Got this dumb idea last Tuesday morning scrolling Instagram. Saw some rich dude showing off his watch collection in a fancy box. Thought “heck, why buy when I got spare wood?” Stupid, I know. Grabbed that leftover plywood from the shed – the kinda stuff you make rabbit hutches with, not luxury items.
Measuring (Or Not Really)
Didn’t even bother sketching first. Just grabbed a tape measure from my junk drawer. Picked a random watch for size – my everyday Casio. Added like two inches all around. That felt kinda right. Grabbed a pencil, made some wobbly marks on the plywood. Looked like a drunk toddler drew them. Didn’t double-check.
- Tools Dump: My janky handsaw, that half-dried tube of wood glue, sandpaper older than my dog.
- Materials: Ratty plywood scrap, some felt leftover from Christmas stocking stuffers (black, thank god), scraps of white foam from a delivery box.
The Sawing Debacle
Started cutting along my shaky lines. Blade wobbled like crazy. Ended up with five pieces: none perfectly straight. Tried stacking them. Looked like a collapsing house of cards. Corners were totally not square. Took the sandpaper and just went nuts for like twenty minutes. More dust than progress. My garage looked like a flour bomb went off.
Glue Nightmare
Squeezed that crusty glue tube hard. Blobs came out. Slapped it on the edges of the base piece. Stuck the sides on. Held it tight for what felt like forever. Let go. Two sides immediately leaned inwards. Swore loudly. Piled every heavy book I could find on it to squish it straight. Left it overnight. Next morning? Stuck. Still a bit crooked, but whatever. Glue stains everywhere. More sanding. More dust cloud.
Felt Fiasco & Fake “Luxury”
Tried cutting the felt to size inside the box. Messed up the angles. Glued it in anyway. Wrinkles everywhere. Looked terrible. Grabbed the white foam. Sliced rough rectangles with kitchen scissors – big enough for watch pillows? Measured the box height wrong. Cut the foam blocks way too tall. Had to hack chunks off the bottom to make them fit under the lid. Glued those foam lumps onto the felt inside. Lumpy. Totally slapped a logo thing on the lid I peeled off an old gift bag. Fake as heck. Used that same tired glue. Pressed it down. Edges bubbled up. Just slammed a book on it too.
The Big Finish (Sort Of)
Stuck my Casio and an old Timex on the foam lumps. Lid closed. Didn’t explode open. Threw my keys at it gently. Held up. Not even close to Vuitton. Looks like a kindergarten project. But hey, holds my two cheap watches. Total cost? Basically zero. Probably took like five hours total with all the screw-ups. Done.
