vintage book travel-tech organizer As you may have figured out from my My Life Scoop posts, I’m a bit of a nut for tech accessories, especially pocket-sized ones. I can’t get over how awesomely small our entertainment devices are becoming; it makes traveling with them so much easier. But one issue I keep running into is how to neatly organize everything, especially the power cords and connector cables that accompany my favorite devices. Rather than spend another plane trip rummaging through my catch-all carry-on bag searching for my headphones, bumping my head on the seat in front of me every time, I decided to make a small tech-accessory organizer using elastic ribbon and an old vintage book cover. This project can be sized up or down and customized in many different ways — the best approach is to gather all the tiny tech things you travel with and see how much there is. Have a DIY project you’d like to share? Read the full how-to after the jump! Materials Instructions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13.
How To Make A Million Dollars (Seriously!) Supplies: A Google doc/Excel sheet (What’s come over me?) Song: Million Bucks by Maino on Spotify Pick my income? First we’re going to talk about cash in a “take what’s yours,” attitude. This changes all of the panic mentality around money.None of this is rocket science and I have no idea why people don’t do this. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. “Million dollar ideas are a dime a dozen. Article originally appeared at: Medium Projection clock The first time I saw a projection clock (a friend had shown me his projection clock, which he used to project the time on his bedroom ceiling), I knew I could easily build my own by converting a watch with an LCD display. I bought a very very ugly watch in a dollar store. So ugly that it really is unwatchable ;) At least it's easy to disassemble... Up To remove the pcb, just remove the screws: The LCD is mounted over the PCB. The LCD is not usable as-is. Remove the reflecting background sticker to let the light pass through the LCD: To get a transparent-on-opaque display, reverse the polarizing filter located on the LCD front side: See the difference? For more information on LCD technology, read the Wikipedia LCD page. In order to prevent the PCB from blocking the light, I extended the contacts on the PCB with small pieces of wire: A sufficient pressure must be applied to obtain a good contact between the wires and the conductive rubber band. The clock in darkness:
Camera Strap Cover in our ongoing quest to customize every object we get our hands on, we’ve tackled all sorts of random things around our home (ikea furniture, curtains, bedspreads…) so it’s about time that we finally got crafty with one of the items we spend the most time with: our camera. don’t get us wrong, we’re not ashamed if people know we use a canon, but we don’t feel the need to advertise it like we were nascar drivers. hence our desire to cover up our logo-heavy strap with something a little easier on the eyes. have fun!derek & lauren CLICK HERE for the full project after the jump! here’s what you’ll need: a pre-existing camera strap that is begging for a facelift a small piece of fabric that is at least 23” x 4” scissors measuring tape or ruler sewing machine rubber band 1. choose your fabric 2. measure your existing camera strap. these instructions are for a standard dslr strap with the fabric portion measuring 20.5” long by 1.5” wide. 3. cut your fabric to 22.5” x 4”. 7. press open the seam.
Do Nothin’ Biochar: Suburban Scale | One Straw – Be the Change Since I moved to MN and had to leave my sweet TLUD & Retort stoves in Wisconsin, I needed to find a new method of making biochar for my new gardens. Now, I don’t have acreage, and retorts make a LOT of steam/smoke when they are first burning… not a good way to endear myself or permaculture to my new neighbors. So I need a new system. One of our first purchases was a fire pit ring I had welded up at a local welding shop, so that seemed like a good place to start, and I wanted the system to work into our new lives, and new, slower and more reflective life tempo as well. First, slave over your biochar stove… I recommend this step be accompanied by friends, family, perhaps some music or frog song, and either some espresso or a fine craft beer/wine depending on the time of day as it greatly enhances the resulting biochar’s quality. Purist will tsk tsk this as not ‘real’ biochar as its not uniform and most of the char will be ‘under’ or ‘over done’. Look, ma! Biochar Nutrient Soak -Rob
Another Altoids Solar USB Charger I drilled 2 holes in one end for the switch and the LED bezel. I also used some aviation snips to cut a bit out of the lid and side to fit the USB port. I also drilled a hole in the top of the lid near one end for the wires to come in through the solar panel. I insulated the entire interior because I think it looks a little better. I started by wiring a diode to the positive on the solar panel as well as soldering wire to the negative. The battery pack was soldered to the middle points on the dpdt switch and placed in the tin. Lastly, a resistor was wired to the positive lead on the LED and that was placed, along with the USB port, on the last 2 points on the dpdt switch. This wiring lets you either flip the switch in one direction to charge the batteries, put it in the middle to turn it off (to prevent excessive over charging), and in the 3rd position the LED comes on and power flows to the USB port.
Laptop Cover as one of the artsy ants is currently getting to know her baby girl and adjusting to life as a mother of two, we've invited some fellow bloggers and crafty friends to share guest posts with us all. today, please welcome kat ezat of life's jewels on string. Super quick and easy upcycled laptop cover Sometimes it's necessary for my hubby to travel for work. Last time he needed to carry his laptop in a smart messenger bag, but was reticent to shove his nice computer in there for fear of scratches. I had an idea: why not fashion a thin light cover that will protect the surface but not add weight or bulk? I dived into my bag of old clothes/sewing scraps (yes I have one, probably more like three - maybe I have a problem...) and pulled out an old H&M wool vest. This is what I did: -First I placed the computer on the inside-out vest and tried to decide a sensible way of fitting the laptop 'into' it. - Then I sewed along the marked lines, removing the pins as I went. Tips:
Getting a wig to stay on your head. Sew it to your head. Seriously. Well, to your hair is more like it. I put my hair into 3 braids (from front to back) & throw them into a low ponytail at the back. I've really never stabbed myself while doing this but it does take some patience. Realistically it'll take 20-30 mins to get it on like this BUT it won't come off. Look, I'm the vampire that administers beatings - don't get uppity.
Privacy monitor hacked from an old LCD Monitor Finally you can do something with that old LCD monitor you have in the garage. You can turn it into a privacy monitor! It looks all white to everybody except you, because you are wearing "magic" glasses! All you really have tohave is a pair of old glasses, x-acto knife or a box cutter and some solvent (paint thinner) Here is what I used: an LCD monitor of course single use 3D glasses from the movie theater (old sunglasses are just fine) paint thinner (or some other solvent such as toluene, turpentine, acetone, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate etc) box cutter (and CNC laser cutter :) but that you don't really need, I'm sure x-acto knife and a steady hand would do just fine) screwdriver or a drill paper towels superglue
Keyboard Magnets Thanks to pinterest, I saw this idea here for magnets made out of old computer keyboards! My dad works in the computer industry, so thankfully he had plenty of old keyboards he was willing to sacrifice for my crafting endeavors! Here is a quick rundown. Then if they look like mine, you have to break the inside, and pull it off, so it wont stick out too far then hot glue magnets inside!