I am blown away by Andre Michelle’s awesome visual music synthesizer, an instant d-i-y way for anybody to make charming syncopated Steve Reich-ish music that repeats endlessly. The more boxes you touch with your cursor, the more complex the tune becomes. If you get tired of a tune, continue to build it, listening as it…
Read Moreimprovised bike trailer and storage bins
I was riding my folding bike to the farmer’s market when a Chinese man passed me on his folder, with an odd looking caboose in tow: a wheeled carry-on bag. Behind him rode a young woman on another folding bike that looked like it has been rigged too, with all sorts of cases and compartments.…
Read Moresewing advice for beginners
I have a lot of sewing projects I’d like to do – making pillow covers our of sari fabric, aprons out of gorgeous linen, for example – but didn’t know where to begin. So I asked my friend Lydia, who is the absolute best and most gifted textile person I know. (She’s masterminding some projects…
Read Morealt bookcases: stacks on stands
Although I have a big built-in bookcase, there always seems to be books floating around my apartment; either there’s no room (because books – like food -are the purchases I make weekly), or they are books I am currently using. They need a place and a way to be that isn’t a mess, but is…
Read Moreblue tape painting
In the wonderful daddy blog Stork Bites Man, Andy (who also writes Reference Library) wrote a brief post about making this blue tape painting in the hallway outside his daughter Elsa’s room. The two had been working on it for a few months,”a few minutes at a time. She requests a ‘little one, great big…
Read Morecool on-demand paint color matchers
ColorCapture Ben, a new iPhone and iPod Touch application, allows users to zoom into a particular color in a picture on their device, tap the “match” key, and see a display of paints closest to the color, along with a range of lighter and darker shades. (The app, created by Benjamin Moore, will reference its…
Read Morewired’s d-i-y wiki
Wired.com has a swell D-I-Y Wiki, that’s full of things I’ve always wanted to know. It’s a collaborative site of projects, hacks, tricks and tips on “how to make each day better than the last”. Anyone can contribute new items or edit an existing item, and the info is suprisingly good, if not terribly detailed;…
Read MoreConcrete Block Love (Marcel Breuer)
For years, I made short-shrift of concrete block, associating it with the clunky cinderblock-and-pine shelves beloved by frugal college students, or bleak, prison-like garages and homemade tool sheds. I’d pass cheap, strong concrete blocks at construction sites and lumber yards, and wonder what I could do with them. Although I’m crazy about concrete, I seemed…
Read Morediy: words on walls
I am a big fan of writing signs on walls, either as decoration or reminder, or both. Using colored masking tape is one nice impermanent, easily change-able way. Painting words means more work and more permanence, but is wonderful looking. It’s pretty straightforward to do: Make a form for each letter with masking tape and…
Read Morethought balloons
via closertotheocean.tumblr.com
Read Moredream house: marseilles penthouse
For a while now, I’ve been collecting pictures of dream houses. Collectively, they fuel my imagination for the house I hope to have one day. Most aren’t perfect, but either have a feeling I like, or some elements that I’d cut-and-paste into the design of my someday home. They are a way for me to…
Read MoreChicken Under a Rock or a Brick
I use rocks a lot in my kitchen. I haul particularly good ones home when I find them at the beach or in the country knowing that, at the very least, I’ll enjoy looking at them and for sure, at some point, they’ll present an impromptu solution to something I’ve set my mind on. For…
Read Morearchitecture of the poor
What would you do if you had to make a home with whatever you found around you? What would it look like? You can often find the answer by looking at the constructions of homeless people, who take “live locally” to its root level, repurposing the detritus of their community. Or take a look at…
Read Morebuy, sell or trade produce at veggie trader
The newly-launched website Veggie Trader is like Craigslist for homegrown produce. Sign up to post a listing describing the excess produce you have and what you’d like in return. Or just enter your zip code to see what your neighbors have available for sell or to give away.
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