveyard needs a pile of assorted bones, right?

All the stuff I'm getting will be pretty much all home made except for a very few things (which came to £15.) This is because I'm broke.

I made a trivia game, which was easy... and a pass the parcel with sweets, which will be easy... However, my papier mache pumpkin party favours are really difficult. The glue takes hours upon hours to dry fully so I can only apply three layers a day. Luckily I still have a month and a bit til halloween, so they should be done by then, but it's been really tedious.

One of the MANY reasons we start building in January.
Ideas and plans are made, and then... things change. Work, clients, weather, the fur babies, and of course INJURIES happen! Even with advanced planning things go awry... gremlins.... they are every where.... Hang tuff! Don't bag the bones!

Well gosh, this makes me feel better - I thought it was just me and my limited DIY skills that make every 45 minute project take 4 hours!

Only yesterday I spent close to 2 hours just to find a tool to split the seam on the back of a plastic skull; Xacto knife came apart, Utility knive's blade broke off in the skull (at least I had pliers!), wire cutters useless. Finally tracked down the Dremmel drill, and spent over 30 minutes loosening the nut to change out the appliance head. But it cut the plastic, by golly!

Now I just have to open up 12 skulls, mount them on torches and link them with C-7 light strings to construct my flickering flame tiki skull path markers.

But I am thrilled because my mock-up looked awesome! What else could go wrong????

I think that all projects like this quickly become a time sink, it never fails. I make sure to leave myself many months when possible. :P