How to Make an American Flag Cake for the 4th of July

If you're looking for something patriotic, or enjoy putting together puzzles out of cake, here's a project to take to your 4th of July cookout (or cook in, as the weather may dictate for some). It's a cake you make that, when assembled, makes each piece into an American flag. Perhaps it's a little gimmicky, but it's pretty cool when you see the entire thing come together.

This cake has been making the rounds on the internet for awhile now, but generally in the form of a recipe and a few assembly photos. Last year my sister Ali and cousin Carly made the cake and I recorded a video. Unfortunately, they ran out of frosting and couldn't finish the cake until the day of the 4th so I've been saving this video for an entire year. If you want to see how this cake is actually made and assembled, a few tips on how to expedite the process, and some of the problems you may run into, watch the video above. Here's what you'll need:

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Two vanilla cake mixes (although you might want to get a third just in case you screw something up or want to make a bigger cake), plus any ingredients those mixes call for. You can make the cake from scratch, but we tried it that way this year and it tasted like a sugary egg sponge. Using a mix is faster and it tasted much better to us.Two containers of vanilla frosting. Any standard-sized store brand will do. (You won't need all the frosting in both containers, but you'll need more than one.)One bottle of red food dye and one bottle of blue food dye. It's a little troubling, but you'll use it all up.8" or 9" cake pans, depending on how much cake you're going to get out of the cake mix you bought. (Most cake mixes can make two 9" cakes, so you should be fine either way.)A 4" cookie tin top (or anything that can cut an even 4" circle out of cake).Once you've got all that stuff, watch the video above to learn how to make it. It's much easier to see this cake come together than to imagine it based on written instructions, but if you want to march forward blindly (or just have a little bit of textual reference) you can follow the instructions below:

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Use one cake mix to make the red cake batter. (You'll probably need the whole bottle of red food dye to get the right color.) This should yield two red cakes. Split the other cake mix in half and mix one half normally (without food dye) and the other half with blue food dye.Bake the red cakes in your 8" or 9" cake pans (depending on how much you made. When those cakes are done, bake the white cake and the blue cake in the same pans (or at least two more pans that are the same size).
SSlice both red cakes horizontally through the middle to create four red layers.Slice the white cake in half just like the red cake.Place a small dollop of frosting on the platform where you're going to put the cake so the cake doesn't move around while you're assembling it. Once you've done that, add one of the red layers.Frost the red layer, being sure to remove any stray crumbs beforehand.Add one of the white layers, then frost that too.Add another red layer and frost it. Now you've got the base of your American flag.
STake the blue layer—the only cake that wasn't sliced in half through the middle—and use the 4" cookie tin to cut a circle in the middle. You'll probably need to use a knife to fully remove the center, but however you get it out you can just set it aside—you're not going to need it. (This wouldn't be an American cake if we didn't waste part of it!)Place the blue layer (with the center missing) on top of the red layer you just frosted, then frost the inside of the blue layer (but not the top—we'll do that in a bit).From the remaining white layer of cake, use the 4" cookie tin to cut out a circle, then do the same from the red layer. All you need are the circles you cut out of each layer and you can discard the rest.Place the white circle on the bottom, frost the top of it, and then place the red circle on that frosted top. This will create a cake sandwich.Place the circular cake sandwich you just made inside the whole in the blue layer. Once you do this, your cake has been completely assembled.Frost the entire outside of the cake with the remaining frosting.Add any decorations you want, or just leave it blank and white so it'll be a surprise to whoever cuts into it first.As you can see from all the steps, the process is a little complicated. That said, this should only take you a little over an hour to make if you're using cake mixes. Enjoy, and happy fourth!

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Lego Minifigure Bracelet

I'm seeing a lot of Lego jewelry these days, including quite a bit here on Instructables. I decided to jump on the band wagon and make some, and the first thing I thought of was a bracelet made of minifigures. I looked around but i couldn't find any instructions on how to make one, so I designed one myself.

If you like this please vote for it in the Toy Building Blocks Contest!

- Some Lego minifigures
- 2 Lego 1x1 round bricks
- Leather cord, thin enough to fit through a 1/8" hole
- Glue (I used hot glue because I wanted to get mine done fast, but if you aren't impatient like me it would probably be better to use something else.)
- Scissors
- Drill or rotary tool
- 1/8" drill bit
- Leather cord, thin enough to fit through a 1/8" hole

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Lock bracket that doesn't interfere with bottle cages or panniers.

The bracket which came with my lock was (as with most I've ever seen) rubbish, insecure & would have prevented me mounting any water bottle cages. However I don't like always having to have a bag with me when I cycle or putting a wet lock (if my bikes been locked up out in the rain) in my bag so I came up with this.

Materials needed:

•  PVC Conduit - As close a fit as possible to the U part of the lock. I got a suitable 2m length for £1.70 from B&Q
•  Hose clamps - 4x 10mm and 2 or possibly 4 x 22mm (sizes will vary according to your rack & lock diameters)*
•  Bits of old inner tube or other material to make shims
•  Zip ties - 2

*The hose clamps need to be reasonably robust I initially used some from Aldi which were soft and thin and not up to the job. I got some more substantial ones from Screwfix which seem just fine.

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Is Your Home Network Wired?

Wireless is the simpler choice when setting up a home network, but even at today's wireless speeds many people still find that a wired network offers the best solution. What do you do in your home?

Wireless networking has come a long way. The chances are that a decent modern wireless network outstrips your Internet speed, so for most applications it works just fine. But with online gaming, streaming video and audio, and more happening over that network, wired still offers better speed and a more reliable connection. Even on your local network, you may be streaming from a media server or backing up to a central location, so a good connection matters even more. We've shown you how to upgrade your home network and how to wire your house with Ethernet cable. But for now, we'd like to know:

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Concrete Block Handles

This is important. A great man once said, "Think - don't stink." *  That guy was totally right.

Man is a tool-making creature, not because he is particularly noble, but because he is lazy, and would prefer it if the laws of physics would do his work for him, or at least interfere with his desires as little as possible.

One of those laws is Gravity. More often than not, Man finds himself diametrically opposed to this law. He is at odds with it all day long, and though he appreciates its purpose, he will try to circumvent it at every opportunity. But in order to do this, he needs to know a little about it, for "Knowing is half the battle." **

So he sits down in a comfortable chair (See? Already he's giving Gravity the proverbial finger, because his legs sure as smack don't want to carry all this weight around) and says to himself:

"Gravity moves in a straight line, and an object supported any angle apart from directly up and down will incur additional resistance, particularly at those points at which departure from vertical begin." Or "Heavy things held out make arms and hands hurt."

In order carry a concrete block normally, Man would grip the block from the side, offsetting the block's loading axis from its center to the edge. Now, the block is a tightwad and will follow Nature's statutes and by-laws to a T, so when it senses it's being picked up off the prescribed axis, it will contort itself until it has re-righted itself with Gravity's regulations. As it angles itself, it becomes more inconvenient for Man to hold. He must angle his wrist and elbows to counter-compensate for the block's adjustment and tighten his grip to prevent the block from slipping. All of this because he marginally infringed upon Gravity's "straight down" clause.

But what if there was a way to keep everything in line? What if there was a way to grasp the block from straight above? It would mean eliminating all ancillary stresses from the equation, rendering the block much easier to maneuver... but how?

Now, bear in mind, Man is not a creature of infinite intelligence, and thinking takes effort, so he employs another strategy to hold information for him and minimize his own exertion - he draws. And once an image mysteriously appears that makes some modicum or sense, he musters up enough strength to get out of his chair and get to work.

* This person's name was Apollo Creed. He was a genius who hospitalized an Italian with a below-average IQ in a fist-fight. Later, he lost to that individual, but while his opponent came close to squandering all of his new-found wealth, Apollo managed to retain buckets and buckets of money, because he was smart.

** Quote from another one of history's most pivotal personalities.

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Fruity 4th of July Ice Cubes

What makes a cool glass of water even better on a hot day?  Fruity ice cubes!  What could make your 4th of July even better?  Fruity 4th of July colored ice cubes!I've made these specifically for the 4th of July and that is why I used the fruit I did.  Please feel free to change it up however you want!

Supplies: StrawberriesBlueberriesLemonsIce Cube TrayWaterHand Blender (or real blender, whatever works for you)FreezerWater Pitches or some kind of liquid holding containers

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Avoid Bad Buying Decisions with the Dictionary of Numbers Add-on

Chrome: We've probably all made a regrettable, impulsive buy before. What if there was an app that automatically put such purchases into perspective? There is, and it's called the Dictionary of Numbers.

The Chrome extension turns numbers on web pages into relatable, easy-to-understand terms. As Reddit user Saturated_Wombat points out, this can be useful not just for interesting factual knowledge ("oh, I have as many followers as the capital city of a country I never heard of"), but also to possibly curb spending.

When shopping online, Dictionary of Numbers will convert dollar amounts to comparable stats: you could buy a beginner bike instead of that portable gaming system, that pair of sneakers is equal to the average household's daily income, etc. It's just a very visual reminder of the opportunity cost of buying anything.

Dictionary of Numbers | Chrome Web Store via Reddit

Related Chrome: When you're reading articles that have a lot of big numbers in them it's hard to actually wrap you mind around what they mean. A… Read…

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