Why I Don't Do a Lot of Crafty Projects

Or, The Making of the Toilet

As I wandered outside on a break a few days ago, my eye fell on a bowl-shaped piece of plastic that turned out to be some kind of candy container I had never heard about. It could be a toilet bowl, I thought with a sudden flash of genius. (I also found two dimes. It was my lucky day.)

I didn't crop the picture so you can get an idea of the size.

Close-up

Here I must digress and mention two Public Service Announcements that impressed me as a child. One was about how now that it was the Space Age, people were always looking Up. But there was a little boy who always looked Down and saw the beginnings of a forest fire and Saved the Day.

The other was about the dangers of strange metal objects on the ground. "If you see one of these, DON'T TOUCH IT!" This was less than 20 years after the Japanese Balloon Bomb incident: http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2010/05/0505japanese-balloon-kills-oregon/

Since my grandmother had known the minister's wife and had pointed out the spot where it happened, I took these warnings very seriously, and I only pick up metal objects if I'm sure they're not balloon bombs.

But this object was plastic (it never occurs to me that there are plastic bombs now) and I was pretty sure the dimes were safe . . .

Okay, I removed the wrapper and spray-painted the bowl white. I learned a very important lesson about spray painting: If the nozzle is clogged and you decide to stick a pin into it, be sure the nozzle is pointed away from your face.

Painted white

Now I learned another important lesson. If you decide to turn it over and paint the inside before the paint is dry, don't drop it!

After I dropped it

I have a piece of styrofoam that will be the toilet tank. They will be connected by a straw.

This will have to be continued because I need more paint. The bits of dirt and gravel came off easily enough but the dog hairs were another story. Meanwhile, I will be studying bathroom furniture to get inspired. I found this site: http://www.mckendry.net/GALLERY_OF_IMAGES/GALLERY_OF_IMAGES_6.htm

and got lots of good ideas.