GIFT GIVING? HOLD MY BEER SIGN

Gift giving is such a mixed bag of emotions.

From the funny: “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you, this is just what I wanted.”

To the sad: “I didn’t know what to give you, so…”

For reference, no one wants a beer sign after college, at least that’s the common adult thing.

Beer sign says, “When will you grow up?”

But . . .?

I like beer signs, especially if they come with a beer gift, like this one. (No, I’m not writing this from a dorm room.)

One thing I’ve noticed about beer is that brands that put the high alcohol content in bold might be a bad beer, like Keystone Ice.

Are all high alcohol content beer cheap swill?

Full Contact from the Beer Advocate:

Notes: Cloaked in a semi-translucent haze, an imposing presence beckons you to come closer. As you do, your nose opens to a tangent of wistful memories — peach season in the orchard, a tangerine tree on a hill, fresh honeydew cold from the fridge, and a vanilla cream soda in your hand. What kind of bittersweet initiation is this?

Chug a few of these and tell me more about the memories. Blacked out? What do you remember? Did someone mention a laundry hamper?

One thing is certain, this beer sign is a quality piece of equipment connected by drum bolts at the corners with two hangers at the top.

Looking Under The Hood Of Good Gift Giving

After taking out the drum bolts and peeling the sign layer this is what’s left.

Who knew?

It looks like a light table, or the start of a marquee sign.

The lit edges are covered in black in the original sign so the light flows evenly across the surface.

And it’s bright. Really bright. So bright that it gleams through normal paper.

This was the gift giving plan: To create a one-of-a-kind gift you can’t buy in any store anywhere.

Ambitious? Yes. Successful? Every time. Are the gifts received as the master pieces I first imagine?

That’s the hard part. Not everyone shares the dream at first. Or at second. But artists do art.

Who’s the artist? The searcher is the artist, and I’m on the hunt.

What could I attach over this canvas to make a heart-felt memory? Another beer sign? After a couple of cans of Full Contact inspiration took over.

Who’s heard this before?

My wife-partner-co conspiritor is also a good sport.

“What are you doing out in the garage, drinking beer and watching football?”

“Honey please don’t disturb the elves in Santa’s workshop.”

My wife is a travel fan, a Rick Steves’ fan, and we’ve been around a little bit. Maybe I’d make something that commemorates our trips?

Mapping Happy Times In Paris And London

The first problem was finding a map. Luckily the atlas we’ve got is the same size as the beer sign.

Cut out a page from an atlas? No one does that unless they’ve got more than three of them.

I found the oldest one. The pages are slightly bigger than the sign so there’s room to cut down for a perfect fit.

The second problem is the bight light of the sign shines through the map showing the print on the reverse.

My art brain cooked on it until I found a piece of foam-core and cut it down to fit. No light penetration, but I wanted light to shine through holes in the map.

The solution was mounting the map to the foam-core and drilling holes over the cities. If I had drilled them over the light sign something bad might have happened. Don’t do that.

Instead, put a piece of wood under the foam core before drilling. Don’t poke holes with an ice pick because the holes would be pushed in. Use a drill for a clean circle.

With holes in, use art tape, or electrical tape, or duct tape, to fasten the mounted map to the light sign. That blocks the edge lighting and lets it diffuse evenly.

The finished piece is ready for wrapping.

It looks good unplugged, verrrrry professional looking.

Then plug it in and stand back.

Follow me for more arts and crafts ideas.

And yes, I checked to be sure the whole thing doesn’t over-heat and catch on fire.

Cheers.