DIY Lock Picks I locked myself out of my house the other day... D'oh! It would've been easy enough to break a window, but hey it's my own home. So I decided to try and pick my way in. I used a pair of garden shears to cut up a hose clamp which I used as a pick and tension wrench. Even though it was a very crude piece of work, it did the job! So I decided to polish my impromptu lock picks into something more presentable. Hose clamp DremelSugru Pliers Vice Safety gear Don't have a Dremel? I've entered this into the Spy Contest. This is just an example of how I made some simple lock picks. Faire un moule en silicone et matrice Ultracal You'll need lots of stuff. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to find. From an SFX house (I like Silpac inc and Motion Picture FX Company): RTV silicone. From your shed: Clamps Old crappy slotted screwdriver Chip brush (to cut down) Power Drill 1/4" twist bit 1" spade bit duct tape From your trash: Old plastic container small water bottle cardboard disposable foil pan or takeout container (clean) Popsicle stick From your artbox: craft knife sulfur-free plastecine sculpting tools hot glue gun scissors (to cut down your chip brush) Also: small scale whatever material you are going to use for your final cast (I used low-temp metal, but resin, sfx gelatin, plaster, etc will all work fine with this type of mold.)
How To Mix Chalkboard Paint in Any Color We love using chalkboards as backdrops for displays and parties (like this one here!). So we were super excited to learn that you can create your own custom colors-and it's really easy! We first learned how from Martha Stewart whose tutorial you can read here. She recommends that you use latex paint, but we tried it out with acrylic paints with much success. Supplies: 1/2 cup acrylic paint (choose any color you like, or mix colors together to make the perfect shade!) 1. 2. Once your chalkboard has fully dried be sure to slate the surface before using it for the first time. Have fun creating any color combination you like!!
DIY Embroidery Pattern Transfers Most people don't own the specialized printer used to make the iron-on embroidery transfers sold at many craft stores and online embroidery pattern sites. Sometimes they still want to make an easy transfer for an embroidery pattern that can be given or sold to someone who doesn't feel like tracing or poking holes into the sheet of paper, then dusting it with chalk powder. Some people want the pattern transfer to be washable, especially if they're using a light colored embroidery thread. The iron-on patterns are not. After extensive trial and error (and I'd rather not detail all of the error here), I've come up with a simple, low cost method of making an embroidery pattern transfer. The markings can be easily and completely removed from fabric once the embroidery is finished It lasts for many more transfers, while the iron-on transfers are only good for 2-5 in ideal conditions It requires no iron to transfer, so it's safe for children to use on their own embroidery projects
Patterns & Beaded jewelry Beaded jewelry – pin-hat made of felt August 8, 2013 at 10:59 pm (Beading, Patterns) Tags: beaded, beaded jewelry, beads, feather, felt, hat, pin, rubber felt Hi everybody! So long I haven’t written here! Sorry there was a lot of work, unfortunatelly…. But today I want to suggest to make a pin -hat made of rubber felt and decorated with feathers and some beads. The original of the tutorial is on my site: www.artbiser.com.ua I think it’s understandable without any words :) So, we need the next material: - rubber felt (or the usual felt) of desired color - a pin - feathers - beads - glue - threads, needle Cut these three details of felt. Take the biggest one and do as you see on a picture Then take another detail with hole, put them together with the help of glue. Look at the pictures: And now take the upper detail and sew all the parts together. You can take the transparent thread for this. So our hat is ready: Now decorate the hat as you like. And now put the pin and that’s all!!!! So, let’s go!
18 Green DIY Lamps You Can Build Before Dark! A while back we featured a very cool driftwood lamp built by our own Mike Demma here at Greenopolis. It was so popular we decided to surf the web and pick out examples of lamps you can build yourself from scratch - or at least from stuff that would otherwise be tossed out, like the iMac G4 lamp pictured below . It makes sense - almost anything can be turned into a lamp base or lamp shade, and every hardware or building supply store carries lamp wiring kits. Photo: Randall 180 Lamp from Wine Bottles Drain the bottle, wire it up, and build a lamp. The website Remodelista has a DIY wine bottle lamp project inspired by Maison Martin Margiela's home line. Bottle of Pixies Lamp Is that a genie in your bottle or are you just glad to see me? DIY Upcycled Wine Bottle Gas Lamp And Green Upgrader has a very cool wall mounted gas lamp you can make from a wine bottle - a beer bottle or whisky, cider, brandy… you get the picture. Fill this with citronella oil and fend off mosquitoes this summer. Vespa Lamp
Top 40 Useful Sites To Learn New Skills The web is a powerful resource that can easily help you learn new skills. You just have to know where to look. Sure, you can use Google, Yahoo, or Bing to search for sites where you can learn new skills , but I figured I’d save you some time. Here are the top 40 sites I have personally used over the last few years when I want to learn something new. Hack a Day - Hack a Day serves up fresh hacks (short tutorials) every day from around the web and one in-depth ‘How-To hack’ guide each week.eHow - eHow is an online community dedicated to providing visitors the ability to research, share, and discuss solutions and tips for completing day-to-day tasks and projects.Wired How-To Wiki - Collaborate with Wired editors and help them build their extensive library of projects, hacks, tricks and tips.
20 Unusual Uses for Coffee - Live Green These tips will give you surprising and unusual uses for fresh coffee beans or grounds that have gone stale, the pounds of used grounds you toss out every week and the dregs at the bottom of your cup. This story is from our partner EcoSalon and was originally published on 11/23/11. Can you imagine life without coffee? We’d all stumble around like drones for hours every morning, lost without our precious fix. Kill fridge odor Wouldn’t you rather smell coffee than two-week-old leftovers, half-rotten produce and spoiled milk? Reduce cellulite Pricey cellulite creams almost always have one major ingredient in common: caffeine, which supposedly enhances fat metabolism, reducing the appearance of these fatty pockets under the skin. Erase smells on your hands Garlic, salmon, cilantro – there are some things that smell delicious when cooking, but aren’t so pleasant hours later when they linger on your hands. Make rich compost Get shiny hair Who doesn’t want shiny, healthy-looking hair? Natural dye
- StumbleUpon Three sisters pose for photographs taken years apart. A Russian war veteran visits the tank that he fought in which has been preserved as a monument. A child gives a gift to riot police in Bucharest. Retired Police Chief Captain Ray Lewis is arrested at an Occupy Wall Street protest. A monk prays over the body of an elderly stranger who died suddenly while waiting on a train in China. A dog named Leao keeps watch by the the grave of his owner who was killed in a landslide in Rio de Janeiro. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raise their fists in a gesture of solidarity at the 1968 Olympic games. John F. Christians protect Muslims during the 2011 Cairo uprisings. A North Korean man waves his hand as a South Korean relative weeps, following a luncheon meeting during inter-Korean temporary family reunions at Mount Kumgang resort October 31, 2010. A dog is reunited with his master after the 2011 Japanese Tsunami. A mother comforts her son following the 2011 tornado in Concord, Alabama.
Introduction Fun, fashion & science in the Internet's #1 website about shoelaces. Whether you want to learn to lace shoes, tie shoelaces, stop shoelaces from coming undone, calculate shoelace lengths or even repair aglets, Ian's Shoelace Site has the answer! You can find out more about this site, or you can dive right in below. Table of Contents Lacing Shoes Are all of your shoes, sneakers and boots still laced up the way they were when you bought them? Tying Shoelaces Most people learn how to tie their shoelaces around the age of five. The "Granny Knot" Do your shoelace bows sit vertically instead of across the shoe? Shoelace Lengths The rhetorical question: "How long is a piece of string?" Tips of Shoelaces = Aglets Many people search for shoelace "tips" or "ends" because they want to know the name of the plastic or metal bits at the ends of shoelaces. Shoelace Tips, Hints & Ideas This section contains all sorts of tips, hints and ideas about shoelaces. Shoelace Marketplace Shoelaces As Seen In...
Seven great writing quotes from seven great American writers Ernest Hemingway once said “All American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.” John Steinbeck Ernest Hemingway Elmore Leonard Toni Morrison Stephen King Henry Miller F. designed by the awesomely talented Chris Ritter DIY: 10 Pretty Little Clutches Ten pretty little clutches that you can easily make at home. The clutch is, without a doubt, this fall’s it-bag. Instead of dropping major dough on one, revamp one that you already have or make one yourself from scratch. Here are ten of our favorite DIY clutch projects, some which require as little as tape and spray paint. Placemat Clutch Sometimes you come across things that are so brilliant in their simplicity that you can’t believe you never thought of it yourself. This DIY placemat clutch by Vannalisa Scafaria is such a thing. Miniaudiere with Golden Horse Sometimes elaborate parties call for desperate measures. Glitter Bow Clutch Fall is all about glitter and adornment, in every which way. Gold Colorblock Clutch Colorblocking is still going strong this fall, but try metallics to give the look a bit of an update. Handcuff Clutch Are you one of those people who constantly misplace your pretty little clutch wherever you go?
Homemade Christmas Ornaments and Decorations This post was written by my awesome mother, Kathy. A while back, in a post on personalized holiday gifts my mom left this comment that prompted many requests for the recipes: “Another way to decommercialize Christmas or any holiday is to get together as a family and create homemade decorations for the Christmas tree and the home. It can be done while sharing a meal together and brings a sense of the elusive Christmas cheer that we seek so hard to recreate in our lives from the television commercials while at the mall spending our hard earned dollars on decorations and gifts. One of Matt’s personal favorites is to make paper chains out of colored construction paper. One of mine is to create salt dough ornaments with cookie cutters and then after baking them, paint them and spray them with some sort of lacquer. So as requested… here are the recipes for three of our favorite homemade Christmas decoration traditions from my childhood. Homemade Salt Dough Ornaments (Mom’s Favorite)