Help! Valentine's Day plan needed

[Frank]

Hi, I think if I make my new girlfriend a little present for Valentine's Day I'll score some big points. Any plans online for something fairly simple (3-6 hours?), like a heart or something?

Thanks! Frank

[Ron Magen]

If you have a ton of sea shells from your youth, do a 'google search' for "Sailors Valentine'.

Personally, I think you are a cheap B*****D . . . 'only 3-6 hours . . .'.

Ron Magen Backyard Boatshop {The 'Boat Planter' was simple . . . took about 6 days . . . 3 just for the varnishing, but then we've been married for 30+ years}

[Frank]

Hey, I don't have much time. V-day is in two days! ;-) Thanks!

[jo4hn]

Get a piece of scrap (4/4 or so) of a softwood (redwood, cedar, or something with some grain/color to it). Bandsaw out a heart and round the edges with sandpaper. Then put "Bupkus loves Trixie" or somesuch on it(a woodburning tool does it nicest and a Sharpie is a make-do), coat with Watco, let dry, and tie a ribbon on it. You might want to personalize the "Bupkus..." part to save questions and add the date on the back if you have time. mahalo, jo4hn

p.s. Did this for my kids 20 some years ago. Amazed to find that all three have kept these things. Amazed and pleased. Got me all misty inside.

[Mark Jerde]

I like this idea. Thanks!

-- Mark

[Frank]

Cool. Do hardware stores sell cheap wood-burning tools for text?

Thanks!

[Mark Jerde]

I'm going to try my soldering iron. If that isn't hot enough maybe a nail heated with a propane torch would work. Last option, sharpie.

-- Mark

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Have a lathe? Silvan made a derby car that sounds like any woman would like. No batteries needed.

[Frank]

[B a r r y B u r k e J r .]

Now there's a good use for polyurethane that no one would complain about!

Barry

[Eric Johnson]

I received this from my brother today, seemed fitting if you fail to make wooden hearts!

EJ

At a minimum, get your wife/mother/ girl friend/significant other (as appropriate) flowers and a card. This is mandatory, no matter what they have said in the past. Failure to comply will result in severe dose of frostbite, possibly fatal.

Avoid becoming an emergency room legend, make sure the right card goes to the right wife/girlfriend, if there are multiples.

The easiest time to get flowers is on the way home Friday night; it also sets a good mood for the following day.

Despite irrefutable proof complied by auditors on how inexpensive Valentine flowers are on 15 Feb, the true cost is cost is unacceptably high.

Tips on presents:

Red is good, camouflage is bad.

She does not have enough jewelry.

Gift certificates are OK, but not to the places you shop at.

Nothing says it's over like appliances.

[Bridger]

nah. they make you pay money for them.... Bridger

[Tom Watson]

get flowers

get chocolate

get lucky

Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret) Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet Website:

[Mark Jerde]

My soldering iron for electronics worked, though quite slowly compared to the wood burning iron I had as a kid in the 1960's. I'm off to put a finish on it while SWMBO is off to a meeting. ;-)

-- Mark

[Mark Jerde]

SWMBO doesn't like to see "frivolous" things bought when the credit card balances aren't zero. My finances have sucked since the .com crash but this year looks better.........

SWMBO was commenting this evening at dinner about trying to get back to her pre-Thanksgiving weight. Anything with any calories for this V's day is a Bad Idea (tm). ;-) A *really* Bad Idea (tm).

"Luck" has nothing to do with it.

-- Mark

[Pounds on Wood]

Just make any old thing and route/carve a heart in it. If it has a heart, it can't lose. Women can't get enough of that crap.

--

[jd]

Take a look at the "stupid finishing blunder" thread below.

[Mark Jerde]

Really ugly things our children made with my help are held by SWMBO in high esteem. ("It's not the thing, it's the time spent with the children working on the thing.")

I have high expectations for this piece of heart-shaped pine with "Mark Loves Mary Jane" woodburned on the front and "(Heart) '04" woodburned on the back. The woodburned lettering isn't great, since all I did was trace my handwriting. It's a faithful reproduction of my handwriting. My dad is a retired M.D. I have the heridity for illegible handwriting. (*) In school if I didn't know whether a word was "ie" or "ei" I just naturally made it so either was the logical choice. The "i" could really be an "e", and the "e" could be an "i". With the dot in the middle, I usually got full credit for words I couldn't spell if my life depended on it. If I didn't know if a word needed an "i" or an "e" I made it so it could be either, with a smudge above that was either a dot if "i" was correct or an errant pencil mark if "e" was correct. The system was successful: I have both a high school diploma and a college degree.

This semi-symmetric pine heart shows obvious signs of hand crafting. I'm expecting it will be duly appreciated...

-- Mark

(*) When I was in college my dad often wrote me. I could never make out more than 1/3 of the words: "... cousin ... died... pickup ... branding ... slid ... Ford ... mother ... holiday ... funeral ... birthday ... love ... children ... baloon ... sanded ..." It made for some interesting hypothesis of what was going on.

[mel]

Just a thought.......

If you possess the sort of woodworking talents I suspect and have turned out some pieces in the past that you were proud of, your wife/girlfriend noticed how you presented the finished product when it came time to show it. She watched you touch it and speak of how you did this or that to it to achieve the end results. She noticed the time spent and the pride you felt etc. etc.

Now you plan to hand her something you whipped out with little effort and time spent....She might receive it well because that's what she is suppose to do, she might be touched that you made her something and she might even place it on display.....She might also at some point in the future look at it and realize what it really was....a half-hearted attempt to play up on her sentimentality.

Now here's the thought......

When you give this to her, tell her quite honestly that this isn't your best work. She knows what you are capable of. This is to represent the fact that you yourself haven't been what you are capable of and when she looks at this she's to be reminded that this year you plan to ___________.

[Mark Jerde]

My hasty implementation of your idea is posted on abpw. My lousy handwriting burned in wood -- what a concept. ;-) Thanks for the idea.

-- Mark

jo4hn wrote: