Navy SEALS & Rock N' Roll

This all started back in December. I was recruited. 

No, not by the Navy. That day will never come. 

But by my uncle. 

He's a super cool guy and teaches at a local college on the weekends. One of his classes is guitar making. They make the guitars from start to finish. One of his students is in the Navy and had a really intricate carving on his guitar. He was currently serving and so my uncle asked me if I would paint it. After I got over the shock that he thought I had enough skill to do this, I said yes. He brought it over right before fall semester ended. I'd have plenty of time to paint it over Christmas break. 

I worked on it quite a lot during the break and the nights when I was at my parents by myself.  My work station looked a little like this... soda, water, paper towels, plenty of tiny paint brushes, tooth picks, paint, one computer with the picture (to get the colors correct) and another with Home Alone playing. Because if you know me at all I watch Home Alone way too much anyways and in December the numbers triple. 

This was the first real "progress" picture I took. I have a picture of it before I even started but for the life of me I can't find it. I must have lost it along with my studying for finals skills. 

Don't mind my very unappealing short and fat hand. This is just to show you how small the carving really was and what I was working with. 

This is another progress picture. I was initially going to do progress posts but I just figured I'd forget and would rather be able to show you start to finish in one day. 

The below picture is the final product. Now before I make myself look all amazing for getting this done, I must explain one thing. It took much longer than just Christmas break. Not because I was spending hours hovering over the guitar but because Kylie here has a smidge of ADD. I get so distracted and involved in other things that basically if it's not done within a certain amount of time you might not ever see it finished. If you look around my house, you'd find a whole lot of unfinished projects. Like that Wooden carrot, my frankenstein and witch decorations, my snowman decorations,bracelets, a sewing project from easily 4 years ago... you get the idea. If I didn't knock my kitchen table and chairs out in two days, I'd still probably be eating on the floor. 

Anyways I really didn't finish the guitar until mid to end February. Pathetic and embarrassing, I know. but alas it's finished. 

It's a good thing 

A) that this guy was going to be gone for a few months and wouldn't be needing the guitar right away and 

B) That my uncle is super patient and laid back

or it might have turned out a little more like this...

This is the final product once the guitar was completely varnished and everything was put together in a proper guitaresque way. 

My brother and I had many debates over this said guitar. He said the engraving was on the back because that's how the guitar should face. Me and the majority of other people (i.e. my mom, dad, sister, Garrett's friends, etc) said no. The guy who built it must be a lefty and made it for how he played. Well, we talked to my uncle about it and nope... my brother was totally right. 

The engraving is indeed on the back. 

I think it turned out pretty great if I may say so myself. I just hope that the guy, whoever he is, will enjoy it as well. It still makes me nervous to think about doing anything like this on anyone else's personal belongings. So nerve racking.