Planeswalker's Satchel

I've been working on this for a while, and I am very happy that it's finished!

It can hold two 75-card decks (in sleeves).

It was pretty simple to make! It just took quite some time. Lots of gluing and drying and gluing and drying.

I started with a wooden frame constructed from scrap wood.

I found a ton of vinyl on the remnants rack at JoAnn for $3.33! It was perfect for covering the frame. The vinyl was glued on in layers, allowing each layer to dry for 24 hours before adding the next. I don't have pictures of the last steps because my memory card was full and I completely forgot about it until today. XD

Pi Day Pie

Pi Day <3

I like to pretend I can cook, but I'm not very good at it. So, I came up with this super simple, but totally impressive, pie that anyone can make to celebrate everyone's favorite number.

You'll need one and a half cups of crushed graham crackers, one fourth cup of sugars, five tablespoons of butter, a package of your favorite pudding, milk, and some sprinkles.

Start by mixing the sugar and crushed crackers together. Stir in the butter.

The mixture will be kind of dry. Pat it into a glass pie pan.

Let it chill in the fridge for about an hour. Once the hour is up, prepare the pudding as the package says to. If it calls for two cups of milk, I suggest using only one and three fourths so the pudding is a little thicker.

Pour the pudding in the crust and stick back in the refrigerator for about an hour.

I created a stencil by printing and cutting out this image [Link] on card stock. When you lay the stencil over the pie, be careful not to push it into the pudding.

*Carefully* remove the stencil and you're done! Easy as pie! =p

Magic Deck Boxes

A dear friend of mine recently taught me how to play Magic: The Gathering.

Even though I don't have any sweet Planeswalker-skills [yet], I'm totally into the game and I can't wait until I have some extra cash to start buying and building decks and such.

I was browsing the Internet the other day and I found this sweet papercraft for Magic deck boxes. They were designed by a graphic artist in Dallas by the name of Matthew Milam. His work is awesome.
Check it out: Link

The boxes he made definitely turned out better than mine, but they were still a lot of fun to make! Plus, they're nothing more than card stock and glue, so they're super simple to make. The only thing I don't like about them is that they're not sized to accommodate a deck with protector sleeves. When my printer has more ink, I think I'm going to try to printing off the papercraft a little bit larger than original size to see if I can get a deck with sleeves to fit.

Debate: To make, or not to make...

We're studying Hamlet in school. :3

Anyways...

Not so much a debate, but much more a "I'd like to hear your opinions".

Are you a "DIY" kind of person? Do you buy DIY creations that others have made?

 I really love making things, but I've never bought homemade things from others. I always work to make my own, original, work. Not that buying things from others is wrong. The reason why I make things myself is usually to get something I want, but don't have the money for. But honestly, it bugs me a little when people have booths at anime cons or Internet shops where they try to sell things at ridiculously high prices that they made for pennies. I feel like, in the spirit of nerd-unity, people should be more willing to trade ideas rather than just try to sell an item.

Hearthstone Keychains

This is a pretty sweet and easy project for a snowy afternoon!

 You'll need black, blue, and white craft paint, a paper clip, and some air dry clay. I used a clay recipe out of a Kid Concoctions book I had when I was little. You'll need a cup of cornstarch, 2 cups of baking soda, and 1 and 1/4 cup of cold water. Basically, you combine all the ingredients and set them over medium heat for five minutes. It should thicken and turn to dough. It's a good dough because it's easy and safe for small children, but when it dries, it sometimes cracks. You could use it for this, but it's not my first choice. If you let them dry flat, only the backs will crack, and you can just fill the crack in with white glue.

 

 Grab a piece of clay that is the size of the stone you want to make. Remember- the bigger the stone, the longer it takes to dry. Add a little paint to the dough and kneed it in.

The colors will dry a little bit lighter than this.

 Flatten out your clay to make the stone. Put the paper clip in the top for the key chain.

 I used a tooth pick to outline how I wanted the swirl.

Roll the blue dough into a snake and create a swirl on top.

I let my stones dry for two days. I used a water based satin varnish to finish them. Apart from the drying time, this project takes maybe twenty minutes. I really like how they turned out! :3