Man Made DIY

It comes as no surprise that we're huge fans of pizza on ManMade, particular homemade pies that beat the pants off delivery chains and rival the best independent pizza artisans. (Check out our ManMade guide to unbelievable pizza from scratch and at home.)

But, you can't just decide you wanna have pizza tonight, and have a steaming, cheesy pie in front of you in an hour. You gotta make the dough, let it rise, knead it like crazy, let it rest, preheat the oven or grill to crazy hot temperatures, etc, making it an all-day, or even a two-day, affair.

So, Luxirare got creative, and came up with an alternative solution,  which "is elegant enough to serve at a dinner party, but easy enough that you can cook it within 5-15 minutes."   … read more

Last summer, a Flickr photoset of Spudnik, a handcrafted, Steampunk-style Mr. Potato Head, made its way onto ManMade. Now, even more excitingly, its creator, Sarita, shows you how to make your own.

I'm still keeping up with my handmade only Christmas gifts this year, which, if you ask me, means I also gotta create my own wrapping paper. I added a typographic punch to brown craft paper, and made a super fast hand drawn snowflake paper, but decided I needed a little color under my tree. Not wanting to spend a ton of time, I whipped up several sheets of mod hand-printed paper in under an hour. 

Here's how to do it:  … read more

Sarah received a challenge at her local design/craft swap - "old toy" as a material, and "steampunk" as a theme. So, she snagged a used, old-school Mr. Potato Head and created Spudnik using found materials from around her house.

Then, Sarah created an attached 'telescope' to house a series of clever, original documents that tell the story of Comrade Spudnik.   … read more

I never thought a microwave could produce crispy ANYTHING, let alone the airy crunchiness of of perfectly cooked potato chip.

But I'm happy to admit when I'm wrong, especially when me being wrong equals the ability to make quick and easy homemade potato chips without the mess of deep frying.

Ingredients and Materials:

1 russet potato

Non stick spray

Salt and Pepper

Slicing mandoline or sharp knife or vegetable peeler

Parchment paper or glass plate

Microwave   … read more