October 24, 2005

Listen up Make!

I was discussing Make magazine with famed Make contributor Steve Lodefink (and some guy who's scared of getting the bird-flu).

When I got home my daughter needed Daddy to do a Do-It-Yourself project: a wand to go with her Halloween fairy costume. What a perfect way to get into the Make magazine -- so here's my first contribution!

This is what Daddy came up with:


To make your own follow these easy steps! Anyone can do it -- even a Flash developer!

First you'll need to get some fabric, a stick, a star-shaped cookie cutter, some thread, scissors and a BIC pen. Lay the cookie cutter or other star-shaped object onto the fabric:


Take the BIC pen and trace the star shape onto the fabric like so:

(Be careful not to get any ink on your hand!)

You will need two large stars for the outside of the wand and two smaller stars as the filling for the wand. Cut out the star shapes with the scissors:


Dig around in your junk drawer and find an old hotel sewing kit. Yes, one from the Luxor will do:


Sew the two small stars to the stick. Make sure to sew them onto the right end of the stick -- opposite from the end that you want to hold.


Place the larger stars on either side of the small stars and carefully sew them together.

(Don't rest the stars on your knee while you're sewing. The pointy needle thing really hurts.)

We're almost done! Just tie on a piece of ribbon and set the wand next to your favorite chicken.


Voila! Instance fairy wand! I'm sure you'll be looking for more exciting do-it-yourself projects - check back here in six months or so. I usually do a couple large project such as this each year.