The Steampunk Christmas Tree: Methuen Festival of Trees 2014

 

I recently blogged about our TARDIS Christmas Tree, our entry into the 2015 Methuen Festival of Trees. Last year, our entry was a Steampunk-themed tree, and I wanted to share some pictures and a video of that.

 

You might not be able to tell from the picture above, but the tree didn't start out as a tree at all. I made it out of a 4" x 4" x 4' fence post, with a base made of crossed 2" x 4" x 24" studs. Compared to other trees we've done, it was small but very sturdy (and heavy!).

 

The "branches" were a combination bits of hardware, from plant hangers to shelf brackets, like these:

  

We got them in different lengths, so the tree would have the expected tapered shape. We even found some wall decorations shaped like old-fashioned keys, which were long enough that we used them as bottom branches. I don't have a picture of just them, but maybe you can make them out in one of the other pictures.

For a tree topper, my daughter found a matched set of cast iron compass roses at an antique barn we like in Newburyport, MA. To add a little pizzazz, and color, to the tree topper, I added 8 neoPixels to each compass rose (with the wiring and controller sandwiched between them). I controlled them with a 5V/16MHz Arduino Pro Mini running a slightly modified version of the strandtest sketch.

 

 

 

The tree had a couple of strands of "regular" multicolor Christmas lights, too - and my wife is SO much better at stringing lights than I am! My last lighting contribution to the tree was a number of vacuum tubes, mounted at the ends of several branches, to which I cemented color-changing LEDs. It made the vacuum tubes look really cool, and blended in with the other lights quite naturally.

 

 

While I was handling the lightning and the structural components of the project, my wife and her best friend Karen were going to town on ornaments and other decorations. These few photos don't really do them justice; I'll post some of the photos my wife took when I get a chance. There were gears and keys and chains and vintage bits of hardware. In the 2nd photo below, you can see one of my favorites, a snowman ornament my wife made out of gears and clock hands!

 

We named our tree "Steampunk Celebrations." While we were setting up the tree, a lot of people asked us what Steampunk was and what it was all about. We ended up printing out a brief explanation, framing it, and displaying it with the tree.

 

I loved Steampunk long before I ever knew it had a name. As it turns out, a lot of other folks were just the same, and we got a fair share of "ah-ha" moments when we explained it to them. For the first time ever, we also won First Place, in the Most Unique / Creative category! It certainly helps that none of the judges (or other Festival folks) had ever seen anything quite like it before.

We have no idea who won our tree in the raffle, but I hope they enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it.

 

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!







The TARDIS Christmas Tree - Revisited

Ok, so how cool is this? My friend Rob posted this on Facebook, sharing it with me & my wife.

As near as I can figure, someone who visited the Methuen Festival of Trees posted a picture of our TARDIS Tree on REDDIT.

It then got posted on radiotimes.com: This Doctor Who Christmas Tree will get you in the Who-liday Spirit

Finally, I think, the Doctor Who Hub on Facebook found and posted it, where, I think, Rob found it. Kind of a roundabout path to fame, but satisfying just the same!

Oh yeah, here's a link to my own blog entry about the TARDIS Tree. I have more pictures than they do!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

The TARDIS Christmas Tree: Methuen Festival of Trees 2015

 

For a bunch of years now, we've been decorating Christmas trees for the Methuen Festival of Trees. By "we" I mean  my family and my wife's best friend, Karen. The festival is a fundraiser supporting historic preservation in the Merrimack Valley (located in beautiful Northeastern Massachusetts). It's been going on for 22 years, and attracts over 25,000 visitors each year. There are over 200 trees every year, with a wide variety of different themes. And - this is really cool - the trees are raffled off at the end of the festival; if you see one you really love, you can buy raffle tickets and try to win it!

This year, as you can see from the photos, we chose a Dr. Who theme. We named our tree, "A Timey-Wimey Christmas." True Dr. Who fans (like my daughter) will automatically recite the complete quote:

Construction was fairly straightforward, using 3/4" plywood for the top and bottom with the corner posts made from 1" x 3" x 6' pine and 3/4" quarter-round molding. And lots of Oxford Blue paint! We added some depth and shape to the roof with 1" foam sheet, and added an off-the-shelf white strobe with a translucent cover.

The TARDIS disassembles into several flat pieces by removing a handful of screws - essential, considering it's 40" wide,while the doors of my house are only 36" wide!

The tree has some decorations every bit as cool as the TARDIS itself. In addition to some white lights, it's also got color-changing LED lights that cycle between white and blue. We've got a 17 foot long scarf straight from Doctor #4's closet as a garland. And we've got lots of ornaments: There are Dalek and TARDIS paper dolls; photos of all the various Doctors; famous Doctor quotes; even some Cybermen and K-9.

The following video is a tour of the tree and the TARDIS.

Did you notice the double red heartbeat in the tree? No? Well, go back and watch the video again. Or better yet, check out this one:

Timelords have two hearts, and the heartbeat was my daughter's awesome idea. I used an Arduino Pro Mini and a pair of red LEDs inside ping-pong balls to pull that off. She was very disappointed, though, that I didn't make the tree spin!

We won 3rd place in the Best Use of Theme category - woo hoo! Last year, our Steampunk Tree won 1st place in the Most Creative / Unique category. I figure we should aim for 2nd place next year, so we get a complete set!

DIY Timelord Heartbeat
It's super-simple, but if anyone wants the schematic & code for the double heartbeat, just post a comment and ask for it. I'd be happy to post it!

Peace for Paris

I could go on a tirade about senseless violence and the cowards that perpetrate it, but that would be contrary to the upbeat and positive nature of my blog that I try to maintain.

Instead, I offer my deepest condolences to the people of Paris, and all of France, for your loss. I speak for no one but myself, of course, but I'm certain many people across the globe echo my sentiment when I say, "I'm with you."

Stand Strong. Stand Together.

Never Stop.

When You Get Good Advice, Take It!

I've been friends with 'Z' for a long time - since we were 18 years old, in fact, and freshmen in college.

'Z' is short for 'Z. Allora' which is actually the pseudonym under which she writes. Because this is a family-friendly blog, I won't go into any detail about what she writes (Google her and see for yourself), but she's very good at it and has a lot more experience with managing an online presence than I do. So, in my quest to improve my own online presence, starting with this blog, I asked her to check it out and offer some advice.


A few of the tidbits she offered up (in no particular order):

1. Write regularly. Make a writing schedule and stick to it.
I set aside a 1-hour block of time every Tuesday night to write. Even if it's not ready to publish, I'll at least work on it. Having done that, I promptly missed my very first writing session this past Tuesday. Well, I can only improve!

2. Put up a real picture of myself, not a caricature.
I haven't done this yet, but I will. I guess. I can't imagine people want to see the real me, but Z is smarter than I am, so I'll trust her on this.

3. Tag/label your posts.
I hadn't done this - never even thought about it. I went back and tagged my last few posts. Eventually, people may start running across my stuff when they search.

4. Better Titles.
I struggle with this. Coming up with a title that's both succinct and invites people to read the entry is an art form unto itself, I think. She also suggested that if the title is a bit vague (A Glowing Display! is the example she used) then put a picture right under it to grab the attention. Great idea! I added a picture right under the title for that post, and will definitely keep it in mind in the future.

5. Blog Description
I had a long blurb about what my blog is about, almost like a mission statement. I shortened it up a bit, made it a bit less stuffy and formal (I hope!). I need to ask her what she thinks about it....

Thank You, Z, for your good advice! I'm sure my blog will be better for it - now I just need to write, write, write!