pirate | Secret Dad Society

Little by little, I’ve been painstakingly working on my very first wood burning project: an old wooden box that I’m making into a pirate treasure chest for my son. As usual, I had no clue what I was getting myself into, so I vastly underestimated the time and patience that would be necessary to finish such a “simple” new project. I finally just finished the centerpiece on the front of the box. While it took a lot longer than I anticipated, the results have been well worth the time, and the smell of lightly burning wood has been an added bonus that perfectly compliments autumn weather.

The ship is a design from Etsy shop Eleitheliel, which I’ve used with permission. Thank you Emily and Hannah! Please be sure to check out all of their awesome, original ink drawings and other wares at their Etsy page!

Once all of the wood burning is complete, I plan to adorn the box with some gritty parts, like this iron lock that I purchased on eBay. I may even modify the box so that it glows when opened. Aye mateys–stay tuned for more project updates, though I reckon it may take me until next ‘international talk-like-a-pirate day’ to finish it!

Jazzy Cat walks the Plank

With so many Renaissance Faires scattered throughout the country, there is a good chance that one may be in driving distance to you. If so, I highly recommend making the trek with the whole family.

We went in costume this year and had a blast. Throughout the day we participated in a peasant dance, feasted like kings and queens, enjoyed amazing shows, rode an elephant, wandered into magical shops of all shapes and sizes, and so much more. The Pirate Queen herself even caught sight of our own little scalawags and awarded them loot!

If you should get bored meandering the land and taking in all of the sites (unlikely), there are often many scheduled events going on simultaneously throughout the day, like peasant dances, hypnotists, jousting, parades, costume contests, and more. And if you’re really lucky, you may even catch a glimpse of a celebrity, like Gumby!

Then again, simply sitting on a bench with a turkey leg, gawking at the wide variety of stunning costumes, is plenty entertainment for me. We’ll see you there come next fall!