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Bottle Lid Diorama

Bottle Lid Diorama

In Progress
This mixed-media art project transforms everyday discarded materials into a playful landscape scene. The composition centers on a winding river, with grassy banks and colorful flowers built entirely from upcycled objects. Bottle caps, packaging, and household plastics are repurposed to create texture, color, and dimensional detail, giving new life to materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Plastic forks become flower stems and blossoms, while caps of varying sizes and shades are arranged to suggest flowing water, shoreline transitions, and natural movement. Cardboard serves as the base, with the layout sketched by hand to guide placement and composition. Hot glue and simple hand tools are used to assemble the piece, emphasizing accessibility and creativity over traditional art materials. The project highlights environmental awareness, resourcefulness, and imaginative reuse. By turning common waste into a recognizable natural scene, the artwork encourages viewers to rethink materials and consider how creativity can play a role in sustainability. Both collaborative and tactile in nature, this piece blends art-making with storytelling, play, and problem-solving.
Cross Stitch Bookmarks

Cross Stitch Bookmarks

In Progress
These handmade cross-stitch bookmarks are charming, functional pieces of fiber art designed for book lovers. Each bookmark is carefully stitched on white aida cloth using colorful embroidery floss, featuring playful, story-themed designs such as cats, owls, and books. The detailed stitching creates a pixel-art look that adds personality and warmth to every piece. Long and narrow in shape, the bookmarks are perfectly sized to slip between pages without damaging books, making them both practical and decorative. The neatly finished edges and consistent stitching showcase patience, skill, and attention to detail.
Denim Circle Quilt

Denim Circle Quilt

In Progress
This one-of-a-kind picnic quilt is handcrafted from reclaimed denim jeans, transforming well-loved materials into a durable and visually striking textile. Rows of overlapping denim circles in varying shades of blue create a rhythmic, scale-like pattern that adds depth and movement across the surface. The natural variations in the denim—fades, textures, and tones—give the quilt its unique character and story. Designed for outdoor use, the quilt is both sturdy and soft, making it ideal for picnics, beach days, or casual gatherings. The recycled construction celebrates sustainability and resourcefulness, blending practicality with artistic design. Built to be used, washed, and enjoyed, this quilt honors the beauty of reuse while offering a comfortable place to gather and relax.
Greg's Outdoor Kitchen

Greg's Outdoor Kitchen

In Progress
This custom outdoor kitchen is designed as a functional and inviting backyard gathering space, blending handcrafted elements with durable, weather-ready materials. Anchored by a covered cooking area with a wood-fired oven and grill, the space is organized to support cooking, prep, and entertaining in an open-air setting. A paver patio around the firepit creates a clean, finished surface that ties the entire area together while providing long-term durability and ease of maintenance. The surrounding gravel zones add texture and visual contrast, while reclaimed wood, corrugated metal, and industrial accents give the kitchen a warm, rustic character. Designed for both everyday use and larger gatherings, the layout encourages movement, conversation, and shared meals. Once completed, the paver installation will define the space as a permanent outdoor room—equally suited for cooking, hosting, and relaxing around the fire.
Illuminated Metal Light Pilars

Illuminated Metal Light Pilars

In Progress
These illuminated metal light pillars are striking outdoor sculptural fixtures that combine functional lighting with artistic design. Each tall, rectangular column is crafted from metal and plasma-cut with redwood tree silhouettes. When lit from within, the cutout designs glow warmly, casting intricate patterns of light onto the surrounding ground and creating a magical nighttime atmosphere. Blending durability with artistry, these light pillars serve as both landscape lighting and outdoor art. They add character, depth, and a sense of wonder to the setting, transforming an ordinary walkway into an inviting, storybook-like experience after dark.
Metal Earth Model Kits

Metal Earth Model Kits

In Progress
Savannah made a steel model kit of the London Eye. I made one of a butterfly. Savannah and I are working on a model of a dragon.
Pop Bottle Rockets

Pop Bottle Rockets

In Progress
The kids built rockets out of 2 liter pop bottles, cutting fins out of foam board and taping them on with duct tape, then decorating them with markers. The rockets launch from a PVC launcher using pressurized air, with a little water added to the bottle so it blasts out as reaction mass and sends the rocket much higher than air alone.
Timberstone Lodge

Timberstone Lodge

In Progress
Timberstone Lodge is a new cabin we are currently designing, and it will also be available as a vacation rental. The interior is planned to feel like a woodland village courtyard, with every bedroom given its own exterior style facade facing into the shared courtyard space so guests feel like they are staying in a little storybook village under one roof. The main level is built around a great room with a winding path and the base of a tree in the middle, surrounded by a living room, a bedroom, an octagonal library, a craft room, the kitchen, a laundry room, and a mud room. Upstairs, a walkway wraps around an open center where the tree rises into a round treehouse room, with the bunk rooms, a game room, and a row of bathrooms along the edges. Timberstone Lodge is the working name while the design comes together.
Wings of Fire Shadowboxes

Wings of Fire Shadowboxes

In Progress
These handcrafted shadowbox artworks bring scenes from the Wings of Fire book series to life through layered, laser-cut wood elements. Each component of the scene—terrain, foliage, creatures, and sky—was precisely cut from wood and individually hand-painted before being assembled into dimensional compositions. The combination of laser cutting and hand painting allows for both precision and artistic expression, while the shadowbox format frames the piece like a window into a fantasy realm. Designed for fans of Wings of Fire and lovers of narrative art, these pieces celebrate storytelling, craftsmanship, and the magic of seeing a beloved fictional world rendered in three dimensions.
Garden Tunnel Scene

Garden Tunnel Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The garden tunnel runs down the narrow side yard where the garden path goes under an arched trellis. We cover the trellis to make a long, enclosed tunnel through the plants. In 2025 it became the Tunnel of a Thousand Legs, with green lights, spider webbing stretched across the arch, and giant spiders hanging overhead. In 2026 we covered the garden with a tarp and used a green line laser shining through fog to make it look like you're walking through ankle-deep water.
Graveyard Scene

Graveyard Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The graveyard is a collection of homemade tombstones and wooden crosses that we set up in the yard every year. We painted the tombstones gray and wrote punny epitaphs on them like M.T. Graves and Reserved for YOU. A short fence, webbing, pumpkins, spotlights, and fog finish it off at night. In 2026 it became a forest graveyard where witches dance around a fire. We added the bonfire prop, new skeletons, and blue lights shining on the tombstones, scattered body parts around, and ran extension cords out for the lights.
Hansel and Gretel Scene

Hansel and Gretel Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
Hansel and Gretel's gingerbread house is set up in our side yard. For family home evening, Savannah picked making the candy, so we made giant lollipops by spiraling pool noodles around themselves, using sticks to hold them in place and string to keep them tight, then wrapped them in cellophane. The giant hard candies are two paper plates stapled together, wrapped in pieces of different colored plastic tablecloths, and tied off at both ends with string. We stapled them to the front of a plywood gingerbread house facade with colored cups hot-glued around it to look like gumdrops. The oven is a table set across the two air conditioning units with a metal grill in front.
Little Red Riding Hood Scene

Little Red Riding Hood Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
We made a scarecrow for the Little Red Riding Hood scene by stuffing an old plaid shirt and corduroy overalls and tying off the sleeves and pant legs. Then we added a fake head and dressed it in a red riding hood.
Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe Scene

Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe scene is a white tunnel canopy set up in the side yard with a bunch of baby dolls hanging from it. Cooper and I found a rocking chair at DI for the old lady.
Sleeping Beauty Scene

Sleeping Beauty Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The Sleeping Beauty scene is in the shed area behind the castle, with a giant inflatable dragon on the roof. Inside, a bookshelf holds colored glass bottles and bottles of liquid that glow under black light, with a garage door cover as the backdrop.
Snow White Scene

Snow White Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The Snow White scene is the Evil Queen's castle. We decorated it with lots of candles and apothecary jars, then shortened our old electric chair and painted it silver to make a throne for the stage inside the castle.
Spider Scene

Spider Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
The spider scene turns a space into a giant spider's lair. We stretch bags of spider webbing across the walls and ceiling, hang cocooned victims in the webs, and light everything with blacklight so the webs glow. Later years added a giant spider over a pile of red eggs and a huge spider made from a painted inflatable ball hanging over the garden tunnel. In 2026 we put up spiderwebs and little spiders and made a pair of giant spider fangs out of foam covered with drywall compound, then sanded them and painted them black, fading to white at the tips.
Tarp Maze

Tarp Maze

Completed on October 31, 2026
We set up a tarp maze right after the garden tunnel. We filled it with vines, nets, and camo netting so it feels like a forest where the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood lurks.
Three Bears Scene

Three Bears Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
A Goldilocks and the Three Bears scene for the haunted house. We built the bear cottage walls out of pallets and put a sheet metal roof over the top. Inside, we hung curtains in the windows, put up a blanket on the wall as wallpaper, and hung Papa, Mama, and Baby Bear's coats on coat hooks. We set out dishes on the table and hung a chandelier over it.
Troll Bridge Scene

Troll Bridge Scene

Completed on October 31, 2026
A troll bridge scene for the haunted house built from reclaimed wood pallets. Stacked pallets form the bridge deck, with angled pallets on each end as ramps up and down. 2x4 posts at the corners hold thick rope railings that drape down along both ramps. We scattered body parts around the bridge and hung a tarp between it and the spider area.
3D Printed Dragons

3D Printed Dragons

Completed on October 17, 2026
Cooper and I 3D printed a bunch of articulated dragons for his class store.
2026 Haunted House Scene Signs

2026 Haunted House Scene Signs

Completed on October 16, 2026
The scene signs for the 2026 haunted house are cream tote bags left over from my 40th birthday party. We laser cut stencils and spray painted the words onto the bags. Then we hung the signs from shelf brackets or attached them to the walls in the haunted house.
Electric Chair

Electric Chair

Completed on October 16, 2026Build time: 2 hours | Cost of Materials: $10.00
This electric chair is a simple prop that can add a lot of flair to your haunt. It's basically just a bunch of 2x4s and plywood screwed together and painted black. In 2026 we shortened it and painted it silver to turn it into a throne for the stage in the Snow White scene's castle.
Graveyard Fence

Graveyard Fence

Completed on October 16, 2026
This graveyard fence goes around the front yard graveyard. The first version was made from PVC pipe cut at an angle for the pickets, with square columns at the corners. The newer version uses black fence panels with spear tops that look like old wrought iron and are easy to set up and take down each year. In 2026 we built a few more sections to make the fence longer, painted the new boards black, and added post caps to the 4x4 posts.
Hanging Torture Cage

Hanging Torture Cage

Completed on October 10, 2026
This hanging torture cage is just big enough for an actor to sit inside, and it hangs from the ceiling or a beam so it sways a little. We have used it in the torture scene for years. In 2026 we built a new version with round plywood ends and metal conduit for the bars, painted gray, with hardware on top to hang it.
Bonfire Prop

Bonfire Prop

Completed on September 1, 2026 | Cost of Materials: $30.00
Savannah and I built this bonfire prop for the haunted house around a black fan mounted in the center of a pegboard base. We stacked real sticks over it in a teepee shape, screwing some together and using wire to secure the rest so the structure stayed sturdy while still leaving room for airflow through the middle. To create the glowing ember section, we packed paper and grocery sacks underneath as a temporary void form, then sprayed expanding foam insulation around the upper edge and embedded orange Christmas lights into the foam while it set. After the foam cured, we pulled out the plastic and paper underneath to reopen the air path for the fan. We added lightweight fabric flames between the sticks so they wave in the airflow, then painted and darkened the exposed materials to give the whole prop a charred, glowing bonfire look.
Pottery

Pottery

Completed on August 24, 2026Build time: 2 hours | Cost of Materials: $15.00
We met up at the Utah Center for the Ceramic Arts in Provo for an evening of making our own pottery trinket trays, with my parents, Anthony, and Miller joining us. We rolled out slabs of clay, pressed in different stamps and textures, and then used wooden molds to fold and shape the edges into small dishes. Everyone came up with a different design, which made the finished collection especially fun to see together. After shaping the trays, we painted on colorful glazes with floral patterns, bold blues, bright oranges, and playful designs. Once the pieces were fired, we picked them up and got to see how all the colors and finishes turned out. Each tray ended up completely unique, and it was fun seeing the final results after starting with the same basic materials and process.
3D Printed Settlers of Catan

3D Printed Settlers of Catan

Completed on August 12, 2026
This project is a high-resolution, fully 3D printable version of the classic board game Catan, designed with detailed terrain tiles and multi-color printing in mind. The set includes textured hex tiles for each resource type, player pieces such as roads, settlements, and cities, as well as matching number tokens, all modeled to create a more immersive tabletop experience. Optimized for multi-material (MMU) printing, the files allow for vibrant color separation and fine detail, resulting in a visually striking and fully playable board when paired with the official cards and dice.
Bonsai Trees

Bonsai Trees

Completed on August 10, 2026
Making bonsai trees at Bonsai Bai Me was a fun, hands-on project that combined gardening, creativity, and a surprising amount of decision-making. We started by choosing our trees and pots, then learned the basics of shaping a bonsai through careful pruning. The goal was to study the natural form of the tree, decide which branches helped create the shape we wanted, and gradually trim away the excess. Our Get Out Pass covered the trees, although there were still sitting fees and pot costs to account for. Once the basic shape was established, we planted each tree in its bonsai pot and worked on the finishing details. This was where everyone could make the project their own. Cooper was especially focused on pruning and took the shaping process very seriously, while Savannah used some of the miniatures she had received for her birthday to create a tiny scene around her tree. Madi found all of the decorating choices a little overwhelming, so she went in the opposite direction and created a simple, clean base using plain white rocks. Each approach gave the finished bonsai a completely different personality. For a DIY bonsai project like this, the basic process is to choose a small tree, prune it into a pleasing shape, transfer it into a bonsai pot, and finish the soil surface with rocks, moss, or miniature decorations. The pruning is the part that requires the most patience because every cut changes the overall shape of the tree, so it helps to work slowly and look at it from several angles as you go. Although our class ended up costing more than we expected once the extra fees and supplies were included, it was a memorable group project and a great way for each of the kids to create something living that reflected their own style.
Metal Prints

Metal Prints

Completed on August 7, 2026
These metal prints feature some of my favorite nature photographs that I’ve taken during my travels and outdoor adventures. Each image captures a scene that stood out to me, from waterfalls and forests to canyons, coastlines, sunsets, and changing seasons. Printing them on metal brings out the rich colors and fine details of each photograph while giving the collection a clean, modern look. Together, they serve as a personal gallery of memorable places, beautiful landscapes, and moments in nature that I wanted to preserve and enjoy every day.