This Weekend I Made: DIY Magic Wands, a Table from Trash, and Some Seriously Tasty Kimchi

I was lucky enough to escape town on Thursday and Friday, and get in a tiny trip before the official end of summer and at least pretend like I got to go on vacation. So, after a day of seriously awesome roller coasting and generally ignoring work related things, I came home rested, refreshed, and ready to make stuff. So I did.

Magic Wands. A few months ago, my uncle picked up a very old lathe from a friend who’s dad owned it before he passed away. My uncle offered it to me, and it took a bit to get things working again, but I finally got it running and all the collets and morse tapers figured out, and fired it up. 

It should here be noted that I have never used a lathe, and had zero idea what I was doing. So, I started with some blocks from the scrap bin, and just started learning to use the tools. I wasn’t really ready to turn something useful, so I just took my time spinning down different spindles and tapers, and just learning what’s possible. By the time I was done, I had some pretty thin cylinders that, well, resembled a magic wand. So, though I’m no geek crafter or con attender, I thought my niece and nephew might like to have a wand each to stupefy and expelliarmus each other, so I finished ’em as such. You guys, turning is fun, and delightfully messy. Expect more projects soon.

Upcycled Table. I also got a chance to hang with my buddy Matt Barnes, who’s a great artist and expert dumpster diver. He has a very fine (read: enormous) collection of used and reclaimed materials about his home, and so we snagged this old Sunkist orange crate and made a table using scrap dimesional lumber and some old rusty hardware. And it opens to show your secret stash!

(Pardon the photos… the sun had gone down by the time we finished)

Kimchi. I’m in love with pickling and fermenting stuff at home, and this weekend was all about traditional cabbage kimchi and some pickled red onions. I used the recipe I wrote for ReadyMade last year (sniff), but something special happened to this batch, and it turned out amazing. Perhaps the weather and temperature were just right to make it work.

So, what’d you do? Please share in the comments below.