Weekend Project #3: Crocodile USB drive

Marinka's project is too cute. It's a S�t Barnslig crocodile USB drive. I imagine it can work with any of the other animals but the croc may be the best choice, considering its shape.

Marinka says, "It looks like a normal S�t Barnslig stuffed animal. But when you remove its head, it's a USB-drive."

 

 

  

 

Materials:
S�t Barnslig crocodile
USB drive
Needle to melt holes
Needle and thread to sew
Pair of scissors

Steps:
Step 1:
Start with preparing the animal.
You have to cut off the head of the animal with a pair of scissors and pull out some of the stuffing to make space for the USB drive.

Step 2:
Than prepare the USB drive.
Melt with a hot needle some holes at the edge of the USB drive. Take care not to damage the inside of the drive. To heat the needle, poke the blunt end of the needle into a cork. Heat the sharp end with a flame.

Step 3:
Now put the USB drive into the body of the animal and the cap into the head. Fix the USB drive to the animal with needle and thread. Pull the needle a couple of time across the animal. Fold the cut edges a little inside when sewing the holes at the edge.

Step 4:
The finishing touch.
You could put a ring to its tail. Or to stop you from losing its head, you can attach a wire between the two parts. (I did this after I took the pictures)

See other Weekend Projects:
- Go fly kite!
- Hack a Lego table

Weekend Project #2: Go fly kite!

Summers are for picnics and fun in the sun. Wendy Cook of Mother Rising sends me this project for an Ikea kite (based on this one). Best thing is, you'll be putting old Ikea bags to good use.

Wendy's Ikea kite


What you'll need:

• 1 sheets of colored 8 1/2" x 11" construction paper
• 1 8" bamboo skewer
• 1 Ikea bag cut in a 1" wide spiral all around for the tail
• 1/2"wide masking tape or scotch tape
• 1 bit of baker's twine - 6 to 10 feet for a child or a roll of kite string for an adult
• a twig to wind the string upon

Tools:

• Scissors
• Hole punch

Here's how:

1. Fold a sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" paper in half to make a 8 1/2" x 5 1/2" rectangle.
2. Fold again in a diagonal 1/2" from the top folded edge, and 3" from the bottom folded edge.
3. Fold back one side forming the kite shape. You won't need a stick here because the folded paper acts as a spine.
4. Place skewer from point to point horizontally at the top of the kite and tape down securely.
5. Cut the Ikea bag into a long spiral and tape to the base of the kite.
6. Flip kite over onto its back and fold the front flap back and forth until it stands straight up.
7. Punch a hole in the folded area approx. 1/3 down from the top point.
8. Tie one end of the string to the hole and wind the other end around the twig.
9. Let it soar!

See more of Wendy's Ikea kite on her blog.

Weekend Project #1: Hack a Lego table

One of the suggestions from this post was for weekend projects and I thought it was a great idea. A fun project that could be done in a day or two or less. Here's one from Josie I think would be great for a Sunday afternoon. Am sure the kids would love it too!

Josie's Lego Table

What you'll need:

• 47" Ingo dining table ($69.99)
• 4 Trofast buckets ($1.50 each)
  
• Lego 15"x 15" base plates ($14.99 each) and of course, lots of Legos
  
• Clamp work lamp (featured here is a discontinued Ikea lamp, but any lamp will do)
  

Tools:

• Jigsaw
• Safety glasses
• Sand paper
  
• Liquid Nails adhesive
• Paint (optional)
  

Here's how:

1. Assemble the Ingo dining table as per instructions.
2. Decide how may buckets you will be using.
   
3. Measure the table from underneath. Why? Because there are wooden supports with this table that would interfere with any cuts you would make for the buckets. Once you have avoided them, with the remaining space, subtract the amount of space required by the number of buckets you will be using and add a few inches in between.
4. Trofast has a few sizes of buckets. We used the white ones that are $1.50. There are some that are more shallow but wouldn't hold very many Legos. Also, when measuring the buckets and when cutting the holes, you would think you could just cut an oval shaped insert. But no, you need to cut a rectangle because the Trofast buckets have corners underneath the support lip that stick out requiring a 90 degree cut in the wood.
5. After measuring the rectangles for cutting we drilled in with a bit large enough to pass a jigsaw blade through it. Then cut out all four holes.
6. Sand the edges lightly so there aren't any slivers!
7. Paint if you want.
8. Glue down Lego baseplates, we used Liquid nails for plastic. Let dry over night and up to 24 hours.
9. Insert buckets and go build!!

If you want to copy this one exactly the measurements for the cut-outs are as follows:

• From the top measure down 2.25".
• From the sides measure in 4".
• Each rectangle that you cut needs to be 7" across x 10.75" long.
• And in between each rectangle there is 3.75".

For the lego baseplates I measured in only an inch and then put them side by side, leaving another inch on the opposite side. I put them flush with the bottom of the table.

Have a Weekend Project? Send it over to ikeahacker [at] gmail [dot] com.