I’ve always wanted a couch table, it adds that extra seating behind your couch and doubles the seating capacity of the room. Functionality wise it’s amazing! Whether you have guests over or you just want to eat, drink and watch a game while feeling like you’re at a bar.
Material:
2 – 1in x 10in x 10Ft Boards used for the top
5 – 2 x 3 boards. This cut down on weight but still plenty strong. )I wish I got 1 or 2 more boards)
Like always, I started building this before I had a chance to remember to document it. So this is where it starts. All in all, this build cost about $80-90, that is wood, screws and stain. Wood is super expensive right now!
I first cut all my pieces for the frame which measured 8ft long, 36in high, and 19in deep. On the top of my frame, there is a single piece of 2×3 that runs down the middle, not the best design but was necessary for support, if I had more wood I would have done a normal box frame for the top.
Once all the pieces were ut I added trim to the top. I also covered any holes with Super glue and wood shavings.
I had a jar of black paint which worked out perfectly for the frame.
I added a wood stain to the top, looks great but doesnt match bar stools. I’m going to take of those tops and paint them white.
One of my favorite tools in illustrator is the shape builder tool. It can be hard to visualize and then draw an object but using the shape builder tool allows you to create something otherwise hard to draw.
Helpful Hint: Using the option key on a mac allows you to remove or delete an object.
Illustrators rotate tool, ok cool I can rotate things. Yes, you can use the rotate tool to rotate objects but that’s not the only thing. In this short tutorial, I’ll show you how to use illustrators rotate tool to rotate objects around a new center point and even quickly duplicate objects around a single point to make cool designs.
The smoke effect can be used for so many designs. I have put together my top 3 favorite photoshop smoke tutorials. All 3 of these tutorials are different ways of using and creating smoke, I hope you enjoy!
In this photoshop photo effects tutorial, learn how to add smoke effect to the photos easily in Photoshop. We will use clouds and gaussian blur filter to achieve this effect. Full tutorial.
Enjoy some custom vector graveyard icons! Included in the file is an illustrator file with all icons you see in the picture. There is enough to get you started building your own graveyard!
All Hallows’ Eve, the best holiday of the year! Decorating can be expensive and overwhelming and if you’re like me, you like to do things yourself. Decorating for Halloween this year we decided to create a graveyard in our front yard, so we went to our local Halloween store, started getting supplies, and $300 dollars later!!!!! we had the makings of a good graveyard set up.
A good portion of the money spent was on the graveyard fencing which was $35 for a 5-6 foot section and we got two ($70). Its MDF, so it should last but it really bothered me paying for this when I could have easily built it. Well, when I got home I realized I needed more fence….game time!
Below is the store bought fence to mimic. Some boards…some rope…thats it.
I went to home depot and picked up some of these cedar panels for $.98 a board, for this fence I used 7 boards which I spanned over the length of about 6 feet.
For this project, I’m going to steal a couple of ideas from the fencing I bought from the Halloween store, in particular the cutout for the top(esthetics) and bottom(stake for the ground).
I cut some of the boards to 30″ and some to 28″, none of them in fact have to be any of these sizes, they can all be different this will help the illusion of it looking old rickety. I first cut the bottom into a triangle and then cut into the shape below which is around 1″ to 1.5″ wide. This will allow you the posts into the ground.
Next, I cut the tops into zig-zag shapes to make it look worn and broken. I did however leave to of the boards normal which act as my “gate” even though it doesn’t function like a gate. Once I had everything cut to size, I laid it all out and began to staple into place using 1″ staples and connecting the boards together with Natural Sisal Rope.
This was a little difficult as some of the staples didnt want to stay in place. It’s important to stagger the fencing so it looks crooked, as though its going to fall.
Success! All stapled and connecte with rope Looks weird doesnt?
Added bonus…it rolls up nicely for storage!
Turned out pretty cool! I added some orange lights and at night it looks amazing!
The DIY halloween fencing doesnt blend in to well with the store bought fencing, especially during the day. I really wish I had just made all the fencing and never purchased any. I plan to get some vinegar and steel wool and age the fencing a little, should help. Also with these being cedar they will hold up to the elements and also age well over time!
With a home made wood stain, I managed to make the fence look older and helped blend it in. For the stain put vinegar and some steel wool in a jar, put the lid on and shake, let sit for 24 hours or more, apply with brush.
If you’re like me you have a small backyard covered in concert with only a few options to plant a garden. Planter beds are the go-to for people with limited space or just want more control. In this post, I will show you how I built some simple garden boxes.
Below are some supplies and tools but feel free to make this to your own requirements. This isnt a tutorial but more a baseline to help you get started.
Supplies& Tools
Cedar Fence Boards 6ft – (7) boards per garden box
Screws
2×4 wood 6ft – (4)
Painters Plastic
Circular Saw
Nail Gun
Drill
Wood Glue
First step I cut all the tops off the cedar fence, this is unnecessary but will give you a cleaner look. I wanted these planter boxes to be as big as possible so mine are almost the full length of the 6ft fence board.
Step Two I attached the cedar boards to the 2×4 legs, starting with the top board. These will be used as the Front and Back of the garden box. I chose to use only 2 boards, which I think is plenty but you could certainly go 3 deep for more room.
Step Three Now that you have your front and back assembled, the sides are easy to attach. Cut to the desired size and attach it to the 2×4 legs. Its taking shape fast!
Step Four Support. These cedar fence boards are pretty flimsy and I decided to add some support. First I cut two small pieces of scrap wood for both the front and back and used the nail gun to connect them. Then I got some leftover 2×4 boards, cut them to size, and screwed them into the middle. This added a lot more support and will prevent bowing of the board once filled with soil.
Starting to come together….. I also ended up adding more support boards on the sides, between the legs. This was a big help for connecting the bottom of the planter box.
Steph 5 Adding the bottom. I found this to be the most difficult. There really didn’t seem to be a perfect way of doing it so I grabbed extra fence boards and connected them to my center and side supports. Now since I’m adding plastic liner this didn’t need to be perfect but I wanted enough gaps so that I could cut the plastic for drainage.
Lined the inside with painters plastic and used staples to hold it in place. The main purpose of this was to maintain the wood so that it wouldn’t get to wet and rot over time.
Thats it!! Turned out good for my first planter boxes.
Drop Dead dual strike where do I start…I’ll start with being brutally honest. When I first downloaded this game and played it, I tried to return it after about 10 mins. Let me explain, before playing Drop Dead I had just come from playing Pistol Whip and was use to that fast-paced type of gameplay. I almost didn’t give it time to be different and I’m really glad I did. Drop Dead is an Arcade style VR game that is a fun, not scary.
The campaign mode is ok, it starts off pretty slow. There is 15 levels per difficulty tier and 3 tiers total. The levels seem to be the same but each tier is harder, with slight changes like guns and bad guys.
What makes me coming back to this game over and over is its co-op horde mode! It’s about as much fun as you can have on VR with a friend and its not easy to master. One negative is there is only 4 levels on horde mode, I pray this changes with an update, it would be so cool to have more levels. Gameplay is a lot of fun and what makes it fun is the gun variety and loads of zombie variations. This game can be frustrating mainly in part because of two factors, gun loading, and guns disappearing when not used. This adds to the difficulty of the game, there is nothing more nerve racking than being eaten by zombies and having your gun jam!
If you love arcade shooters and have a friend or two with a VR set that you can play with, this game will be a huge hit for you!
Pistol Whip
Pistol Whip is a John Wick movie come to life! It’s loaded with up-tempo beats, retro game style, and intuitive gameplay. Pistol whip isn’t about creating a character and adventuring out to save the world. It’s simple in design and gameplay. You are there to do one thing and one thing only and that’s shoot everything in sight!
Each scene is basic. You move on a rail-guided system down a color-coordinated scene, gun in hand, as dark figures step out of the shadows and try and kill you first. Your job is to shoot them before they shoot you.
Everything about pistol whip VR is done correctly. It’s easy to start, hard to master and overall fun. What’s crazy is what a work out this game can be! On Medium and Hard mode I will be in full sweat! This game has great reliability and what makes people come back besides trying to master the game is the constant FREE updates….that’s right I said FREE! New levels added all the time.
Pistol whip is geared toward Adrienne junkies and john wick wannabe’s! If you want high energy and to kick ass this game is a must! This probably has the best single VR replayablity out of all quest games.
I Expect You To Die
This game is a must-own and so far one of my favorite of the quest. If you enjoy escape room type puzzles or general problem solving this game is for you. I expect you to die is a virtual reality puzzle game that sets you in a James bond era secret agent world. Its your job to get out of sticky situations and attempt to survive by using your problem-solving skills and wits.
I haven’t played too many puzzle type games on the quest except for moss and fisherman’s tale, in my opinion this game blows both of them out of the water. I found moss to be very beautiful but repetitive and fisherman’s tale clever but very easy and probably for a much younger age group.
This game is perfect for anyone who loves escape rooms and puzzle type games. I wish it never ended!
The Thrill of the Fight
This is boxing period. What a fantastic job by the developers making a simple, realistic boxing game, bravo! This is the only true boxing game on the quest at the moment. There is another game called Creed but that is a pure arcade game and not realistic in anyway.
This game has two main modes: boxing matches and training.
Training mode gives you a few options from a heavy bag, speed bag, to a punching dummy. This is where you really get a sense of the punching mechanics of this game. It really is impressive punching something that’s not there but feeling it.
Boxing is simple. 1 on 1 boxing matches with entry level to difficult opponents, no campaign or story mode just boxing. What’s fun about this game is it’s as realistic in its movements as you can be on VR and will live up to anyone with real boxing experience. My biggest take away from this however is the WORKOUT! I’m in my mid 30’s in decent shape and 1 or 2 rounds I’m dying!! Every single time I play I’m sweating and sore the next day, it’s insane!
This game is a must have for anyone who wants a solid work out and loves boxing.
I’ve always wanted to try a VR headset but the only real opportunity I’ve had is one of those public stands you walk by at a trade show or mall and I wasn’t about to subject myself to look dumber than I already am.
Fortunately enough for me my work purchased a few of the Oculus Quest’s as giveaway promotions…FINALLY I was able to get my hands on one. I was certainly excited to try one but I was not prepared for how amazing it really was.
Most VR sets I was familiar with required a very expensive and power computer that you are plugged into. Not the Quest. It’s wireless, meaning no cables and everything you need is in your hands and on your face.
The second you put on the Quest you are greeted with a setup screen indication you need to create a boundary or as Oculus calls it a Guardian, which is very intuitive and simple to set up. Being inside of the Quest feels like you have just plugged in to Professor X’s Cerebro room in X-men or other words a giant, almost infinite dome in which you are the center.
First Steps
The first thing you do or should do is the getting started tutorial called “First Steps” and I must say this is by far the most intuitive, natural feeling tutorial I have ever done. Not since the iPhone has something been so user friendly. I’ve had everyone from kids, to older folks, to people who dont know anything about technology take these “First Steps” with out asking a single question on how to do it or with out any trouble which is amazing and a feat in itself.
This interactive tutorial is beautifully executed. You stand in a open futuristic, cartoonish world in front of a desk full of toys you can play with. The purpose of this is to become familiar with the controllers, within a minute these controllers feel as natural as your own hands and after a few minutes you forget you are even holding them. One thing that really blew me away was how everything interacted with everything. I was trying to find flaws in the tutorial but I couldn’t…and after ten or more minutes you completely forget your even in a VR set.
Youtube
I think one of the coolest features about VR and owning these headsets is the amount of free content on youtube. One of my favorite free 360 VR youtube video has to be Dreams of Dali: 360º Video. It is absolutely amazing and just gives you a taste of whats possible with VR.
In conclusion this is such an amazing product and such a perfect first step in VR for the masses. One thing I couldn’t help think about is that I paid more than twice what the Oculus Quest costs for my iPhone. For $399 or even $499 it feels like an absolute steal of a price and is worth every penny.
