The Gem Cave Workshop
Building the workshop was the easy part, the hard part was convincing the wife to give up what was previously basement storage. After some negotiation, I set off to build my workshop. The inspiration for the gem cave theme came from the gem mines in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
The original wall was crumbling cinder block concrete. After scraping it clean, I added a coat of quick dry cement from Quikrete and also used the quick dry cement to mold the rounded wall edges. You can mold quick dry cement like clay and it hardens in 10-15 minutes, very cool stuff.
The glass gems came from eBay. I used a hammer drill to carve out holes and then cemented them in. To simulate veins of gold and silver, I sprinkled in fine glitter and then sealed with high gloss concrete sealer. The gems are sprayed with invisible black light spray paint that makes a cool effect with the 4 fluorescent light fixtures hidden in the rafters.
The Kids Play Area allows me to work while the kids keep themselves busy (well, when they are behaving). The wall is chroma-key blue which I use as a background for Photoshopping the kids.
The original wall was crumbling cinder block concrete. After scraping it clean, I added a coat of quick dry cement from Quikrete and also used the quick dry cement to mold the rounded wall edges. You can mold quick dry cement like clay and it hardens in 10-15 minutes, very cool stuff.
The glass gems came from eBay. I used a hammer drill to carve out holes and then cemented them in. To simulate veins of gold and silver, I sprinkled in fine glitter and then sealed with high gloss concrete sealer. The gems are sprayed with invisible black light spray paint that makes a cool effect with the 4 fluorescent light fixtures hidden in the rafters.
The Kids Play Area allows me to work while the kids keep themselves busy (well, when they are behaving). The wall is chroma-key blue which I use as a background for Photoshopping the kids.