Cranes & Crates

I got all excited at Joann Fabrics yesterday when I saw two crates that looked like they would be PERFECT for record storage under our TV stand. I even had the guy take them to the fabric counter and measure them to make sure they would be wide enough for records.  He told me they were 12.25 inches wide (records with the sleeve are 12″) and I nearly shouted I was so elated.

Then the doubt started to creep in… did he give me external dimensions?  Probably. If so, was the wood on the sides bigger than an eighth of an inch? Probably. Would I be horribly disappointed when I got home? Probably. Needless to say, the man had already left to help another customer and the lady at the fabrics counter didn’t appreciate me trying to sneak back there to measure the crates myself. So I decided to take a chance… after all, I measured those records ages ago and maybe I had rounded up a little to 12″ to make it easy to remember.  Welcome back optimism!

Annnnnnd….. cue sadness.

They didn’t work.  My doubt was right. He gave me external dimensions plus each piece of wood was a quarter of an inch (making the internal dimension 11.75 inches).  And records with the sleeve are 12″ on the dot. The crates were a MEASLY .25 inches too small!  Bahhhh.

My disappointment disappeared pretty quickly though because once I knew what dimensions I needed, I was able to find some pretty sweet options online.  I will keep you posted!

The one thing I didn’t fail at yesterday was making Walker smile with a little surprise project waiting for him when he got home.

Let me explain… we both have been feeling a bit homesick lately. That always happens this time of year when Christmas seems so far in the past and future visits still seem so far in the future. So I decided to bring a little of Nebraska to our apartment. This month hundreds of thousands of Sandhill cranes migrate through the Nebraska Platte River Valley on their way north.

Source: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Source: http://scenicaperture.com/

Walker’s family took a trip out to see the cranes this week and since he couldn’t join them, I brought the cranes to him. It’s silly and cheesy and the cranes aren’t even that well made, I know.  But it’s the thought that counts, right?