Geeky Pursuits Archives - Page 5 of 16

Making Foam Lightsabers

April 28, 2014 TechyDad Crafting, Geeky Pursuits, Star Wars

Star Wars day is coming up on Sunday, May 4th. (May 4 = May the 4th = May The Force.) Given that the boys and I are such big Star Wars fans, we figured that we just had to do something special for it. (Plus, B had to do a freelance article about the day.) We decided to tackle something we’ve seen and had been meaning to do for awhile now: Foam Lightsabers.

The supplies are easy:

Foam pool noodles – You should be able to find these for $1 each. We found ours in Christmas Tree Shops. Make sure they’re just think enough to wrap your hands around (as if they were lightsabers).
Shiny silver duct tape – You can get this in Target, Jo-Ann, or another craft shop. This should only cost about $3.50 depending on the store, sales, coupons, etc.
Black electrical tape – You can get this in Target or a hardware store. This should only cost around $2.30.

The rolls of duct and electrical tape should provide enough materials for quite a few lightsabers. We wound up making 6 and had plenty left to spare. I’d wager we could easily make another 6. If so, this means that each lightsaber costs about $1 in materials. That makes this a very inexpensive craft. (Always a very good feature in a craft.)

Once you have your supplies, measure your pool noodles and cut them in half.

Now, you have two…

No, not two lightsabers. Not yet.

No, not two rabbit ears either. You have two foam tubes to make into lightsabers. (Yes, each foam pool noodle makes two lightsabers.)

Next, use two strips of duct tape to cover the end. Careful of photobombing Yoda, you should be.

After this, wrap the bottom of the lightsaber with four lines of duct tape. Make sure to always start at the same section to keep a consistent seam. Also, wrap the tape while facing the end of the lightsaber head-on. Doing it from the side may cause the handle to wrap unevenly. You now have a bare-bones lightsaber.

Of course, we want more than just a barebones lightsaber. We want a full fledged Jedi weapon. It’s time for the electrical tape. You can vary this portion to customize your lightsabers however you like. You can even give your kids some lengths of tape so that they can customize their own lightsabers. One tip is to use a strip of tape to hide the duct tape seam on the back of the lightsaber. You can also use electrical tape squares as buttons.

Now, your lightsaber is complete. As I got more practice in making them, I found I could turn out a new lightsaber in a matter of minutes.

It’s time to go outside and battle some Sith.

I have a bad feeling about this.

Maker Faire Envy

October 18, 2013 TechyDad Geeky Pursuits

On Saturday, we went to a local Maker Faire. I ended up leaving impressed and also with a touch of maker envy.

First, we spotted a TARDIS.

The boys and I climbed inside but couldn’t figure out how to make it travel in time and space so we eventually left to stop by Kathy Ceceri’s table to see the robots she built, most from common household items.

Sadly, I didn’t take many photos of Kathy’s table because I got wrapped up in her display too much. The danger of making your table TOO interesting! So here’s a photo of her book that we bought.

As we wound our way through the faire, there was so much to see. Pottery, #D printing, crocheting, duct tape wallet making (which, sadly, was too busy for us to participate in), and much more.

The highlight to me was the flying pizza box. Made by a ten year old girl (with some help from her father), this was literally a pizza box with a propeller, GPS, remote control circuitry, and more attached to it. After her father talked to the assembled crowd for awhile, he and Emma went out to fly their box. Sure enough, the box took off and flew through the air.

And now I have a touch of Maker-envy. Emma and her dad, along with everyone at the Maker Faire, had so many great projects that they’ve worked on. I’ve love to do them all but time (and money) don’t allow it. So I might have to reflect on some of the things that I think we can scale down and do inexpensively with my boys. Perhaps a foam glider or a duct tape wallet. Whatever we make together, it will be time well spent.

Have you ever attended a Maker Faire? What have you been inspired (either via a Maker Faire or by something you’ve seen online) to make with your kids?

A Make or Buy Doctor Who Quandary

September 16, 2013 TechyDad Doctor Who, Geeky Pursuits

Ok, I’ll admit it. I’m having a case of Craft Envy.

Where ever I look, people are making some amazing things. Jen (of Cake Wrecks and Epbot fame) made a steampunk White Rabbit costume as a follow-up to her steampunk Lady Darth Vader costume (Lady Vadore). Pinterest is filled with crafters posting their handiwork. Even in my own house I can’t escape the crafting. B seems to be perpetually knitting or crocheting some new, cool project.

I want in.

A little while after I got a sonic screwdriver for my birthday, I began thinking about Halloween. Usually, I don’t think that far in advance. I tend to consider the holiday about a week before the actual day. Which, if I want a costume, leads to a hurried rush through stores or a raiding of my old costumes. This time, though, I began to wonder if I could pull off a Matt Smith’s Doctor costume.

Side Note: David Tennant is my favorite Doctor, but I thought that Matt Smith’s look was a bit more iconic and easier to pull off… especially since I already had his sonic screwdriver.

Matt Smith’s Doctor basically needs: A pair of black pants, a brown tweed-ish jacket, a light colored (perhaps cream or blue) shirt, burgundy suspenders, a red bow tie (bow ties are cool) and a fez (also cool). Looking through my clothes, I found a jacket that would work as well as pants and a shirt. That just left the suspenders, bow tie and fez.

Now we get to the quandary. There’s an official Doctor Who bow tie/fez set that can be purchased online and in a few brick-and-mortar stores. I also hunted down a few locations online that offer suspenders of the kind I need. So I could easily buy the remainder of my costume and be all set.

But part of me really wants to MAKE some or all of the rest.

I’ve found tutorials via Pinterest on making your own fez, bow tie, and even your own suspenders. I also priced out the materials. The fez would cost about $5, the bow tie about $2, and the suspenders around $10. For under $20 I could have everything I need to complete my costume. All it would take is a bit of sewing. (Something that I’m perfectly capable of doing. In addition to cooking, I hand sew anything that needs sewing in our house. Take THAT male stereotype!)

However, then there’s the big yellow hat lingering in the room.

A few years back, I got the urge to be crafty and made a “Man In The Yellow Hat” costume to go with my son’s Monkey costume. I bought a cheap foam hat, glued on foam balls to increase the height, and then glued on yellow felt to make it all the right color. It came out spectacular. By which, I mean it stunk. Bad. I still have it, but it is hidden in a closet upstairs.

If I go the crafting route, I risk spending $20 and having another yellow hat incident. True, this time I’d have guidance and wouldn’t be simply making it up as I go along. However, there’s still plenty of steps that I could mess up. Perhaps I’d cut out the pattern wrong. Maybe my stitching wouldn’t be up to par. My gluing might leave globs of glue visible. The yellow hat might wind up with a decidedly UNCOOL bow tie/fez/suspenders to keep it company.

Worse still, I might fail and leave myself no time to buy a professionally made bow tie, fez, and suspenders thus ruining any chance my Doctor costume has to see the light of day.

I’m not sure what I’ll wind up doing. Maybe I’ll tackle one of the items (perhaps the fez) and buy the others elsewhere. Maybe I’ll buy the fez/bow tie set from a store near me as a backup plan while I attempt the crafting route. (I can return the purchased items if the craft is a success.) All I know is that I’m getting the itch to craft!

Would you buy already-made items from the store or take the crafting route?

(It’s worth noting that, after I wrote this, I realized I might have written a similar post awhile back. Sure enough, I did: about building or buying a Sonic Screwdriver. The answer to that conundrum was to constantly postpone the answer for a year until B bought it for me for my birthday. This quandary, however, needs a slightly faster resolution. I even almost made the exact same icon to go with the post until I found the one I made for the sonic screwdriver post.)

NOTE: The “build vs buy” image above was composed of “Tools, Hammer, Spanner” by Andy and “Money – banknotes and coin” by n_kamil. Both images are available through OpenClipArt.org.

Doctor Who Actors vs Moon Walkers

September 4, 2013 TechyDad Doctor Who, Geeky Pursuits

Being a geek can often mean wondering weird things. Like, for example: How do the number of actors who have played the Doctor compare to the number of people who have walked on the Moon? And how do the surviving members of each stack up over the years?

Well, wonder no more:

(Click to see a larger version.)

Some notes: There are 13 people listed as playing the Doctor. This is because: 1) Even though Peter Capaldi hasn’t made his Doctor Who debut, I’ve included him and 2) According to Wikipedia, the first Doctor was both played by both William Hartnell and, for The Five Doctors, Richard Hurndall. I’m not counting "alternate" Doctors such as the classic series’ Valeyard or the new series’ Doctor-who-wasn’t-worthy-of-being-called-Doctor (played by John Hurt). The dates for who landed on the Moon when and who played the Doctor when all came from Wikipedia.

As you can see, when Peter Capaldi takes over the role later this year, the number of Doctor actors will top the number of Moon walkers for the first time since 1968. Furthermore, unless one of the former Doctor actors passes away before the end of the year, the number of surviving Doctors will surpass the number of surviving Moon walkers.

Here’s hoping that we can increase the Moon walkers total soon – though I won’t be holding my breath.

Proud Geek Dad Doctor Who Moments

September 3, 2013 TechyDad Doctor Who, Geeky Pursuits, Parenting

One of the best things about being a parent is introducing your kids to the things you love. As I’ve mentioned before, my latest interest share with them is Doctor Who. The boys have gone from outright hostility towards watching it to grudging interest to (upon seeing their first episode) full blown Whovian. This, of course, has led to multiple proud geek dad moments, but this past weekend there were four.

The first came as we walked through the mall. B and I had split up to cover more ground. While she went into one store to buy an item we needed more of, the boys and I browsed the menswear department to see if they had any burgundy suspenders. I decided to go on the hunt because I want to dress as the Eleventh Doctor for Halloween.

Side Note: I actually like Tennant over Smith, but have to admit that Smith’s Doctor has a more iconic look – and one that is easier for me to replicate too. Besides, I have the Eleventh Doctor’s sonic screwdriver and I’d look silly dressing up as the Tenth Doctor with the Eleventh’s sonic!

Anyway, as we looked through the suspenders (and as I suffered from sticker shock – I’m not paying nearly $20 for suspenders I’ll wear once or twice), JSL piped up with a request of his own. He had decided that he wanted to dress as the Doctor for Halloween also. I don’t think his plan of dressing as Doctor Nine is doable, but his desire to dress as a Doctor filled my heart with geeky glee.

Next came a couple of nights ago. We were heading home from having dinner with B’s parents when B noticed that only part of the car had been rained on. Having just watched "Smith and Jones" – where it rains on a hospital and not the surrounding area just before the hospital is transported to the Moon, I thought a Doctor Who reference was in order. However, I didn’t say it. Instead, JSL beat me to the punch and exclaimed that we were going to the Moon. I was so impressed and proud that he not only remembered the episode enough to make the reference but also was quick enough to beat me.

Then, yesterday, as we drove up to watch Disney’s Planes, NHL and JSL began to discuss Doctor Who. NHL decided that someone should build a Doctor Who theme park. He didn’t stop there, however, but began to imagine a TARDIS rollercoaster ride. I had to admit that I’d love to visit such a place.

Finally, just after this happened, we were walking through a department store. As often happens, we walked by a row of mannequins. However, NHL didn’t see them as mannequins. Instead, he pointed out that they were Autons, clearly poising for an attack. Thankfully, many of the Autons-posing-as-mannequins were lacking arms, legs, and/or heads so they should be easy to beat when they inevitably come alive and try to take over the world.

Ah the life of a geeky parent. Where others might see a normal menswear shop, rain, and mannequins, my kids see plastic-based aliens ready for attack, a H2O based teleport to the Moon, and a location to purchase bowties – because bowties are cool. I’m so proud of my little Whovians and I can’t wait to see what new geeky interests we’ll share next.

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