Man Made DIY

Marshmallow peeps - those eternal reminders of the Resurrection (and by eternal, we mean standing alongside Jesus, cockroaches, and Twinkies in their outlasting the Armaggedon) - happen to be sized just right to be sugary-squeezed into dollhouse furniture.

Which makes them perfect fodder for endless entertaining dioramas featuring bold yellow bunnies and cruchy cyan chicks. For the last four years, the Washington Post has been hosting a contest, calling for all sorts of creative scenarios to place these neon sugar-coated 'shmallows.

"Our annual Peeps diorama contest is a cultural barometer -- a three-dimensional essay on the state of the nation's collective consciousness, a sticky finger on the pulse of what's popular. This year's 1,100-plus entries told us what's on your minds once again, and we sifted through that flood of submissions, painstakingly narrowing the contenders in our fourth annual contest down to 50, then down to five, and finally down to one"

That "one" this year is "Eep," a homage to "Up" which recreates Carl's house from popsicle sticks and the thousands of… read more

31 March 2010: Sometimes, Handmade Festivities Can Overshadow Their Original Intent

Philip Levine was going bald, and rather than hide it under a combover or (swallow...) hairpiece, he embraced his new bare dome, and put some art on it.

From Phil's bio: "London born Philip started using his head as a canvas for creativity back in 2006 when he began to go bald. He did not want to conform to shaving his head like everyone else so started using it as an art form to express....His designs are...reaching abroad including Japan and China, and he is leading the way to becoming an original expression of creativity in the 21st century in what is becoming known as the ‘Head Art’ scene.

Philip teams up with professional body painter Kat Sinclair, continuously creating a wealth of designs that have ranged from his 1000-Swarovski crystal headpiece, to homages of such artists as Roy Lichtenstein and Hokusai painted… read more

Squirting someone with the garden hose will: 1) never stop being fun, and 2) never stop being funny. The mantra "its only water" can aid in getting away with a lot, no? Imagine how much MORE fun it would be to soak your mates with a water pistol with an infinite reservoir and gusto for… read more

Robert Harrison loves space.

And, like anyone with a DIY-bent and a passion, he wanted to do what he could to participate in space exploration: so he made a space craft, and then took pictures of the Earth with it.

The materials? Some styrofoam, duct tape, a Canon CyberShot, a big ole helium balloon, and GPS/radio transmitter combo so he could find it once the balloon burst and it returned… read more

Well folks, this is the last day of my visit to ManMade, and I thought we should end it the way we began it--with Star Wars. Seriously, how is it possible for someone not to have seen at least ONE of these movies? At least one of the first three, or last three...whatever....you know what I mean. 2x4, the flickr member who made this Lego Star Wars Foosball table would be equally flummoxed, to be sure.

The players, made out of Legos, are mini-figures from Star Wars, and the table itself is play-able. The only thing that would make it cooler is if, when the Empire side scored it played The Imperial March (Vader's Theme). And… read more

StarTrek fan Tony Alleyne used his love of arts & crafts and science fiction to turn his 500 square foot apartment into a replica of the Enterprise's transporter room. Two years after he completed his StarTrek makeover, Tony started his own design company, 24th Century Design, hoping to help others bring their sci-fi fantasies to life. Reports suggest that Tony paid about 100K British pounds outfitting his pad with such things as voice-activated lighting. (I hope you have to say 'computer' first.) To see more images, follow this link. And to take a virtual of Tony's TNG creation, click here.

Hello ManMade-ians! I am honored to mind the store as my buddy Chris is off galavanting the world doing good deeds. But now that he's gone, let's talk about him behind his back, shall we? Chris has never seen Star Wars. As a matter of fact, he's never seen any of the Star Wars films. How does that happen?? A man of his age, in this day and age? I don't get it. (Shakes head.) So, just to bust his chops a bit--and to goad him into finally seeing the films--I thought I start my stint on ManMade with something those of us who have seen the films would appreciate: A Death Star Watermelon. It was lovingly made, I'm sure, by flickr user… read more

Hi everyone,

By the time you read this, I'll be off to the U.S./Mexico border to get my hands dirty, flex my service learning muscles, and get crazy constructive with an excellent group of college students. While I'm gone, my friend JoAnn Moser will be keeping her eye on ManMade, and providing some excellent guest blogging posts!

JoAnn is super maker, DIYer, and a master of all things crafty. She inherited the DIY gene from her parents, and was a total tomboy growing up, and still has some latent tomboy tendencies - she'll take tools or photography or electronic equipment over jewelry any day, so she surely gets the spirit of… read more

March 17, 2010: Not Even on St. Patrick's Day

U.S. based-architect Bryan Berg set out to beat his own Guinness World Record to create the world's largest structure made solely of playing cards.

Forty-four days, 4,051 decks (218,792c cards), and several near-collapses later, he's recreated a replica of the Venetian Macau, which is on display in its namesake luxury hotel and… read more

No one, regardless of class, age, or gender, should be excluded from the opportunity or access to thick, radiant, and formidable facial hair. And with BeardMe, you can give it to them.

"Icons of wealth and class, beards and mustaches are status symbols of a bygone era. Establish yourself as your generation’s Abraham Lincoln by adding an urbane and elegant beard or mustache to your mug with BeardMe, the premier facial hair application for the iPhone and iPod Touch."  

You can select from a variety of styles, shapes, colors, and orientations, then save your results, and easily publish to Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, or… read more

Nothing tickles my funny bone like some well-concieved and tongue-in-cheek line art. Malaysian illustrator Chow Hon Lam is t-shirt legend, creating clever and unique images that show off his drawing and brains.

""I believe that everything should have a story behind it, no matter if they are an object, an animal or food. I always try to create a story for them. I guess they must have something to say, but they just can't speak. Trust me, I try to communicate with them!"

"Actually all the ideas don't come easy, I hope people can enjoy them and appreciate them. All criticisms are welcome. Thanks from deep in my heart."

If you simply must express your voice on a giant piece of public property, but can't get passed the illegality of defacing something you don't own, try scrubbing your design into the grime that already exists on the wall.

"Offering a refreshing and very welcome take on the contentious art form, is a group of ex Durban Vega Brand and Communications School students, who were inspired by the work of British street artist Paul Curtis (AKA “Moose”) who began pioneering his form ‘Green’ or ‘reverse Graffiti’ three years ago. Curtis (legend has it) first hit upon the idea while working as a kitchen porter in a restaurant scrubbing mountains of pots and pans. One dreary evening while trying to erase a grease stain on the sink wall before him, he discovered he had cleaned a large white patch onto the grimy surface. It didn’t take long before the aspirant street artist began conquering the cityscapes of London, applying his vigorous selective scrubbing to more prominent walls and bridges."

Nose-to-tail cooking is a culinary movement dedicated to eating every part of the animal. UK chef Fergus Henderson and a few of his U.S. counterparts, such as Chris Constentino, are "staunch [proponents] of using virtually the entirety of any plant or animal being served up. Harking back to the days when very little went to waste, [they practice] what [they preach] with such victuals as Rolled Pig's Spleen, Duck's Neck Terrine and Roast Woodcock, which is cooked with innards and head intact, the latter providing a bit of "delicious brains." (From Publishers Weekly)

But, as Ian Knauer of the Atlantic points out, "very skinny-jean-wearing hipster with this month's issue of Edible Wherever tucked under his arm can settle into a pork jowl or trotter and take one for the Fergus Henderson team." Those who really commit, the true animal tasters (which, for me, put them way closer to vegetarians than just chicken breast and beef tenderloin eaters), do it all, and that means… read more