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December 24, 2007

For my first ever tiki party, which I organized to celebrate both the end of summer and the release of Weird Arizona, I threw together a pair of tiki speakers I could run out onto my patio so guests could enjoy the music both inside and out.

Unfortunately, since I was pretty much improvising them as I went, and since I was in such a hurry to get them done, I neglected to take step-by-step photos. So, really, this project is less of a tutorial than it is a show-and-tell.

Still, I do have a few tips to offer, which hopefully might give some of you a little inspiration to create something similar.

Get yourself a cheap pair of speakers. I found these hiding in the back of a junk drawer in my dad's workshop. I think they came from some old tape player. They're nice and compact at only 4 inches cubed and have RCA plugs with unbelievably long cords, so they were perfect for running out through my living-room window and onto my tiki porch.

Odds are you have a similar pair from an old computer stuck somewhere, so check your closet. If not, you could certainly find something at a thrift store for a couple of bucks.

Pull out the guts. Remove a few screws in the back, probably a couple on the inside, and set the components aside.

You should also probably remove the front screens, or at least mask them with some tape.

Clean and paint the shells. If your speakers are plastic like mine, start with a plastic primer so the paint will stick properly. Otherwise, it will just chip right off.

Next, I recommend Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch Espresso Satin, which is a nice, rich brown that seems to go well with tiki decor. I also recommend using a finish coat like the Painter's Touch Crystal Clear Gloss, which not only looks good, but also seems to strengthen the paint job.

Of course, if your speakers are already the color you want them, you can skip both this step and the previous one.

Put the guts back in. Hopefully, you made a few mental notes on how everything fit.

Create the bamboo frame. For speakers on this scale, I used some 1/2-inch-wide stock I found at the Dollar Tree.

I stuck it all together with hot glue, then lashed the corners with jute twine that I got at my local gardening center.

My procedure went something like this: First, toast the bamboo's nodules with a lighter to add a little detail. Next, hot-glue together two squares, one for the front and one for the back. Lash the squares' corners. Then, connect the two squares with a couple of lengths of bamboo underneath and a couple along the sides, making a cube. Lash the final connections.

The lashings, when done properly, will not only look good, but will strengthen the frame.

By the way, when you take measurements for your speakers, leave a tad extra room on the inside for the thickness of the lashing. I didn't, and the frames fit a little too snugly.

Insert the speakers. Note that the frames aren't actually attached to the speakers in any way; the speakers just slip down inside. You're free to enclose your speakers, of course, but I did mine this way in case I had to open one of them up for repair.

I used these guys as little tabletop numbers, but they could also be hung up with some twine or small fishnets. Of course, you could scale this project up with some big speakers and some larger bamboo, too, which is something I'd love to see.

If you get inspired to make your own, let me know!