World of Geekcraft: Step-by-Step Instructions for 25 Super-Cool Craft Projects

180 Pages·2011·61.44 MB·English

by  Susan Beal

WORLD OF GEEKCRAFT CHAPTER 3—WARP SPEED 3
Copyright © 2011 by Susan Beal. Manufactured in China
Photographs copyright © 2011 by Jay B Sauceda. Illustrations by Will Bryant
Diagrams copyright © Alexis Hartman. Designed by Cody Haltom of Public School
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be
reproduced in any form without written permission 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
from the publisher.
Chronicle Books LLC
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 680 Second Street
Beal, Susan. San Francisco, California 94107
World of geekcraft : step-by-step instructions for www.chroniclebooks.com
25 super-cool craft projects / Susan Beal.
p. cm. Conforms to ASTM, EN-71, CHPA,
ISBN: 978-0-8118-7461-8 and AS/NZS safety standards.
Includes index.
1. Handicraft. 2. Technology in art. I. Title.
TT157.B356 2010
745.5—dc22 CE Logo Testing Info
2010014065
3M Super 77 is a registered trademark of 3M Company. Apple, Apple IIe, and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple, Inc. Atari and Pong are registered trademarks of Atari Interactive,
Inc. Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman are registered trademarks of DC Comics composed of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Berroco Comfort is a registered trademark of Berroco,
Inc. Zork the Martian is a registered trademark of Renee Lynn Adams. Buffy/Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Day The Earth Stood Still are registered trademarks of Twentieth Century Fox
Film Corporation. C-3PO, Darth Vader, Millenium Falcon are registered trademarks of Lucas Licensing Ltd. Dungeons & Dragons is a registered trademark of Wizards of the Coast, LLC. DAP
[glue] is a registered trademark of DAP Products, Inc. DMC is a registered trademark of WTC-TRADE MART, L.P. E-6000 [glue] is a registered trademark of Eclectic Products, Inc. eBay is a
registered trademark of eBay, Inc. Elmer’s and X-Acto are registered trademarks of Elmer’s Products, Inc. EnviroTex Lite is a registered trademark of Environmental Technology, Inc. Fantastic
Four and Spiderman are registered trademarks of Marvel Characters Inc. Flickr is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc. Frogger is a registered trademark of Konami Digital Entertainment
Co., Ltd. Gryffindor is a registered trademark of Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Halo is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation and Bungie Trademark Software Company. Hama
is a registered trademark of Malte Haaning. Harry Potter is a registered trademark of Time Warner Entertainment Company. AT-AT, Lucasfilm, Star Wars, and Jedi are registered trademarks
of Lucasfilm Ltd. Klingons is a registered trademark of Paramount Pictures Corporation. Krylon is a registered trademark of SWIMC, Inc. Lazertran is a registered trademark of Lazertran
LLC. LEGO is a registered trademark of Lego Juris A/S Corporation. Lightsaber is a registered trademark of Lucasfilm Entertainment. LilyPad Arduino is a registered trademark of Arduino,
LLC. Lively is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. Machinima is a registered trademark of Jumpgate Toys, Inc. Marvel Comics and X-Men are registered trademarks of Marvel Characters,
Inc. Mod Podge Gloss is a registered trademark of Plaid Enterprises, Inc. Mario Bros, Donkey Kong, NES, Nintendo, and Wii are registered trademarks of Nintendo of America, Inc. Pac-Man is a
registered trademark of Namco-Bandai Games, Inc. Perler [beads] is a registered trademark of Dimensions Crafts, LLC. Photoshop is a registered trademark of Adobe Systems, Inc. Pirates of
the Caribbean and Alice in Wonderland are registered trademarks of Disney Enterprises, Inc. PlayStation is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.
Polaroid is a registered trademark of Polaroid Corporation. Poly-fil is a registered trademark of Fairfield Processing Corporation. Pong is a registered trademark of Atari Interactive, Inc. Risk is
a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc. Second Life is a registered trademark of Linden Research, Inc. Space Invaders is a registered trademark of Kabushiki Kaisha Taito Corporation. Storm-
troopers, TIE Fighters, Yoda, Lightsaber, Chewbacca, and R2D2 are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company. Sulky is a registered trademark of Studio Soprani S.R.R LLC.
Tetris is a registered trademark of Tetris Holding LLC. Tribbles is a registered trademark of Keebler Company. Twitter is a registered trademark of Twitter, Inc. Wilton White-White is a registered
trademark of Wilton Industries. WoW, World of Warcraft, and Warcraft are registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
6 introduction 91 On-Button Flag
not a jedi yet: easy projects 97 Buffy Fuse Bead Portrait
11 POW! ZAP! Magnets
warp speed: advanced projects
15 A Gift from the Embalmer Tote Bag 105 Coraline Mystery Sewing Box
19 Planet Commemorative Plates 111 The Day the Earth Stood Still Toolbox
23 Cylon Hoodie 117 Secret Message Quilt
27 Oregon Trail Cross-Stitch 123 LilyPad Arduino Cake
33 Star Wars Terrariums 129 Vintage Sci-Fi Book Cozy
39 LOST Tin-Can Telephones and 135 Er-geek-onomic Wooden Mouse Pad
Swan Station Logbook
141 Drive-In Messenger Bag
one up: intermediate projects
47 Mario Magritte 146 glossary
51 Pac-Man Fever Wii-mote Belt and Holster 150 resources
Techniques and Supplies
57 d20 Deluxe Geekery Online
Craftiness Online
63 A Trio of Tribbles Geekcraft (and beyond) Online
67 “Marvelous Machine” Steampunk Pendant 153 acknowledgments
71 Choose-Your-Own-Geekery Coffee Sleeves 154 index
75 Periodic Table of the Elements Cozies 157 patterns and templates
81 Harry Potter Baby and Toddler Costume
87 Needle-Felted Solar System Mobile
once upon a time, geeky kids built soapbox derby takingly hand-drew maps, or painted their own pewter
racers or saved their nickels for comic books (and for figures. Remember playing video games, taking a Pola-
sending away for the array of exciting things advertised roid photo of your high score, sending it in, and proudly
in the back); a little later, they were reading sci-fi sewing the patch you got back on your windbreaker?
magazines—if they weren’t glued to new episodes of These days, all you have to do is visit Maker Faire or
Buck Rogers or Star Trek. And then they were learning check out the lovingly handmade costumes at any con
BASIC, or playing Pong on their brand-new Ataris (or to witness the happy marriage of geek and craft. In this
maybe it was Oregon Trail on a Commodore 64), and luxurious age, if you want a couple skeins of hand-spun
then digging quarters out of their piggy banks for the yarn in Gryffindor scarlet and gold, an exact Yoda-green
arcade. Play-stations and then Xboxes took their turn on shade of wool felt, or just the right strand of LEDs for the
center stage, along with Harry Potter books and graphic messenger bag project you have in mind, you can track
novels . . . now, needless to say, there’s something for them down pretty darn easily. And if you want to see how
everyone, no matter how old you are: Warcraft, Wiis, and someone else made their ASCII cross-stitch or Frogger
WiFi; comics, cons, and costumes; lively Web sites; and T-shirt, a spin through Flickr, Craftster, or Etsy lands you
local and global communities bring a wealth of cool inspiration.
every facet of geekery to life. The modern age is a thrilling Because of course it’s not just the stuff, the books
time for geeks—and for crafters—and if you happen to and video games and movies . . . it’s the fun things we
fall into both categories, well, that’s even better. do with it, too—like a LilyPad Arduino Cake (page 123), a
We’ve come a long way since “geek” meant a carnival Pac-Man Fever Wii-mote Belt and Holster (page 51), or a
sideshow freak and “crafty” meant making enough quilts Vintage Sci-Fi Book Cozy (page 129).
to keep your entire family warm all winter. These days, I’m so fortunate to have had some of my favorite
geeky and crafty go together like chocolate and peanut crafters contribute their brilliant ideas to this book. Of
butter . . . or pixels and cross-stitch. Being geeky has course, a book of 25 crafty projects that focuses on a
always been about making and doing things. That’s noth- mere two dozen geeky genres is just the tip of the ice-
ing new—kids who went to Space Camp constructed and berg. Hopefully I haven’t left out your absolute favorite—
launched their own model rockets, and D&Ders pains- it was so hard to narrow it down! But whether you make
these projects exactly as they are on the page, or put long snaking line together. We finally settled into our
your own spin on them, I hope you’ll find the collection seats, with our popcorn, and the lights went down: the
inspiring and adaptable. opening moments were the most exciting thing I’d ever
Instead of re-creating Tatooine, Hoth, and Endor seen in my life. (I loved the rest of the movie, but I have
(page 33), maybe you’ll make a set of Lord of the Rings to admit that I was so terrified during Luke’s lightsaber
terrariums; or after you knit a Jayne-hat-inspired coffee duel with Darth Vader that I turned around and anxiously
sleeve (page 71), you’ll dream up a Tetris pattern for your watched the projector until I knew Luke was safe back
next one. You can translate a favorite phrase from Doctor on the Millenium Falcon.) Twenty-five years later, buying
Who into Morse code and stitch up a quilt secretly spell- tickets for a midnight showing of Revenge of the Sith
ing it out (see page 117); glue up a set of DNA commemo- and seeing the magnificent opening moments—holding
rative plates (see page 19); or decorate a Risk cake (see hands with my husband—brought me right back to the
page 123) for your next game night. . . The possibilities first time.
are endless. No matter what your favorite corner of the I’d love to see what you make from the World of
vast geek kingdom is, you can celebrate it with a craft— Geekcraft collection, so please check out the book’s Web
for yourself, your friends, or your swaps. site and photo gallery at worldofgeekcraft.com to share
Along with a super-fun mix of craft projects to try, your own projects (and geeky memories!). The contribu-
from crochet to woodwork, LED, and embroidery, you’ll tors and I are sharing more crafty ideas, project extras,
also hear from some of my favorite geeks, writing about and resources galore.
their areas of expertise, such as the DIY of D&D or what
it’s like to work at Lucasfilm. I also asked everyone who Happy Crafting!
contributed to the book to share their best geeky memory
(don’t we all have one?), and got some priceless stories.
To get things started, here’s mine: When I was six
years old, I begged my dad to take me to see The Empire
Strikes Back, and one glorious hot, sunny afternoon we
headed to the Mission Valley Cinemas to stand in the
WORLD OF GEEKCRAFT INTRODUCTION 7

11 Pow! Zap! Magnets
15 A Gift from the Embalmer Tote Bag
19 Planet Commemorative Plates
23 Cylon Hoodie
27 Oregon Trail Cross-Stitch
33 Star Wars Terrariums
39 LOST Tin-Can Telephones and Swan Station Logbook
WORLD OF GEEKCRAFT CHAPTER 3—WARP SPEED 9