Domo Arigato

Because my youngest sister, Ale, is obsessed with anime, she is convinced she knows a thing or two about Japanese culture. The brand of zeal she expresses around my parents' house and at the dinner table is one that makes you never want to hear anything about Japan ever again.

This is why I looked over Craftzine.com's blog post on how to use Furoshiki, the Japanese art of wrapping cloth, so many times.

However, the idea of not having to wrap presents in whatever embarrassingly festive paper my mom invests in this year began to appeal to me. She's been a fan of the blushing Santa Claus the last couple of Christmases.

The link to the Environment Government of Japan's PDF provides an easy-to-understand tutorial.

Another magazine blog, PingMag.jp, wrote about a Furoshiki exhibit that has creative new perspectives to the ancient practice.

T-shirt surgery

When it comes to clothes, I am a genuine believer in simplicity and versatility. My tight-fisted existence won't allow me to spend more than $15 on a single item (with rare exceptions, of course).

When I'm bored with my wardrobe, out comes the scissors and the sewing machine.

But it's never been a refined technique. The shapeless remains of past attempts have been relegated to pajama drawers for use as embarassing loungewear and car-washing rags.

Muppinstuff is a crafting blog based in Australia. Janet, the blogger and a lady after my own heart, posted a great tutorial for a simple alteration to a t-shirt neckline that seems to be able to change the whole look without the hacked-up results.

More Links

• Reconstructed Clothing tribe - a thread on simple t-shirt alteration
• Wardrobe Refashion blog
• T-Shirt Surgery livejournal community
• T-Shirt Bitchery livejournal community

DIY decision

Taking your needs into your own hands lies at the root of the do-it-yourself dogma. Voting represents one of the basic DIY projects we've got at our disposal.

No tools required. Minor setup encouraged.

Vote-smart.org is a good site to start getting informed. The project, meant to educate and instill enthusiasm in voters, is not funded by private or corporate interests, but by individual citizens.

A gather site for the 2006 elections also sprung up linking to almost 5000 articles on blogs and message boards.

I have yet to acquire my American citizenship, so this will be the fourth election where I'm experiencing voting frustration. There's so many issues at stake. Unfortunately, I'm sitting this one out again. At least election season has provided materials for my new bike fender.

Pretty fly for DIY

Atelier v., a Swiss design company, put up some pretty crazy ideas for everyday objects on their website. The range includes creations like a floatie lamp and a rubber glove dressing dispenser.

My particular favorite are the spork teeth.

There are no tutorials or anything. Most of the items are pretty straightforward with none of them seeming like they go beyond cutting and nailing in their creation.

But it certainly makes you look at things differently.

[found via DIY Happy]

Create-o-ween?

Somewhere in the strange evolution of American holiday traditions, October 31st emerged as a day that warrants and embraces DIY projects the most.

marie antoinette; jack-o'-lantern; tampon ghost / found via MAKE's Halloween blog archive

Christmas is all about commercial consumption. Easter lost it's DIY edge since those plastic colored eggs came into existence. The Mother's Day/Father's Day macaroni greeting cards pale in comparison to the value of DIY there is at Halloween.

Halloween posts on crafting blogs have been popping up since August. MAKE's project archive has well organized links to DIY Halloween ideas.

One link that caught my eye the most was the one to Michael's costume pattern stash. The craft store has a collection of 50 patterns and face painting ideas.

Oh and my favorite: the tampon ghost.

More Links:

• Free Halloween paper toys
• Craftster's thread on costumes
• Associated Content's party decoration list

Enter Victoria

I met her on a steamy August day.

We didn’t click at first.

Her tires were flat. Her chain was rusted. Her once-lovely beige coat was falling off, flake by flake.

But after much deliberation, I dropped the $10 at the junk store, bought the old Gitane road bike and named her Victoria.

As recommended by my tight-fisted, psuedo luddite friend, I took a trip down to Best Deal Bikes here in Gainesville (directions and review). There, Mr. Walt restored her to magnificent riding condition and threw in a lock for $40. While that’s a great price, I found some even cheaper DIY bike repair tutorials (Twin Cities Green Guide; Utah cyclist's personal site) that have good information on how to get by without Walt.

For Victoria, now it’s all aesthetics. While I’m tempted to leave her elegance disguised in this rusty camouflage so that she doesn’t get stolen, I love projects too much to resist.

Instructables.com has a practical and a fashionable take on how to approach repainting a bicycle. I found another painting site through the MAKEzine blog that addresses the rust issue I’m facing.

More Ideas:

• DIY bike lights: Under $10 - Instructables.com, Tape case bike light - MAKEzine
• Riding fly: DIY bike stereo - MAKEzine
• Political poster bike fenders
• An old Transportation Alternatives article provides apartment parking solutions.
  

I'm only (not) sleeping

It happens in the middle of the night. Sometimes, it happens during an afternoon nap. Because of its sporadic nature, the consequential urgency is hardly something I can anticipate.

My slumber is being more frequently interrupted by what is probably stress jarring my internal alarm clock. This kind of awakening sends my feet kicking towards the ceiling and the resulting momentum brings my body up, stiff as a board.

Just like the mobiles hanging over babies’ cribs, lulling them into a peaceful sleep, the dream machine concept (discussed on the museumofhoaxes.com blog) that was popular in the 90s seems like it might be an interesting experiment.

As seen in this Wired News article, Japanese toy company Takara released a commercial model in 2004 that received mixed reviews because of the questionable efficacy of dream machines.

final product / pattern

Instead of investing in technology, I’m taking a wad of singles to the dollar store to buy some poster board and get going on this DIY dream machine plan on 10111.org’s page on the device.

Even if it doesn't work, the sense of accomplishment that comes with completing projects may be what I need to sleep easy.

And it looks pretty!

Links:

• For those looking for something more high tech, instructables.com has a tutorial for a combo mind control/hypnosis/dream machine.
• Takara USA's website describes what other random gadgets the company has to offer.