Man Made DIY

There are all sorts of way to expand your understanding of typography: great books,iPhone apps, online tutorials...Each are great, when you're into studying black text on white pages and copyright-free examples, or when taking the flash card approach.

But, what about real world examples? What about seeing the typefaces you love not in a menu somewhere, but on a billboard, in a magazine, or in a logo at the grocery store?

That, my friends, is where Fonts in Use… read more

College spoils young adults in a lot of ways: the ability to live in the same community with thousands of peers and then being forced to interact by the RA, the illusion of financial "independence," or the notion that if you schedule yourself right, you only need to be accountable two days a week, and only from 1:00-4:30 p.m.

But for me, dorm living twisted me in another way: 24-hour access to a ping pong table. I've never lived in a home with enough space for such luxuries as a table tennis and billiard tables, save for those two great years in Swing and Morris halls. At the beginning of freshman year, I wasn't much, but buddy, by the time I was an upper classperson, my roommate Adam and I had that… read more

Admit it: mistakes can be funny...especially when they're someone else's.

We’ve all had our moments of DIY failure. I have. From the contact paper stencil that I melted with spray-paint just last month to the time my parents were out of town for the weekend and my sister and I decided to spruce up their bathroom.

We were 17 and 14 respectively. Yeah. Imagine how that might have gone...

I’ve had plenty of epic fails. (The more you try, the more you learn, right?) To make you (and me) feel better, I’ve rounded up three of my favorite TV DIY fails for… read more

I'm okay with admitting it: I'm getting older. Not old!...but, you know, older. I sleep differently, now. The gray hairs appeared about six months ago. And mostly, I feel it in my body. I started getting sore for no reason. I feel all twisty in my lower back.

So, I realized, I needed to get… read more

I decided to make all of my Christmas gifts last year. It’s really cool and personal, and, of course, saves money.

The only hole in my plan was my dad. He doesn’t do all of those traditional dad-ish things that you find in gift guides: He doesn’t hunt or fish or watch sports or even wear ties. To make things much harder, he’s an amazing craftsman and the best designer that I know, so I put off making a decision for a long time. (You know, fiddle-dee-dee and all.) One week before Christmas, I sat down to brainstorm. While browsing ManMade, I came across the Hierarchy of Beards. My dad has an awesome beard; I would probably classify it as a kitchen shelf.

I’ve never seen him without it, and I don’t really want to. I decided to pay homage to the greatness of his beard this Christmas, and create a bearded box to store all… read more

The Altoids tin is an absolute gold mine. Not only can you get an awesome little metal box for less than a dollar, it comes filled with free mints!

And as any DIYer, maker, or crafter can tell you, they're an absolutely brilliant resource for all types of creative… read more

Sometimes, you don't just need to tell your loved ones you care, you need to show them how it actually works. Steve Hoefer whipped up these free Valentine's Day cards using vintage patent illustrations and some clever tag lines.

The King's Speech

LEGO pro and film fan Alex Eylar has combined his love to recreate scenes from each of the 2011 Academy Award nominees for Best Picture.

Six months ago, I left my then-current career to pursue creative work full-time. In doing so, I realized I probably needed an actual space beyond my couch to stay organized, and keep track of various projects, etc. So, for the last few months, I gave the spare bedroom in my house a 100% overhaul to become a functional craft studio and office.

Like a tour? Of course!… read more

A few weeks ago, we spied this awesome list of fun stuff to do with your microwave. This morning, we're back with an equally cool list of my all-time favorite plug-in kitchen appliance, the toaster… read more