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Archives: October 2007

October 31, 2007

A Carl and Jerry Halloween story

Make Pt0006
Jeff writes in -

Carl and Jerry were Halloween Makers in the grand tradition. This story, from November 1960, explains how they built a very creepily effective severed hand for a seance, magnetically enabled so it can tap out messages by remote control on a glass tabletop.
A Carl and Jerry Halloween Story - Link (PDF).

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 31, 2007 08:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry

Enter the DIY Halloween contests!

Make Pt0005
This is it gang, it's Halloween - We have a MASSIVE DIY HALLOWEEN contest this year! Makers and Crafters, enter our 2nd annual ghoulishly fun Halloween contests! Anyone, anywhere, can enter all or just some of the contests. MAKE, CRAFT, Instructables and Popular Science have teamed up and there's plenty of time to win! Here's how to enter and here are all the great prizes!!!. If you're in a hurry just add your photos to the MAKE DIY Halloween photo pool!

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 31, 2007 05:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Etsy costume contest winners

As you may have known, Etsy has also been putting on a Halloween costume contest and they too have had many brilliant entries. But, as with any competition there can only be one (or a few in this case) winner.

scifi103107.jpg

Etsy costume contest winners - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 05:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Scare the crap out of people... with air!

AnkleBlaster.jpg
Here's a commercial product (from FrightProps) that uses a blast of compressed air on a person's ankle to separated them from their skin. If you have an air compressor, you could probably bodge up your own without too much trouble.

Ankle Blaster Air Cannon - [via] Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Oct 31, 2007 04:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Yet another Halloween costume contest

It amazes us how creative some people get for Halloween. From truly tasteless to super creative. Even the props are getting more creative:

delorean103107.jpg

You can find out more about this costume idea as well as a bunch of others over at Cockeyed.com.

2007 Cockeyed.com Halloween Costume Contest - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 03:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

Don't forget about our DIY Halloween Flickr pool

We've had TONS of response to our call for Halloween tips and tricks in our Flickr pool. From Tuscan Raiders:

Tuskin-Raider103107.jpg

To Duffman:

duffman103107.jpg

To creative pumpkin carving:

FIRECAT103107.JPG

Plus there are pet costumes, props and accessories and whole bunch more. Better still, even though today is Halloween, people are still contributing!

DIY Halloween Flickr pool - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 02:07 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Samurai Garbage Collector!

samuraiGarbageCollector.jpg
Check out this ridiculously cool samurai costume made almost entirely out of Rubbermaid garbage cans.

Halloween Samurai 2007 - [via] Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Oct 31, 2007 02:00 PM
Crafts, Halloween | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry

Head in a Jar

Looking for that last minute Halloween prop to make your entrance complete? How about this head in a jar?

jarhead103107.jpg

All you need is a large jar, and a dead body. If the body isn't available you might try a printer and Google.

Head in a jar - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 01:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

Great group costume idea

Since the "Kiss" group costume has been done to death we thought we'd share this original group costume idea:

travelling-art-costume103107.jpg

It's actually a a traveling exhibition of modern art.

Group costume idea - Link.


PLAN A DIY HALLOWEEN from MAKE & CRAFT FOR 2008!
1244142984 79667Ff1E6-1-1
Get a start on Hallween 2008 with our DIY HALLOWEEN 2007 edition from the editors of MAKE and CRAFT brings you 40-plus DIY projects for the holiday that's made for makers. From the craftiest costumes to amazing animated props and the latest in computer-controlled haunted house effects - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 11:00 AM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Dwight Shrute bobblehead costume

Dwight Shrute Bobblehead Costume

What more needs to be said here?

dwight103007.jpg

Dwight Shrute Bobblehead Costume - Link.

Posted by diyhalloween | Oct 31, 2007 10:35 AM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

New kind of 'vampire' - Sucks power out of homes

Make Pt0004
Catchy headline for Halloween, but a real problem... -

A force as insidious as Dracula is quietly sucking a nickel of every dollar's worth of the electricity that seeps from your home's outlets. Electronic gadgets running in standby mode use 5 percent of electricity in the United States. Insert the little fangs of your cell phone charger in the outlet and leave it there, phone attached: That's "vampire" electronics. Allow your computer to hide in the cloak of darkness known as "standby mode" rather than shutting it off: That's vampire electronics.
New kind of 'vampire' - Sucks power out of homes - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 31, 2007 08:00 AM
Green | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email Entry

Even dogs like iphones for halloween

dogphone.jpg

Next time you get a call, just pick up your dog and answer. Even dogs are getting in the halloween spirit in NYC this year! Trick or Treat!

Pups on Parade at Tompkins Square Park - Link [via]

Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen | Oct 31, 2007 06:50 AM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Dress up as a YouTube clip and let people comment on you directly

youtubecostume.jpg

Here's a good idea for Halloween! Dress up like a YouTube video and watch the comments roll in. Just make sure that everyone likes the footage.

OMG! Awesome Party Guy Vid! -
Link, [via]

Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen | Oct 31, 2007 04:43 AM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (6) | Email Entry

Build a gas mask from your old PC

gas-mask-077.jpg

We know that you were planning on buying an expensive gas mask to foil the next bio-terror plot, but who's got the cash? Now for a whopping $0 of materials including an empty CD-ROM case and a plastic bag, you can make your own mask just like the pros use. Remember, evil could be everywhere and you must be prepared!

Build Your Own Gas Mask Out of Computer Parts - Link

Posted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen | Oct 31, 2007 04:39 AM
Wearables | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

Crime-Detection tests for the home chemist

Make Pt0001
DIY CSI - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 31, 2007 12:00 AM
DIY Projects, Modern Mechanix, Retro | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

October 30, 2007

Yet another great soldering tutorial

hackAdaySoldering.jpg
In case you need any more encouragement to learn how to solder (or want to bone up on your craft), Hack-a-Day has a really nice tut (the Grand Guru of Hardware Hackerdom himself Forrest M. Mims III even chimed in a good word in the comments).

How-To: Introduction to soldering - Link
Followup: Soldering How-To - Link

Related:

  • Soldering Tutorial - Make Video Podcast - Link
  • Soldering Tutorial PDF - Link
  • It's Learn to Solder Month! - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Oct 30, 2007 08:00 PM
DIY Projects, Electronics | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry

Arduino-powered pumpkin


I was planning to make a MiniPOV Cylon Jack-O-Lantern, but I remembered I didn't have a MiniPOV at home. I placed an order for one to remedy this, but I figured the order wouldn't get here in time for Halloween, so I whipped something else up instead. It's a Jack-O-Lantern that's designed to look like it's got a flickering candle in it... until you get up close. It has a proximity sensor and brings the LEDs up to maximum brightness as soon as you get near it. The source code is based on an example from Tom Igoe's Making Things Talk, which I now keep on my bench within reach of all my Arduino boards - Arduino-powered pumpkin Instructable

Posted by Brian Jepson | Oct 30, 2007 07:00 PM
Halloween | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Tesla turbine from a CD disc pack


Simple Tesla turbine made out of CDs housed in a plastic CD "cake box" disc pack. Several different experiments are tried, using air, water, magnets, no magnets, saw blade attachment(!), etc. See the other videos on the YouTube link.

Revin' Up the Tesla CD Turbine II With Magnetic Disc Pack - [via] Link

Related:

  • HOW TO - Build a 15,000 rpm Tesla Turbine using hard drive platters - Link

Posted by Gareth Branwyn | Oct 30, 2007 06:00 PM
DIY Projects, Science | Permalink | Comments (9) | Email Entry

Big Dipper

Bigdipper-1
Bigdipper06
Sarah van Gameren's "Big Dipper" -

Big Dipper is a machine that mechanically creates twenty-four candle wax chandeliers by dipping. The principle is inspired on the technique of candle making, where straight strings of wick are dipped a number of times to become candles. Suspended from the ceiling, the machine itself looks like a chandelier with two ring tiers that are counter balanced to move up and down using a pulley system. On each of the two big rings, twelve smaller rings are suspended. They are the frameworks for strings of wick, hanging down in loops. Whenever one of the big rings moves down, the wick hanging from one of the smaller rings is dipped in a drum of melted wax standing below. A layer of wax attaches to the wick and slowly grows a chandelier with eight arms and eight candles.
Big Dipper - [via] - Link.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 30, 2007 03:00 PM
Arts | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry

Roll your own Yo-Yos

Yoyocutters
Chuck writes in -

One of our writers found some nice kits that let you get started making your own yo-yos regardless of your woodworking skill level. The company sells parts, blanks and cutters to make your own, and even a mandrel for turning your own blanks if you own a lathe. I think I'm gonna pick one up.
Toolmonger ยป Roll Your Own Yo-Yos - Link & more.

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Oct 30, 2007 02:00 PM
DIY Projects, Kits, Toys and Games | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry

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