Seussical Bathtub

Almost done - just needs a showerhead (my coworker has promised to figure that part out) and claw feet... and since this is Seussical, I was thinking the claw feet should really look like real feet with claws. I don't have the plywood on hand at home, so that's a job for next week.  Not much to tell for this prop.  I started by making a drawing:

And then we put it on the computer and shot the image onto the plywood (using an old overhead projector, I think, but I didn't do this part, so I'm not really sure), then cut it out with a jib saw, wood puttied the large knot holes and sanded it well.  Then I took it home and painted it with about 3 coats of plain white.  I redrew my lines after each coat because they would have been covered after 2 coats.   Then on the 3rd coat, I painted a thick strip of white where I wanted my darkened areas, dabbed on the purple and blue in very thin lines, and then smeared/blended the color into the white.  This worked fairly well, but you have to work FAST.  This is latex paint and it's dry in the house now that the heat is on.  

If I was doing this again, I'd redo the mouth of the bathtub to look more like the black lines in the drawing but hey, I've got loads of projects on my plate.  I'm off to work on the next one.  

Seussian Piano

You know the scoop - we're doing Seussical Jr. this year and I need to make a bunch of Dr. Seuss Style props.  This is the piano.

I found a picture I liked on Pinterest and then I bought 4 sheet of 1/2 inch plywood and 4 8-foot 2x3s.

I had Home Depot cut the plywood exactly in half to make 2 four foot squares and then I used my BRAND NEW jig saw to cut a funky shape out of one of them.  Then I traced that shape on the other one.  Can I digress now and tell you that cutting with a jig saw is kind of like sewing with a sewing machine?  Only with wood?  It is.  Trust me. 

I had my hubby cut the 2x3's for me.  I used 12 inch spacers to separate the front of the piano from the back, and 10 inch pieces for the keyboard.  Each "foot" is 30 inches and each leg (from the keyboard down) is 28 inches.   Here are some pictures:

No one helped me put it together, so I used a chair to hold the plywood up while I drilled holes for the screws. It was a little tedious, but it worked.  

I made a curved line where I wanted to keyboard the screwed in those pieces first. 

 Then I attached the spacers 

I attached the pieces on the bottom with L brackets - really because I should have done that first, and also I didn't have screws that were long enough.

I added the cardboard keyboard, and then the cardboard sides and top.

I duct taped the keyboard down...

... and I duct taped the edges for that cartoon-like look.  More finishing touches soon - going to bed - TIRED!

Here's a picture of the finished piano - I had intentions of adding more details, but I ran out of time.