Home Made Christmas Gifts…

You Can’t Buy Happiness, Luckily You Can Make It.

Christmas is getting pretty close, even if it doesn’t feel like it, I’ve still yet to see the Coca Cola Christmas ad on TV. Who knew advertising was when so many would consider themselves in the season.

With what many would consider the most expensive time of year looming its pricey head again, and many of us running around with empty pockets for one reason or another, mine being I’m the broke out of work student with no paid writing work currently coming in, there is no better time of year to start learning the art of home made presents. And Luckily for many of us with no creative talent, there’s the internet, a wondrous host to all sorts of lovely personalised easy to make presents that show that extra special person you put thought into this “unique” gift.

One of the best if not the greatest websites online for how to guides on making anything is Instructables particularly when it comes to gift making, having a specially designated area for suggested Christmas gifts from the simplest of Book Bookshelves to the more elaborate home made clothes, regardless of experience this site had ideas for everyone from the clumsiest of handymen to home made aficionado.

Check out Instructables by clicking here, and in the coming days I'll gather some of the better and easier gift ideas and put them up. I’d personally love the speakers shown above.

Finding Creative Commons Licensed Media…

Finding Creative Commons works on the web can be a tasking well eh… task. Not anymore with CC Search – scanning over 9 popular media providers aiming to find the exact CC Licensed media you’re looking for.
Search CC licensed content including works licensed works  for commercial use and other media to be modified or built upon. CC Search runs searches into Blip.TV, Flickr, Fotopedia, Google, Jamendo, Open Clip Art Library, SpinXpress, and Wikimedia Commons. Meaning there is now shortfall of video, audio, or images for you.
Visit the website itself and see for yourself what licensed works are available for your next project. Not sure? Check it out for yourself.
CC Search [Creative Commons via MakeUseOf]

Carving your own 3D Pumpkin…

Type 3D pumpkin into Google Images and the most amazing bizarre pieces of art can be viewed, generally they only pop up around Halloween. These pieces are spectacular though.

The Villafane Studios web site has a tutorial for creating your own 3D carvings into the face of a pumpkin.

Now this site only has a tutorial on carving one style but if you take what that tutorial teaches you, with a little creativity, you can create something completely unique and in some cases horrifying yourself.

For more inspiration just click here and you can see 54 examples of more pumpkin artwork.

You’re pumpkin probably won’t end up as detailed or as magnificent as some of these but its certainly worth giving it a go. I know I will.

Link to site: Villafane Studios

Or if 3D carving seems like to much effort or you feel it’s too short notice why not go ahead and try stencils to give your pumpkin a completely different look than a conventional scary/smiley face. Make your own Pac man game for example…

Find millions of stencils and ideas on Google Images and get carving.

There's a million ways to be weird with your pumpkins. Happy Halloween!

Last Minute Halloween Preparations…

Too cheap to buy a costume? Can’t get creative? Or just forgot it was Halloween altogether.

Well fret not because the Internet is here to help, or particularly Instructables is. The DIY haven for everything and anything has guides on the simplest few minute costumes and party favours to the most extravagant Cosplay gear you could think of.

There are great, cheap, creative costumes to be had in DIY Halloween, including your own “Master Chief" costume, Lady Gaga costumes, and a DIY Iron Man Arc Reactor for all your Tony-Stark-on-his-off-day needs. Not only does it serve fantastic costume ideas, but you can run your whole party off of the DIY ideas this site hosts. From literal finger foods, to anything else your twisted horror filled mind can think of, let your real Halloween horrors come alive.

The site can be found here: Instrucatables Halloween

Or if you want, Instructables for a short time is giving out a free eBook for download, for those of you without an ereader you can download Calibre and view it on your computer. (windows mac or Linux)

DIY Halloween (direct ePub link)

Have fun DIY’ing your own Halloween!