Shoe

I hope everyone is doing well!  For this family of kids under 5, we’re still dreaming about vaccines.  Julius told me today (out of the blue) on our car ride to daycare, “the virus isn’t gone right?  When is it going to be gone?”  I didn’t want to discourage him, but I also try to honestly and openly answer his questions.  I decided to tell him “I’m not sure bud, they think it might never go away and we will just have to keep practicing safe behaviors.”  He sat quietly for a minute and then said “they better get us those vaccines soon or we’ll never be able to go on planes.”  Adorable.  Then I told him all about Moderna from Massachusetts and how vaccine trials work (Ka and dad you probably would have had a few corrections…)  He seemed satisfied with my response.

Julius still wears his mask to school.  They lifted the mandate but we told him we wanted him to wear it until he is vaccinated and he did not argue.  Some kids and most of the teachers still wear masks.  Patricia really wants to wear masks.  She has multiple times asked to put on Julius’ masks and has worn them all around for long periods at a time.  I always fear someone is going to tell me to get the mask off my 16 month old, but then I’d have to break it to them that she’ll cry if I do.  I am pretty sure she thinks they are a fashion accessory, and you know what?  I am okay with that!

Patricia is getting a bit better at voicing her opinions or questions.  I remember Julius being frustrating about this time period because he clearly wanted to communicate verbally and we just weren’t understanding him.  It’s the same problem with Patricia.  It doesn’t help that she does things like calling both Will and I “mama” and “dada” with no distinction.  Today on our way into daycare she kept saying “shoe, shoe”.  (Her second word if you’re counting.)  I was very confused until I put her down on the sidewalk to walk and realized she was only wearing one shoe… oops.  I had a good laugh and I think she was proud that I eventually figured out what she was telling me.

Speaking of shoes, if you loved the custom shoe rack I made, I’ve got instructions for you to make it below.  You can adjust the length to fit your closet, or add even more tiers as you see fit!  I was feeling the industrial chic look and wanted to make one entirely out of copper pipe, but it turns out copper is pretty expensive!  And it is difficult to cut… I still think it would look pretty amazing if you soldered the pipes together, but I choose to use wooden dowels spray painted copper instead.  The grand total for the project was $38, not terribly cheap, but I am quite happy with it! (Note the price of copper fittings has apparently DOUBLED since I assembled this project in May 2021, so you may need to add another $12 for copper and who knows how much for dowels.)  Oh!  The planks for this project were reclaimed wood from one of the pallets I tore apart while pregnant with Patricia, so I didn’t count that cost.  I think I was in better shape while pregnant…

Here I am 8 months pregnant ripping apart pallets with 2 year old Julius. What a cutie.

New custom coat rack.

Copper Shoe Rack

What you’ll need:

• 9 planks 5/8″ thick x 3 3/8″ wide x 30″ long (or your desired shoe rack width)  (I used 6 planks 3 3/8″ wide, and 2 planks 6 3/4″ wide because I was using whatever wood I had on hand)
• 4 1/2″ diameter x 48″ long hardwood dowels
• Rustoleum hammered copper spray paint
• 8 – 1/2″  Tee couplings
• 8 – 1/2″ copper elbow couplings
• 18 – 1/2″ copper tube straps
• 36 – 1/2″ screws for tube straps
• Masking tape (optional)

1. Sand all wooden planks so all edges and faces are smooth to the touch.
2. Spray paint wooden dowels.  Let dry, rotate and then spray paint reverse side.  Let dry.
3. When dowels have dried, cut 4 – 4.25″ segments, 4 – 11.5″ segments, 4 – 11.75″ segments, and 8 – 5″ segments (I used a hand saw)
4. Start assembling according to this picture.  Note that the two vertical bottom pieces are only 4.25″ long while the others are all 5″.  Also note that the two center horizontal bars are all 11.75″, while the top and bottom bars are 11.5″.  You can use a rubber mallet to gently hammer in the dowels.  If the dowels are not a tight fit then wrap 3/8″ of the bottom of each dowel with a layer of masking tape.  Add more tape until the dowel fits snug in the fitting.
5. Assemble second side.
6. Place 3 planks on the ground, top side down, fitting snuggly together.  Place the two sides of the rack on either end of planks, about 1.25″ from the edge.
7. Place a tube strap over the dowel, centered on the first board.  Screw down.
8. Repeat step 7 for both ends of each piece of wood.
9. Insert 3 more boards (top side down) between the row of piping you just screwed into, and the one above.  Prop them up with scrap wood so they are flush with the dowels above them and repeat steps 3 through 8 for planks on the props.
10. Repeat step 9 for the last set of planks on the last row.
11. Flip the entire project over and show off your shoes!

Thank you to Matt and Mandy for entered the contest with the great ideas for improvements.  I will let you know if I come up with any ideas!!!  By Google random number generator Mandy will be getting a new tiny bag holder.  Stay tuned next week for April’s contest!!