Favorite Instructables of the Week January 14, 2010

Whoaweeze! Last week was slim pickings, but this week is a gailstorm of awesome Instructables! We have everything from a homemade projector to a squirrel next camera and even a 100ft glow stick! This has been one of the best weeks for Instructables ever!

Multimedia LED Projector
Wow! Of all the projector Instructables I’ve seen (including one where they just used an iPod and they simply enlarged and projected the picture – certainly not home-theatre quality), this one is the most professional. I’ve been wanting a projector for a long time now, and maybe this Instructable will do the job. Now the question is where to get some of these parts.

Harry Potter Spell Book
First of all, a disclaimer: I am NOT a Harry Potter fan! I just think some of these projects are really cool. I mean, come on, what fantasy loving creature such as myself wouldn’t like a lovely old spell book? Except, I personally would print and bind my own book (here’s a great Instructable for book binding) instead of using a great old book. Besides, I certainly don’t want to pick up a great book of spells and find out it’s only an old psychology textbook.

Squirrel Nest Camera
This would be awesome for a classroom! In fact, it would be great for all kinds of groups of kids: cub scouts, neighbors, nieces and nephews (hehe, that would be one way to become the favorite aunt ;)), grandkids, etc. It’s great for adults too. So Cute! >.< You can watch other animals too.

Water Bottle Kayak
Hey, there’s already a floating island made of junk. Why not just grab a paddle and go to town? In case you can’t see the picture very well, they gathered up a bunch of empty plastic bottles into a clear garbage bag, tied some branches to it and to some empty jugs and voila – the cheapest kayak ever. Fun idea, but I’d make it look a little better. At least enough so no one tries to throw it away. 😉

Upcycled Sweater Boots
These are really pretty (loving the embroidery embellishment on them), and they ought to be comfy too, but I certainly wouldn’t wear them outside the house (they’d be stained so fast it would make your head spin). This would be a great project for an old pair of shoes (or slippers) that are peeling themselves off their soles.

What to Do If Your Passport is Stolen
In case you did not know, Instructables isn’t just for building and craft projects. I’m printing this one up and putting it right next to my saving-for-my-dream-vacation jar. This author also made an Instructable on how to get a passport in the first place, another great printout to include with my jar.

Light Up Costume
Again with the EL Wire. This time they made a cool robot looking costume. I wonder what kind of looks I’d get if I walked down the street in this. 😉

A 100ft Glow Stick
Okay, this would be awesome in some giant glow-in-the-dark party. You could have one of these, some LED throwies, LED floaties, LED freezes (in the cooler), EL Wire costumes, LED jewelry, glow-in-the-dark hair gel (yes, there’s an Instructable for that too), and anything else anyone can come up with. That would be awesome fun!

Stroke Sensor
Another incredible sensor. These guys are so inventive. Just last year I would have never thought that a normal dooby like myself could buy, much less make, my own sensor like this. This has so many useful applications: toys (can tell if the child is petting the toy vs. crushing it – great for a toy teaching a child how to be kind to animals), wind sensors (automatically close the window if the wind is blowing too strong), and even security (put this on your purse and you might be able to catch even those brush-by thieves).