My husband’s new hobby

Steampunking.

In a nutshell, it’s taking everyday gadgets and, for want of a better term, “Jules Verne-ing” them up so they look like a fusion of modern technology and Victorian England.

This is a fun blog that covers all sorts of incredible design ideas.

Since we seem to decorate with lamps and clocks around here, a lamp was a good place for him to start… and of course, when you think lamp, you think voltage meter, right? (OK, so you don’t. I don’t, either… but it’s still fun!)

This is his office lamp/working voltage meter. The bulb on the right is on a dimmer switch, and that’s the lamp part. The bulb on the left only comes on when you’re actually using the voltage meter… and for fun, he added the two switches on the right that allows you to change the way the voltage meter takes readings, so you can have a more impressive swing of the dial back and forth.

The picture doesn’t do it justice. It’s really a fun little lamp!

His project for today was a new journal.

Out of brass.

He cut the pieces of of scrap metal, attached piano hinges, took the “inner workings” of an old binder we had and attached it to the metal frame.

His next project is going to be the answering machine. We’ve got an ugly, 12-yr old answering machine that we hide in the cabinet, because it’s just not attractive enough to be out “on display.” His goal is to come up with something fun, so we can hang it on the wall in the kitchen and actually SEE that we have messages, instead of having to remember to look in the cabinet.

He really needed a creative outlet. He designs so many wonderful things for our home, and he hadn’t had a chance to really jump in and do something fun for a long, long time.