WeirdNazareth.com presents: Maker Diaries

Pac-Man Squirrel Feeder

2011-10-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

Pac Man Squirrel Feeder - More DIY How To Projects

Mosaic Birdbath

2011-07-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

Recycle old materials to create an eccentric garden decoration. Your neighbors will thank you for it. People will think you're "artsy."

Step 1Gather Materials

You'll need to decide what garden "item" you'll be applying a mosaic to. I am using flower pots, a bird bath, and this "thing" that I found in my neighbor's trash. For this instructable I'll focus on the birdbath.

You'll also need to gather a bunch of old crap to apply to your garden item. I am using old tile pieces, marbles, coffee mugs, broken flower pots, mirrors, and other odds and ends. Anything that will withstand the elements should be fine.

There are some tools and materials that you will need:

2 buckets
water
a sponge
steel wool (or a scrubby sponge)
Thin set mortar
Sanded grout
Tile snips (optional, for more fancy designs)
Glass cutting tool (optional, for more fancy designs)
Silicon adhesive (optional, for more fancy designs and for smaller pieces like a flower pot)
Safety glasses

Step 2Think about a design...or don't

At this point you can preplan your design. On the other hand, you could just do a free-form design and don't plan anything ahead of time.

I created a star template out of cardboard and traced it onto the birdbath with pencil. This keeps me on track when I'm applying the tiles.

Step 3Break Stuff

You'll need to break all of the tiles, mirrors, etc. into small pieces so that you can apply them to the object. Use a hammer and make sure you wear safety glasses when you do this. Be careful!

If your design is somewhat intricate you'll want to break the tiles and mirrors with some degree of precision and accuracy. A glass cutter and tile snips come in handy here.

Glass cutter: a little, pen-like tool that has a sharp wheel to score glass. This will cost <$5 at a hardware store. You basically press firmly to score the glass. Then you tap the glass to break it along the scores.

Tile snips: These are like a hybrid between pliers and hedge trimmers. They gradually nibble away at ceramic tile to acheive a desired shape.

Since I am making a star pattern I had to make sure that I had some sharp, acute angles for the tips of the star. It is really important that you plan these things ahead. You don't want to be snipping away at tiles while your mortar is mixed.
If you're doing a free-form pattern then screw it and just break eveything with no regard.

Step 4Prep the Surface

The surface of the object that you are going to mosaic needs to be relatively clean. So you should wash it off if it is dirty. The bird bath that I am doing was covered in algae and other gross stuff so I scrubbed it with bleach and hosed it off. It doesn't need to be completely dry before you start mosaic-ing but there shouldn't be any puddles or excessive water.

Step 5Apply the "Intricate" portion of the Mosaic Design

Your mosaic design can be completely random or very thought out. If you intend to make a specific design you should draw it out on paper first and keep it near you while you are working or create a template. Otherwise, just make the design up as you go along. If you intend to create a more formal design you should start with that part. The small detail pieces can be applied with Silicon adhesive rather than messy, thick mortar. I finished the entire star pattern in this way.

Apply the broken pieces to the object. Keep them pretty close together...1/8" or so. Any large gaps will use up expensive grout.

Step 6Mix the Mortar

Once you are done with the intricate part of the design you can start applying the rest of the mosaic with thinset.

You'll need to get some tile thinset mortar at the hardware store. This stuff is pretty cheap (about $5 for 50lbs).
Mix it per the instructions with water in a bucket to get a paste-like consistency. Don't mix more than you can use is about 20 minutes or it will get too hard while you're working on it. It's better to make a few smaller batches than to waste a large one.

Note: if you are just doing a small object, like a flower pot, you can forgo the mortar. Instead use cheap silicon adhesive for all of the tile pieces. But for larger projects it is far more cost effective to use mortar.

You want the mortar to be like paste...not too runny but also not crumbly and dry. Keep in mind: It is always easier to add more water rather than to add more dry mortar.

Step 7Apply the Motar to the Object

Thinset mortar is called thinset for a reason. You only need to apply a thin layer. Apply the mortar to the surface of the object using a rubber spatula or mortar tool or some kind of stick or your hands. Only do as much area as you can work on in an about 10-15 minutes. Otherwise it will begin to skin over and not stick as well.

Step 8Apply the broken pieces

Take all of the broken pieces that you have and start applying them to the object. If some of them are very heavy you'll want to put a little bit of mortar on the back of the tile piece to help it stay in place. Go nuts.

Step 9Let the Mortar Dry

Go to bed and let the mortar dry over night.

Step 10Grout the Mosaic

You can now apply the grout. You can use a spatula to mush the grout into the spaces between the tiles. I prefer to use my hands. But be careful because the tiles are sharp and will cut.

You want to keep the grout moving and smear it off the surface of the tiles and mirrors and stuff. There will be a glaze of grout left on the surface of the tiles that can be removed later but you don't want it to be so thick that you cannot get it off.

Use the sponge and the water to smooth out the grout and wipe the excess from the tiles.

Step 11Let the Grout Dry

Let the grout dry overnight.

Step 12Remove the Grout "Haze" and Seal the Grout

Use some clean water and the steel wool (or scrubby sponge) to remove the grout haze from the tile pieces. You may need to scrub pretty hard if the grout is caked up. If you can, use a garden hose to rinse it off as you go.

Let the grout dry and you can seal it. Sealing it is optional but it is a good idea because it will help keep the algae down and help it last longer in the winter*. The hardware store will have grout and tile sealer. You will probably only need one coat.

*If you use regular bathroom tiles, or any tiles that are not designed for outdoor use, you probably shouldn't leave it outside in the winter if it is cold where you are. The freeze/thaw cycles will cause the tiles to crack and chip off.

Step 13Enjoy the New Garden Decoration

Install the newly funkified object in your garden. You can now enjoy the garden a little more.

Superhero Garden Gnomes & The Nook of Justice

2011-07-10T16:54:00.000-07:00

Evil lurks in the shadows of our backyards. Rogue snails. Radioactive skunks. My yard has a maniacal possum that will stop at nothing until he controls the entire area behind the compost pile. That's why every backyard needs a hero. One that can clean up the garden and make it safe for all law abiding neighborhood critters. This Instructable will show you how to turn an unassuming mild-mannered garden gnome into a tiny butt-kicking purveyor of justice.

Step 1Choose your Hero

The first thing you'll need to do is determine your gnome's alter ego. Spend time with the gnome. Sleep with it if you have to. Look into its eyes...its soul. Look around your yard too. What type of issues are the yard inhabitants facing? Are there other-worldly invaders? Common street thugs? Neighbor's dog? This will help you determine if you need a dark vigilante type or a hulking all-powerful brute.

Additionally, you'll want to consider the physical feature of your gnome. Is it standing? Sitting? Does it have distinct features that lend itself to a specific superhero? In the case of the three gnomes I have here, there were definite characteristics that led me to choose the heroes I did. From here forward, I'll describe the steps to create a Batman, Robin, and Spiderman gnome set. These techniques can be used to make any garden hero.

Batman and Robin: One gnome is in a proud, alert stance. The other is sitting with his head resting on his hands. This gnome pair struck me as a great duo. To me, the obvious choice was the classic Dynamic Duo of Batman and Robin. But I thought I'd change it up a bit and make the standing gnome be the Boy Wonder and the sitting gnome be the Dark Knight. I thought this was more unexpected.

Spiderman: I also had a crawling gnome. As I was holding it and positioning it in different orientations, I noticed that if I held it vertically it looked like it was crawling up a wall, and the knee area had a hole in it to use as a place from which to hang it. So to me Spiderman seemed like a no-brainer. I could position the gnome so that it looked like Spiderman clinging to a wall.

Step 2Supplies

Before starting you'll want to gather your supplies. Make sure you have everything ready.

Ceramic garden gnomes
Sculpey (Super Sculpey is my preference but Sculpey III is good too)
Bondo body filler
Craft paint (any type that is rated for ceramics...some aren't. Read the label)
Paint brushes (artist's and/or craft brushes)
Spray paint (Clear, outdoor enamel)
Imagination
Razor knife (or Xact-o knife)
Oven (to bake the Sculpey, silly)
Aluminum foil
Baking sheet
Rolling pin (or piece of PVC pipe)
A smooth, hard surface (such as a sheet of glass or countertop)
Sand paper (120 grit and 200 grit)
Wooden spatulas or tongue depressors
Construction adhesive
Accessories: such as little buttons, buckles, twine, etc.

You'll also want to have a blank canvas. So if you are not using a brand new gnome you should take the time to prime it. That way all of the colors will be vibrant and uniform.

Step 3Sculpting

First thing to do is sculpt the masks. For Robin's mask and Spiderman's eyes make a paper template. Next roll the Sculpey out into a thin sheet on a very smooth surface using a pvc pipe or rolling pin. A piece of glass makes a great surface. Use the template to cut out the masks using a razor knife. For Batman's mask just make a large rectangle; no template needed. Place the masks on the gnome faces and pressed them tightly into place. For Batman, drape the rectangular sheet of Sculpey over the gnomes face and cut away the excess. Pinch the nose between your thumb and index finger to create the pointed nose. Use your pinky to make the indentations for the eyes.

Make a little ball of Sculpey and squish it into a circle. Use it to decorate Robin's belt buckle.

For Batman's ears roll two Sculpey balls and shape them into pointy cones. Use your thumb to smoosh them into place on the side of the gnome's head. They'll probably stick there in place and hold on their own.

You should have excess Sculpey rolled out. You can use a razor knife to cut out a Bat-a-rang. Make a paper template if needed.

Step 4Baking

Once the gnomes are decorated it is time to bake them. Sculpey is an oven-bake polymer clay. So it is soft and plyable until it's baked. First, heat the oven to 275 degrees F. While waiting for the oven to pre-heat put some foil on a cookie baking sheet. Then carefully put the gnomes on the cookie sheet being very careful not to let the Sculpey touch the sheet or the rack. Put the entire gnome in the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Put the bat-a-rang on the sheet too. Since the gnome is ceramic it's safe to put it in the oven. The kiln that it was fired in was a lot hotter than your kitchen oven. When the 15 minutes is up take them out and let them cool completely to room temperature. Note: if your Sculpey pieces are thicker than about 6mm then you can bake it a few minutes longer than 15 min.

Remember, there is nothing holding the Sculpey onto the gnome (no glue or anything). But the Sculpey will probably stick to the ceramic really tightly anyway. I doubt that the Sculpey will stick to the gnome long term so you should carefully pry the Sculpey piece off and glueit back on with construction adhesive. This will hold pretty well outside.

Step 5More sculpting

There were a couple of areas on the Batman gnome where you'll really want the Sculpey to blend in seamlessly with the ceramic. So you can mix up some Bondo to fill in the gaps.

Bondo is a two-part body filler material used in the auto body industry. It's like spackle but is really hard and durable when dry. Read the directions on the can. Mix it up in a plastic cup per the Bondo instructions. Then use a popsicle stick to apply it to the Batman ears and Batman mask where the Sculpey meets the ceramic. Let this dry a few hours. Drying Bondo smells great; it reminds me of being a kid when my older brother would work on cars. But you should probably head the warning on the can and ventilate.

Step 6Sanding

Once the Bondo was dry sand it with100 or 120 grit sandpaper. Feather it in really well so that the seam is invisible. Then clean all of the dust off of the gnome with a damp rag.

Step 7Painting

At this point it was ready to paint. But first you have to choose the colors. There is a process for color selection. You want to select "gnomey" colors. Colors that you could imagine a gnome wearing. You want Earthy colors and not bright colors. So you do not want to pick literal interpretations of the comic hero. So, for instance, don't use black...use burnt umber brown. Don't use red...use maroon. Not white...parchment. Etc.

For Batman, gather some black, gold, grey, and blue. For Robin, you'll need green, gold, red, and black. For Spiderman, white, black, red, and blue. For all of the gnomes, you'll need some colors for the beards, and some browns and greens for the shoulder bags and foliage.

There is no need to prime. Just start painting. Another thing to consider is the costume. It's better to roughly follow the gnomes existing clothes than to crowbar in an exact interpretation of the comic book costume.

Download the characters' emblems from a Google image search. Use these as a guide to sketch out the emblem onto the gnome's cap using a soft pencil. The cap is the most prominent piece of clothing on a gnome. So it is best to put the emblem on the cap rather than, say, the chest. Once it was sketched out, paint the emblem in with a fine artist's brush and acrylic paints.

Step 8Sealing

Once all of the paint dries you need to seal the gnome. This will protect it from the weather and make all of the colors pop. An enamel clear spray paint works nicely. Spray on 3 even coats of a satin clear coat and let it dry overnight.

Step 9Accessorizing

Remember that bat-a-rang you made earlier in step 3? Use your acrylics to paint it "black" and spray it with clear spray paint. Then wrap the hemp twine around it in an X pattern and use construction adhesive to glue it in place on Batman's shoulder bag.

For Robin, take 24 inches of hemp twine and neatly coil it up. Then use construction adhesive to glue it onto Robin's shoulder bag.

Take some of the buttons and buckles that you gathered and glue them to the gnome's shoulder bags and jacket cuffs.

Step 10Displaying

You can display the gnomes anywhere in your yard, but it is best to place them in an area where they can get a good view of the entire yard and any particular trouble areas. If you've modified your gnomes correctly, your garden should be in order within a few weeks. Any new threats can be handled with additional super gnomes or by forming a super gnome league or justice guild.

Take your gnomes inside during winter. The crime rate drops dramatically during the colder months anyway.

THE NOOK OF JUSTICE:

I'll start by saying that this Instructable took a huge left turn early on. I was originally going to show you how to seal and cover that unused basement window your wife has been nagging you about. But this morning I made a grizzly discovery that shifted my focus.

As I was leaving the house to go toward the garage I immediately stepped in something squishy on the back steps. When I looked down I saw garbage strewn about the patio and two shredded plastic bags. My stomach sank. This couldn't be happening. As I continued to survey the area I discovered it...the calling card. The Claw had struck my back yard. As you know, The Claw is an evil...nay, evil is not a strong enough word...a WICKED mutant racoon creature that pillages trash and recycling bins in search of food to fuel his empire. I could not believe that he was in our neighborhood, especially after my recent introduction of three Superhero Gnomes: http://www.instructables.com/id/Superhero-Garden-Gnome-Mod/

But alas, The Claw is incredibly powerful and my miniature heros are no match. I decided I needed to summon more heroes & form a Legion of Extraordinary Gnomes (L.E.G.S.). I needed to build the L.E.G.S. headquarters in my own backyard.

This Instructable will give you the skills to build your own superhero gnome hideout. In my case, I am building The Nook of Justice in an unused basement window. However, you can use these basic steps to build a secret gnome bunker any way you like: in a tree stump, a pile of rocks, or near a pond.

Step 1Supplies

The Nook of Justice is simply a wood façade and door with a bunch of little details to make it cool. To create the Nook of Justice you will need:

Lumber: you can use fence pickets that are pressure treated. They are 6" long, 5.5 inches wide and about half inch thick. And they're cheap about $1 each.
Drill
Jigsaw
Eye protection
Ear protection
Tape measure
Pencil
Square
Nails (whatever you have laying around)
Deck screws (to mount the finished nook)
Some assorted knobs and little junk. I keep miscellaneous bits and pieces that I have left over from other projects in small boxes. You never know when you'll need this stuff. Search your junk drawer to see what you have available. Otherwise, take a knob off your bathroom vanity.
You might need Sculpey if you decide to get fancy.
- If you're a fancy pants you'll probably need...
  - construction adhesive.
  - acrylic paints and brushes
  - clear enamel spray paint

Step 2Measurements

You'll need to figure out how big the entrance to the nook needs to be. You don't want the gnomes having to duck every time they go in and out of the headquarters. So measure your gnome. This will give you an idea of how tall and wide the door needs to be. [my gnomes are 13 inches high so I made the door about 14 inches tall and 9 inches wide]

You also need to measure the area that the nook is going to be installed in. That way you'll know how big to make the façade. [the window that I am covering is 18.5 inches tall and 44 inches wide.]

Step 3Cutting the facade

First thing you need to is create the façade. Cut as many boards as you need to get the correct height. If you need a partial board to meet the height requirement then you might be able to use the scrap ends of the other boards.

Once you have all of the boards cut, lay them out on a flat surface by butting the long edges against each other. Using some scraps of leftover wood, lay out some braces to keep all of the boards together. Be sure to leave the door area alone; don't put any support braces there. Nail the braces in place.

Step 4Door and Assembly

Measure and draw the door on the back of the façade. Cut it out using a jigsaw. Gnome doors can be rounded or squared off...it's up to you. Door shaped piece that you cut out are scrap. But if you are making a rounded door then you should keep the pieces so you can use them for a pattern for the real door. Leave the façade face down.

The door boards will be vertical, not horizontal. So you need to transfer the door shape to another board (you might have some left over) in the vertical orientation. Once the door is cut out, put it in place on the façade (at this point the façade should still be laying face down.

Brace the door in place using some additional scarp wood as braces. Once everything is braced well, none of the boards should move or shift when you flip the façade over (so that it is face up).

Step 5Details

The key to a great super gnome headquarters is the details. Gather all of the knobs and do-dads that you collected and start attaching them to the door and facade. In the specific case of the Nook of Justice, there are two eternal beacon torches that summon the L.E.G.S. For the flames, make two cone shapes out of Sculpey and give each one a twist. Then insert the torch into the Sculpey flame. Bake the entire torch assembly in a pre-heated 275 F oven for about 20-25 min.

Once the Sculpey is cooled, paint the flames with a swirl of gold, yellow, and red acrylic paint. Give it a few coats of clear spray paint once the paint is dry. Using a dab of construction adhesive, mount the flames on the torches.

Drill pilot holes for the knobs and toches and mount them in place using the bolts [um, you do have the bolts for the knobs right?]

For the door hinges, hammer out two sheets of copper and take them in place using some small brads.

Step 6Installation

Once the facade is assembled, use decks screws to mount it in place.

Step 7Summoning the Legion

2011 Nazareth Soapbox Derby Car

2011-05-13T19:03:00.001-07:00

For the 2011 Nazareth Adult Soapbox Derby I wanted to design a car that people would like and made me feel heroic. So I decided I would model it after one of the most important vehicles of our nation's history: the T-65 X-wing fighter.

I scoured the web to print pictures and blueprints of X-wing Fighters. Thankfully, there is an entire nerd community dedicated to fantasizing about what makes Star Wars ships tick. So I got pics of models, blue prints, and all kinds of drawings. These would give me a reference for this year's car.

I started out using my 2010 car which was also my father's 2008 car.. I stripped it down to the studs, took a photo, and printed the photo out. Using tracing paper over the photo I fleshed out what the new car design would look like. The first thing I noticed is that it was going to be longer and wider than the frame I was using. I anticipated that the width could pose a problem with transporting it in my truck. So I came up with the idea of making the car modular and assembling it on-site before the race.

I had my heart set on a few key design features that I knew would make the car really badass: 1) I wanted a R2 droid that spun and made sounds 2) I wanted the wings to open and close. Very early on I abandoned the open/closing wing idea. I just couldn’t make it happen in the budget and time that I had. But I was pretty sure I could easily get the droid to spin and talk.

The first thing I did was frame-out the additional length to the front and rear of the car. I also had to re-shape the entire front of the car from the driver's seat forward. I re-did this twice until I got the shape I was looking for. The rear of the car was basically a hollow box where the wings mounted and the droid sat. I needed to have access to the inside of the box so I could attach and remove the wings.

R2-D69: The spinning droid was constructed of Styrofoam and painted to look like R2-D2. I used one of my daughter’s old toys to create the motion. The toy had a gear on it that spun when a button was pushed. I cut the toy in half (it was too big) and mounted the toy to the underside of the body and glued the droid head onto the gear. To control the spinning I used an old NES controller. I re-routed the toy's switch through the NES controller so when the A or B buttons were pushed the droid would spin for about 15 seconds. For audio, I downloaded some R2-D2 sound effects from a website and used Pinnacle movie studio software to string them all together into a 50 second babbling droid Mp3. I loaded this onto an iPod and connected it to a small portable speaker system that I hid inside the body of the car. This way, each time I started down the hill, I could push the NES controller button and the iPod play button to commence the droid freak-out.The wings were another tricky part. I made two sets of brackets that would hold the wings in the correct X shape and could be mounted to the sides of the car. Some drainage piping was used for the "engine" things.

Another interesting feature of the car was the nose cone. One of the rules of NASBRA is that the car needs to have a sturdy eye-hook on the front. I did not want to ruin the cool look of the nose of an X-wing so I created a nose cone that lifted up to reveal a hidden hook. The nose was made of wood and cardboard and was mounted using a small metal cabinet hinge.

There were a lot of details in the X-wing car and almost all were done on the cheap. The entire car cost under about $75. There were 7 pieces to the car that were assembled at the race site: 4 turrets, 2 wings, and one car body. During the first heat I broke

one of the car's brakepads. I must have pulled the brake lever too hard against the wheel which caused one of the wooden pads t

o break. Upon post mortem inspection of the car the next day I also noticed that the axle saddle was also cracked. I assume this occurred at the same time as the break pad damage. Pulling the brake lever too hard must have shoved the wheel (and axle) back too hard which spilt the axle saddle. Also, during my second heat (the first loser's bracket round) I collided and became entangled with another car that was shaped like a camera. Dramatically, I still managed to win that heat and move on to the next round.

Compostable Snack Bag Update

2011-02-05T10:02:00.000-08:00

For anyone that was wondering, here is an update on the compostable snack back experiment that I started last summer. I checked the bag every time I turned the compost and didn't notice it breaking up. It definitely changed texture; it went from a crackly material to what I would describe as a very tough paper consistency. But it never really started to break apart. Some time around November 2010 I noticed it was gone. My theory is the possums took it. So I never really got to finish the experiment. Luckily, the Internet is littered with compostable snack bag experiments:

Cockeyed.com

20 Minute Garden

Kitchen Pantry Scientist

On a side note, Frito-Lay has decided to all but abandon their compostable bag due to pollution (noise pollution).

Make Good Iced Tea

2010-07-26T17:02:00.001-07:00

It's easy to make good iced tea in the Summer if you follow these instructions to a T. All water should be filtered. Even the water used to make the ice cubes needs to be from filtered water. Otherwise, the tea will be foamy and taste like goat sweat. If you have one of those Brita things then you're golden.

Fill a mason jar 2/3 with filtered water. Don't fill it any more than that because it will overflow in the microwave. Some people think that water won't boil in a microwave but that is an urban legend. I don't have time to explain vapor pressures, etc. to you right now. Anyway, add two teabags to the water. I use Tetley teabags which are specifically engineered for iced tea. They are bigger than regular teabags. Microwave the jar for 6 minutes on high. After it beeps (your microwave might ding instead of beep. If it does then this recipe won't work for you) let the jar sit for a while. A few minutes is good.

While you're waiting, fill a glass pitcher with two tray's worth ice cubes (remember that the ice cubes need to have been made with filtered water). Add 1/3 cup of pure cane sugar to the pitcher.

Remove the jar from the microwave using oven mitts. It's hot! The water will be dark brown. Don't panic; this is normal. Pour the tea-water from the jar into the pitcher. If it doesn't fill the pitcher up then top it off with some more filtered water. Use a wooden spoon to stir the tea and dissolve the sugar.

You can drink the tea now.
If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Compostable Snack Bag (Time 0)

2010-07-17T07:19:00.000-07:00

We bought some snack chips the other day and noticed that the bag was a little different from a normal chip bag. It felt funny and was really noisy when it was crinkled. Upon further inspection I noticed that the bag said it was fully compostable. I hopped on SunChips website and saw a fun little time laps video that showed the bag breaking down over time. It seemed a little too controlled and perfect. So I thought I'd try it out myself in my own compost pile.

I started by eating all the chips. Once the bag was empty I used it to carry my daily compost out my pile. Inside the bag I put two coffee filters/grinds, an over ripe banana, and some cucumber peels. I was over due to mix my compost pile up so I did that first and then buried the bag in the compost pile. The SunChips website says it will take 14 weeks to break down. So I am going to check up on it until mid October and see what happens.

Weird Nazareth Derby Car (Part 3/3)

2010-05-02T17:14:00.000-07:00

Finished the "klown kar" for the Nazareth soapbox derby and it turned out nicely. And the best part was that it went down the hill at a decent clip and in a straight-ish line.

Since the last post I managed to install the exhaust pipes, which was fun. Before construction and painting I didn't put any thought into how each one was twisted and how they would fit amonst each other once installed. I just closed my eyes and bent away. This made installation interesting since I had to do a bunch of trial/error with which pipe went into which hole (that's what she said). But it worked out OK in the end.

I made this little evil skeleton-jack-in-the-box character and installed it as the hood ornament on a sturdy metal spring. It bounced around the whole time which created a nice effect. I got some sticker paper that you can put in your computer printer and made some sponsor decals. These were: weirdnazareth.com (of course), Whoppie Performance cushions, and Bozo's Really Big Shoes. For a brake knob I used a plastic banana.

Race rules require a helmet so I got my old dirt bike helmet and painted an evil clown grin on it along with some bule clown paint around the eyes. To top it off I added a big red nose.

For details of how the race went hop on over to weirdnazareth.com.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

WeirdNazareth Derby Car (Part 2)

2010-04-11T06:25:00.000-07:00

If there was any doubt about how awesome this year's soapbox derby is going to be then this photo squashes it: Click Here.

In the WeirdNazareth garage, things are going peachy but with just a few hiccups. I was planning on using pool noodles to make some crazy exhaust pipes by bending them and painting them silver. However, the paint doesn't stick to the pool noodle foam. It flakes off with the slightest touch. So I had to rethink these. I decided to cover the noodle with paper that was dipped in glue and then paint it. This is a ton more work and time, but it will work.

I also installed some brakes which was not originally in my plan. I created a lever mechanism that, when pushed forward, would push a pad against the rear wheels. The brake pad is an old flip-flip shoe.

Other than that, it has been a lot of painting. I discovered that Lowes has little sample paints that cost $3. You can get them mixed in any custom color.

Weird Nazareth Derby Car (Part 1)

2010-03-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

The third annual Nazareth soapbox derby is fast approaching. So I've been working on my entry for this year's race. Instead of building a car from the ground up I decided to leverage some of my Dad's craftsmanship by modifying his car from 2008. His car wasn't bad. It was a dragster-style car that had decent steering, a braking system, and was fast enough to avoid embarassment; in fact, he won one of the heats that year.

I dragged the car out of his basement and trucked it up to Nazareth where I stripped all of the mechanics and aesthetic accoutrements off. I removed the non-structural panels from the front end. Since it was in his basement for two years, it was a little moldy...gross! I tried the car on for size by attempting to sit in it. This was the first obstacle of the year. My dad is a slight guy; skinny and on the short side. I'm no giant, but I am quite a bit taller so I simply couldn't fit in the car. I had to rip off the entire back end and extend the car length by twelve inches. I looked at this as an advantage being that it gave me an opportunity to move the rear axle back and redesign the tail shape.

Over the Winter, I got some bitchin' new wheels on eBay. In order to make them fit I needed new axles which I got from Tractor Supply Co.

So far, I have replaced the front panelling and primed the car.

The theme of my car isn't to be revealed yet but I can tell you that I'll be using these swimming pool noodles, and these funky wooden cutouts in addition to some deer antlers and an old shower curtain rod...

Make Fake Poop

2010-01-31T11:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a technique that I learned personally from Martha Stewart. No, not THAT Martha Stewart. I’m talking about the one that lives in a trailer in Wind Gap and drinks blueberry schnapps at lunch everyday.

Fake poop is always good for a laugh. You can easily make your own fake poop from some old newspapers and Elmers Glue. Fake poop can really brighten up a room; much more so than real poop.

Here are the materials you’ll need: paper pulp (see below), Elmers glue, a large bowl, wax paper or freezer paper, a stick for mixing

A note about paper pulp…you can make your own paper pulp from old newspapers. It’s a pain in the arse because you have to boil the paper, strain it, let it dry, and grind it up. It’s a lengthy process. Or you can buy it from the craft store (it’s stupidly expensive there, don’t do it!). Or, my preference, you can get it from a home improvement store in the form of cellulose insulation. The insulation, which is the blown-in type, is actually ground up newspapers and telephone books. It’s economical too. A big giant bag of it costs about $20.

To make the poop you’ll need to eat a really big lunch…wait…wrong instructions. To make the FAKE poop you can add a handful of the pulp to a large bowl, then dump (hee, hee) in a small amount of glue. The consistency that you are aiming for is that of clay. You want it to be moldable and hold its shape while it dries. Mix it all up with the stick and even get your hands in there. You may need to add a little more glue if the mixture is too dry. It is easier to add more glue than more pulp so add small amounts of glue at a time.

Once you’ve got a nice clay-like consistency you can start molding. Mold it into ropes just like you did with Play Dough when you were six. You can shape it into a nice healthy pile by coiling it and twisting it. Do this on wax paper or freezer paper so it doesn’t stick. When you get it how you want it, leave it on the wax paper to dry. The best thing would be to put it on a radiator or in front of a fan. The faster it dries the better it will hold its shape. Tip: you can make different types of poop. Human poop, dog poop, cat poop, even rabbit poop. Just study the real versions and copy what you see. You can even make a dog-poop-henge in hopes of making it onto the pages of CloneHenge.

When completely dry (it will take a few days to really get hard) it will be wrinkled and a little shrunken and rock hard! A perfect piece of poo! Get some brown paint and paint it up. Now take it into work and put it on your boss’s desk.

As Martha from Wind Gap always says, “It’s a good thing.”

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

MinoHD Flip Video Review

2010-01-07T16:57:00.000-08:00

I have always enjoyed making family movies and slide shows. In the past I have taken photos from family events and stiched them together using Windows Movie Maker to create a witty movie that my family had got a kick out of. Now that we have a kid I was more interested in being able to capture occasions on video. Enter the Flip Video camcorder.
I purchased a 2nd generation MinoHD Flip Video for my wife's birthday. I chose this device over other camcorders for two main reasons: it is really small and it is really simple. I love small things. I figure, if it can fit in your pocket you're more likely to use it. Since this ultimately was a gift for my wife I wanted something simple. She gets frustrated when things are more complicated than they need to be.
The MinoHD is super small. It measures 2 x 0.7 x 3.9 inches. It can easily fit in your pocket, even when it is stored in a protective case.
It's also really easy to use. It has only 7 buttons: a big red record button, directional arrows, delete, and play. It has internal memory instead of memory cards, and requires no cords or cables; the USB connection flips out of the unit like a switchblade knife.
I would have no problem recommending the flip video to anyone wanting to take basic videos that are of very good quality. However, I have some serious issues with the software that is included with the system, FlipShare.

In short, FlipShare blows. Not only are the features very limited but the web is littered with complaints about it being incompatible with certain Windows XP service packs and other Windows programs. In addition, the file type that the system uses (.mp4) is not compatible with Windows Movie Maker, a common and free movie editing software. This has frustrated me to no end. There are multiple tutorials on the web about how to "cheat" the videos into compatibility. However, I have not found any that do not compromise the quality and resolution of the video. If you know of one, I am all ears.

Here is my assessment of the MinoHD Flip Video:

Appearance: It is really small but the design isn't very progressive. It is basically just a rectangle. The LCD screen is pretty small and there is a lot of unused real estate on the back of the unit. Why not have a much larger screen? Or perhaps a touch screen that takes up the whole back? The buttons are "touch-like" in that they are basically just sensitive areas of the plastic case surface rather than actual click-able buttons (think selection wheel of an ipod rather than a TV remote). You just have to barely touch them to get them to work. The big red record button is very intuitive. Verdict: NOT BAD

Picture Quality: In situations with ample light the picture is great considering the size of the unit. When projected onto an HDTV the video doesn't quite look "high-def" but it is pretty damn close and extremely clear. As the light dims, however, the picture gets grainy. This is not unusual for compact camcorders so I won't hold it against the Flip. Verdict: ME LIKEY

Software: Where do I start? It is pretty bad. The features are very lacking for video editing. What do you mean I can't change the font or background color of my title screen? Only has one transition from clip to clip which is a quick fade. FlipShare does, however, have easy social networking abilities. You can easily upload your videos right to FaceBook, Myspace, YouTube, etc. with basically a few clicks. I can't stand that I can't use Windows Movie Maker. The mp4 files that FlipShare creates are not compatible without performing a work-around that kills the picture quality. Verdict: AWFUL

We hope to get a lot of use out of this Flip. I want to use it for stuff here on Maker Diaries and over at Weird Nazareth.com. Here is an example of a video shot from the MinoHD on YouTube:

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

My Dad Made a Kayak

2010-01-02T06:12:00.001-08:00

My dad retired in the beginning of 2007. So the Christmas before that I bought him some books about building canoes and kayaks. I figured it'd give him something to do and keep his mind off the competitive and cut-throat cardboard industry that he left behind. He got started right away to get a kayak built in time for Spring.
He used wood that he bought a Home Depot and sealed the entire kayak with polyurethane. He used spray foam insulation to add some ballast to the bow and stern. Once completed we took a family trip to Minsi Lake to try it out. We all brought our own kayaks and canoes to get in on the fun and rescue him from the cold waters if he tipped over.
The kayak didn't fair so well. It was way too buoyant and sat in the water too high. In fact, the stern and bow kind-of sat out of the water. This also made it very unstable. Despite all of this, my dad really liked the experience of building the kayak and felt good that he at least got to paddle it across the lake and back.
That Summer he put the kayak on the side of the road for-sale and sold it for $100 which is about what it cost to build.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Rob's Yellow Derby Car for 2010

2009-12-13T06:00:00.000-08:00

Anyone that has attended the annual Nazareth adult soapbox races knows Rob Leiser's cars. They are among the most professionally built cars in the race. Anyone that has raced in the derbies also knows that they are among the fastest cars in the race. Rob was kind enough to share a story about his 2010 car which is a sick looking yellow bullet. Of the car, Rob says:

"This is the 4th car I built for the Nazareth Adult Soap Box Derby. The 2010 race should be Saturday May 1 2010. In 2008 I finished second, in 2009 our team of 3 cars finished first, second and "all in one piece but last". My cars [were] fast but were not easy to control. When we took the cars to the Sharon, Ct race in July the turns and the crown of the road gave us problems. [editor's note, Rob raced in a derby in Sharon, CT over the Summer. Click Here for details]

Version 4 was built with an actual steering gear. I adjusted the center of gravity and added castor to improve handling. The aerodynamics were improved by tucking the rear wheels under the body and putting smaller diameter wheels on the front. The frame is 1" angle iron. The body is wood paneling, The wheel covers are Aluminum roofing material. The shape of the body is from a rocket car and the nose is a cut out of a 2 x 10 and covered in fiberglass.

The car hasn’t been named it yet. A name needs to be earned; just ask 2 of my employees, Sparky and Wheezer. The "4.0," "Yellow Submarine," or "The E-bay car" contains a lot of [parts from] E-bay. The Wheels are Spinergy seconds, the steering gear, spindles and rear shock were found under the heading Go Cart. The rear tires are from an E-bay friend David, The rare 110 psi 20” front tires was a lucky e-bay find. The nose and plywood seams are covered with E-bay fiberglass cloth and resin. Total cost in parts less then $200.00 Time spent on construction: I have no idea but since I mostly work on it evenings it was just time I would have been sleeping in front of the TV.

Other changes in Sawfish Racing for 2010 season: Peggy’s car the X-15 had the brakes removed and faster wheels added. Barbara had her shoulder fixed (so it will be less painful for her to hold her wine glass) The first car, the U-17, will get real steering for 2010 and the 2.0 Andretti car had Mario's signature covered in clear coat."

Check out Rob's Flickr set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/rentalbarn/sets/72157622722201150/

If you plan on entering the 2010 race, consider this post a warning. The engineering talent in the Nazareth area is impressive. However, as my own 2008 car can atest, some cars are lovers and not fighters. So do not be intimidated. Anyone can enter & have fun.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Master LEGO Builder to Appear in Bethlehem

2009-12-06T06:56:00.000-08:00

Sean Kenney will be at Moravian Book Shop

What: Lego-certified builder works with kids in building with Lego toys and signs copies of his book, ''Cool Cars and Trucks.''
When: 1-3 p.m. Saturday. Dec. 12 (SOLD OUT... but get on waiting list for next time!)
Where: Moravian Book Shop, 428 Main St., Bethlehem.
Info: 610-866-5481,
http://www.moravianbookshop.com/

Yoda Costume

2009-10-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

There are lots of Star Wars costumes out there for babies. But they are expensive. And it's more fun to make your own. The hardest part about making a baby costume is actually obtaining the baby. There are several great websites out there that show exactly how to make a baby. I'd suggest doing a Google search for "how babies are made." Be for warned that it takes a really long time to make a baby. So if you want to be ready for next Halloween you should start pretty soon.

My wife and I already have a baby that is 6 months old. So for this costume we decided just to use the one we already have. The next thing was to decide which Star Wars character to make the costume of. My two recommendations are a Jawa and Yoda. Since our particular baby can't walk yet Yoda seemed like the better choice.

To start, I blew up a balloon about the size of our baby's head. I then covered the balloon in clothe (an old bed sheet) that was dipped in Elmers glue. Several layers were needed and it took about a week for it all to dry and become hard. This skull cap serves as a good base for Yoda's ears. To make the ears I cut some cardboard and folded and bent it into a nice ear shape. I taped the ears to the skull cap and used lots of tape to create a nice Yoda-head shape to the whole thing. To get everything nice and smooth I covered the entire head with shop towels and white glue. This creates a skin over the head. The shop towels have a texture to them so in order to smooth them out I painted on several coats of white glue, allowing each coat to dry in between. After lightly sanding I primed and painted the head green. I used some Halloween spider-web decoration stuff to create some tufts of white hair behind the ears.

Yoda needs a cane. So I made one out of newspaper and did the same shop towel/glue process on it that I did with the head and ear piece.

Next came Yoda's robe. I got some cheap fabric and traced our baby on it to create an outline of her body. I cut out two pieces of fabric and placed them together. I have no idea how to sew (I'd love to learn) so I had to use glue to attach the two pieces together. I quick slit up the middle of the robe's front finished it off. I used some old brown faux fur that I had to make a little belt.

The costume went together really quickly and looked pretty cute. The baby seemed to enjoy wearing it and thought the cane tasted good. We took some photos and entered in a contest the Nazareth Key was having for kid's costumes.

Most of the stuff that was used for this costume was junk I had lying around. A few things came from Hobby Lobby. The discount coupons that they send you in the e-mail really help because if I play my cards right I never have to pay full price there. I can use the coupon over and over because it is a printable coupon and I just print several copies.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Behold: Trophy for Pumpkin Contest

2009-10-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the one-of-a-kind, completely custom, completely recycled, extremely tasteful, hand-made trophy for the 2009 WeirdNazareth.com Pumpkin Carving Contest. Have you ever heard that an old issue of a KISS comic book from the '70's was printed with ink containing real KISS blood? Well, this trophy is similar in that it may or may not contain my real blood because I sliced my finger while making it.

To construct this major award I gathered as much useful material that I could find around the garage: an old quoits trophy, a plastic pumpkin from an old Halloween decoration, a piece of metal conduit, a steak knife, a wooden dowel, this shiny brass thing that I think was from our bathroom faucet, red spray paint left over from my soapbox derby car, and some epoxy.

I disassembled the trophy and discarded the plastic award piece; the heavy faux marble base was what I was after. I inserted the wood dowel and epoxied it in place. A piece of conduit was cut and painted red and inserted over the wooden dowel. The brass thingy was added to the top of the conduit and gives the trophy a classy look. The plastic pumpkin was epoxied on top.

I cleaned up the steak knife and sanded the handle a little. I wanted to put "weirdnazareth.com" on the handle so I printed out a sheet of paper with the text in various sizes. Once I found the size that looked best I transfered it to the knife handle using carbon paper. A painted the text black and gave it a coat of polyurethane to make it more durable (the trophy will probably be picked up and handled a lot by jealous people). To finish it off I put a dab of epoxy on the blade & stabbed the pumpkin through its heart.

The trophy looks great and is completely recycled. Now that everyone has seen it I should go clean out my e-mail inbox in preparation for the flood on contest entries.

Indian Tower as a Portrait Backdrop

2009-10-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

We were contacted by Patrice Mitchell, a local artist and photographer, who wondered where, exactly, the Indian Tower is located. When we gave her the directions she seemed surprised that it was right under her nose the whole time.

Patrice is a fantastic artist and photographer. According to her website she has produced art through various media most of her life. She even has a childrens' clothing line called MamaPatrice. Check it out here: LINK

After Patrice's first visit to the Tower she sent us a link to the portrait-style photographs she took there. You can check them out on her FaceBook page or on her website: http://patricemitchell.com/

Patrice Mitchell is an on-location photographer based in the Nazareth/Bethlehem/Easton area. The best way to contact her is via e-mail through her website.
Website: http://www.photographybypatrice.com/
Blog: http://patricemitchell.wordpress.com/
Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5083480

Photo above posted with permission (thanks, Patrice!)
If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com

Call for Content

2009-10-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

It's Halloween time which is one of the most creative times of the year. If you're making your own costume, or your kid's costume, make sure to take lots of pictures of the finished product (and take some of the process too). If you e-mail them to us we'll post them (weirdnazareth@hotmail.com) so you can inspire and entertain others.

Also, don't forget about the Pumpkin Carving Contest. It's really easy to enter and you could win a prize. Don't be shy. Click the banner above to get details and to enter.

Indian Tower Photograph

2009-09-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

We got to speak with Al Powers who took an amazing photo of our beloved Indian Tower. It was entered in Dan's Camera City's Life in the Valley photo contest and won second prize. [Due to some potential copyright issues we are unable to post the photo here on the Maker Diaries. We'll get clarification soon and hopefully will be allowed to post it here. In the meantime, check out the link: CLICK HERE.] UPDATE 9/20/09: AL SAYS IT'S OK TO POST THE PHOTO, SO I DID. Of the photo, Al says:

I use a Sony 700 Alpha DSLR. The photo was taken just under a year ago. A co-worker told me about the Indian Tower so I went up to check it out. Ihave lived in the Nazareth area for over 16 yrs and never knew about it. I was home one evening and thought the sunset was looking very good so I went up to the tower (I live about 10 minutes from it in Bushkill). I took about 20 shots that day and then I [down loaded] them to my MAC. I use Aperture as my photo software so I played with the images [until] I got what I wanted. [I] changed the exposure & worked on the reds in the sky and what you see [are] the results.

Thanks, Al. This is an incredible photo and the best one of the Tower I have ever seen.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com.

Hobby Lobby vs. Michael's: Showdown

2009-09-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

If you're a creative type, you probably have noticed there is a new player in town: Hobby Lobby. Hobby Lobby has opened where the Redner's grocery store was in Lower Nazareth. Since I live in Nazareth I know that there are only a limited number of arts/crafts stores that I can quickly run to when I need craft paint or a new needle for my airbrush. Basically, there is only Michael's in Bethlehem. A.C. Moore is a comparable store but it is way out in Allentown (which might as well be Mars, in my opinion) and not good for emergencies. Another good store was the Rag Shop in Phillipsburg but it closed more than a year ago. I was interested in how Hobby Lobby stacks up against other stores. For this comparison I am only focusing on Michael's and Hobby Lobby.

The new Hobby Lobby is the second in Pennsylvania; there are none in New Jersey. This is compared to Michael's which has dozens in Pennsylvania and several dozen more in New Jersey.
Before taking a trip to Hobby Lobby I browsed their website to see what I may be in store for. The most striking thing that I noticed was the religious overtones of their business. For example, here is their "Statement of Purpose:"

Honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with Biblical principles.

Offering our customers an exceptional selection and value.

Serving our employees and their families by establishing a work environment and company policies that build character, strengthen individuals, and nurture families.

Providing a return on the owners' investment, sharing the Lord's blessings with our employees, and investing in our community.

We believe that it is by God's grace and provision that Hobby Lobby has endured. He has been faithful in the past, we trust Him for our future

Seeing this made me curious to see what Michael's corporate info looked like. It was much more boring and sterile and very "corporate" indeed.

My wife & I headed over to HL (that's what I've come to call it) Monday afternoon, Labor Day. I noticed that they were still putting the finishing touches on their exterior. It was roped off and there were 'wet-paint' signs all over. One of the first things I noticed was the hours-of-operation sign; they are closed Sundays. This relates back to the religious nature of their business. It says "Closed Sundays to Allow Employees Time for Family & Worship."

As I entered the store the first thing that struck me was the size. It is very large. The next thing I noticed was the immense crowd which was all elbow to elbow. It was packed. Not good for running an experiment like this but with a new baby in the house I knew I had to make the most of the opportunity while I have the chance.

Hobby Lobby has a very large home decorating section. It reminded me of those Home Goods stores. They had some pretty neat stuff. The prices weren't that great though. They had a Halloween section (a bore to someone who makes his own Halloween stuff) and Christmas section. I made a bee-line for the art supplies to see what they had. Along the way I noticed that they had quite a bit of models, trains, and rocket stuff. The "Hobby" part of their name is legit; they're not just blowing smoke up our butts.

The art supply section had standard fare. But I was glad to see some silk screening supplies that weren't part of a large kit (...glaring at you Michael's) and a decent array of airbrush supplies. I wanted to check prices of a few things that I normally use so I checked out their oven-dry clay section. They had all the usual stuff.

As I browsed the art supplies my wife checked out the baskets (she's looking for one to put baby toys in). She gave me a good synopsis of the basket section: "they aren't that great and they are expensive. I could hit a good sale at Michael's and get a way better value." She also said that they have nice mirrors and wall art. I saw them and have to agree.

I did not end up buying anything at Hobby Lobby. I think the crowds were giving me an anxiety attack. Here is a little comparison of Hobby Lobby vs. Michael's:

1) Hours: Michael's is open 7 days a week. Hobby Lobby is closed Sunday. Advantage: Michael's
2) Fabric: Michael's has none. Hobby Lobby does sell fabric. Advantage: Hobby Lobby
3) Fimo Soft Clay (56g): Michael's has it for $2.49. Hobby Lobby sells it for $2.29. Advantage: Hobby Lobby
4) Baskets: My wife likes Michael's basket selection and prices better. Advantage: Michael's
5) Super Sculpey (1 pound): Michael's sells for $12.99. Hobby Lobby sells for $11.99. Advantage: Hobby Lobby
6) Distance: Michael's is 7.3 miles from Nazareth. Hobby Lobby is 2.9 miles away. Advantage: Hobby Lobby
7) Intangibles: Michael's is old news. I've been there a 1000 times. Hobby Lobby is like a new girlfriend. Advantage: Hobby Lobby

Verdict: DRAW! Hobby Lobby would be a clear winner if it was open on Sundays. But that's a deal breaker for me. God help me if I need casting resin at noon on a Sunday.

Has anyone been to the Hobby Lobby yet? If so what did you think? Comment below...

Nancy's Green-being

2009-09-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

Nancy Wisser of Nazareth submitted the funky project. She decorated an old glass bottle with greenman style images. Nancy says:

This project arose out of therapy I had when I was being treated for clinical depression. I had been trying to describe the sense of companionship I felt when I was alone in natural places and I got the idea of trying to portray it in art. When we bought our house in Nazareth, there was an old glass water cooler bottle in the basement, and when I went down there to work out, I began to visualize a green man type face on it.

To begin, I brought the bottle up and painted it with an off-white base layer so the colors would show up better. Then I searched some books for an interesting face to sketch. I considered some faces of old Indians and some of a child monk from Sri Lanka, but finally I chose the face of a beautiful young Guatamalan woman for the basis of the painting.

When I had a good sketch, I copied it onto the bottle as well as I could and painted her face in shades of greenish brown with green eyes. I had used vertical pupil slits in the eyes of a related painting and liked the odd, supernatural feel it gave, so I did the same with this one.

Then I went out on a few excursions for leaves, mostly to Black Rock [Woods] and up to the Indian Tower. Oak leaves are traditional for green men, but I added some maple, beech, and sycamore to make it representative of our area. There are quite a few kinds of oak trees around here, which made it more visually interesting.

I chose leaves of a size that allowed me to just trace the outlines onto the painting. I painted them in, varying the greens in order to liven it up. If I'd painted them their real colors, it wouldn't have given the effect I was looking for. I considered doing a painstaking job of shading on each leaf, but at one point I found I liked the way it looked with a rougher finish. Then I painted around the picture with more greenish brown, giving almost a wood grain look, and finished with deep blue toward the neck of the bottle and at the very bottom.

I still may paint a gold rim around the edge of the blue on top and bottom and paint a small ivy vine around the bottle neck. In the meantime I've been using on the floor of the living room to hold dry grasses or silk water lilies. I enjoy it and I know that I could never have afforded to buy something like it. That is, if I could find it!

Thanks, Nancy!. Nancy is Vice President of Conspiracy Theories over at WeirdNazareth.com and has a cool website devoted to Stone Henge replicas.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com.

Ross's Awesome Wooden Shelf

2009-08-29T08:13:00.001-07:00

Ross Nunamaker, world famous blogger from Nazareth, built this great shelf for his kitchen. It took about three days to build, paint, and install the unit under the watchful supervision of his wife. Ross says:

I enjoy home projects, particularly woodworking. It is a hobby I picked up after owning a house and came out of necessity (I don’t like paying people to fix things for me if I can avoid it).

From small items, like making a wooden Hex sign out of my daughter’s art project (now hanging off our shed) to larger ones, like making an Adirondak chair set for the sun deck or remodeling a bathroom, they each allow me to think, plan, and innovate as I go. I’m not real big on following step-by-step instructions, enjoying instead to build as I go with an end vision in mind.

So my wife has wanted a serving area/shelf that we could put two stools under in our kitchen below a window. We have limited seating and counter space, and now that the kids art table has finally been moved out (we had it for nearly 9 years and neither could really fit in the seats anymore) we had the space to install it.

First I got a reading on what she really wanted. Then I took some measurements and decided I didn’t want to come out from the wall more than 14” to keep a trim profile. The height would
be based on one quarter inch below the window trim. The width I determined by guestimating a comfortable amount of space for two people to sit and eat side by side – this became 48”. Finally, I noticed our base board heater ran the length of the wall, so I’d have to design something that mounted to the wall itself.

I quickly determined where the studs were based on wall pops and a stud detector to confirm. With this information, I had what I needed to begin to figure out to construct my serving/eating shelf.

Whenever I or my wife see an item we like that I might want to build in the future we tear it out of the magazine or print it out and I put them aside. I also occasionally pick up American Woodworker and keep many projects and tips. This is my library. I set out to the garage with my measurements and started to flip through all the articles and photos. I found an island from a wine magazine and knew I found the support structure for the back I wanted.

I drew up the idea on a piece of paper and noted measurements for each. Then determined which woods should be used for each part. We were painting, not staining, so I wasn’t as concerned with the type of wood. With my drawing complete, I set out to Home Depot and after digging through pallets worth of wood to find a few flat, curveless pieces I was set to begin.

I used 2x4’s to serve as the legs and main cross
support. After cutting the legs to size, I notched out ½” from each side of one top, then aligned the legs with the cross piece and cut out a notch so the legs slotted into the cross piece. I glued and shot some nails to attach the legs to the cross beam then used wood putty to fill the gaps on the front and back.

I next cut a curved piece to serve as the end cap from plywood. With the end cap complete, I cut smaller curves that sat inside for added support. These were glued and nailed to the cross piece.

With the legs, crosspiece, and endpieces in place, I was able to set the top on. The top was glued to the inset curved pieces and crosspiece. I also should note I sunk the plywood top one quarter of inch.

Across the front, I measured the width and cut a 3” pine board to length. I checked the curve of the side piece and marked where I should begin cross cutting the front. I decided to go with a straight angle on the bottom and rounded on the top and sides.

I used a router with a ½” round bit across the top and along both sides.

After sanding, I attached the front piece using glue only, as I didn’t want to show any nail heads. For good measure, I used a 90 degree curved metal piece and used small screws to attach the top to the front piece in the inside middle.

Final sanding of the entire piece was followed by painting. One more stop to Home Depot for my
wife to pick the color tile she wanted. I had decided doing tile work would take too long and I didn’t have a water cutter (would have to borrow one from a friend) so we used the stick-on linoleum floor tile. I could score these with a knife to cut to size and they were simple to use.

Last step was the hardest – getting the piece mounted to the wall. Ultimately I used deck screws into wall studs. Feels pretty solid and I haven’t yet heard a big crash!

Entire project took two days of wood working, an afternoon painting, and a few hours mounting (had to be level, you know).

Thanks, Ross! Be sure to check out Ross site, News Over Coffee to keep up to date on Nazareth area news and happenings.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com.

Screen Printing a WeirdNazareth.com T-Shirt

2009-08-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today I am going to show you how to make a beautiful Weirdnazareth.com T-shirt. It is pretty easy to make a swell silk-screened shirt with a little more than household objects and junk lying around. The tools and materials list has everything that you need. Almost all of this stuff you may already have lying around. The big exception would be the photo emulsion kit, which can be obtained from an online art supply place or on eBay. It is not too expensive and it is an absolute must if you want to get a nice detailed design on your shirt.

*Click here for a tools and materials list*

1) Construct frame and stretch the screen

The first thing you’ll need to do is make a frame for your screen. You don’t need to build a frame from scratch if you don’t want to. You can use an old picture frame as long as it is sturdy and made of wood.

A) Picture frame: get an old picture frame and remove the picture of your grandma and the glass and back. If there are any staples in the frame take those out. You want to find a frame that is at least 2 inches larger (in every direction) than your image. Assuming you’ll be printing your image on standard 8.5X11” paper then you’ll need at least a 10.5 X 14” frame.
B) Make your own frame: gather some pieces of wood that are about an inch or so thick. Use a miter saw to cut the corners at 45 degree angle. Glue the corners together and clamp. If you don’t have corner clamps (who does?) then use rubber bands and tape to secure the frame while the glue dries. When dry, put a few nails or screws in the joints to secure it even more.

Next you’ll need to stretch the screen over your frame. You can buy authentic silk screening silk (it’s actually nylon) from an art supply store. Or you can use a sheer curtain. If you use a sheer curtain try to find the highest thread count you can. The fewer holes per inch the better resolution of your design.

Cut the screen material about 3 inches larger than your frame in all directions. Wrap one side of the screen around one side of the frame and put a staple in the back of the frame through the screen. Stretch the other side of the frame, opposite the first staple, and staple it in. You want this to be uber tight so use all the strength you can muster up. Make sure you avoid creases and ripples. Use this same process to staple all the way around the frame, stretching tightly as you go. When you’re done it will be tight like a drum head and will not have any ripples or creases.

2) Create the graphic design

You should be able to use any type of photo editing software to do this, such as Photoshop or Paint.Net. I use Paint.net because it is a free software that you can download from the web. Whatever image you decide you use will need to have contrasting areas of light and dark. As you experiment with this you’ll find that some photos are more suitable than others.

Load your photo into your software program and select the contrast option in your program. You’ll want to jack the contrast all the way up so that the image is basically a shadow on a white background. If you can still recognize the image then you can probably use it.

Use the software’s other features to edit the image even further. For instance you may want to use the erasure to remove background noise. Or maybe you want to add text or other images.
Once you are done, increase or decrease the image’s size so that it is appropriate for your project. You can print it out on regular paper to see what it looks like. Once you get it where you want it load your printer with overhead transparency film and print it out using the best quality that your printer and computer will allow. Examine the printed transparency for streaks, runs, and blobs. You can use a Sharpie or craft paint to fill in any rough spots. The printer ink may never fully dry on the transparency. So for the love of everything Holy don’t touch the image or you will smear the ink & have to reprint.

Remember, the black areas are where the ink will be on your finished project.

3) Apply the emulsion

The photo emulsion needs to be worked with in the dark. So you’ll need to set up in the darkest area of the house/garage. A basement is good if you block out the windows. It doesn’t need to be photography-darkroom-dark but it needs to be pretty darned dark.

First read and understand the photo emulsion chemical instructions. Have a mental idea of what you are about to do.

You should have a red light bulb ready in a nearby lamp. This is how you are going to see in the dark and avoid stepping on your cat. Cover your work table area with black paper or a black sheet (more on this later). Get everything you need: paper towels, rubber gloves, squeegee, your frame-with-screen, your photo emulsion chemicals, your image-on-transparency, your glass piece, your light source rig, popsicle sticks or an old fork or spoon, a timer or clock, a fan, push pins.

Take four pushpins and put them in the corners of the screen-side of the frame. This will allow you to set the frame down without the wet screen touching the table.

Turn the lights off and turn the red lamp on.

Mix the photo emulsion chemicals. These kits typically include an emulsion and a sensitizer. Generally you will fill the sensitizer bottle halfway with cold water and shake. Then you dump the sensitizer into the emulsion bottle and mix with a popsicle stick (or fork or spoon).

Take a dollop of the emulsion and spread it across the screen with your popsicle stick. Take your squeegee and spread it around so that it creates an even and uniform film. Flip the screen over and repeat the process. Make sure the underside of the screen is the last side to get squeegeed. Hold the screen up to your redlight to check for pinholes and evenness. Repeat the process if needed to ensure a smooth, even coat.

Rest the frame horizontally on the pushpins on the table and let the fan gently blow on it for a few hours to dry. For the love of everything holy don’t turn the lights on yet.

4) Expose the emulsion

Now you can expose the image. Remove the pushpins from the frame and set it directly on the table under your light source rig. Remember, you should have a black sheet or black paper covering the table surface. This will prevent light from bouncing back off the table and messing up the image. Place the transparency on the screen (remember not to touch the ink because it will smear). The image should be readable (that is to say, not backwards). Take the piece of glass and place it on top of the transparency. This will weigh down the transparency and keep it tight against the screen to eliminate weird shadows.

Turn on the light source and start the timer. If you set your rig up like I did (i.e. 150W/12"/with pie plate) it will take 45 minutes to expose. A stronger light will take less time. You could also use the sun instead; just expose for a much shorter time.

5) Rinse the emulsion

At the 45 minute mark, turn the light source off and remove the glass and transparency. IMMEDIATELY take the screen to be rinsed. You can use a garden hose outside or the shower head in your bathroom. The best thing is the sprayer in your kitchen sink. Start spraying with reasonable pressure & tepid water (not hot or cold). Concentrate on the areas where the emulsion will be removed. After about 2 minutes of constant spraying the emulsion will loosen & wash away. Thoroughly wash the screen to remove all of the little detailed areas. Hold it up to the light to make sure you got it all. Really rinse it good. Before you print, you’ll want to let the screen dry completely; likely overnight.

6) Print the shirt

You need to have some way of determining where the image is going to go on your shirt and if it is crooked or not. One option would be to eye-ball it for each shirt. This is risky in my opinion.

A better way is to build a simple printing press. Take a piece of smooth plywood and cut it to about 18” X 18”. This will act as your printing surface. If you look at commercially available printing devices they usually have a hinge that attaches the screen. This allows the screen to fall onto the surface in the exact same place every time. They make special hinge clamps specifically for this purpose. However you can also use regular hinges if they have a removable pin in them (like door hinges). This will allow you to quickly remove the screen for cleaning after you’re done or mid-run. Lay the screen on the plywood and screw the hinges into the far edge of the screen and into the plywood so that you cam lift the screen up and down. Now you have a very simple press device.

The work surface that you use should be level and you’ll want to secure your new printing device to that work surface. You could screw it on (make sure you countersink the screws) or use adhesive double-backed tape. Or you could just use duct tape. The idea here is that you don’t want the device to move around on the table once you “register” your image.
About Registering your image:
In order to get the image centered and level on your shirt you need to register the image. Registering the image makes sure that the placement of the image is perfect on every shirt. Take a piece of clear plastic sheet (the kind that people use for fruit baskets) or a sheet of semi-see-through paper and drape it across your printing area. Then tape one side down to the table. You’re going to print your first image on this piece of plastic.

Stretch the plastic so that it is tight across your work area and lower your screen. Get everything you need for printing ready. Your squeegee, your ink, a tape measure, all of your shirts, etc. In each of the shirts place a piece of paper inside the shirt. This will prevent the ink for leaching through to the back of the shirt. Remove the tags and the size stickers from your shirts. The ink dries fast so you want to work fast and have everything ready.

Use a popsicle stick to spread some ink across the top of the screen above your image. Take your squeegee and pull it toward you on the screen while applying firm pressure. Lift the screen up slightly and prop it up with the ink jar. Now immediately pull the squeegee back up the screen. This is called flooding the screen and helps prevent the ink from drying while you are positioning your shirts. You’ll notice that you just printed on the clear plastic film. Fold the plastic over so it is out of the way but don’t untape it from the table.

Put your first shirt down under the screen and fold the clear plastic back over the work area with the shirt under it. Stretch the clear plastic sheet tight. Now you can see where the image will land every time you print. Adjust the shirt under the plastic so that image is where you want it. Fold the plastic back out of the way and let the screen down onto the surface of the shirt. With firm pressure pull the squeegee over the screen towards you. Lift up the screen, flood it like you did before, and set the shirt aside to dry. At this point you’ll want to marvel at how well it turned out. But since the ink dries so quickly, you shouldn’t dilly dally. Get to the next shirt quickly. Some times, on your first few prints, you might see some areas of the shirt where the ink did not go through the screen. In this case you can use a paint brush to touch it up with some ink. But do this when you are all done printing & cleaned up.

Once you are done you can wash the screen out in the sink. Just remove the pins from the hinges and hose the screen off while the ink is still wet. The screen can be used over and over.

7) Heat fix the design

Let the print dry for at least a few hours. Now you’ll need to heat set the ink or it could get messed up in the washer or dryer. Set the iron to the highest setting that the fabric will allow. Put a piece of paper inside the shirt between the back and the front. Cover the print with a piece of bedsheet or an unprinted T-shirt; you don’t want the iron to touch the ink directly. Iron the image with firm pressure for about 5 minutes. Turn the shirt inside out and repeat the process on the back side of the image.

GET THE TOOLS AND MATERIALS LIST HERE

Tracey's July 4th Cake

2009-08-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

Tracey Bellocchio, a very talented cake artist from Nazareth, baked and decorated this terrific cake for the Fourth of July. It took Tracey a total of 5 hours to bake, ice, construct and decorate the 24" tall cake. Tracey says:

I made the cake for a 4th of July party that we attended. The cake itself was a butter pound cake. The bottom tier was 12 inches, the middle tier was 10 inches and the top tier was 8 inches. Each tier was two layers and each layer was filled with strawberries & buttercream. The outside was iced with buttercream and then wrapped in fondant. To make the cake, icing & fondant, I used approximately: 8 lbs. of powdered sugar, 4lbs. of strawberries, 5lbs. of butter, 3lbs. of marshmallows, 14 cups of flour, 8 cups of granulated sugar, 16 eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt.

Baking and making cakes is my passion. I make cakes for family, friends, birthdays, and special occasions.

Tracey says she has recently started taking commissions and can be reached at: TBellocchio@verizon.net.

If you would like to submit one of your projects for us to highlight in the Maker Diaries please e-mail us at weirdnazareth@hotmail.com.

Making a Dragon Car for Soap Box Derby

2009-08-08T15:34:00.000-07:00

Back in 2008, I entered the Nazareth Adult Soap Box Derby. Matt Rinker and Co. have built this into an annual event of the area's best and brightest engineering talents.

But 2008 was the first year of the race and had no idea what to expect. I also had no clue how I would build my car. I did research online about the designs of soapbox cars but found that most are really lame. I started building my car in March and decided that I would use my inherent talents as much as possible to make the fastest and best looking car possible. I am good at paper art but bad at carpentry so I focused on making a mechanically simple design that incorpated paper art. I started by recording a few goals: 1) The car should look good 2) Use as many reclaimed materials as possible 3) Spend as little money as possible

I. The Chasis

I collected as much scrap wood as I possibly could from people's garbage piles around town. I started with a sheet of plywood and built a body out of 2X3 studs. These studs were the only wood that I bought from a store. They cost me about $8 total. All other wood was reclaimed scrap wood.

II. Wheels

I got some lawn mower wheels from my wife's grandfather. They did not have an axl. Rather, they each had their own mounting bracket. This would simplify things by allowing me to use 2x4's as axls rather than worrying about finding a metal rod.

III. Steering

The steering was going to be important. I needed to be able to straignten myself out but didn't really need to make any sharp turns (W. Prospect Street hill is perfectly straight). So I knew I could limit the steering capabilities. Many of the online plans I found had steering columns much like a real car. But these were far too complicated in my opinion. So I decided to make a foot-steering mechanism. I drilled a 0.5" hole through the deck and two 2X4's. Then I sandwiched the deck between the two 2x4's and bolted it all together. This way I could manipulate the axl under the deck with the 2x4 that is above the deck.

IV. Brakes

The rules of the derby stated that brakes were optional. However, I knew I wanted to add them because I did not know the logistics of the race at the time: would there be ample room to slow down naturally? Or would there be some sort of smashing-into-hay-bails type end to the race?

So I decided to make a simple brake mechanism. I contemplated having something rub against one of the wheels. However this seemed complicated and would intrude on the aesthetics of the car. So I read online that old soapbox cars from the WWII era had a pad that would rub against the road surface to slow the car down. I decided that this would be perfect because I could mount the brake inside the cockpit. I cut a lever shape out of an old 2X8" and cut a hole in the floor of the car. I made a fulcrum point using an old piece of metal conduit. For a brake pad I used a piece of an old bicycle tire. With this system I could pull up on the lever to force the brake pad against the ground. A small bungie cord served to snap the brake lever back into place when pressure was released.

V. Body

I obtained a piece of 1/8" plywood from my neighbor (he had been throwing a lot of wood out lately from some home improvement projects he was doing). This would be perfect to form the body of my car. I made a roadster design and included some fins in the back.

Design and Detail: I had comtemplated various themes and design elements for the car before I started building it. In my notebook I had every famous car I could think of from TV, movies , music, and pop culture. But nothing was really appealing. But I recently purchased Dan Reeder's new book Dragon Maker's Handbook. This inspired me to create a medievil themed car. I came up with the idea to have the car be covered with dragon scales and have a prominent dragon hood ornament.

Dragon Hood Ornament: I am not going to detail how the dragon was made because Dan Reeder does a good job in his book. If you're interested in learning his techniques you should buy it. Basically, it is a series of newspaper balls covered with glue-soaked cloth. My technique differs from Dan's only slightly in that I use some traditional paper mache and also paper towels in places were he may only use cloth.

The dragon would need to be very strong (much stronger than if it would just hang on the wall for decoration). So it was heavily reinforced with wire and paper mache. In order to attach the dragon to the hood of the car I needed to create a mounting bracket. So I cut the bottom of the dragon's body open and inserted a section of wood. This was further reinforced with paper mache (which dries as hard as a rock in about a week). This would allow me to screw up through the car's hood to attached the dragon.

VIII. Helmet

Race rules state that the driver must wear a helmet. So I got my old dirt bike helmet from my parent's attic. I took off the visor, sanded it, and painted it silver...like a knight's helmet. I make a knight's visor out of cardboard and glued it to the helmet. To make it look more authentic I "distressed" the helmet with some black paint and also attached some faux "rivets" which were actually nail and screw heads.

IX. Paint job and Scales

To create the scales I cut an old bedsheet into squares (roughly 1.5 inches). I used two whole bedsheets. I put some Elmer's glue in a bucket and diluted it slightly with water. Normally, for regular scupture I would not dilute it. But I was trying to be resourceful on this project and diluting it woul make the gallon of glue last longer. A handful at a time I dunked the squares in the glue and allowed them to soak. The I squeezed the excess glue out. Each scale is one square of cloth that has two corners folded over. This was applied to the body of the car in an overlapping fashion. It took a while to dry in the cool Spring air

I opted for a red paint job with yellow accents. To achieve this I first painted the entire car solid yellow. Then I lightly painted the car red making sure not to take advantage of the nature texture of the scales and not apply a solid coat.

X. Details

There were a few details of note that I added to the car.
The first was an emblem on the front grill. I made this out of papermache and cardboard. A fancy button finished it off:

I made a Pennsylvania lisence plate for the back. This was also made of paper mache and cardboard. I also made a witty bumper sticker:

I gathered some old knobs and what-not to add to the dashboard. I even put added a key and speedometer (actually an old pressure guage):

As far as the race went, the dragon was painfully slow. It was probably a combination of poor wheel quality and alignment. However, the car did win the crowd pleaser award which in the back of my mind was my real goal anyway. Shortly after the race it was time to disassemble my Dragon Coupe. I decided to save the dragon's head so I carefully removed the dragon and cut the head off with a hacksaw.
I mounted the head, trophey-style, on an old piece of wood and gave it to my dad.

Making a Supergirl out of an Old Mannequin

2009-08-08T12:48:00.000-07:00

In January 2005, while commuting home from work, I noticed a pair of human legs sticking out of a garbage can near the corner of South Green St & West Center St. I immediately pulled over to investigate. As I got closer to the trash can I discovered that my prayers had been answered. The trash can contained the single greatest item that any hipster, dooface, trash-picker could possibly covet...a mannequin. I was beside myself. I loaded it into the back of my pickup, sped home, and unloaded it into my garage for closer inspection. It was in pretty good shape. It wasn't particularly new. It had a stand. It had both arms. But it was missing both hands. Oh, and it was a female.

The next few weeks were spent deciding what to do with it. The possibilities were nearly endless. Could it become: A french maid? A monster? A sexy nurse? A character from any number of movies? But the answer soon became obvious. Since the age of about 9 I had developed what some may describe as an unhealthy obsession with all things Superman. It was clear that my new mannequin needed to become Supergirl.

First thing was to clean it up. Then I got all of the applicable spray paint colors: blue, red, yellow, and flesh tone. I sprayed the head and legs the flesh tone. It was paler than I had wanted. She looked a little like a meth-addict. But it would have to do.
Next, I masked-off the collar where the costume meets the neck and the legs where the boots would meet the legs. I sprayed the boots red and the torso and arms blue. Those colors looked great.
For the Superman "S," I began by masking-off a diamond shape in the center of her chest. I painted this yellow. Using some red"Foamies" foam from the craft store and a razor knife I cut out the outline of the "S" and attached it to the chest so the yellow diamond was the background. This looked pretty good. I used black paint and a brush to add detail to the boots.

At this point I was done painting and needed to move on to the fabric. I went to the fabric store and bought some red fabric that matched the paint pretty well. I got enough for the skirt and cape. The problem was I have no idea how to sew. But there was one person who could. My step-mother-in-law is a home-economics teacher. She is very talented at all things crafty and is exceptional with fabric and stuff like that. She said she would help me. She came over and took some measurements and started right away using a portable sewing machine. The skirt was finished in no time. The cape was far more complicated than I had imagined and would require additional time.

For the belt, I used a piece of yellow craft foam. I attached it using Velcro. I used more foam to make the yellow "S" insignia that would emblazion the back of the cape. I also added some stitching to the yellow "S" insignia with some thick black thread.

My step-mother-in-law took the fabric home and worked on the cape at her leisure. It actually took almost 3 years before she completed it. But boy did it look fantastic. I got some jumbo sized snaps from the craft store & used epoxy to attach the male side to the mannequin. The female side of the snap was sewn to the cape.

The mannequin project was a huge success.