GeekDad DIY: Baby's First Heroic Footstool

Reader and soon-to-be GeekDad Bryan was recently faced with a quandary. The rocking chair in his future geekling’s nursery was uncomfortably high, and the expectant GeekMom required a footstool. This sounds like a job for Handy Man! Unfortunately, he was otherwise indisposed, so Bryan got crafty himself:

Basically, I started with a pre-assembled, unfinished wooden (pine, I think) footstool from the craft store. I painted it with a VOC-free interior wall paint. Next, I clipped images that made me happy from a few second-hand, fair-condition comics. Then came the decoupage (it's not just for old ladies and their pictures of cats any more). I had to use a sharpie to re-ink some bits that were clipped a bit sloppily and sharpen a few of the lines. In fact, I was forced to redraw a couple of Batman's fingers, but if you don't look too closely, you can't tell. Finally, I laid down about a dozen coats of crystal clear gloss enamel, which was not quite so VOC-free (irony, thy name is efficiency). And there you have it.

And so, true believers, thus ends our inspiring tale of the GeekDad DIY ethic at work and true bipartisan superheroism. Surely one day, Bryan’s geeky brood will gaze upon this project and know that it was a true labor of love from dear old dad. And, assuming, he’s done his fatherly duties, Bryan 2.0 will then chastise his adoring pop for utterly destroying any collectable value those original comics may have maintained.