Oh, wait maybe I was told it’s nothing but math. Take this shadow box, for example…It’s 16 inches on all sides. So, you just rip four 16-inch strips, right? Wrong. You cut four 15 11/16-inch strips and nail them with the brad gun in a spiral so that each side has only one joint, where the 15 11/16 length plus the 5/16 width equals 16 inches. Bam. Math. 

Here’s some simple math: This week is my mom’s birthday. She’s getting a 16-inch shadow box. It all adds up.