November 2

Marvel craft: DIY LED Tesseract

Tesseract tutorial by Venessa Baez

Did you know that in geometry, a tesseract, also called an 8-cell or regular octachoron or cubic prism, is the four-dimensional analog of the cube? According to Wolfram MathWorld, in Madeleine L’Engle’s novel, A Wrinkle in Time, the characters in the story travel through time and space using tesseracts. According to Google, Tesseract is also probably the most accurate open source OCR engine available.

Of course, in the Marvel universe, there is yet another use of a Tesseract – as an Infinity Stone, one of the most powerful artifacts in the universe. It can open rifts in space, which ties in nicely with Madeleine L’Engle’s use of it. While Odin keeps watch over the Tesseract in Asgard, you can create your own replica based on this quick project by Venessa Baez (complete with 3-1/2 minute video). With an acrylic photo cube, a few swipes of paint, some LED garden lights, and waxed paper, you can have a great geeky decor item for your desk or bookshelf.

If you could open a rift in time and space, where would you go? And would you make the “Vwoop, vwoop!” sound effect like a TARDIS?

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October 26

The “Wendy” Hat from “The Shining”

wendy
Heather Boggs of Madison, WI, might be better known as “Stitch Boom Bang,” from her blog of the same name. And if you read through her blog, you’ll learn she is a knitting fiend and possibly a huge fan of the movie, “The Shining.” So much so, that she has created a series of hats, based on patterns in the movie.

My favorite: the Wendy. Made of wool, it matches the shirt and jumper Shelly Duvall wore in one particular scene.

Heather said, that typically, she doesn’t believe in pompoms because they are a waste of yarn and a pain in the ass to make. And I have to admit, I thought this was a pretty good crafting quote if there ever was one: “However, Shelley Duvall deserves a pompom. According to Wikipedia, which is the goddamn gospel of the internet, Kubrick made Shelley Duvall and Jack Nicholson do 127 takes of the baseball bat scene. For that, she deserves more than a few stiff drinks, but all I can offer is a pompom.”

And if you need your very own Wendy-themed hat, it can be purchased from Heather’s Etsy shop, for $27.

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October 26

My Bouncy Neighbor Totoro for Geek Babies

Totoro bouncer by Cation Designs

I get a little thrill when I see crafty projects that repurpose/upcycle a useful something into a geekier version of a useful something. Case in point: Cation Design’s Totoro variation on an existing “Snugabunny” bouncer. I mean, really, if a manufacturer can make up something called a Snugabunny, it equally stands to reason it could be morphed into a Totoro.

For those unfamiliar, “My Neighbor Totoro” is a highly popular anime movie written and directed by the world-renowned Hayao Miyazaki, who also made “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke,” and “Howl’s Moving Castle.”

Cation’s post walks readers through her creative process, including crafting a fleece-lined Totoro-shaped slip cover and dangling Soot Sprites.

What geeky repurpose/upcycle projects have you created? Link us up in the comments!

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October 19

Scott Pilgrim craft: Ramona Flowers hammer

Ramona Flowers hammer by Mia Moore

At the cons I have attended, I see a ton of creative cosplay (people dressed up in costumes representing characters from books, movies, TV, manga, etc.). I can pretty safely guarantee I’ll see a variety of fandoms represented – almost always Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who. I always enjoy seeing other characters, however, and recognizing their references. Makes me feel a little self-righteous in my geekhood.

That’s why I was tickled to recently find this tutorial on a Ramona Flowers cosplay, from the graphic novel series, video game and movie, Scott Pilgrim. We have enjoyed watching the movie several times at our house, and my daughter has read the books. Mia did a great job breaking down the steps to creating the iconic hammer in her tutorial, right down to the bell on the end of the handle – great attention to detail! She also gives tips on how she was able to travel by plane with the hammer!

Be sure to check out other examples of Mia’s cosplay wizardry – such as Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, Fiona from Adventure Time, and Female Engineer from Team Fortress 2.

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September 12

Pattern: The Gates of Moria

Speak friend and enter. *Mellon, to be specific. The gates of Moria only show this entry way in moonlight and starlight.  Natalia  Moreva of Kulabra designs has designed these mittens that make me want to rethink my mitten ban (everything falls to the floor if I wear mittens). But these call to the Tolkien geek in me.

Moria_Moreva

So why not buy a copy of the pattern, and get knitting, and have a new pair of mittens for when the last Hobbit movie comes out?

 

 

 

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