I’ve made this gift for a couple of people, but this one happens to be my mom’s. I came across this pattern by Dave Hakkens, and knew that I had to try it. For this one, I used the basic pattern. Instead of cardboard, I decided to make the block out of wood. I picked up a thin sheet of balsa wood, along with some wood glue, wood filler, fine grit sandpaper, and Elmer’s clamp tape. I cut out all of my pieces using a small knife, and then taped them together like the pattern says. I then reinforced the tape with a small line of glue, and used the clamp tape to hold it together so it would dry. Because the balsa wood is thicker than any cardboard that they pattern would call for, it might not line up exactly. I would shave off pieces of wood until all of the pieces fit together.

I let it dry for 24 hours, then removed the clamp tape. I used my finger to fill in the cracks with the wood filler. I left that to dry for at least 24 hours, then used my fine grit sandpaper to sand it down so the edges were flush. I repeated the wood filler/sanding if there were any cracks or holes until it was perfect. I gave it a light brush with a dry paint brush to remove any wood dust, and got to painting. I used acrylic paint, and gave each side 2 coats. Once the paint dried completely (again, I left this for at least 24 hours), I used the pattern to cut out pieces of self-stick laminating sheets. I attached these to the block in the corresponding sides. Because I had to shave down some of the pieces to get them to fit, I made sure that the laminated sheets were the right size before I took off the backing. I also made them slightly smaller so they wouldn’t hang off the edge and accidentally get peeled back.

I made sure to include a couple of dry erase marker along with the memo block, so people had a better idea of what it was. As you can see, this one has been well used, which is what I would call a success.