Designer Love: Below the Boat

I’m always on the lookout for cool laser cut or etched projects, so when I found these great wooden maps of U.S. lakes from Below the Boat, I was blown away. They’re made to be bathymetric charts (the underwater equivalent of a topographic map), so each layer is laser cut as its own piece and then glued.

Of course the Great Lakes maps are the best looking, but maybe I’m biased?

map-great_lakes
Full map of the Great Lakes

Straights of Mackinac
Straights of Mackinac

map-lake_washington
Lake Washington

Mount Desert Island
Mount Desert Island

All images from Below the Boat.

Trevor

Dream Desks

With the holidays over, I’m back to selfishly building things for myself. In my last apartment, my desk was just a board in the wall and while it served me well, I think I’m ready to upgrade. I’ve picked out the wood and am ready to build, but for now, here are some of my desk inspirations.

reclaimed wood desk
Reclaimed wood desk from Sugar Scout

Drafting Table
Drafting table from Blood and Champagne

Antique Desk
Antique desk from Ducôté du Design

Wall-Mount Desk
Wall-mount desk from Digs Digs

Double Desk
Reclaimed wood desk for two from Urban Good Woods

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Children’s Circus Blocks

An addition to the A-Frame dollhouse I built for my niece, the other Christmas present I spent some time working on this year were these wooden circus-themed blocks for Mary’s nephew, Henry.

I made similar blocks for my niece last Christmas, but this time I used an orange wood so the lettering and pictures would stand out more against the wood. I also laser-etched them to save myself some time and give them a much cleaner look. The laser-etching allowed me to do much more detailed images too.

Henry Blocks blocks - close up

 

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Gift Guide: Holiday Ornaments

There are so many fun and interesting holiday ornaments that I decided to post a few here as part of our gift guide. Enjoy!

paper mittens
Papercut Mittens from Sarah Louise Matthews

holiday kittens
Christmas Cats from Old World Primitive

wooden animals
Woodland Ornaments from Pipo Doll

victorian ornaments
Victorian Tintype Ornaments from Fine Vintage Goods

glass ornament
Antique Glass Ornament from Put Family First

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Detroit Metro Times

Last week’s issue of the Detroit Metro Times included a gift guide that featured What Good Have I Done Today, displaying both our Phrenology Puzzle and Buildings of Detroit Puzzle!

The link to the online article is here and I put a photo of the magazine below. Thanks to Detroit Metro Times for including us!

 

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Ampersands

It occurred to me today that I never posted these wooden ampersands I made over the summer. I used the laser cutter to cut them out, which, because of how thick the wood was, took running the laser through them many times until it finally cut all the way into the wood.

Originally they were just going to be pieces to sell, but they may end up finding their way into a wedding decoration.

ampersands

 

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Designer Love: Sean Woolsey

I recently found and became obsessed with the work of furniture-maker and craftsman, Sean Woolsey. As I get ready to take my first welding class on Friday, and with plans to build a nightstand, kitchen table, and desk in the near future, I know I’ll be drawing a lot of inspiration from his work.

SW-FURNITURE-DRAFTING1

 

SW-FURNITURE-DRAFTING2

 

SW-SIDETABLE3

 

SW-LAMP-ARIZA2

 

SW-FURNITURE-HAZEN

 

All images from Sean Woolsey

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Southwestern Coasters

Mary and I collaborated on a project recently, making some Southwestern-themed wooden coasters. Mary designed them in Illustrator, and then I laser-etched them and cut them out. I only made an initial test-batch so far, but we’ll soon be making more for our Etsy store.

coasters - full set

 

coasters - arrow and triangle

 

coasters - zig zag and filled triangles

 

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Michigan Cutting Board

A coworker recently commissioned me to make a Michigan cutting board for her friend’s wedding and I remembered this great cutting board tutorial from Design Sponge. I took the basic plans, changed the shape to an upper and lower peninsula, and now her friend has a new cutting board for his wedding this weekend.

Michigan cutting board

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More Rulers – Hometown Style

I liked the way my Detroit rulers turned out well enough that I decided to make another set to represent my hometown of Ypsilanti, Michigan, along with the town’s slogan “Pride. Diversity. Heritage.” Also, it will make a good belated Mother’s Day gift.

Ypsilanti Ruler 1

Ypsilanti Ruler 2

If you’d like a ruler with your own hometown, feel free to request one as a custom order in our Etsy store!

Trevor