Project33: The First Car Ever Built Online

Merry Christmas!

I love the holidays! I love the food and treats, a crackling wood fire with it's hickory scent in the air, the festive decorations and glistening lights and the crunch of fresh snow beneath my feet. Fortunately or unfortunately, there's not a flake of snow on the ground this year. We don't have many open winters so this takes some adjustment.

I know this probably sounds strange but I love to decorate for the holidays. I take on each project with a plan of attack and the right TOOLS. Just give me my safety wire pliers, some ribbon and wire and I'm a Holiday Decorating Machine! RRR!

When I'm dead and gone I think it would be way cool to be remembered as a guy who shared the building of his street rod with the rodding community. (or pioneer, visionary, master mechanic and all around nice guy ;-) If that doesn't happen I'm hoping to cover my bases by making a name for myself as the Martha Stewart of Street Rodding. (minus the insider trading stuff ;)

Nice garland and bows, eh?

Safety wire pliers make anchoring the greenery a breeze. If you don't spin it completely tight you won't damage the woodwork. A wire sniper removes the decorations when you're ready to put them away. TIP: If you use faux greenery, leave the cut wire on the garland to mark your mounting points for next year.

Want to know a great way to surprise your wife or girlfriend?
If either of you collect Snow Village™ (or a similar set) grab a 4x8 sheet of 2" while Styrofoam at you local lumberyard, your utility knife and a sharp serrated bread knife.

You can layer and sculpt the Styrofoam into hills and valleys. You can easily carve stairs, roads, footprints and tire tracks to the Styrofoam for a realistic (snow covered) diorama.

Aluminum foil with some "fake snow flakes" or chopped up paper sprinkled over it resembles a frozen pond. Plan your wiring in advance to hide all wires from sight.

My wife's sister owns a gift shop so we've collected a new piece every year for as long as I can remember. The best part about the collection is that it (thanks to a little persuasion on my part) includes a service station, classic cars and trucks, a tow truck, gas pumps and a Harley Davidson dealership. You won't find any prissy florists or dress shops in our collection! :)

The key is to keep it a surprise and do it while she's away. Clean up the mess before she gets back. If you don't, the surprise will work against you. The Styrofoam "beads" go everywhere and stick to everything! The good part is they vacuum up easily. You DON'T want her to see the mess or it will be worse than the time she caught you baking your exhaust headers in the oven!

Several small dioramas placed throughout the house are more festive than one large one. You can group various building types to create realistic neighborhoods and scenes. I use 12-gauge electrical wire as railings. The white, black, and copper wires allow different color railings for different scenes. A metal coat hanger will also work in a pinch. Be prepared to spend about ten dollars (US) for supplies.

In my case the end pay-off in the "happy wife department" made it the deal of the season ;)

So how am I doing? Have I aced that "Martha Stewart of Street Rodding" title yet? :)

Next month find out how you can make decorative doilies from used sanding discs! (get a grip - I'm only kidding! :)

There are some cool things in the works for Project33 that will be shared here in the near future. I don't want to let the "cat out of the bag" quite yet so this Progress Update contained zip for information where that's concerned but oh well, it can wait - it's Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

~~Martha~~ Scooter 😊