My Ridiculous DIY Disaster
So yeah, decided to try making something cool for my niece Miley’s birthday. Kid’s obsessed with this cartoon cowboy character she calls “Miley’s boyfriend”. Figured, how hard could it be to build a little animatronic version? Spoiler: real hard.
Started simple. Went to the craft store, grabbed one of those cheap robot kits. You know the ones – supposed to make a little walking bug. Dug out an old cowboy hat from Halloween stuff. Felt pretty good. “Piece of cake,” I told myself.
Phase one: assemble the bug bot. Followed the instructions, kinda. Got the legs on backwards. Twice. Finally got the stupid thing put together. Pressed the button… and it just vibrated violently on the table like an angry phone. Hat flew off immediately. Total failure.
Plan B: ditch the walking. Just make it sit and wave. Found a small hobby servo motor online. Tried hooking it up to an arm made from popsicle sticks glued to the bot’s wrecked body. Wanted the arm to lift the hat.
What happened next was pure chaos:
- Glued the stupid arm wrong. Couldn’t move properly.
- The servo wire snapped right off when I tested it. Solder iron took forever to heat up.
- Burnt my finger trying to resolder. Cursing happened. Loudly.
- Stuck the hat on with double-sided tape. It slid off the second the servo buzzed.
Looked less like a cowboy, more like a pile of junk having a seizure. My girlfriend walked in and asked if it was supposed to be “modern art”. Felt my soul leave my body.
Scrapped the whole thing after three hours of pure frustration. Cut my losses. Grabbed Miley’s favorite candy bar instead, taped a tiny paper cowboy hat to the wrapper. Boom. Instant “boyfriend.” Kid was thrilled just getting chocolate. Sometimes the simple way is the only way.
Lesson learned: Don’t overthink birthday gifts for five-year-olds. And maybe avoid hobby servos unless you wanna rage-quit your own project. The candy bar cowboy lives on as my personal reminder.
