One of the kids had a great idea for a Christmas present this year. We were supposed to get a gift for his one and a half year old nephew. He thought that the little guy would really like a working light switch. We started discussing how to turn that idea into a present. Lissa jumped onto pinterest and found many examples that everyone thought he’d love.
We weren’t able to find time to get working on it as soon as we wanted to, but we were determined to get it ready in time. Hunter and I went right to work getting the boards all cleaned up, and then assembling everything. It was fun to work with Hunter and Lissa on a great project
Things went together pretty well overall, but it took longer than you might expect it would, and we had a few challenges to figure out along the way. I ended up using a chisel under the little house to make it so the latch that engaged with it would work smoothly. Lissa worked to get a picture of his mom and dad to put under it, so he’d have a fun surprise when he opened it. Our original plan was to use a real light switch and bulb, and have it be plugged into the wall, but we decided that might make it difficult for his parents to manage a cord, and how to keep it from falling over etc. I think the battery operated switch we ended up with was pretty good compromise.
We used some old pallet wood for the backing. I really like the way that cleaned up. Lissa has been wanting me to make something with that old pallet for a long time, and after seeing how well it looks I’m even more excited to take some time to build a bench, or table or whatever I can figure out with it. Maybe I can get to something like that this summer?
In the end, I think he liked it, which is what it was all about. Things turned out almost as good in real life as they were in my head. We should do more of that kind of gift giving, but it does take quite a bit more effort.
