Total Time: 2 Days

Day One: Valet Tray

Me and my partner greatly enjoy the existence of miniature things. In most parts of the US, we often find convenience in the large size of things such as bath tubs, cups, and homes. But when we moved to Boston and had to downsize our domestic footprint, we actually found solace in smaller things. These artifacts often meet our needs very minimally with no excess utility. With this in mind, she asked me to make her a leather tray to hold a specific set of small daily objects. She didn’t want the tray any bigger than necessary as her available space was already quite limited.

To begin, I stacked her items in a square orientation on my notebook and drew a perimeter. This would serve as the “bottom“ of the tray. I then drew a bigger perimeter to serve as the “sidewalls”. Keeping with the theme of being minimal, I used a very simple design to raise the side walls and used the folded corners to provide rigidity. Fastened by brass Chicago screws and a gold washer, I was also able to mimic a frog’s face (frogs are a recurring theme in our relationship). Finally, the edges were burnished.

Day Two: Multi Currency Cash Wallet

In a effort to avoid a long winded backstory, I live in the USA, have family in Taiwan, Indonesia, and China, and I like to travel. But a gripe I have when traveling is the act of carrying cash and dealing with each country’s different bill dimensions. I wanted a slim-profiled wallet that could hold all my currencies and did not require more organization than their differing dimensions. Essentially, I wanted a lay-flat wallet that had a minimal design as well as a minimal foot print.

I searched through the currencies I had on hand and took measurements of the bill with the largest dimension. This would be the constraint for size. I doubled the width of the bill, intending to have the leather only folded once. I also added about 1/16th of an inch to the width in case the wallet lost some depth due to expansion. I also added around 1/8th of an inch to the length of the bill for seam allowance. The leather was then cut and burnished before being permanently tack stitched. I chose the tack stitch for its aesthetic minimalism and its ease in serviceability. Because each tack stitch is exclusive to itself, the stitches become redundant. (This is an important value that is carried over from my passion for climbing. Redundancy saves lives.)

In my personal life, I tend to trend towards a type of minimalist maximalism. I strive for all my possessions to be minimal so that I can actively carry more. Most wallets fold and bend, an act that both thickens the wallet and also can deform the bills. As someone who enjoys the designs of each bill, there is a certain satisfaction of a clean crisp bill. This wallet retains a small physical footprint by not folding and remaining thin and slim. This also allows for the bills to be stored in their natural and pristine shape.