Scrap To Swank: Turn Pallets Into A Beautiful Desk | Make: Recycling pallets into something else useful is nothing new, but this desk, inspired by bowling lanes and butcher blocks, is, well, inspired. The top is made entirely out of recycled pallets found around a college campus. As this desk is for college, the creator estimates he will move “23 more times before I’m done,” so the legs were bought from IKEA in order to be “easy and non-destructive.” Like many projects here, this desk is a testament to the cool things that can be done with the proper woodworking knowledge and equipment. The boards were first separated from the pallet by cutting pieces between the support members. In the end, after two coats of satin polyurethane and a pre-stain conditioner, the desk looks really beautiful. View All [via Imgur] Jeremy Cook Jeremy is an engineer with 10 years experience at his full-time profession, and has a BSME from Clemson University.
Making Fused Plastic March 12th, 2013 I’ve been wanting to experiment with fused plastic for ages so what better place to try it out than here on Tutorial Tuesday and share my experiences with you. I’ve got lots of plastic bags stored in the kitchen from a few online supermarket deliveries we’ve done since Milo was born and I’ve just never got round to taking them back to the supermarkets for recycling. As I was experimenting and learning at the same time, the images in the tutorial below show different bags all at different stages – I hope it’s not too confusing! What you will need: - Sharp Scissors - Plastic Bags - Iron - Ironing Board - Greaseproof Paper - Large Wooden Chopping Board - Metal Ruler - Craft Knife - Cutting Mat Step One The first thing you need to do is lay your plastic bag out flat and cut off the bottom and the top so that you’re left with a large tube of plastic. Stretch and flatten this out and put aside. Step Two Step Three Build up the layers. Step Five Step Six
Easiest Homemade Wine Ever! Most wine making guides really over-think the wine making process. They tell you to buy all kinds of equipment and additives that you don’t really need. This tutorial is about stripping wine making down to the absolute bare minimum. It’s so simple that you can get going with just 5$ in equipment, and start a batch of wine in under a minute. See Also: The 1:30 video version. What you DON’T Need to Make Wine This is a short list of items, most pictured in this 120$ wine making kit, that you do not need to buy to make wine. You DON’T need exotic chemicals like potassium sorbate and sodium metabisulfite and campden tablets and acid blend all the other weird extras home wine makers are adding these days. You DON’T need crazy siphoning equipment and large glass carboys that take up half your garage and make your brewing corner look like a mad scientist’s laboratory. You DON’T need expensive cleaners like PBW and StarSan and Iodaphor to make good wine either. Bare Bones Wine Equipment Buy Juice
Books and DVDs for blacksmiths, knife makers, bladesmiths, gunsmiths, metalsmiths and jewelers. Pressing & Brewing Cider - Apple Cider Homebrew Resources for Developing Characters When developing characters, many writers use personality traits that they see in themselves and in others, such as friends, family and celebrities. A new source of material and information that can help you develop characters is the Internet. The Internet offers some unique resources for character development, such as psychological testing websites, baby name databases and other reference sites and databases. Psychological Resources Psychological websites can help writers learn the underlying principles of behavior that motivate or cause people to act as they do. Psychological websites can also help writers because they explain common personality traits, people's reactions to loss, illness, stress and tragedy and they often provide case studies and examples. Biography Resources Biography resources can be a great help to writers. Naming Characters Writers often consult baby naming books to help them select character names. Other Resources Developing Characters
Character Flaw Index To make characters realistic and relatable they are given flaws, because if there is anything a writer can be sure of it is that no one in their audience will be perfect. Flaws are character traits that have a negative impact in the narrative, unless they are simply informed. They can also be exploited. See Good Flaws, Bad Flaws for a scale of flaw acceptability. Abusive Parents: Habitually violent and cruel to their own children, often because that's how they themselves were raised. 6 Ways to Make Sure Your Reader’s Brain Syncs with Your Protagonist’s Brain photo by Andres Musta via Flickr Because here’s the thing: it’s not fiction. It’s fact. Except, you know, for the Vulcan part. And, okay, the part where you have to put your fingertips on the other guy’s face to do it. To figure that part out we had to wait for something that even ‘Bones’ McCoy didn’t have access to — fMRI technology, which revealed that when we’re really engaged in listening to a story, our brain synchronizes with the speaker’s brain – literally mirroring it. fMRI studies reveal that when we’re really engaged in listening to a story, our brain synchronizes with the speaker’s brain – literally mirroring it. In other words, we really are on the same wavelength, and their experiences become ours. The exact same thing is true when we’re reading a story. Cognitive psychologist and novelist Keith Oatley defines fiction as “a simulation that runs on the software of our minds. Exactly! In short, a story is about how the plot affects the protagonist. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Character and Characterisation in the Novel How to write convincing characters Characterisation - the task of building characters - isn't easy. But if you're struggling to build characters with real life and vigour, just follow these rules. If you do follow them correctly, we can pretty much guarantee that your characterisation will be just fine! Know what kind of character you are writing There are roughly two types of protagonist in fiction. The second type of character (rather less common, in fact) is the genuinely extraordinary character who would make things happen in an empty room. Either type of character is fine - don't struggle to equip your ordinary character with a whole lot of amazing skills, or try to 'humanise' your James Bond character by making him nice to old ladies and interested in baking. Empathy is about story and good writing Likewise, don't worry too much if your character is likeable. A) you write well enough that your reader is drawn in to your protagonist's world, whether they like it or not; and