Bamboo: Take 2

Remember a few weeks ago, when I found a bunch of bamboo on the beach, and had visions of all the super easy and free crafts I could make with it?  Remember how I was sure that bamboo would be as easy to cut as butter, even though Nay-Saying-Alan wasn't so sure? Remember how I was dead wrong? If you don't know what I'm talking about, click here. Otherwise you won't have any idea how I worked out the butter knife problem...

So... I started with bamboo that looked like this...

  I didn't like how dirty it looked.  Also, I had some pieces that looked really old, and other pieces that looked super fresh, and I didn't like how un-uniform they looked. (For future reference, older dryer bamboo is so much easier to cut that new fresh bamboo.)

Anyway, I picked up some beige coloured spray paint to freshen it up.

 

Much better, don't you think?

Although, don't look too close, because I got tired of the spray-from-a-foot-away, coat-lightly-a-million-times method.  Cus that's exhausting, and I'm not a rule follower. Unfortunately, when I decided to spray from a few inches away, and heavily coat, the pain puddled under the bamboo, and looked terrible on the underside. 

Can you spy the one I didn't follow the rules on?

 

In my earlier post I cut all the bamboo.  Painstakingly. I cut a bunch of short ones, medium ones and long ones, with a rectangular crate dancing around my mind's eye. 

  

 But also, I'm lazy when it comes to perfect cutting.  Good thing I'm not a perfectionist, because I used all the bamboo, whether it had puddle paint, wasn't exactly the right length, or had big broken ends.  It's all good.  I'm an inclusion-ist.

 

Once all the bamboo was cut, and painted, I started tying it together with twine. 

I didn't actually look up any sailor knots, I just aimed at making lovely 'x' shapes.  Maybe I should have though, because a lot fell out, and I had to tear others out because they looked funny. 

I made a rectangle shape first, and then added some... support?... cross bars?... see them.  I don't know what to call them. (I LOVE that wavy one.)

Then I turned it, and added more cross bars, to make a grid. This was to be the base of my crate. 

The crate that never was.  For a few reasons.

1. Tying knots in corners was SUPER CHALLENGING. 
2. Tying knots while trying to hold something in a standing position was A PAIN.
3. Even after STRUGGLING through attaching a side to the base, it was really wobbly.
4. I WAS OVER IT. 

So I shoved it into the corner and glared at it for a few days.  I considered hanging it parallel to the ground, and attaching... something... to it to make a wind chime... but I didn't like that idea.  

Stupid Bamboo. 

Then Sonya suggested I use the left over bamboo to make picture frames. Loved it. 

So I did.  And here they are. 

 No backing, no glass, just pictures taped straight to the wall and bamboo to frame them. 

I had to invent a new knot (then again, I didn't look up any knots, so maybe someone else actually invented it). 

 

 I would try and explain how I tied them, but I have no idea. Sorry.

 I wanted to do pictures of Alan and me on our different trips around the world...

 Side, Turkey. (The story of our trip here.)

 Prague's version of the Eiffel tower. (Prague trip here.)

 

 Pamukkale, Turkey. (Link here.)

 Alanya, Turkey. 

Not impressed by variety? Me neither.  In the past two years we also took WEEK LONG trips to Switzerland, The Netherlands and Hungary. Trips where we took HUNDREDS of pictures.  And have NO frame-able pictures of us in front of something special. New goal: take at least one good picture of us on EVERY trip. 

Crafts Above the Couch

And what ever became of this?

I hung it above the table. 

Not sure how I feel about it.  But I'm less annoyed than I was when it was sitting in the floor. 

And now I have a place to hang greeting cards. Yeah!

 

Do you think this counts as wood working?