I'm not sure if this isn't more rightly called "paper sculpture" than origami. True it uses only one sheet of paper and there are no cuts, but, well...watch the video and you'll see what I mean. Besides getting to see the mushrooms themselves, which are almost photo-realistic, it's worth it to see how a master with 20 years of experience moves his hands. [via Boing Boing]

There are woodcarvers, and then there's Gary Tatman, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. Gary explains his incredible work on Hemmings Auto Blog:

You're correct in your assumptions- these carvings start out as a block. I use the Internet motorsports archives to obtain enough photos of the project car for detailed areas such as interiors, engine compartments, suspensions etc. Once all data and photos are assembled, a ratio has to be determined for scaling (in reference to actual body size). Then all areas can be measured and used in the ratio to determine the actual size of the pieces. Once this is accomplished, the design needs to be drawn on the block, for references while shaping takes place.

Fast Wood

Our own Brookelynn spotted this awesome lightbulb terrarium over on Instructables. [via CRAFT]

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about Virgil England's life-size dragon skeleton installation in Alaska's Chugach National Forest. A lot of readers were curious about the elaborate back-story that England has created for his fantasy armory work, so Virgil himself pointed me to Debra McKinney's article from the Anchorage Daily News of last May that explains more:

This is an ancient world where armorers are the masters of applied physics, where dragons and hellhounds lurk and where he with the biggest bad-ass weapon wins. England spends as many as 70 hours a week immersed in this alternate universe, creating tools of an ancient culture that never existed -- a time and place where reptilianlike bad guys drop in from a distant galaxy, where ritual assassination is sanctioned by the temple, where if someone steals your goat, dueling daggers settle the matter. The Het Lands, he calls it. He knows this place in such intricate detail he can talk of its history, social order and warrior ways until your ears leap from your head and take off running.

From Flickr user Bloodthirsty Vegetarians, who also produce an eponymous podcast. [via Neatorama]

Thanksgiving Feast: How-To Brine & Roast a Turkey

Thanksgiving Feast: Side Dishes

Thanksgiving Feast: Pumpkin Pie with Caramel Pecan Topping

Homemade Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

How-To: Bake a Turkey-Shaped Cake

Instructables user jvalal didn't like the look of his Powermat inductive device charging station, so he stripped out the guts and "re-skinned" it with a handmade wooden case.

From designer Jung Hwa Jin, the "Polaroid Flower Vase:"

...a small planter that recalls the nostalgic form of polaroid, with the plant becoming the focus of the "picture." The planter is suspended with a clothespin on the end of a cord, with a small embedded lamp illuminating its subject.

[Thanks, Ellie!]

Symbology befitting a Dan Brown novel exudes from these handcrafted iPhone home button earrings. Do they imbue the wearer with mystical iPhone powers? Does wearing two buttons break Apple's Human Interface Guidelines? You'll just have to acquire a pair to find out. [via iPhoneIndia]

Interesting article from MacArthur fellow Erik Demaine covering the history of origami-style models that include curved folds. Shown above is "Concentric Circular Tower" by late UCSC Professor and noted computer scientist David A. Huffman (Wikipedia), whose curved-origami work was covered posthumously by the New York Times in 2004. The Flickr curved fold pool is chock-a-block with fascinating models of this type. [Thanks, Jon!]

More: Curved tetrahedron origami

Price Chart Necklaces

Thanksgiving Feast: Side Dishes

Literary Clutch Bags

Impress your friends and coworkers with these easy-to-make edge-lit holiday cards by Evil Mad Scientists Laboratories! This time around they used PETG polyester, which is easier to cut than acrylic.

More:

How-To: Make "edge-lit" holiday cards

If you are inspired by the use of everyday objects as art, then Scotch Brand wants to see your creativity come off the roll and into the art space. The Scotch Off the Roll Tape Sculpture Contest, sponsored by 3M, is inviting creative minds to submit photos of their unique tape sculpture -- constructed from Scotch Packaging Tape -- for the chance to win a $5,000 cash prize.

Deadline: February 10th, 2010. Entries will be narrowed down to a pool of finalists by noted tape artist Mark Jenkins and winners will be selected in an online vote with the first place winner receiving $5,000 and a 1-year supply of tape and runners-up receiving less money but still a lot of tape. Personally, I prefer duct tape, but you gotta like the translucent quality of the finished sculptures.

From Russian designer Vadim Kibardin. It's pricey, of course, but I think all you'd need for a remake is a bunch of closet rod, a miter saw, some wood glue, and vast patience. [via Neatorama]

Battle Chic DIY Chainmail

Thanksgiving Feast: How-To Brine & Roast a Turkey

3-Armed Baby Costume

Gomistyle's Urban Window Garden

Our very own Michelle Hlubinka, MAKE's Educational Director, is quoted in this Daily Californian piece about the celebtrational insanity of Russell Street, in Berkeley, known for it's elaborate decorations and large, costumed crowds.

Below is one of the yard decorations Michelle's family put together. Their theme was "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes." I love the Dixie cups for monster teeth.

Halloween Revelers Flock to Russell Street

I love this. Instructables user wholman has gathered together a bunch of scrap wood from "dumpsters, back alleys, vacant lots, abandoned buildings, recycling yards, and architectural salvage centers" and laminated it together using all-thread. Then he's very carefully smoothed and polished only one side of the finished block, leaving the underside rough to show off the process. Beautiful.

CRAFT Video: Hemming Pants

Meatloaf Hand

Cocktail: Dark and Snow-Stormy

Favorite Halloween Costumes from the CRAFT Editors

Laser Engraved Skull in Dollars

Reader Dave Adams submitted this cool Pac Man pumpkin display, complete with ghosts, dots, and fruit. Shown immediately above under regular and UV light. [Thanks, David!]

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

There's still three days left to enter the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Deadline is November 3rd. Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Halloween wouldn't be complete without a Katamari costume or two. Donovan and Ashly show off their Katamaris in preparation for the ensuing festivities. [Thanks, Donovan!]

I'm in the June [polka dot] outfit. Ashly is the Prince [in green]. I made the heads and my outfit. Ashly was in charge of her own dress. The primary materials are foam, posterboard and foamies, these 2mm thick colored foam sheets. That's what I used for the dots and the coverings on the heads. I liked the dimensional quality it gave rather than just using paint or paper.

More:

• Homemade King & Queen of All Cosmos Katamari Damacy costumes


• Life-size Katamari controller


• Katamari Damacy Queen of All Cosmos earmuffs


• Crochet Katamari Prince


• Katamari Wedding Cake

Halloween is so two days from now. Which might as well be last week on the internet. I'm moving on to Xmas. From Berlin artist Oliver Fabel. [via Neatorama]

Start out your monster-making experience by reading the DIY hand-sewn, free-range, monster tutorial found in CRAFT, Volume 06. Next, crack open the DIY Mini Monster kit and make your first adorable little monster. When you're all done, use the included Maker's Notebook to sketch out some new designs.

So, the stuff inside the balloon that makes the web is called HI-FLOAT, and it's a commercial product actually sold for injecting into helium balloons to make them retain their helium longer. It forms a skin on the inside of the balloon and keeps the helium from diffusing out so quickly. The "web" effect is created by applying the HI-FLOAT and letting it dry at one pressure, and then deflating the balloon, stressing it, and then re-inflating to a higher pressure, causing the film to detach from the walls (which, of course, means it's not working as a sealant anymore, but whatevs). I'm pretty sure this trick was developed in-house, by the company that makes it, to sell more HI-FLOAT. Still, it's pretty cool.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Fast, easy tutorial from Lenore of Evil Mad Scientist Labs. I wonder whether you might not use polystyrene beads as an aggregate to reduce weight?

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

Established on June 29th, 2009, HMSBeekeeper focuses on local honey, gourmet single source and infused honeys, pollen and propolis, locally made soap, candles, balms, and lotions, as well as exceptional yet economically priced beekeeping equipment.  If it is made from the hive, we are likely to carry it.  We also hold classes periodically. Our most popular classes are Mead Making, Soap Making, and Introduction to Urban Beekeeping.  Please consider signing up to our mailing list to keep informed of our offerings. We also sponsor a monthly SF Beekeeping Meetup, please consider joining!

From Etsy seller studiokmo:

four paper panels, each panel measures approximately three feet by four feet (overall dimensions, six feet in width x 8 feet in height) and exposes city blocks of brooklyn, manhattan, queens, and the bronx. the panels fit together like panes of a window and all four pieces must be sold as a set. image one would located in the lower left pane. image two located in the upper left pane. image three in the upper right pane and image four in the lower right pane. image five shows the delicacy of the pieces.

[via Dude Craft]

Very detailed build thread from Haunt Forum user beelce describing the construction of these awesome simulated fire baskets from mostly dollar-store stuff--cheap baskets, out-of-season holiday lights, LEDs, a fan, some nylon fabric. The results look great.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

What do you do if you don't have a vacuum former, and need to make a part for your robot body? Well, Vadim Ryazanov over at lets make robots has a simple solution: make them with papier-mâché! By using paper and a 1:1 mixture of wood glue and water, he was able to make a hemispherical shell for an upcoming project. Great idea!