I deem this project phoenix!

[Kiwibird]

My newt tank cover has risen from the ashes of it's destruction! Well, actually, I bought more wood and my hubby reconstructed it back to where I had it at the point he stomped all over it (in case you missed my post on that, it was accidental). What took me about 12 hours only took him 3, and it came out much straighter and doesn't wobble as much:20: In fact, Any future woodworking projects I may lightly glue together and put directly under his feet so he will stomp and then rebuild me a better version! J/K:09: I was not on here much yesterday because I was busy gluing on the roof (which came out totally awesome, BTW). Here I spent all that time looking for bamboo, and it was literally sitting right there on top of the newts tank- We had the tank covered with a bamboo placemat that was exactly what I needed for the roof:20: The open spaces in the back are for air-flow and cords for the new lights I am going to install. I'll also put some links below to some of the in-tank decorations I'm thinking about and see what you all think The plants are just kind of sitting there, and I'm unsure how I will work them in. This is a detailed project, but I am moving right along (o and it will just remain on the newt tank from now on so there are no more "accidents".

And then the decorating themes (of course I would be adding plants and smaller ornaments too, but these are all large and would set the theme)-

Caribbean Living Reef Large Aquarium Ornament Resin I know it's not a tropical animal, but his tank is about the closest I will ever get to another aquarium and I have always been fond of reef tanks

Blue Ribbon cobblestone castle wall - Rakuten.com Shopping I thought this would be cool too, and not quite as distant to his natural surrounding as coral

Mountain View Aquarium Ornament Tree House Cave Bridge | eBay
Or a twist on the classic castle decoration

 

[jenphilly]

Very nice!! Luxury newt accommodations!! Do you have the newts yet? You need to name one Fawkes after the Harry Potter Phoenix

 

[Kiwibird]

Oh, I've had the newt for 5 or so years. His name is Mr. Newt. We had a neighbor who was going to flush him if he couldn't find someone to take him (guess his kid lost interest in the pet). I'm just updating his setup because I bought super cheap decorations when we got him because when I asked at the petstore they said they only lived 3-5 years. I didn't want to invest a whole lot of time and effort into an expensive setup for a short lived animal I never intended to own in the first place, but I recently found out he will actually live up to 25 years, so I'm updating his home!

 

[Kiwibird]

So a bit of an update- I am kind of at a standstill right now with my newt tank cover. I am trying to think of a way to get the tank cover to look like 2 "trees" are "holding up" the roof. I tried to sketch it up, but I'm not so good at drawing Hoping someone might be able to interpret my terrible sketch and make a suggestion on what I can use to make something to look like a tree trunk. I was thinking the clay that can be fired in the oven, or *attempting* to carve balsa wood, but I'm not sure if theres a better medium? Any ideas

This is my sketch of the finished frame. I apologize for the poor quality, drawing is not my strongest talent-

This is the kind of look I'm going for on the sides, but I'm not seeing a way to use natural, so i'm thinking maybe clay? Or any other ideas of how to make sides that look like a natural tree trunk?

]


Secondly, I am really leaning towards a tropical theme (I just love everything tropical), even though Mr. Newt isn't a tropical animal. I have always just loved reef tanks, but unless I hit the jackpot and can afford to pay someone to take care of a fish tank like that, I think the newts tank is about the closest I'll ever get to a fish tank I am sure he won't care what his enclosure looks like, so long as it has places to hide and crawl on:54: These are the decorations I have picked out, I would keep them all in the back, with the reefs in the corners and the volcano in the center and leave the front of the tank open. What do you all think? This is a major undertaking of a project!

 

[RavensGryf]

I LOVE IT!! I'm so glad the project was resurrected! So far I love the design and the branch going along the top. I do like the tropical theme with the fake coral fish tank decorations incorporated. I can't wait to see the final project, and I know it's gonna look spectacular in the end.

That's sad that they're such "disposable" animals that even the pet store told you they have a short lifespan which is so far from the truth!

 

[Kiwibird]

I'm hoping this will come out spectacular instead of disastrous It's really pushing the boundaries of my creative abilities and skills. Ridiculous projects no one in their right mind would ever waste their time on are kind of my thing. Creativity is like crack to me, I'm totally addicted to keep pushing the limits of what I can make

 

[Cyrinaluna]

I can't wait to see the finished project!

For the sides you want to look like trees holding up the top. You could take a piece of wood like the one you've shown, then carve a slot in one side that is big enough to fit one corner side of the lid and nail/silicone it in place. That way you don't have to mess with the support structure, but you can still get the look you're going for.

If that makes any sense at all... I have trouble explaining what is just a picture in my head lol

 

[Kiwibird]

I can't wait to see the finished project!

For the sides you want to look like trees holding up the top. You could take a piece of wood like the one you've shown, then carve a slot in one side that is big enough to fit one corner side of the lid and nail/silicone it in place. That way you don't have to mess with the support structure, but you can still get the look you're going for.

If that makes any sense at all... I have trouble explaining what is just a picture in my head lol

That's along the line of what I was thinking, but where the heck am I going to find 2 perfect sized pieces of wood w/ the craggily roots? Which is why I was thinking of sculpting them out of something. Anything I would do would be an overlay, I'm not messing with the structure..... This is one of those things that will take me a while to figure out

 

[Sterling1113]

I can't wait to see the finished project!

For the sides you want to look like trees holding up the top. You could take a piece of wood like the one you've shown, then carve a slot in one side that is big enough to fit one corner side of the lid and nail/silicone it in place. That way you don't have to mess with the support structure, but you can still get the look you're going for.

If that makes any sense at all... I have trouble explaining what is just a picture in my head lol

That's along the line of what I was thinking, but where the heck am I going to find 2 perfect sized pieces of wood w/ the craggily roots? Which is why I was thinking of sculpting them out of something. Anything I would do would be an overlay, I'm not messing with the structure..... This is one of those things that will take me a while to figure out

Yknow- when I was younger, I used to sculpt fake bonsai trees out of cardboard, paper, anything that was light and malleable really. And when the structure was done, and it looked the shape of a bonsai, I'd wrap it with this type of gardening tape.. I can't for the life of me remember what it was called, but it looked like this, only brown ----> http://www.midwestgardentips.com/plant_tie_tape.jpg

Maybe you could do the same? Just use anything, really-- Clay, cardboard, paper machet, then wrap it with the tape when it looks right.. it's self-adhesive(doesn't have a sticky side, from what I remember.) so it can be sort of difficult but over all I really like the texture and look of it when it's applied. Hope I gave a little bit of inspiration!

Edit: I found it!! It's brown floral tape.. you can get it from most craft stores(hobby lobby, michaels, joannes, etc) if I remember correctly!! --> http://factorydirectcraft.com/pimages/20050815100435-032983/brown_floral_tape.jpg

 

[RavensGryf]

I'm hoping this will come out spectacular instead of disastrous It's really pushing the boundaries of my creative abilities and skills. Ridiculous projects no one in their right mind would ever waste their time on are kind of my thing. Creativity is like crack to me, I'm totally addicted to keep pushing the limits of what I can make

I think that's an awesome addiction April!
I USED TO BE a creative and artistic person... Maybe still buried deep within but covered with a fair amount of rust I simply haven't had TIME in years now to be creative, and in recent months it has gotten worse I look forward to days ahead when life circumstances settle down enough to get me some real good ME time!!

 

[Cyrinaluna]

I can't wait to see the finished project!



For the sides you want to look like trees holding up the top. You could take a piece of wood like the one you've shown, then carve a slot in one side that is big enough to fit one corner side of the lid and nail/silicone it in place. That way you don't have to mess with the support structure, but you can still get the look you're going for.



If that makes any sense at all... I have trouble explaining what is just a picture in my head lol

That's along the line of what I was thinking, but where the heck am I going to find 2 perfect sized pieces of wood w/ the craggily roots? Which is why I was thinking of sculpting them out of something. Anything I would do would be an overlay, I'm not messing with the structure..... This is one of those things that will take me a while to figure out

You could wrap chicken wire or something similar (and easy to remove) over a piece of wood you like, so it makes a frame. Take the frame off the wood, then paper mâché over it and cut a slot in the finished product with wire cutters (doing it before you put the mâché on could cause the frame to lose its shape). Then rinse and repeat for the other side. Of course this could make things needlessly complicated...

I do like Sterling's idea. It's seems simple and way easier to pull off than what I'm thinking of lol. But then I always tend to make things harder for myself with projects that I do haha.

 

[Kiwibird]

Ya, probably not going to mess with paper mache. I've never been too good with it. I'm thinking clay may be my best bet, as i just don't hold out a whole lot of hope for finding the right looking wood outside, (i'm surely not paying $50 for a chunk of wood, like these websites charge:11 but I might go for a little hike today and see what I can turn up

 

[Cyrinaluna]

Outside is the best place to find wood anyway so long as it's pet safe. I've got a small stash of branches I keep for future projects.

 

[Kiwibird]

So a bit of an update

I bought some sculpey clay that can be fired in the regular oven, so I am join to give that a try and *fingers crossed* I hopefully have some undiscovered talent for shaping and painting clay into what looks like gnarled tree trunks

I also ordered my decorations, and came to the conclusion one large decoration would be better than 2 smaller ones, and would allow the volcano to be highlighted more. I got *awesome* lighting that has daylight/moonlight, all black rocks for the bottom and a magnetic ledge (the newt has to have a place to come out of the water) that will clear up A LOT of in-tank space compared to stacked rocks like I have now. This is going to look really cool once I'm done, and be an overall nicer environment for him

 

[Cyrinaluna]

Sounds great! Can't wait to see it done

 

[RavensGryf]

Wow! I am just envisioning it! Mr. Newt will really have a mansion to make other pet newts jealous. The daylight/moonlight sounds like a spectacular touch too

 

[Kiwibird]

I can hardly wait for everything to get here! I'm just hoping the clay works:52::32:

 

[Cyrinaluna]

I think they clay will work. You could always do a few practice tries with it before you go for the finished pieces.

 

[Kiwibird]

The clay did in fact work. Took me a couple tries (I've never worked with clay), but I got it to be "realistic" looking *enough*. This is looking so amazing! I'm really excited for it to be done