This little boy made my day today.

This is our youngest child, Jack.  Is he not the cutest thing ever!

But there is one thing wrong.

Jack is no longer our little boy.  🙁

He is our 17 year-old young man who gave me an early Christmas present this afternoon.

That first picture, is a photo of a picture taken 14 years ago. Such a blurry photo, or are the tears in my eyes making it blurry when I realize how fast the time has flown and how much he is loved.  🙂 sniff. sniff.

Pulling myself back together, let me tell you about that early Christmas present.

Jack is taking a Chopper and Metal class this first trimester of his senior year in high school. The class is a metal fabrication and motorcycle repair class.

When I first started my business, I named my company Pooh Pooh Pillows.  Story here. My parents gifted me with this sign.

When I was up sewing the other day, Jack notice the sign and asked if I wanted a new sign. An Old Lake George sign.

Why yes, yes I do Jack! Thank you!

He explained to me that he purchased a 16 gauge 4’x4′ piece of cold rolled steel from the high school shop.

After designing the sign using a combined rectangle and two circles, he loaded the Master Cam font named Georgia into the Plasma Cam computer.

The plasma torch cuts out the letters first and then the design shape was cut following the directions Jack had  placed in the Plasma Cam computer.

After the final cuts were made, Jack briefly let the metal cool before chipping the slag.  (removing the little bumpy pieces of steel on the back side)

He was going to paint it next but after sending me a sneak peek, I asked if we could leave it so it could naturally rust. So rustic and cool looking!

This project took him about an hour total. 30-40 minutes creating a design. 10 minutes for the machines to do the cutting, another 5 minutes  chipping the slag and then the balance of the time admiring his great work.

I am going to hang this sign as you exit my studio and smile every time I remember the little boy who made it for me. 🙂

By the way, I got my HGTV magazine today and stole a couple of ideas to add to my Christmas décor.

I’ll share on Friday,

Wendy