Disco helmet provides party microclimate
Paul Overton at Dude Craft has got his maker priorities straight. Set simple, achievable goals, and make them a reality. Behold the disco bike helmet, a party on your head.
Year: 2010
How To: Make a Moss Tabletop
I think the simple moss is perfectly dramatic running the length of this glass table. Oooh, what if this was the head table at a wedding? Swooning at the thought. This is upscale gardening at it’s best. Sunset Magazine has all the deets on how to create your own version.
Maker Birthdays: Robert Bunsen
Although best known today for the eponymous Bunsen burner, German chemist Robert Wilhelm Eberhard Bunsen (Wikipedia), born on this date in 1811, had a foundational role in many areas of modern chemistry. He discovered the use of iron oxide hydrate as a precipitating agent for arsenic, which even today has applications in treating contaminated groundwater. His experiments with arsenic cost him an eye (by an explosion of pyrophoric tetramethyldiarsine) and almost cost him his life, by poisoning. He invented the Bunsen cell, an early electrochemical “battery” that improved upon existing designs by replacing precious metallic platinum with common carbon in the cathode. He used his new cell, among other things, to isolate pure magnesium for the first time, by electrolysis. With Kirchoff, he was instrumental in the development of flame-emission spectroscopy, and used the technique, for which his famous burner was developed, to discover two then-unknown elements–cesium and rubidium. He was, even among the acerbic European academic chemists of his day, widely regarded for his kindness, even temperament, and good character. He died in 1899, aged 88.
Truckers Take to Knitting and Quilting
My friend, Niku, passed this story on to me from the Wall Street Journal about truckers who have taken to knitting and quilting during their downtime on the road. It’s a beautiful piece about defying expectations and appreciating the work and art of creating with your hands. One of the truckers talks of daydreaming about […]
How-To: Punched Tin Frame From Discarded Cans
Pam from Gingerbread Snowflakes shares this great UpCraft project for turning discarded cans into beautiful punched tin picture frames.
Green glove for animation
Miguel Valenzuela writes in with his technique for making toys appear to animate on their own: I created a green screen glove out of some fabric and used it to animate a LEGO robot across a table. The green glove was made with green spandex and stitched together with only the thumb. It should really […]
How-To: iPad Lap Stand
Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories strut their stuff this week with a tutorial and pattern for making your own iPad lap stand. Look, Ma, no hands! Works on the desk, too.