Welcome to the inaugural DadCrafted newsletter! Eventually, maybe I'll come up with a creative name, but I figure I better see how many of these I decide to do before I go that far.

I learned that the struggle is real...

 I've been doing the content creation thing for over three years, and while things seem to be moving in the right direction, all of this is definitely a peaks and valleys situation. My most recent run of YouTube videos have not seen near the views of my older stuff. But hey, at least people still like to watch my old vids on making Canoe Paddles (almost to 30k views!!!) and a DIY Balance Beam!

But either way, I'm not stopping or even slowing down. While I've been disappointed, I just have to remind myself that I'm making the stuff that I find interesting and that I'm excited about. And I have some really cool stuff planned for the boys, so I'm really excited to keep plugging away! The future is bright, even if the views are down!

Who's excited for the new television shows? Few more than me, I can tell you that! Between The Rings of Power, House of the Dragon, and Andor, I don't know how I'm going to have time to make stuff and content. Expect future newsletters to contain my thoughts on all of these shows, and I'm excited to have an outlet to nerd out!

As for what I've watched recently, PREY!!! Oh man, what a great flick. Definitely the best Predator movie since the original (I know that's probably not saying much). But I was enthralled for this entire movie. Young girl that wants to be taken seriously as a hunter (and she's pretty vicious with a hatchet), giant Predator killing everything in site. New twists that do a great job tying into old lore. And she's got a dog! Just a great movie and will definitely be worth several rewatches! Check it out!

I've really been into Zach Bryan lately. I mean, who puts out two records in one summer, one of which has THIRTY-FOUR tracks on it!? But his record 'American Heartbreak' is nothing short of a masterpiece. I don't even know how to name my favorite songs on this record, because there are so many good ones. But damn, I sure do love 'Highway Boys' and 'The Outskirts.' Check it out if you haven't already!

Make Something - Dave has a big channel and certainly doesn't need my help, but a couple of his most recent videos are some of the best things he's ever done in my opinion. He did a piano restoration, remaking it from Walnut and turning it into a masterpiece. And then he took a cheapo Amazon coffee table and turned it into an amazing pizza table! What's a pizza table, you ask? Well, go watch the video and see. Something I never knew I needed and now I gotta make one!

I know I called it out a bit before with my whining about views, but I did put out a YouTube video a couple weeks ago. I made the boys, and myself, Harry Potter Wizard Wanted Posters. This video was a lot of fun, and the boys making faces for their picture was great comedy, at least to me! Brooks also supplied the piano music you hear behind me during the intro, and if you watch the very end you get to see him in action.

 I had this idea long before I ever bought a laser, but man did a laser make this easy. I love how they turned out, and even made one for my wife's uncle when I found out he is a Harry Potter fan. I am going to sell customized versions of these, so message me if you're interested!

Marvel! I've been making Marvel files and lasering away like a Spider-Man villain hell-bent on designing the perfect trap! A friend gave me the idea to make a corner box art piece, and then I lost my mind and started making every character I wanted on my wall. I also have several of these for sale, or if you want a custom one, shoot me a message and we'll see if I can hook you up!

Thanks for subscribing and checking out the newsletter! If you know of anyone that might find my ramblings interesting, please share!

Cheers!

Grant