cut / paste

Domo Arigato

2006-11-28T09:42:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-14T09:32:00.000-05:00

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

2006-11-07T09:44:00.001-05:00

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

2006-11-03T07:53:00.000-05:00

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?

2006-10-31T03:02:00.000-05:00

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:

Enter Victoria

2006-10-24T07:22:00.000-04:00

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

2006-10-17T09:26:00.000-04:00

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.

What lies beneath

2006-10-13T09:44:00.000-04:00

In the spirit of indulging stereotypes, I live the slapdash life of a college student. Something about the transient lifestyle and the general ambivalence trademarked by my generation leads me to accept Wendy’s napkins and Crayola markers floating around at the bottom of my purse as a decent organizational system.

the information casualties of the bottom of my laptop bag

But that’s it. No more! My nimble fingers stumbled upon this tutorial for this Ultimate Pocket Notebook on the FULLCONTACTGeek blog.

The blog’s writer, Leon Samadi, covers all the bases for successfully building the ultimate in basic organization.

The ability to be the provider of my own solution is certainly rewarding, but I suppose that’s what DIY is all about.

More ideas:

Notebook hacks on instructables.com
100 pages! on instructables.com
Great moleskin hacks that can be applied to any notebook

Bargain basement lighting

2006-09-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

With my pockets as empty as ever, my latest fixation is expanding my small personal collection of camera equipment. After all, I am graduating this semester (unsettling fact number 1) and will no longer have access to the journalism school's toys (unsettling fact number 2).

The thought of ever owning a ring flash never crossed my mind because it seems like one of these specialized items that I could not bare to invest in, especially when street prices range from $70 - $500.

Some photos I have seen have an undeniable edge about them because of this flash set up. While it's used for a lot of dorky collector stuff, it's used for some very vivid portraiture work.

I caught a thread on the fredmiranda.com forum that led me to this tutorial also posted in the MAKE Flickr photo stream.

After a quick stop at the dollar store, I have invested a full $6 in this project so far: 3-pack of plastic bowls, duct tape and a box cutter.

I'm going to run with this studio on a shoestring thing and start filling my equipment void on my own. Photocritic.org posted a delicious DIY lighting roundup.

Links:

DIY network has tips for lighting home movies that also work for lighting photos.
DIYPhotography.net has a seemingly plenty of articles tailored for the likes of poor photo students.

Being green: not so tough

2006-09-22T07:24:00.000-04:00

Environmental consciousness is so hot right now. Not just in that crazy hybrid-car-driving Hollywood: Even our own UF president Bernie Machen has hustled towards pushing for a sustainable campus and alternative energy research.

I realize it's more than just a trend, so I'm doing my best to lower my Earth day footprint, which currently stands at 18 acres, according to myfootprint.org. The same site says the Earth currently has only 4.5 biologically productive acres per person.

I'm way over my limit.

While trying to find a way to sweep up my mess in a crafty manner, I ran into a blog based in my hometown of Lima, Peru named Vestal Design.

They had an interesting post about the potential of plastic bags as a textile. Plastic bags, like the ones you get at the grocery store, are melted together into a paper-like material.

The blogger, Jeffrey, made a wallet as an example. They've got some interesting links on the post about the practicality of this medium, particularly the metropolismag.com article.

Steph and I, like most messy college kids, have an unmanageably large stash of plastic bags in our kitchen, mostly as a result of poor judgment calls at the register ("Would you like a bag for that pencil/pack of gum/thimble?")

Some sources say that plastic is at least a little better than paper, but overall, most agree that the best option is investing in reusable bags, but what to do with that huge noisy pile of bags?

In addition to the textile tutorial, I also found the crochet grocery store bag tutorial. Marlo's crochet corner has a photo-accompanied step-by-step breakdown of how to make the yarn and how to construct this awesome bag.

Links

I've got spirit; yes, I do.

2006-09-19T09:41:00.000-04:00

Perhaps I’m jumping on the bandwagon.

Perhaps it’s all something about being a student at UF post-NCAA championship.

Whatever it is, I’ve never felt so orange and blue inside.

For the first time in my five years in Gainesville, I am into football. The Gators’ amazing 21-20 victory against Tennessee this Saturday strengthened this unprecedented interest.

My new roommate Steph is a hardcore college football fan and introduced me to the world of tailgating. I found some ideas and recipes on the DIY network’s Web site that will take us beyond mixed nuts and Miller Lite in cozies.

Low-grade snacks aside, what really needs improvement is my Gator gear. Of course, I had none until I picked up this T-shirt at a gas station. While I’m overjoyed to have acquired it at only $4, it is sized as a men’s extra large. This is problematic for my 5-foot-2 petite stature.

Craftzine.com provides a great idea with the T-shirt surgery tutorial they posted last month. I’m deviating from the steps a bit because I don’t want stripes.

Depending on the outcome of this Saturday's game against the University of Kentucky, I'm also thinking about making refrigerator magnets inspired by paper dolls as seen on the Angry Chicken blog.

Only instead of rosy-cheeked, paisley-print drawings, they will be of "Dallas Baker: the touchdown maker" (81); or Marcus Thomas's (44) victory dancing; or Chris Leak (12) and his crazy throwing arm.

Of Steve and stencils

2006-09-12T09:09:00.000-04:00

Since I was young, I’ve taken to creating for entertainment: dry macaroni and glue, tempera paints and paper plates. As I got older, I found that particular penchant can be practical. College came along and it seems as if my dabbling in DIY is a perfect solution to the whims that are influenced by the combination pop culture, politics and consumerism.

This blog reflects those whims.

For example, my sister and I were talking on the phone recently about the passing of croc hunter Steve Irwin: “I’m pretty torn up about it,” she said. “If I had an Irwin shirt, I’d be wearing it right now.”

Using the tutorial I found on stencilrevolution.com, I'm working on this stencil in Photoshop of one of the only men ever to pull off head-to-toe khaki. It needs a bit of work, it might need to be a two or three layer one. Eventually, I plan on stenciling him on a shirt for my sister, but he might be reused for a purse or jacket.

Street artist Banksy has taken stencil art to another level, he's good for inspiration. If you want to skip the Photoshop and just start stenciling, freestencils.com has a cool selection.

Craftster.org has tons of tutorials and ideas for stencils. A thread on their message board even has a comprehensive list of stencil resources.