A Miter Box Makes Me Happy

One item that has been languishing on my Undersized Urbanite To-Do List is trim for the interior doors.  My house has only two doors to frame, which makes four sides to trim, which equals 12 pieces of wood to cut.  Since I teach middle school math and have taught the use of a protractor to hundreds of children, I figured I could eyeball 45 degrees pretty closely by hand.  Turns out, 43⁰ or 48.5⁰ degrees makes a huge difference when trying to match up pieces of teeny tiny wood.  So, I invested in a miter box.  This little doohickey makes cutting angles a snap.  Now, I just need to learn how to apply wood glue so that it doesn't turn into a complete gloppy mess.  For now, I will turn the glue side inwards, but it should be something I can master.

As for the hanging flashlights that have been placeholders for the awesome lighting fixtures, I am avoiding that task as well.  The mini light bulbs that I ordered stated their size as 2mm, which would have fit inside the holes in my glass beads, but when they arrived they came enclosed in a plastic casing that was wider than 2mm.  I tried filing down the plastic, but I ruined one bulb.  So, I need to sand the glass bead openings wider.  And, of course, one bead broke in the process.  My coping technique for frustration is to avoid the source of frustration.  So, the lights are in danger of not being completed on time unless I start to put things into hyperoverdrive.

I have these grandiose ideas in my head that I will become the preeminent dollhouse modern lighting purveyor, or that I will create heirloom quality mini furniture, or become an artisan creator of little, stylish rugs.  Then, the process becomes hard.  And the end product turns out poorly.  My dream of quitting my day job, with flair á la the flight attendant who told the passengers off and then left via the emergency inflatable slide, are being pushed further and further off into the future.  My aim of creating masterpieces in my home, and then travelling to miniature events in exotic locales will need to wait until I learn how to assembly line quality pieces.  But at least I'm learning the true value of craftmanship.  So, expect my prices to be unreasonable.