What a Fiasco!

I have an unbelievable amount of things to talk about, so get ready.

First, I will start with where we went and why: we went to Orlando, FL to go to a Tumbleweed Tiny House workshop and see if we were on the right track in the building stage. We expected a fun, non-stressful weekend; is that what we got? Of course not!

Our first fiasco happened when we were looking for a cheap hotel to stay at. Cheap and clean rarely go together in Orlando, FL. After about 30 minutes in a gas station parking lot looking at hotels in the coupon book we got at the first rest stop in Florida we decided on one that was $40 a night. Not a great hotel, but it would do for a night (we found another one but it was fully booked that night so we would move the next day). We arrived at the hotel and went to our room. It was very noisy because it was next to a water fountain. We went to the front desk and switched rooms. This one was quiet and it would do. My mother and I got in our beds and started to read when we hear : DRIP....DRIP....DRIP. You've got to be kidding. There was an active leak in our hotel room. That was when we decided to switch hotels. It was 11:00 when we walked into the lobby of the amazing hotel. We went and saw the room and it was fabulous. We got all settled and staying in there was like staying at the Ritz Carlton compared to the other place.

When we get to the first day of the workshop we each stood up and gave an introduction to ourselves. When it was my turn I said I was in the building stage. I have the deck on my trailer and I'm ready to find out what's next. Jay Shafer then asked me how old I was. When I said twelve the whole room gave me a round of applause. I was embarrassed and flattered at the same time. My mother whispered to me, "Don't get a big head." I was then brought back down to earth.

Many things at the workshop I knew already, but I am at the building stage where everybody else was just considering. I recommend it for those that are still in the beginning stages and considering. We talked about an array of things including the seven principals of design and a talk from Austin Hay. The funniest thing that happened was a retired woman stood up and said, and I quote, "I have to leave early, but if any of you would like to start a community of tiny houses my e-mail is blank blank at blank blank. Thank you!" She said this right after Paul, the man who got the entire thing together, said the same thing. People, people, people...

I now have $1,425 on my Indiegogo campaign. Seventy-five dollars more and I will be at my $1,500 goal. I want to send a thank you to Orr Partners. Even in hard times they are supporting education and the community. They sent $250 which is a major help. That can buy me so much wood and other supplies I will need.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Gettin' My Work Done

Woo Hoo! I'm so close to getting my frame done! Here is a video to show you what I've gotten done so far:

 

 

 

This weekend we are going to a Tumbleweed Tiny House tiny house building workshop. It is in Orlando Florida, you know what that means... road trip! I will post pictures of the trip and me in action. More to come!

 

PS. My dad picked up a table saw so I can trim my scrap plywood! I can't wait to get the frame on my tiny house.

Tiny House Village

Hello! This week, my fellow students and I decided to make a tiny house community! Well, in my case, a tiny, tiny house. I have decided to build the Gypsy Junker from Deek Diedricksen (I'm going to re-name my Gypsy Junker to the Gypsy Awesomer!). Here is a video to show you about it from Tiny Yellow House:

We all decided to make mini models so below is my finished mini model (I will show you my fellow students' models as soon as they are done).

 

(My model)
 

(Will's Curbside Kid Cabin from Deek)

 

(Sarah's 'Trojan Turtle,' also from Deek)

 

 

 

(Ella's 'Hickshaw' from Deek)

 





I can't wait to get started! There will be more to come throughout the process. My mother/teacher made us promise that all of the materials we use in our homes have to be repurposed and recycled. By the way, I finished my Tear Drop trailer birdhouse (I actually finished it two months ago. Details, details.). Here is a picture:

 

 

(The Front)

 

 

(The Top)

 

Have a great week! Next weekend I am going to a tiny house workshop; there will be plenty of pictures to come!

Important News!!

Important news!!!! If you are reading this you must have some free time; this means you will have 10 minutes to go check out my Indiegogo fundraising site and Facebook and Twitter your friends about me. I am raising 1,500 dollars in three weeks and I need your help. Tell every one, your mom, your sister, your uncle, your grandpa, your cousin's, best friend's, barber's, uncle's girlfriend! Thank you so much and have a wonderful week; you got past Monday!

Stuff, Stuff, Stuff

It's moving day! Well, at least it is this Saturday. With our upcoming move there have been a few things coming up (in my head) that I think would be good to adress...

When my family and I moved into the house we are moving from (the farmhouse) I said to myself, "I am going to keep my room flawless!" Two weeks later the only place you could see my floor was the path from my door to my bed and closet. Obviously, I failed at my resolution. As we are moving into the new old house (townhouse) this week I said to myself, "I am going to keep my room organized." Some memories came up though. Why had I failed the first time? What did I do that was wrong? Then it hit me like a piece of a baseball bat flying from Babe Ruth's hands: I had too much STUFF! Yes, it all makes perfect sense now. No wonder I could only make a path from the door to my bed; I didn't have any space on my shelves.

My next question was, "How do I keep that from hapening this time?" The answer I think many of you know: Don't have do much freakin' stuff. Pardon my French. With that revelation I then decided to have a mini rant to my mother as we were packing. It went like this: "I hate all of this stuff. I just want to throw it all out. I hate it all. I hate it. I hate, hate, hate it! I...I...I don't..... I JUST HATE IT ALL!"  I managed to calm down after that. I guess the lesson is not to aquire stuff that you are going to lose your head over. After all, it is just stuff. When I think about it, by the time I am in college I will probably have thrown all of it out and gotten a new set of stuff. Who knows?

DC Has Been Good To Me

The first thing I would like to say is I'm sorry; I have been traveling over Christmas and this past week I have been sick! My apologies for not giving all of you information on my trip. There is so much to say but I don't know how. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here you go!

When we decided to go up North we knew we would go through Washington DC. My mother and I had heard that there was a tiny house village named Boneyard Studios. We contacted them and they said they would love to show us around! Everybody at Boneyard Studios wanted to keep the location private; I am going to keep the information they trusted me with secret. Here are some pictures from my time with them. (My dad took the pictures and took maybe five, so it will be limited)

 (The heart of our nation's capitol. Yay! We are in DC)

 (The outside view of the houses)

(The outside of Brian's House)

 (The inside of Brian's house)

 (Lee's House)

 (The outside of Jay's house)

 (Jay's living space)

(Jay's Interior) 

                                      (Their common area)

 

(Their beautiful garden) 

 

(Using a blowtorch...scary!)

(My beautiful family. Yes, my little cousin I am holding is apparently camera shy)

                             (Beautiful mountain ranges in West VA)

(SNOW!!!)

 (Coming back into GA)

 

 

More building in the weeks to come; we have a tiny house workshop in Orlando with Tumbleweed Tiny Houses, and we are planning on having a friend come down and help us with framing in mid-February.

 

If you would like to support this endeavor, please feel free to click the "Donate" button on this blog. Any amount helps me get closer to a finished house. My school is trying to be a federal non-profit, so we can send you a donation letter if you need one. Won't help for this year's taxes, but there's always next year's!

 

Thanks for all of the support and comments!