GadgetsArchive: Gadgets

January 1, 2008

Mini Booklet Stapler

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Cool Tools posted about this awesome mini booklet stapler. The stapler seems like an ordinary stapler, but the front part rotates perpendicular to the body allowing you to easily staple booklets on the center fold. Link.

Posted by Michelle Kempner | Jan 1, 2008 08:00 AM
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November 2, 2007

Electro-PUFF Dimmers

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International Fashion Machines is releasing a kit version of their fabulous Electro-PUFF light dimmers. No special skills are needed, so it could be a fun project to do with kids or give to a crafty friend interested in "smart" materials:


The ElectroPUFF Craft Kit makes it possible for anyone to create a fun and funky item that's also on the cutting edge of technology. The ElectroPUFF Lamp Dimmer is a soft, whimsical pompom that connects to any incandescent table lamp and controls light levels with just a gentle tap. IFM's patented electronic-textile technology is the magic behind the ElectroPUFF. Special conductive yarns that sense your touch are combined with colorful recycled carpet fibers to form the soft switch. Because it combines crafting with innovative technology - and is so easy to make - it has wide-range appeal for kids, grandmothers, science enthusiasts, techies and anyone who enjoys crafts. And it's as safe as plugging a lamp into a wall.

They're even offering a special 10% discount for CRAFT readers on all products until the end of the year. The promotional code is "craft" and can be entered into the shopping cart before checkout. (Not applicable with any other offer :-) Link.

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Posted by Arwen O'Reilly Griffith | Nov 2, 2007 08:00 AM
Fabric, Gadgets, Home Decor, Technology | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

October 25, 2007

Recycled Denim iPhone case

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Doctor Popular writes:
Here are my newest iPhone cases made from recycled items. I do alterations for a high end denim shop in SF called Self Edge, instead of throwing away the scraps I try to recycle them into wallets and coffee cozies. The denim for this particular iPhone case came from a pair of Nudie Jeans and the cool packaging that Nudie ships their underwear in. When it's closed the headphone cable can remain plugged in and the phones speaker is left uncovered so you can still hear the ringer. These cases also fit Blackberries and iPod touches perfectly.
Recycled denim gadget cases - Link.

Posted by Becky Stern | Oct 25, 2007 02:30 PM
Arts & Design, Gadgets, Recycle, Refashion, Sewing | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

October 15, 2007

Silicon Rose Trivet

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Jansen+co designed a silicon trivet made to look like an embroidered table cloth. The trivet is dishwasher safe and heat resistant (obviously). Don't you love when technology finds its way into the kitchen? Link.

Posted by Michelle Kempner | Oct 15, 2007 10:00 AM
Food, Gadgets | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

September 17, 2007

Power Cart

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Mouna Andraos has created the Power Cart for the 2007 Conflux Festival in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It's a portable street vending cart (complete with umbrella for shade) that can charge your gadgets with solar and crank power.

Power Cart - [via] Link.

Photos: Regine Debatty

Posted by Becky Stern | Sep 17, 2007 09:00 AM
Gadgets, Technology | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

August 30, 2007

CRAFT iPhone wallpapers

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A few people asked for our covers in iPhone wallpaper format (320 x 480) so here there are (MAKE, CRAFT and Halloween images) enjoy! To install them just put the set in iPhoto (Mac) or point iTunes to the folder they're in (Win/Mac). The first person to take a photo with one on their iPhone and puts it in the CRAFT Flickr photo pool gets a special edition MAKE Halloween - Link (zip).

Posted by Phillip Torrone | Aug 30, 2007 06:07 PM
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August 22, 2007

HOW TO - Getting Started with Arduino

Sparkfun Arduino-1

I've compiled a brief tutorial on getting started with Arduino for the absolute beginner. I'll cover where to learn, what to buy, and where to go for help. Why should you crafters be interested in Arduino? The Arduino platform, more-so than any other way of incorporating electronics into your projects, is geared towards do-it-yourselfers. It's open source (both on a hardware and software level), so the community plays a large role in its development and improvement. Crafting is a community endeavor; individuals share tips, tricks, techniques, skills, and materials all the time. Arduino comes out of the same spirit. On a more practical level, you may just want to make your crafts more fun, interesting, and interactive by introducing some lights, motion, sound, or simple sensors. Stuffed toys can become glowing night-lights or cat-chasing robots, fibers can carry currents to make smart clothes, accessories, you name it. There's also an overlap in materials between crafting and circuit building that can lead to some non-traditional works in either category: threads, fabrics, paints, and glues with conductive properties introduce subtle ways to incorporate electronics in your crafting practice. Read on to start learning about Arduino! Add your Arduino tips and resources in the comments.

Read full story

Posted by Becky Stern | Aug 22, 2007 01:00 PM
Fashion Tech, Gadgets, Tech Accessories, Technology | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

August 1, 2007

MAKE & CRAFT on the iPhone

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Phil @ MAKE writes:

Texterity (the company that digitizes MAKE & CRAFT) have iPhone editions of both our magazines right now. Point your iPhone to http://iphone.texterity.com and you'll be able browse MAKE 10 and CRAFT 04! It's beta at the moment so there are some things getting fixed and I'm not sure how long we'll have these available - but for now enjoy!


Read full story

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Aug 1, 2007 06:30 PM
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June 28, 2007

LED Flowers

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Asyn writes:
I hate flowers. They're expensive and they just die in a few days. That's why this past Valentine's Day I opted not to go with traditional flowers, rather I maniverated some LED flowers that not only look good, but last forever!

They are easy to make and score big points with the woman in your life (wife, girlfriend... mom?), plus total cost was less than $7.

A little short on details, but I figured anyone that has ever used LEDs can pretty much figure it out.

Read more about Asyn's LED Flower project on the miaCOM Design site here. - Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jun 28, 2007 10:08 AM
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May 16, 2007

Vintage Button Swap Flickr Group

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Drooling now over this flickr set of all the beautiful buttons that were in shim + sons' vintage buttons swap. Seriously I can stare at buttons forever, but I can't today. Maker Faire preparations call! Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | May 16, 2007 11:24 AM
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May 4, 2007

HOW TO - Make Big Warm Fuzzy Secret Heart

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Phil @ MAKE writes:
Here's how to make a fuzzy heart that purrs when you hug it! Rachel writes - This project is a pillow, which I've chosen to make in a heart shape, with a secret surprise inside. When you hug it, squeeze it, sit on it, whatever - it purrs to you!

I have made a couple of these and I leave them on the sofa for unsuspecting visitors.

I've been interested in touch and pressure sensors in soft toys for a while now, and this pillow is about the simplest sensor/motor combination you can do. It consists of an outer fabric shell, a battery/motor assembly, and two fabric switches that act as pressure sensors.

I will be showing these and some other variations off at the Maker Faire this May 19th and 20th with my collaborator, Annie Shao. Come see them in person!

instructables : Big Warm Fuzzy Secret Heart - Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | May 4, 2007 08:36 AM
Gadgets, Home Decor, Sewing | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

March 21, 2007

HOW TO - Pinhole Cameras

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Photojojo has a post on how pinhole cameras and how to make one out of paper, an altoids tin, as well as a Spam can. - Link.


Related:

Pinhole9



Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Mar 21, 2007 12:52 PM
Gadgets, Paper Crafts | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

March 12, 2007

HOW TO - Make Flipbook Films

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Emily Albinski has a new blog up called The Science of Craft. Featured now is her three part series on how to create flipbooks from the simple to the more advance dones with sound. It's like making your own flipbook flim.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Mar 12, 2007 02:38 PM
Design, Gadgets | Permalink | Comments (1) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

March 6, 2007

Teach Knitting or Any Other Crafts via IM with One-Way Video Chat

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Brian Sawyer at Hackszine shows us some cool tips on how we can optimize our iChat to send one-way video that's perfect to teach crafting techniques such as knitting.

Brian says:

For example, crafts like knitting are notoriously hard to teach without visual cues, and even the most detailed books often suffer from their lack of moving pictures. When I learned to knit, I used books as a crutch, but actually learning required sitting next to my mother-in-law to see how it was done. Even now, when I hit a roadblock with a new technique, I need to wait till the next time we're together. But if we had a feature like this, we likely wouldn't have to wait. I could just "look over her shoulder" as she described what she was doing.

Check out Brian's video as well as technical tips on how you can do this too. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Mar 6, 2007 10:42 AM
Gadgets, Knitting | Permalink | Comments (2) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

February 1, 2007

Origami Remote Control

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Hayeon Yoo has created a prototype called the Origami TV Remote Control Interface which enables children to learn the basics of TV functions in an act of play. The origami shape is in the classic "cootie catcher" game. By moving the prototype users were able to change channels and control the volume. Link.

Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Feb 1, 2007 04:44 PM
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January 30, 2007

HOW TO - Make a Yarn Winder from Tinkertoys

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Crafting Jen has ingeniously created a yarn winder with children's tinker toys. Jen says, "Another great thing about using Tinkertoys, too - these are wooden parts that are intended for children to play with. As such, they are extremely smooth and well finished. Not a chance in the world that your yarn will catch on a rough spot!" Link.


Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jan 30, 2007 08:21 AM
Gadgets, Knitting | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

January 2, 2007

HOW TO - Make a Clock from a Book Cover

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From mdhaworth via Instructables, here's a super easy project on how to turn a book cover into a clock. Link.


Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Jan 2, 2007 03:25 PM
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December 27, 2006

Cath Kidston Mobile Phones

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If you're in the UK, you can get yourself one of Cath Kidston's new Nokia 6111 or Nokia 6230i mobile phones that are emblazoned with her famous prints. [ via ] Link.19ff;text-

Related:
Cath Kidston's In Print, published by Chronicle Books - Link.


Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Dec 27, 2006 06:24 PM
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December 6, 2006

HOW TO - Make an R2-D2 Pinhole Camera

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CRAFT friend Bonnie Burton has posted up a complete photo tutorial on how to make your own R2-D2 pinhole camera. It's also a great way to use your old oatmeal container and soda cans in the process! Link.


Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Dec 6, 2006 08:39 PM
Gadgets, Paper Crafts, Recycle | Permalink | Comments (4) | Email Entry | Suggest a Site

August 28, 2006

My Crafty Chumby

Chumby Nat
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Bre, Phil, and I on the MAKE/CRAFT team are so excited to collaborate on Chumby! We each got review devices at FOO camp this weekend to check out and tinker on. My part in all this? Chumby is also a craft hacker's dream. Patterns are available for you to customize Chumby's plush interface into any kind of design imaginable. The product is not ready for prime time just yet but we are preparing to help you customize and hack your Chumby in any way we can. My Chumby named "Craftina" will be debuting some new duds one day here on the CRAFT blog. Link.

More




Posted by Natalie Zee Drieu | Aug 28, 2006 05:45 PM
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