What a lovely shade of blue...on the kitchen floor??

Well, it was bound to happen. After more than forty years of painting something, walls, floors, ceilings, and, ah yes, cornholes, a can of paint gets dumped.

Luckily it was a quart. Or nowadays, it is a 29 ounce can. Notice that you don't buy quarts anymore. You buy LESS. Like tissue, and ice cream, and anything prepackaged. It is now less than it was.

So, we don't raise prices. We just get less for the same money, which means they raised prices without telling you they raised prices. And all that having to redo the packages. Hope they are made in America. That means the new American jobs are "redoing what we have already done".
So anyway, as I was saying; I was closing a can of "true blue" Krylon, the 29 ounce size from Sears. From Sears because Drug Mart did not have it in the Painters Choice, which I would have preferred. I just finished a section of the Case Western Reserve cornhole board that a lady ordered. I was working in the dining area of the living room, mind you. Debbee suggested that because it is simply too humid in the sun room where I normally finish painting to come into the house. The sun room has much more sunlight and more room for my "stuff."

So I took the open can from the dining area to the kitchen sink, 7/8 full can of true blue. And I mean BLUE. True Blue. I never mess up the edges so it is easy to push the lid down and get a good temporary seal before tapping on the lid with a hammer when I am completely done. But I am not completely done yet. So I pushed down only.

Remember, I am just a little older than I used to be and the hands don't have the strength they once had. So, I am squeezing the can between my thumb and whatever fingers I can get around the bottom of the can.

I have this "thing" with my right hand that needs surgery to help straighten out the hand to its normal configuration. One finger is folded in such a way that the hand cannot lay flat. When shaking hands, it is the first finger in for the shake, so I have to position my hand to kind of wrap around your hand so you don't get a "finger bump" and wonder "what the heck was that all about?".

Squeezing the lid and bottom of the can, and suddenly it takes flight. Sort of like trying to hold onto jell-o, or a wet ice cube.

Well, it was airborne. And before I could react, it landed safely on its side on the floor, two feet away. At first, I thought it held. But no! It just sort of, laid down. And out came a lot of pretty blue latex paint. It reminded me of those scenes from a crime show when someone is shot in the head and they always show a pool of blood right next to the head to prove they were shot in the head.

Well, this true blue was defiantly shot in the head.

I reached for the can immediately to stand it upright. Luckily, if that is the right word to use at a time like this, I saved enough of the paint to finish the job. But all I could think was that this was nine dollars laying on the floor and a roll of paper towels will be used in the clean up process.

Ok, think fast! It's water based latex. So get lots of water on it right away. And get started wiping. NOW!

Suddenly, my knees did not ache so much and I went straight down to the floor on both knees using a bench I had handy to rest my chest and stomach on so I could use both hands. (I think I wrote a blog about this type of bench and its handy use both in the house or in the garden. If I didn't, I will soon. Very handy item.)

The wiping begins. I got up off the floor only to get a bucket of water to keep the area wet. If I dare say, working quickly and with wet paint made even wetter, the clean up went very well.

Sure! I used a lot of paper towels, but the floor shows no signs of the accident. And from now on, its using only the mallet to seal off the lid.

If you do use a hammer to seal the lid, tap it lightly. It does not take much to seal it. And use a cloth over the lid while tapping. The cloth will catch any spray that might be in the trenches of the can.

Hope you like the featured cornhole.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

FIVE THINGS TO LOVE (OTHER THAN FAMILY)

MY TOP FIVE FAVORITE THINGS



CRAFT STICKS

WD 40

3 IN 1 OIL

DUCK TAPE

SHELLAC

AND NOW, INTRODUCING (what daya mean not yet)

This was going to be the Bulgarian Exercise Bag Edition of Cornhole Gallery. But, as luck would have it, out of the 16 Bulgarian Exercise Bags (now referred to as BEBA's) we still have not gotten a good picture of them. Why?

Well, to tell the truth, we have been pretty busy with the cornholes. Four sets in the last two weeks. And then I got lazy when it was Millertime and completely forgot to take pictures of the BEBA's.

So, no BEBA's and more cornholes.

The cornholes were the black and white I showed two weeks ago, and another one is the Browns striped set done in four days, and another was just plain black. That one was interesting. A lady said her daughters wanted to do the rest themselves with fluorescent spray paint, which would be pretty cool.

And the last set due next week is shown below:

Pretty cool, huh?
I put the prices on the MSU because I was going to put this picture on the website, http://www.lccornhole.com/, but I think I will wait until it is done totally. Why show "work in progress", even if this is what it will look like when finished anyway. Just the letters will be "cleaner" and bigger.
I understand these will be taken to Chicago to a couple that attended each school and then got married. One of them should have gone to OSU. Now that would have been interesting.

So next, we will put a couple sets in stock, in anticipation of the NFL strike ending.
And then its on to something else. Maybe a leaning shelf. I like those.

Now go make something. And check in with your local craft shows. They can use your support.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

More than just cornholes, ya know!! Part 2

AND THE SAGA CONTINUES.................

Ok, maybe not so much a saga as just everyday life.

Back in early June, I wrote about the three tiered plant stand to show the world that life is more than just making cornholes.

And if you look at the website http://www.lccornhole.com/ , you will see more proof to that with all the step stools and yard decorations.

It is just plain fun to make stuff. Like this sign for instance:

This is not Buster. It is Tiby. Buster is in the house. But check out the sign. It reminds me of Geneva on the Lake. You know. The street down by the lake where they have all the games and rides and bars and the fun stuff for summer.

Anyway, I was talking about making stuff just for fun and this sign is one of them. I was getting tired of painting a cornhole, so while I was waiting for paint to dry, I thought it would be cute to have a sign in this area of stone and sand and call it Buster's Beach. The area was Debbee's idea because Buster, the visiting dog of our oldest son, used this area as his private spot and has torn the living heck out of the soil, but only in the area outlined by the rocks. So Debbee's thought, that since Buster was going to be here for a while, might as well make it better to look at.

So the rocks got put into place, then added the sand, and next thing you know, Buster and Tiby have a cooler place to lay down. She called it "Buster's Beach". Couple days later, as I said, waiting for paint, I ran down to the basement, grabbed a router bit and router, a piece of scrap wood and have at it. A little action on the band saw and done. It took all of twenty minutes and it looks it, doesn't it?

But it is a fun looking sign, like Geneva on the Lake. Like a pirates cove kind of thing going on here.

Now its your turn. Go make something. You don't know all the fancy tools like you see on TV. Just some small hands tools will do just fine. And lots of glue. Good Luck!

THIS BLOG WAS SUPPOSED TO BE ABOUT THE SAND USED IN MAKING THIS BEACH. THERE IS A STORY BEHIND THE SAND, LOTS OF SAND USED IN MAKING BULGARIAN EXERCISE BAGS. THE BAGS I WANT TO SHOW YOU ARE CURRENTLY IN USE AND THERE ARE NOT ANY PICTURES YET. http://www.bluechipstrength.com/ USES THEM AND MY NEXT BLOG WILL BE ALL ABOUT THEM.

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Other people have good ideas, too

First order of business is the plant stand pictured. Jean N won this is the contest I had several weeks ago. Actually, the one pictured had to be reworked somewhat. The edges get a little messed up when the plant stands rub together in the boxes used for craft shows. So that needed attention. Also the top face was softened to give it a "foggier" affect. The finished one looked super. Another fine job by our art department.
Now back to business!
Website www.bluechipstrength.com and www.jb-cpt.com has long told me that the best way to do the cornholes, is to have them in stock. Difficult propostion to say the least. First off, since I started doing these five years ago, I had always done the special order custom type cornholes. Like the one featured on these pages from time to time and shown in the cornhole gallery at www.lccornhole.com.
Only recently, with his help, has the idea really worked out very well. The idea of keeping them in stock. And the "his" I refer to is my oldest son, Jason. He's the man behind the websites "Blue Chip" and "jb-cpt". His field of expertise is personal training. I should have half the energy of him and his fellow workout people. I probably did once. Anyway, check out his blog in the News-Herald or go directly to the websites.
But his idea was to have "blank" set of boards available to decorate is always brought up in conversation. And finally, I am glad I did. He did a website for me to get me going, and going it is. Not that I have to rent a factory just yet. But who knows?
He believes it is the blogs that is driving the website. I would like to think so, but honestly, I am inclined to believe it is "Google". Whatever it is, any set featured on the website HAS SOLD.
The Stars and Stripes, (both sets) the Browns MDF prototype set, the Steelers set, another standard Brown set, and another Browns set with the stripes offset for a different look. (and it did look great, if I say so myself).
Now featured is a blank set for the "paint it yourselfer". Or not! An unpainted set will play just as good as a painted set. May need sanded a little, but it will still play.
The other featured set is, of course, the standard Browns set. And on Craig's list, I have this set WITHOUT the bags just to see how that works out. I may do this same thing on the web if I am serious about selling boards only. Wait and see!
The point to all this, is these sells were all IN STOCK. Something I would have not done before. Simply because I would have had them, and no one would have known about it. But now, with the help of this blog and Jason's (actually I do the business on it now) website that he set up for me, I can keep on making them and getting more in stock.
One young women called and asked if I had any in stock and she did not care what they decorated with, just as long as I had them. Well, I did have them! And, BINGO, they were SOLD that same day. Thank you Christy!
Before this revelation, I would sit for hours in the hot sun at the flea market listening to wives and girlfriends tell their partners "look honey, you can make that". But we know they never will.
So I will keep on making "stock". Keep on "featuring the stock" on the website and here in my blogs.
But one more important issue that I may make an entire blog about is this: DON'T BUY A CAN OF ORANGE PAINT AND BROWN PAINT AND TRY TO PUSH IT OFF AS "BROWNS COLORS". BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT!
I was driving Miss Daisey (my wife but don't tell her I said this) around last weekend (the 4th) just taking in the nice day and getting out of the house. And a lot of family gatherings had the cornholes in the front yard for me to examine. They all knew I would be driving around so they proudly put them in the FRONT yard for me to see. And I noticed a lot of Browns fans by the color of their boards. BUT! BUT! C'mon! Try to get close at least to Browns orange for crying out loud.
AND KUDOS TO THEM FOR PLAYING CORNHOLE. AT LEAST THEY WEREN'T STABBING EACH OTHER IN A GAME OF "JARTS".

GOD BLESS AMERICA.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

WHAT A DAY!

FOURTH OF JULY!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD COULD A COLLEGE GAME FROM CINCINNATI BECOME THE NUMBER ONE SPECTATOR SPORT...SURPASSING MLB, NFL, AND NBA COMBINED?

CORNHOLE FOREVER! LONG LIVE CORNHOLE!

MORE IMPORTANT - - - HAVE A SAFE AND FUN DAY WITH THE FAMILY