Thursday, August 28, 2008

License plate LDS scripture & hymnal cover

Instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/License_plate_book_cover_LDS_scripture_amp_hymn/?ALLSTEPS
Memory-souvenir turned useful.
Yes, I "made it"! But, I must admit one thing. I did not COMPLETELY make this form scratch. I actually tore apart an un-used souvenir CD holder that I got on our honeymoon so the hinge was re-used.
I would have made one from scratch using my old black and yellow plates from my 68 VW square-back (deceased), but I didn't have much time and needed it before seminary started Monday.
It looked quite different and I really wanted to make one from scratch so I could say "I did the whole thing myself" but I also appreciate that I can say it's a souvenir from our honeymoon instead of my old car... that's much more romantic anyway. Truth is that the only part that I didn't rivet on myself is the hinge. I even had to unbend and re-bend the license plate and remove all the original hardware. I added new hardware, re-formed the bends and perm-a-sealed neoprene to it for a liner. It was pretty easy to make the pattern for that. The hard part was cutting it smoothly- and grinding the plate to hold it down. The license plate is EXACTLY the right size to fit around a small-version LDS quad and hymnal and there is still room for my 8-color scripture-marking pencil. I love it and I love telling people that I made it from a souvenir of our honeymoon.

12 comments:

Warren said...

This rocks! I'd love to have one of my vintage new york license plates get this treatment for my quad and hymnal... could I convince you to do it for me if I sent you the plate? I'd even send some cash to cover time and materials.
Let me know. This is too cool!

Anonymous said...

Sooo, uh what you're saying is you love your car more than your wife. hmmmm.

I KNEW IT! The longing way you stare at it through the window, your far away glance you get when I mention anything that reminds you of it.

Oh my goodness, I know the things that Buddy does to me, I can only imagine what your VW has in store for me if/when you ever get it working again.

I guess I have to watch my back, head and everything around your babies.

Allen Wilson said...

no honey- i only wanted to be able to say that I said I made the whole thing AND I was a little leery about carrying around a "rainbow" item... ya know. :D
love you LOVE BUG!

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

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Travis Jensen said...

Brother Wilson! This is former Elder Jensen that served in Campbell about 6 months ago! I was looking online to find out how to make that license plate scripture cover because i remember seeing yours and i just happened to pop up to your web page! haha. Is there anyway i can get a set of instructions to make the license scriptures? I got a california license plate i would love to put them on. Thanks for posting the pictures. Hope all is well!

Allen Wilson said...

off the top of my head...

You'll need a small hinge, rivet tool kit, some wet-suit neoprene, access to a band saw and grinder, drill, industrial strength double sided tape and (depending on the hardware you devise for the latch.... I used a gromet and an aluminum insert and corresponding screw).

Cut license plate in half
round corners to match
drill holes for hinge (through both hinge and plate)
apply hinge on inside of cover
measure width of your books
Trace the plate halves onto the neoprene for cutting (remember to add a flap before cutting if you decide to do it the way I did)
Mark a dotted line equidistant from center hinge on plate
bend plates by standing on a 2x4 and lifting the other 1/2 supported by another board? (figure it out)
calculate where your latch will be and install it
apply double sided tape through the inside of the plate
apply neoprene
calculate the stretch of the flap and apply a grommet accordingly for snugness

You may wish to invent a zipper case if you have access to a sewing machine
my scriptures can slide out the top and bottom

Allen Wilson said...

Permacil is the tape I used! thanks Steve and Yugen

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