You can get 'em from the Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories webstore. Update: Also available from The Maker Shed.

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]

Head to the todbot blog for more info, and to download the Arduino sketch.

In the Maker Shed:

Arduino Duemilanove

BlinkM - Smart LED

For years I didn't consider myself very creative. Sure, I always decorated the house for holidays, did crafty projects with my kids, refinished furniture, loved to try new recipes, and shunned store-bought costumes for what I think are way better homemade creations, but a crafter? Not really.

These days I'm trying to convince myself that I am indeed a crafter. And when you're surrounded by knitters, crocheters, professional seamstresses, painters, and soft-circuit mavens, you need lots of convincing! I recently went back through photos of the kids in their Halloween costumes that I've made, and gosh darn it, I am a crafter (of sorts). Enjoy the photos after the jump!

PS: Two of the costumes shown were store-bought, or mostly purchased at a store and then embellished with homey touches.See if you can spot them. And one of the boys is a former intern, not one of my kids, exactly.

Dave Gugel, of Davenport FL, knows a thing or two about outdoor Halloween decorating. He does a wee bit of it each year (see above pic). Here, he offers a how-to on turning some PVC pipe, dribbles of hot glue, and flicker lights into some pretty convincing outdoor pillar candles.

Halloween Decorations: How to Make Electric Candles

Every year, our pal Jake von Slatt does something pretty special for Halloween. Over at the Steampunk Workshop, he's showing some of this year's work in progress. Here's a ghost marionette that he made from some 1" x 2" planking, a microwave carousel motor, some fishing line, a craft store skull, and some Styrofoam.

Microwave Motor Flying Crank Ghost

Halloween Special: Use promo code "SAMHAIN" at checkout and receive FREE 3 day FedEx on our FX Master Bundle (contiguous US only)

By way of the Steampunk Workshop comes this awesome classic horror-themed MAME cabinet by Doug Haffner. Doug is a fan of steampunk, Harper Goff (designer of Disney's Nautilus for 20,000 Leagues) and Kenneth Strickfaden (set designer and prop builder for Boris Karloff's Frankenstein). He decided to combine his love for all three in a MAME (Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) cabinet and home jukebox.

The work here is impressive, but especially cool are the Lithopane portholes on the sides, grayscale images of the Frankenstein monster and his bride CNC-carved into Corian plastic (used in counter tops). Once carved and back-lit, you get this cool glowing halftone effect.

Steampunk Arcade

Flickr member Leviathan34 is the winner of the MAKEcation: Teach Your Family to Solder challenge! A teen, he was the only entrant who actually taught his entire family. He and his mother, father, sister, and little brother all worked on a Joule thief.

We asked our Solder Challenge Camp Counselor Dave Hrynkiw to choose the winner. Here's what he said:

Leviathan34's your winner. Extra geek cred for the Altoids fume extractor. But they lose equal points for no safety glasses. But he gains 'em back for soldering with a cast on his hand. Plus, he does have glasses. But the little kid doesn't. Added up, it's still positive geek cred points. His Flickr set is pretty impressive, too.

[Folks, PLEASE wear safety glasses when soldering. Solder does sputter and it's molten alloy. It BURNS! That whole "poke an eye out" thing in our MAKE motto -- that's exaggeration for effect, that's humor. We don't actually want you to lose an eye. Safety glasses are cheap. Buy 'em, wear 'em.]

Leviathan34 and his family win a $100 Gift Certificate to the Maker Shed. Congrats. Email me your address (my email link is in the Make: Online Authors box on the right rail of this page).

We also have five runners up:

the_goodbooks
(Caleb documents building a Proto Shield, from watching the tutorial on Make: Online to finishing the shield. Nice work, Caleb!)

tbeckett
(His son Kidrocket made a Wee Blinky and Lux Spectralis and he wore safety glasses.)

Trebonius
(Ben Tobin taught his little brother Nick how to solder and he made a Beetlebot... that worked!)

cincimakers
(Lucas takes the prize for this being his second soldering project, building a Drawdio - his first was a mini guitar amp he made for his grandmother. And he's wearing safety glasses.)

Irish Robotics Club
(Dave said we had to give it to them 'cause they're teaching grannies how to solder.)

That's our five. You all get a Maker's Notebook and a copy of either The Best of MAKE or The Best of Instructables. Send your name, address, and which Best of you prefer.

I'd also like to go ahead and give the same prizes to our two other soldering contestants: Digrat and JosiahRitchie. You all did a great job too! Congrats to all.

See all the MAKEcation photos here

Creatrope has posted an interesting discussion on the use of Phil Jergensen's reusable grid beam elements for Halloween props. I dunno how much I can get behind the whole gridbeamer thing just yet, but for seasonal stuff it does make a certain sense: If you like it a whole bunch, store it complete, and if you don't, take it apart and reuse the elements.

OK, if you have your cooler but are already cold enough or don't plan to take it anywhere, here are a couple more ideas for what to do with it:

Having a party at night? Make it easy to find the right beverage by following vader119's directions and add a light to your cooler!

Trying to maintain an outdoor worm composting bin in the Texas heat? Instructables user coopdaddi shows how he added a water chiller and a fan to make his cooler a perfect place for worms!

Have the opposite problem, and need a way to keep your resin/RTV project warm while it cures? Why not convert your cooler into a low-temperature curing oven by following idmains instructions? Bonus points for adding a mechanism to control the inside temperature.

So, that's just about everything I can think of to do with a cooler. Have any last-minute ideas? Be sure to share them in the Comments for a chance at a prize!

More:

• MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge
• Brainstorming cooler hacking ideas
• Hack your cooler: Air chillers
• Hack your cooler: Mobilize it!

One really annoying thing about coolers is having to drag them around. It would be really nice, maybe, if they could follow you around. How about ...

Mounting it on your bike? Instructables user jofish demonstrates how.

Teach it to follow you around? A good starting point would be this Instructable by PSdp!

However, neither of these would help if you are stationary, so how about a remake of the infamous RC cooler?

What if you want to take your cooler someplace more exotic? How about building in some floats for that next rafting trip? Add ropes to hoist it into you tree house? Build a heliport on top and construct a drink delivering UAV? Share your ideas in the Comments!

More:

• MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge
• Brainstorming cooler hacking ideas
• Hack your cooler: Air chillers

The folks in the Maker Shed have put together a special bundle for our Family Challenge. The MAKEcation Trebuchet (Flingin' Things) Bundle contains Bill Gurstelle's book, The Art of the Catapult, our Mini trebuchet kit, and a Maker's Notebook. Read up on the history of this ancient weapon of war, build a lovely 4" x 9" x 14" (tall) wooden desktop model, and then use the Maker's Notebook to scale up your plans for your backyard version. The bundle is available for $40 ($39.97), deeply discounted from buying these items separately.

More:
The MAKEcation Family Challenge!
Let the MAKEcation solder-fest BEGIN!
MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge

Our final main event for MAKEcation 2009 is our "Family Challenge," as in the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, the Lancasters vs. the Yorks, the Macs vs. the PCs. Okay, we really don't want it to get that entrenched and bloody. It's not even that much of a proper competition (in the end, the winner many be judged by us on criteria like who looked like they were having the most fun, whose device looks the coolest, etc.). We want this to be all about the fun, getting your family together to work on a project, and to have a little friendly rivalry between maker clans.

So, what's the challenge? Build a backyard trebuchet! The family that builds our favorite, and sends us the documentation, will get a $100 gift certificate from the Maker Shed. Five runners up will get a Maker's Notebook and their choice of The Best of MAKE or The Best of Instructables. As with the soldering and cooler hacking challenges, we have a Camp Counselor to help with inspiration, advice, dos and don'ts. For the trebuchet, there's probably no better choice than our very own Bill Gurstelle. Bill is the author of The Art of the Catapult, Whoosh-Boom-Splat, and Backyard Ballistics. So he knows about flinging stuff through the air. Here, he explains the guidelines for the challenge:

Your MAKEcation family challenge involves building a medieval siege engine. When
it comes to putting the fun in physics, it's hard to top a homemade trebuchet. A trebuchet is a type of catapult or hurling machine that uses a counterweight to rotate a throwing arm. The arm, in turn, flings the projectile in an arc towards a target.

Trebuchets scale nicely and can range from table-top models sized to fling golf balls, up to the sixty foot high monster currently flinging boulders for tourists at Warwick Castle in
England.

Your MAKEcation family challenge is to get your clan together to build a gravity-powered hurling machine capable of tossing a five ounce projectile as far as possible, using a counterweight weighing no more than 25 pounds.

Send us a video of your machine in action and verify your results on the honor system. Swear that they are truthful and accurate, i.e. play fair, don't cheat.

Bill will shortly start doing some posts on the project on subjects like constructing a sling and choosing a catapult trigger. If you have any trebuchet building experience, ideas you're interested in trying out, or if you want to start talking smack about your genius clan in the comments, please do.

More:
Let the MAKEcation solder-fest BEGIN!
MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge

We're starting to see some fine submissions to our Teach Your Family to Solder MAKEcation challenge. So far, it's been mainly kids -- very little kids. While we're thrilled that MAKE readers aren't Nanny State types who over-protect their children, we'd love to see some older kids, teens, and more grown-ups. We're still offering Maker's Notebooks to people who post their pics to the MAKE Flickr pool. So get to it!

Shortly after [his first soldering picture] was taken, he got a little burn and I thought that would be it for soldering for a few years. But tonight, with just a little coaxing, he was back at it. The Wee Blinky kit we obtained from Maker Shed made the process a little easier. He and I alternated soldering joints and finished it up in no time. His excitement and satisfaction when the blinker came on was priceless to see. He is more educated and empowered today than he was ten days ago.

Way to go, Kidrocket!

More MAKEcation action:
Let the MAKEcation solder-fest BEGIN!
MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge

Temperature Monitor: Add a temperature display to keep you informed about how cool your refreshments are. If you plan to store perishable foods inside, how about an alarm to alert you before they spoil?

Increased Efficiency: Or, avoid the whole problem of heating all together by making your cooler more efficient. Going somewhere without shade? Try building in an umbrella holder, to keep those hot sun rays away from your vittles.

Solar Cooling: Instead of diverting the sun's rays, why not catch them with a solar panel and then use the energy to drive a thermoelectric cooling unit?

Mobility: Having trouble getting your cooler to your picnic location? Adding a motor so that you can drive it might be a bit extreme, but a simple set of wheels and a hitch would allow you to tow your cooler behind a bike. Don't feel like getting up to fetch your next drink? Cannibalize a toy car and finally build that remote controlled cooler.

Ok, now I want to go camping so I have an excuse to try all these things out!

Here are some other possibilities:

• Build a robotic cooler that comes when you command it
• Add racing stripes for extra speed!
• Built-in electronic drum kit for performing around the campfire
• Add a secret compartment to hide your keys
• Dry compartment for storing cake
• Fingerprint reader lock to protect your juice boxes
• Built-in floats to take it rafting
• Dalek/remote control cooler mashup?
• Build in a propane cooler
• GPS logger to record your favorite hang-out places

And here are some previous hacks for inspiration:

Youth Family Films share their Cooler Kart

David Calkins explains how to make an RFID-protected beer fridge

Simon Jansen shares his jet powered beer cooler

Whew! All of that soldering and kid-wrangling worked up a powerful thirst. So, you drag over the ol' Coleman and crack open a few cold ones. Sitting there drinking your beers (be they root or hops) with your newly-trained team of solder-droids, you all start contemplating that old faithful camping cooler. Maybe it needs some EL wire highlights around its edges, or an entertaining LED display, or how about some solar-powered, active cooling? Or heck, maybe some wheels and a motor so you can drive that sucker around the patio.

Okay, maybe that last idea is too silly, but you get the idea. It's summer, you've got the family itchin' to do something with their new-found geek cred, why not take our MAKEcation Cooler Hacking Challenge? Trick out any beverage cooler however you like -- the sky's the limit (hey, sending a cooler into space on a weather balloon -- now there's a challenge...), upload the images to the MAKE Flickr pool, and tag them "MAKEcation." As with the Soldering Challenge, you're eligible for a $100 Maker Shed Gift Certificate and some other cool prizes.

For the Soldering Challenge, we brought on Dave Hrynkiw from Solarbotics as our beloved Camp Counselor. He wasn't called out of his virtual cabin very often, but he was dutifully at the ready... and remains so. The Soldering Challenge will continue until the end of the month, so there's still plenty of time to submit your MAKEcation photos to Flickr.

For the Cooler Hacking Challenge, we want to introduce you to our latest author-addition to the site, Matt Mets. He'll be starting off his stint with us as your next Camp Counselor. Matt is an electrical engineer who loves creative repurposing of electronic junk, hacking open source software, and photography. Besides now working for MAKE, he's also currently an artist-in-residence at the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. He's in the process of designing a ferrous wheel and an emotional typewriter. No, really. Matt will be here to help brainstorm cooler hacks, to answer any technical questions, consult on your hack ideas, and to help us judge the entries at the end of the month. If you have any questions for Matt (or for Dave), send them to: campcounselor@makezine.com.

We'd also love to get your help in brainstorming ideas for cooler hacks. Post your ideas in the comments. We'll pick our favorite one and you'll get a Maker's Notebook and your choice of The Best of MAKE or The Best of Instructables.

It's Lucas again, our poster child for the MAKEcation Family Soldering Challenge. Here he is (note: safety glasses this time!) working on his second soldering project, a Drawdio. Lucas (and family) get a free Maker's Notebook because they posted pics of their MAKEcation to the MAKE Flickr pool. The next four people who post their pics will also get a free notebook.

And don't forget, we're giving away a $100 gift certificate to the Maker Shed for our favorite family soldering photos/videos and five Best of MAKE or Best of Instructables books. Adafruit industries has also generously given us some of their awesome soldering merit badges to give out to winners. But you've gotta upload your pics!

More:

• Let the MAKEcation solder-fest BEGIN!
• Let's take a Summer MAKEcation!
• MAKEcation: "Teach Your Family to Solder" week
• Super learn-to-solder roundup
• Camp counselor Dave's soldering tips
• YOUR soldering tips
• Lucas learns to solder
• A brief history of my soldering experiences
• Toolbox: Soldering essentials, part 1
• Toolbox, Soldering tools, part 2

Gopod bless Flickr! While searching on it recently to see if anyone else had built Mousey the Junkbot or a Symet or Solarroller inspired by my BEAM robotics articles in MAKE, Volume 06, I discovered Zach DeBord and his amazing BEAM creations. A Chicago-based designer and Web developer who's done work for (among others) Comcast, Volvo, and Yellow Tail (mmm...wine), Zach's bots put the "A" ("Aesthetics") back into BEAM, with gorgeous, meticulously-rendered designs that are as much objets d'art as autonomous robo-critters.

All of his robots are awesome-looking, but I was instantly attracted to this roller because it's bigger than any solarroller I've ever seen, and it uses two solar cells, four storage capacitors, and two gearmotors. Ingeniously, this roller can be steered (sorta). Zach writes: "It is currently configured to go forwards, but by angling either solar panel, it will turn more in one direction since one panel will be getting more light. With both panels angled in the same direction, it is pretty phototropic."

Back in December, we posted a piece about Lucas, a six-year-old who'd learned how to solder and made a battery-powered guitar amp for his grandmother for Christmas. Six might be a little young for most kids to handle a soldering iron, but each person is obviously different (and you likely know what your kids can/cannot handle).

At one of the Maker Faires, a kid asked me if he could build the Solarbotics Herbie that'd he'd just bought in the Maker Shed, as I made up some Mousey the Junkbots. He was maybe 9. He'd never soldered, he was fidgety, and he kept nearly dropping the iron, nearly burning himself, soldering-desoldering-resoldering bad welds -- I was on pins and needles the whole time. He finished the bot a lot faster than I'd finished my first Herbie. He put in a battery, turned it on, and it took off with a shot. It worked! I was stunned. He'd built his faster than I had and I'd had to resolder at least one connection and futz with my whiskers. So, never underestimate kids.

At the same time, be reasonable, use common sense, and BE SAFE. When we posted Lucas' project the first time, readers were quick to correctly point out that it was a big no-no to have a 6-year-old (or maker of any age) soldering without safety glasses on. His dad admitted it was foolish -- no excuses. And Lucas did get a nasty little iron burn, which he shows off in one of the pics in the Flickr set. Such burns do come with the territory, at any age.

Six year old with a soldering iron

More:

• Camp counselor Dave's soldering tips
• Solarbotics' soldering summary
• Toolbox: Soldering tool, Part 2
• Toolbox: Soldering essentials, Part 1
• MAKEcation: "Teach Your Family to Solder" week
• Let's take a Summer MAKEcation!

We asked our MAKEcation Camp Counselor, Dave Hrynkiw, to share with us some of the common mistakes he sees newbies making when learning to solder. He shares some of his thoughts below.

Dave is the geek behind the woman (hey Cheryl!) who runs the Solarbotics and HVW Technologies. He's our virtual Camp Counselor during "Teach Your Family to Solder" week. If you have any questions for Dave related to soldering, send email to campcounselor@makezine.com.

Using Too Little Heat: This is an issue when you're using those wimpy 10- or 15-watt pencil-type soldering irons. They're usually purchased as part of a set which includes some murky solder, a useless soldering-iron "stand," and a "what is this thing for?" mini-wrench, used for replacing the tip (trust me, the iron ain't worth that effort). The idea behind soldering is to heat the item, and then melt the solder to the item. In most electronics situations, that item will likely be a wire, or an electronic component. When you have an iron that generates wimpy amounts of heat, trying to heat up the item will take longer than it should, which will usually lead to damaged components from excessive heating, or a messy solder job (because the builder got impatient and melted the solder to the tip and tried to "paint" the molten solder to the joint). Either situation is bad. Save those wimpy irons for burning your name into a piece of wood, or roasting marshmallows from the inside-out (but don't eat them! - bet that iron isn't lead-free/RoHS compliant).

Using Too Much Heat: We often see kits come in for repair that have been scorched like they've been soldered with a butane torch! Sometimes they have! Or with one of those huge pistol-grip soldering guns designed for soldering 12-gauge car trailer connections in mid-winter Alaska. A printed circuit board's copper traces are barely more than glued onto the phenolic or fiberglass substrate we call a PCB. Too much heat kills this adhesive layer, making traces and pads lift from the board like a bad sunburn two days after that bender on the beach (sorry for that imagery, but it's pretty accurate). Go easy with the firestick, chief. The boards and components are made to withstand a certain amount of heat in the soldering process, not the heat of a solar flare.

Painting: This is the most common newbie mistake. As mentioned under "Too Little Heat," soldering is the process of heating the items you want to solder together, and melting the solder to those items, using the heat in the items (as transfered by your iron). It's the reverse of painting. The (wrong) painting method is melting solder onto your iron, then trying to smear it onto the item you're soldering. What you end up with is a solder job that will most likely flake right off. You want to paint? Try the Bob Ross-style class at the local community college (Jeez, I miss that guy -- and his tremendous hair). Think of the soldering iron as a gravity gun for solder. Stick the iron where you want the solder to go, and when you apply it, the solder will naturally flow towards the heat. You can't convince solder to go where there's no heat. It's kinda like a retired Canadian that way.

Appriopriate Tools, Equipment, and Supplies: I bet you think I'm going to suggest getting the best soldering iron you can afford, right? Nope. A decent low-cost iron is fine. If you stick with electronics long enough to thoroughly wear out a medium-quality 20-to-30 watt pencil-type soldering iron, then go ahead and buy something fancier. Spend about $25 on a iron (not a kit!) and you'll be all set.

Solder comes in many types and flavors, the most common being "Lead-free" and "Lead/Tin." Given a choice, I'll take leaded any day. There's a reason all military-grade electronics are still done with lead-based solder. It's just better. It melts at lower temperatures, flows better, and ends up looking shiny when applied properly. The other stuff looks like crud, even when it's done correctly, which is especially troublesome for beginners looking for proof of a healthy join. Yes, there are lead-based dangers, but use some common sense, good ventilation, and don't eat while you're working (solder/fingers, fingers/sandwich, sandwich/brain, brain/dumb), and wash your hands well with soap when you're done.

Secondary to the leaded/non-lead solder issue, there's the decision of "no-clean" vs. "rosin" flux. OK, there are more types, but those are the main types. Flux is a chemical paste that's usually in the core of the solder you use. When you melt it, the flux cleans the surfaces and "lubricates" the soldering, making the metals bind correctly. If you have a choice, get a "no-clean" flux, as the other types will make your solder joints look like burned sugar.

In short, get a $25, 20-to-30 watt pencil-type soldering iron, a $12 1-lb. roll of no-clean lead/tin solder (that's lots - share with family and friends), don't floss with the solder, and don't paint it onto your projects.

Bonus Tip: Get a container of Multicore "Tip Cleaner." Best $3 you'll spend on a soldering accessory. It will triple the life of your solder tips, and make almost any gungy tip look clean and shiny again. Just don't breath the fumes when you push a hot dirty tip into this pumice-like substance.

More:
Toolbox: Soldering Essentials, Part 1
Toolbox: Soldering station tools and hacks

Dave Hrynkiw, who runs Solarbotics and HVW Technologies, is our virtual Camp Counselor for "Teach Your Family to Solder" week. One of the things I love about Solarbotics' kits is that they always have excellent, and funny, documentation. Each of these instruction booklets includes the brief soldering tutorial posted above. Really, that's all the basics you need to know. We'll have more detailed tutorials, tips, videos, etc, throughout the week, but armed only with this "quick reference card" and the basic tools, as outlined in my Toolbox column, you'd have what you need to solder successfully. If you're going to be teaching people how to solder, print out the above and have it on-hand for your students.

If you have any questions for him related to soldering, send email to campcounselor@makezine.com.

More:
Toolbox: Soldering essentials, Part 1
MAKEcation: "Teach Your Family to Solder" week
Let's take a Summer MAKEcation!

In the twice-monthly Make: Online Toolbox, we focus mainly on tools that fly under the radar of more conventional tool coverage: in-depth tool-making projects, strange or specialty tools unique to a trade or craft that can be useful elsewhere, tools and techniques you may not know about, but once you do, and incorporate them into your workflow, you'll wonder how you ever lived without them. And, in the spirit of the times, we pay close attention to tools that you can get on the cheap, make yourself, or refurbish.

This week, as part of "Teach Your Family to Solder Week," we look at what you need to get started in soldering. We already did a Toolbox column on soldering stations and stands, a staple for more serious soldering. Like anything else, once you get into it, there are all sorts of higher-end products you can invest in. But for starters, here are the bare basics you'll need. On Wednesday, I'll do a second installment of the column with more specialty tools you can add to make your soldering experience that much better.

[For makers in other countries, adafruit also sell a 220V Euro-version of the same iron.]

Welcome to Make: Online's MAKEcation, 2009
Over the next few months, we're going to be running contests, issuing family challenges, offering project ideas and tech tips, all geared towards families doing DIY together at home. If you REALLY want to go away, we're also going to be offering ideas on maker-oriented vacations, cool educational, hands-on destinations you can visit and fun things you can do on the road. But most of what we'll cover will be projects and activities for your kitchen table and backyard. We're also bringing on "Camp Counselors," experts in the area of each challenge. They'll be on-hand to offer advice, answer any technical questions, and to blow their whistles if things get too rowdy. We'll also have our counselors involved in helping us look through your MAKEcation videos and pictures to choose who to give prizes away to (more on that later).

Our first MAKEcation project is "Teach Your Family to Solder" Week. Soldering is something that every maker should know how to do. Far too many people are intimated by the idea. It seems hard to do, it looks like it might be hard to do, and you think it is if you casually try it without the proper do and don'ts in mind (and the right tools). In point of fact, with a little practice and few key pointers, anybody, from about a tween to any-age adult (with decent enough eyesight and a steady hand) can do through-hole component soldering. We can almost guarantee that if you follow the instructions we'll be giving you throughout the week, and do some of the beginner projects we'll suggest (or similar), you'll be a successful solderer in a week's time. Knowing this skill will open you up to a lot of the projects you see in MAKE magazine and here on the site.

To help us for this project, we've enlisted the help of one of our favorite makers, Dave Hyrinkiw of Solarbotics and HVW Technologies. Besides running these two amazing mom and pop electronics shops, Dave is an icon in the BEAM hobby robotics community. The "A" in "BEAM" stands for aesthetics, so good BEAMbots are known for their arty, freeform construction (and that means neat and well-done soldering). Dave has been selling electronics and designing and building BEAMbots for as long as I can remember, so that makes him a perfect candidate to be our first MAKEcation Camp Counselor. Dave will be on-hand during the week and beyond, so if you have any soldering questions, send them to campcounselor@makezine.com. We'll collect them up and do a posting of any Q&A at the end of the week.

Later on today, I'll have a Toolbox column covering everything you'll need to get started in soldering. We also have the first of our MAKEcation bundles in the Maker Shed with several great beginner kits to get you started (plus a copy of the premier issues of MAKE, which includes an excellent soldering primer, and a copy of The Maker's Notebook, so you can document your family's MAKEcation).

Obviously, if someone in the family already knows how to solder, go ahead and start teaching all of the other eligible family members. Even kids that are too young to safely solder can get involved, by helping to put components in the holes on PCBs, clipping the leads on soldered parts, etc. Just make sure they're supervised, not close to the soldering irons, and that the power cables to the iron(s) can't be tripped over. Make sure to take photos/video of the family at work and send the links to us. And maybe dream up some cool project that everyone can work on together and document that as well.

More:
Let's take a Summer MAKEcation!

By way of the MAKE Flickr pool comes this wonderful build of a fireworks controller fittingly house inside of an ammo box. No text with the photo set, but the pictures pretty much tell the story of the build.

Firework Controller

How to: Make an American flag

HOW TO - Take photos of Fireworks & HOW TO - Photograph fireworks

Make your own smoke-bombs

Fireworks Drawings

LED fireworks

Wireless fireworks launch controller

Model rocketry and hobby fireworks

HOW TO - Make a sparkler & a geek's guide to fireworks

What MAKEs America great - Happy 4th of July from MAKE

Unexpected, delightful; I did enjoy this fireworks animation by PES.

Instructables has a roundup of 4th projects for a happy weekend. BBQs, recipes, summer clothes, and water abound.

Ever wondered what it'd be like to set off 204 bottle rocks at the same time? I know I have. Turns out, it's a good time (so long as you're not in the line of fire).

I Love Bottle Rockets