Mere Material Search Results

How To: Stretch a canvas

It's no secret, artists are broke. That's why they're referred to as "starving artists". One day these artists will achieve unimaginable success, but for most of their lives, they'll be struggling to survive… struggling to keep their vision alive. That's why they need to work cheap. And that's why they stretch their own canvases, not buy pre-made ones or have the hobby shop do it. If you’re a starving artist, save a few bucks, hone your carpentry skills, and stretch your own canvas.

How To: Use the Blender Make Links tool

When you begin working with complex scenes, you'll often find yourself applying the same material to a multitude of objects, which becomes quite time consuming. By using blender's "Make Links" tool you can quickly apply a single materials to as many objects as you'd like. Whether you're new to the Blender Foundation's popular open-source 3D computer graphics application or are a seasoned digital artist merely on the lookout for new tips and tricks, you're sure to be well served by this free v...

How To: Make compost from homehold kitchen scraps

This video shows you how to make compost from organic debris in the garden and leftover food.To make compost, you must add organic debris or scraps of food to such as pine needles, leaves or fruits to your compost bin. You should use horse or cow manure to speed up the process. You can also use nitrogen fertilizers as long as they do not contain herbicides. Then add water to the whole mixture.It is recommended that the compost bin should be about 3 feet high and 3 feet wide in order to insula...

How To: Build a unique terraced garden

In this episode of Southwest Yard and Garden Curtis Smith shows you how to turn a steep slope into a usable garden. By building walls along the slope using serpentine designs he shows you how to obtain a compromise of both strength and artistic design. Starting with a good concrete footer and rebar you can construct a retaining wall strong enough to hold the weight of the slope. Materials such as wood and railroad ties can be used but may not stand the test of time as the weight of the soil c...

How To: Build a tomato cage

A piece of concrete reinforcement wire is cut and separated by a bow cutter at about 4 feet. The wires on one side of the separated section is bent in the form of a hook to hold the next side. As it would be hooked together to hold a tomato tree in position. It was suggested that rope cover material or material with small holes that can absorb sunlight be placed around the cage and held together with a clothes pin. Doing so would prevent bug plant, frost bite, curly top viruses , squash plant...

How To: Recycle old gift wrapping to make an origami ornament

Shiho Masuda Teaches you to make 3-D origami star using recycled materials. The materials required are leftover wrapping paper, ribbons, two 3. 25" cardboard squares, ruler, scissors, glue, double sided tape and an X-acto knife. She cuts out 8 6"x6" squares from paper and glues them back to back to make four double sided squares. The four pieces are folded into 3"x 3" squares and stuck together with double sided tape. The 2 cardboard pieces are covered with paper and 12" ribbons are taped to ...

How To: Sew a blind hem stitch to make Roman shades

This video demonstrates how to sew a blind hem stitch to make Roman shades. This stitch is very easy to do. You need a sewing machine that has a blind hem stitch already programmed in it and a blind hem foot. The video shows two different kinds of blind hem foot for two different sewing machines. The one for Viking machines is used here. Fold and pin a one inch hem on your panel, making sure that the pins are pointing off the edge of the panel. Lay your panel on the machine with the hem side ...

How To: Make a flower arrangement using old CDs

In this video, Steven Marin shows us an interesting method to recycle old CDs to make beautiful flower arrangements along with other recycled materials. In order to make the flowers, you need to take your old CDs and heat them up in a toaster oven. As demonstrated in the video, the CDs are very hot when they are taken out and should be handled with care. They are easily molded into the interesting flower shape by pressing them down over the neck of a bottle or by holding them in a cloth and s...

How To: Make an earring holder with everyday materials

In this tutorial, we learn how to make an earring holder with everyday materials. first, you will need a box lid from a shoe box or a scrapbooking box. After you have this, slide a black piece of nylon over the top of the box and then tie the feet and top together on the back of the board. Cut off any excess nylon that is left over. After this, you can stick your earrings into the nylon and they will hang there securely! This will only work for hook on earrings because there's no back to it, ...

How To: Shrink plastic with household materials

In this video, we learn how to shrink plastic with household materials. You will need: tin foil, plastic container, scissors, glove, and colored markers. To start, you will preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Then, cut a piece of the plastic out in a square shape. Next, draw whatever you want onto your piece of plastic. Make it as colorful as you would like to! When finished, put this in the oven using a glove. Make sure it's on the foil when you put it in. Then, leave it in for less than a minu...

How To: Build your own stomp rocket out of household materials

In this video, we learn how to build your own stomp rocket out of household materials. Materials you will need are: plastic bottles, bicycle inner tube, 2 feet PVC pipe, duct tape, masking tape, and file folders or card stock. Now, take your PVC pipe and roll paper around it and tape it. Then, remove the paper from the pipe and tape it more so it's completely closed. Then, make your nose cone for the rocket. Place this and the wings onto the rocket in your choice of colors. Then, make the lau...

How To: Make polymer putty with household materials

In this tutorial, we learn how to make polymer putty with household materials. You will need: borax, white glue, water, 3 plastic cups and spoons, and food coloring to color your putty. Now, dissolve 4 tbsp of Borax in 2 liters of warm water. Then, prepare equal parts of glue and water together. To make this, you will need 2 parts of the glue solution to 1 part of the Borax solution. Once you mix these together, you can add in some food coloring to it. Pour this into different cups to make di...

How To: Make green fire from household materials

In this video, we learn how to make green fire from household materials. You will need: antifreeze, boric acid, and a glass jar. First, pour the antifreeze into the jar until it's 1/3 of the way filled. After this, drop a spoonful of the boric acid into the mixture and mix it up thoroughly. Now, let it sit for 30 seconds and then go into a dark room. Light this up, then watch it burn! You can also put it into a spray bottle and spray it over a flame to see the green fire right in front of you!

How To: Cast on When Using a Serenity Loom

In this video, the author teaches us how to cast on with serenity: wrap your material around twice, grab the back and then up (around your fingers) forming a slipknot. To start off, we will focus on the inside of the loom, pulling the material towards the outside (using a grochet hook). Take needle between two pegs, pulling material through and put the needle down and pull up (rotating towards you) and repeat. This forms a tier duct and if this is done properly, you should be able to do this ...

How To: Identify problems with the peace lily, fern & rhubarb

This video explains how to solve several problems associated with gardening in arid environments. Rhubarb is a plant that is commonly grown in colder environments. In arid environments, its very important to not over water it, so keep it in a sandy soil with lots of organic compost material. Plants such as the peace lily also need well irrigated soil, so it is important to pot it in an organic potting soil in a location that allows the water to drain away from the pot instead of soaking back ...

How To: Recycle an old t-shirt into a posh pochette

Shiho Masuda demonstrates how to make a T-shirt pochette using recycled materials in this video. You will need an old T-shirt, gardening twine (or leather strap), needle and thread, a ruler, a scissors and a pencil. First, sketch the dimension of your pochette on the T-shirt, staying about 1 inch from the sides of the collar. Next, cut along the lines (save the excess material). Flip the T-shirt inside out and sew the sides together, leaving 1 inch at the top for shoulder straps. Now flip the...

How To: Make a pair of simple drop earrings

In this video tutorial, viewers will learn how to make two pairs of simple earrings. The video provides all the materials required to make the earrings. The materials required include: freshwater pearl disk, 4 mm Swarovski crystal, bally bead accent, 2 mm silver bead, head pin, flat nose pliers, round nose pliers and wire cutter pliers. This video provides step-by-step instructions and a visual demonstration for viewers to easily understand and follow along. This video will benefit those view...

How To: Weave a pouch for an MP3 player

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to weave a pouch for an MP3 player. The video lists all the materials required to make the pouch. The required materials include: cardboard, a ruler, scissors, yarn needle or bodkin, scraps of yarn or 10 crochet yarn and a marker or pencil. This video provides voice narration and a visual demonstration for viewers to easily understand and follow along. This video will benefit those viewers who enjoy homemade accessories. This is for those who enjoy we...

How To: Make paper roses to embellish your mini albums

This is Part 1 in a series from FollowThePaperTrail. In this arts and crafts how to video the host will lead you through the process of preparing the materials necessary to create paper roses, from punched or die cut flower patterns. She teaches you how to soak the materials, once they've been cut, and spray them with starch so that they retain their shape. Following up on that she demonstrates the techniques she uses to form the flower patterns into a more three dimensional shape.

How To: Make a DIY poker themed party centerpiece for cheap

This video is a demonstration by A-BnC parties on the making DIY poker theme centerpiece. This is a rather simple do-it yourself video. The start of video lists a couple of materials needed to make the centerpiece like over sized playing cards, play paper money, power chips, card stock, shish kabob sticks, optional sun glasses and a just add sand centerpiece. The optional things required are glue and scissors to make changes to the materials and to stick them together. Following this video on...

How To: Prep any non-patent leather shoes for custom painting

When fancy kicks started making their way into the indie scene, the art of custom leather shoe painting exploded. If you want to custom paint some kicks to show you creativity in this high-visibility area, watch this video for an in-depth guide to prepping any leather (not patent leather) shoes for painting by using Acetone, cotton balls, and other basic materials.

How To: Make an electrophorus and use it to create electricity from your cat

An electrophorus is a type of capacitor that generates electrostatic energy. Most of you probably know this force as static electricity, the domain of door handles and polyester shirts. It can be used for all sorts of other fun science experiments though, and this video will show you how an old hard drive, some plastic, Styrofoam, foil, a cat, and other simple materials can be used to make a a simple functioning electrophorus.

How To: Make a DIY Tony from Die Hard Halloween costume

Tony is not the most well-known of Die Hard characters. He's the guy who McClane writes, "Now I have a machine gun ho-ho-ho" across the sweater of and leaves for Hans Gruber to find. He makes a good, quick, conversation-starting Halloween costume, and this video will show you how to make a Tony costume yourself out of a sweatshirt and other basic materials.

Make edible prop bodily fluids: poop, vomit, snot, and blood

The human body is full of different kinds of fluids, most of which are either gross or dangerous to remove from a person for use in one of your films. Fortunately, most of them are pretty easy to replicate using household materials. This video will show you how to make edible prop fake blood, feces, vomit, and snot. They all look great, are safe, and will make you movie much more realistic.