Thursday, November 21, 2013

Oat Spike Paracord Bracelet

DSC_0049.JPGThe oat spike paracord bracelet has a very nice looking weave.
It is not very difficult to make.
When you get the hang of making the bracelet, it becomes a very quick and easy job.
If you ever get stuck in the wilderness or there is a zombie apocalypse you can unravel this bracelet and then have 12' total of cord.

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the amazing color ball "chandelier"

here is what you need:
- LOTS and lots of christmas ornaments (plain round ones with only one color) in differerent colors and sizes.
i got most of them really cheap second hand from fleamarkets and thrift stores and the rest i inherited from my grandma. old ones are nicer because they are made from glas not plastic and have nicer colors and a little patina! you really need a lot, i think i used at least 150. to be on the safe side rather get more then less, i you have some "leftovers" you can always decorate your tree with it next christmas.

- an old lampshade: it has to be a half-dome shaped one that consists of a wire "skeleton" upholstered with a fabric cover (see the picture). you only need the lampshade, none of the other parts like cables, bulb socket, ...
it should not be too small so that you will end up with a nice big chandelier, mine had a diameter of about 50 cm.
sooo: i recently discovered that, in my crafts-supply-store of choice, they actually sell the wire frames you will need - and i mean why should you not be able to buy these. it is just cheaper buying a used lampshade at a goodwill store for 1 or 2 euros (or finding it lying it around on the street like i did) then buying a new frame for 15 euros.

i made the chandelier a while ago without taking photos an the way. so in order to recreate some of the steps i bought a cone shaped frame that i want to use for another project - this is NOT the frame i used for this project! i just used it for demonstrational purposes! the one i used was dome-shaped.

- strong thread

- chicken wire

- pliers / wire cutter

- rope


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Gluten Free Vanilla Mint Ice Cream

This mint ice cream is so amazing that it doesn't even need any chocolate.  It tastes so much better than store bought mint ice cream!!

Ingredients:
2 cups vanilla ice cream
large handful of fresh mint leaves, washed and stems removed

Instructions:
Put the mint leaves and ice cream in your food processor, and pulse until it starts to come together.  You will have to stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl frequently.  When it starts to mix well, turn the food processor on high and let it spin for about 20-30 seconds...until it is completely smooth and combined.  Serve immediately, or store in the freezer.

Notes:  This is kind of cheating because I didn't make the actual ice cream....but when you serve this, feel free to announce that you "made it" because technically you did.  Its very impressive at a dinner party, served alongside tiny flourless chocolate cakes.


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Repurposing an old computer

Someone once asked me what they could do with an old computer, and my reply was, "Anything you want!"

We all have them -- they're in the back of the closet, or in the dusty attic or basement, or sitting out in the garage.  Some may or may not work, and may or may not be worth fixing.  And some are just too old and slow to be turned into a media center or put to any other task, and are so obsolete they're not even worth donating.  Certainly if a computer is worth fixing, I highly recommend it.  After all, the computer I'm using to upload this instructable is around 10 years old -- or at least it's motherboard and processor are that old.  Or, if an old computer can be turned into a Linux machine -- and if that's your thing -- go for it!

The computers I'm thinking of are those that just need to be sent to the junk pile.  But before you send them out to be recycled, I want to point out a few things you can make out of them that you might find to be a fun project.

If this interests you, read on....


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Bird Feeder Squirrel Baffle

13, 10:50.jpgI have had growing problems with squirrels climbing the pole to my bird feeder and eating all the birdseed. I wanted to find a low maintenance and easy to install, permanent solution. The traditional baffles that look like a half circle don't always work, and lubing up the pole with Vaseline doesn't really seem too kind to the squirrel. After watching three of the little varmints climbing the pole hand over hand I remembered the "Flexi-Perch squirrel proof bird feeder" by billr that I had seen quite some time ago on instructables.13, 10:50.jpgThis bird feeder is pole mounted, which makes it easy for the squirrel to climb the pole hand over hand.

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Feedspot Is a Google Reader Replacement with Tons of Sharing Features

If you're still looking for a Google Reader replacement, time is running out! We have some alternatives, but Feedspot is a new contender that offers a simple webapp for reading the news, sub-feeds for tags, starred items, and favorites, and tons of social features for sharing stories with friends.

Feedspot is in public beta, and getting your data imported from Google Reader is easy. Once you've created an account, you can either import your subscriptions.xml file from Google Takeout, or you can just tell Feedspot to log in to Reader and grab your feeds. It's a one-click process (and Feedspot doesn't ask for any more permissions than it needs to grab your subscriptions), and it only takes a few minutes.

Once your feeds are all imported, you're dropped at the home page—your feeds and folders are on the left, and unread articles are on the right. Keyboard shortcuts make browsing and reading feeds easy (click the drop-down next to your profile icon to see them all). The service supports sharing via Twitter and Facebook, and if you're a Gold user (more on that in a moment) you get Instapaper, Pocket, Evernote, Buffer, Readability, and Evernote. You can publish starred articles, favorites, or just share stories individually. Beyond reading your feeds, sharing stories and connecting with friends, Feedspot also allows Gold users to generate custom sub-feeds for any category of articles you choose, like your starred articles, shared articles, or articles in a specific folder or category.

Feedspot isn't perfect—there are no mobile apps (although visiting Feedspot on your phone gives you a functional mobile version of the site), and while the service is free, some of the best features are only available to "Gold" users (including the sharing and sub-feed features we mentioned, along with faster feed updates and priority support) which you only become by referring 10 of your friends to sign up. Either way, it's worth a look if you're still searching for a replacement. Hit the link below to give it a try.

Feedspot