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February 23, 2012

FREE SAMPLE: Build a FedEx Kite

I've been talking with CraftFoxes--a very cool new crafting/DIY community--and we've added my FedEx Diamond Kite to their database of free projects. Click on over and login (it's free!) to learn how to make one of the several kites included in SNIP, BURN, SOLDER, SHRED.

To go along with this newly released sample, I've also posted some additional tips on kite launching and flying as a handy-dandy, DRM-free downloadable PDF. (Check out the other FREE SAMPLES, too.)

And, just to keep all the links in one handy place, here's my discussion of kites and their construction from last October.

Enjoy!

Posted by dave-o at 05:19 PM |

February 22, 2011

FREE SAMPLE: Build, tune, and throw cardboard boomerangs

Learn to make, tune, throw, and catch two different cardboard boomerangs in this FREE SAMPLE from Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred:

PROJECT 18: Cardboard Boomerangs

Generations of American children wrongly grow to believe that building and throwing boomerangs is very difficult. This flies in the face of reason: Using less-than-ideal materials, human beings have been building, throwing, and catching returning boomerangs for more than 11,600 years. . . . They are, in fact, among humanity’s longest-standing ways of showing off. . . .

Boomerangs are absurdly easy to make; the real trick is in tuning and throwing them (all of which I cover in detail in this free sample). With the aid of the Print-n-Snip Templates (link below; includes two new tri-blade designs!) this is a great all-ages project: I've had a blast running boomerang workshops with teens and adults at sci-fi conventions, middle-aged family guys drinking beer, and dozens of elementary schoolers on the verge of Snow Day Insanity.

  • Download Project 18: "Cardboard Boomernags"

  • Use these quick-n-easy Print-n-Snip Boomerang Templates to make boomerangs from cereal, donut boxes, or any similar rigid cardboard.

    Posted by dave-o at 04:14 PM |

    • January 18, 2011

    FREE SAMPLE: Sew a sock squid (and upgrade it to a Sock Cthulhu!)

    Wanna sew a sinister lovey for your kid or significant other? New to sewing and looking for a project to get your started? Get a taste of Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred with this sample project:

    PROJECT 3: The Sock Squid

    Mysterious, charming, and delicious, squid have fascinated and terrified humanity ever since Pliny the Elder reported a giant squid attack on seaside Spanish fish-brining tanks, with several dogs and fisherman bludgeoned in the melee (recounted in his Naturalis Historia, circa 77 CE). Hence, the squid is a natural subject for adorable handicrafts. . . .

  • Download Project 3: "The Sock Squid" (which can be easily upgraded to the Sock Cthulhu seen below)

    Posted by dave-o at 09:15 AM |

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    About the Author


    David Erik Nelson is a freelance writer and former high school teacher. His fiction has appeared in Asimov's, The Best of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded. He is a contributor to the “Ask the Giant Squid” advice column at Poor Mojo's Almanac(k), a weekly online literary journal.

  • Find him online at www.davideriknelson.com
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  • Contact: dave[AT]davideriknelson[DOT]com

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    Make cool things (water rockets, cardboard boomerangs, a $10 electric guitar, a sock squid, etc.) while learning cool skills (basic soldering, sewing, carpentry, woodburning, etc.), and do it all on the cheap (most projects are under $10, many supplies are *FREE*).
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