Cristiana Felgueiras of Get Hands Dirty shows off an awesome piece of furniture she designed for efficiency in a tiny apartment she’s building out. The desk has a floating design and a built-in electronic piano that slides out from underneath its work surface. She also built a matching rolling cabinet with a secret drawer.
There’s something so satisfying about woodturning and lathe videos, watching artists carve away at a solid block of material to reveal smooth shapes and interesting patterns. Watch as woodworker Olivier Gomis turns sticks of lumber into what he refers to as an “average size” bowl.
Scotland’s Wildflower Designs makes these unique coasters with tree-like patterns by applying high-voltage electricity to oak wood. They fill the one-of-a-kind patterns with colored resin then finish them with butcher’s block oil. They also make cutting boards and tabletops using the technique. Sold in sets of two or more. The price shown is for a pair.
LEGO is the dominant player in the brick-building game. But they weren’t the first to make snap-together plastic toy bricks. Historian Phil Edwards looks back at Kiddicraft, a company that was making something similar 10 years before LEGO. Then LEGO solved a problem that gave them a major advantage.
We love the look of this custom-built table by Germany’s Marmota Works. It’s made from recycled wooden beams that were cut and sanded into curved shapes to fit together like puzzle pieces, then bathed in clear epoxy. The outer pieces have flat sides, so they form a perfect rectangle.
At first, we thought these color-coordinated LEGO habitats had been slathered with paint. But artist Dana Knudson built each entirely from same-color LEGO bricks. He had to remove some printing, otherwise, it’s 100% LEGO plastic. Beyond the Brick stopped by Dana’s display at Atlanta Brick Con for an up-close look at every scene.
We’ve seen how a skilled carpenter can create a traditional Japanese Kumiko lattice. Neil from Pask Makes wanted to see if the same sort of pattern could be created using another material – steel nails. He started with a wooden template to hold the nails in place, then welded them together and smoothed out the rough bits.
We’re amazed by the things that people can make out of cardboard. In this video from The S, he shows how he built a massive toy blaster that fires a trio of rocket-shaped projectiles. The video also serves as a great demonstration of the bargain-priced Wainlux L6 laser cutter, which makes quick work of the precision paper cuts.
IKEA furniture is perfectly functional but basic by design. Dave from Make Something shows us how he took a $150 IKEA KOLBJÖRN metal cabinet and transformed it into a high-end piece of designer furniture by wrapping and embellishing it with wood. He also improved its versatility by adding a top shelf and a removable serving tray.
Matty Benedetto is known for making things we don’t need but seem like plausible products. After completing hundreds of projects on his Unnecessary Inventions channel, he revisited three of his earlier builds to apply new skills he’s gained. He started with a motorized ice cream cone spinner, and things get sillier from there.
Cotopaxi’s playful backpacks are handmade from a collage of repurposed nylon. Each Del Día bag features a one-of-a-kind mix of fabrics selected by its maker and lovingly assembled into a work of wearable art. The 16-liter Tasra backpack has a large main compartment, two front pouches, numerous organizer pockets, and a padded laptop sleeve.
At first glance, we thought these were costumed dancers, but these straw men are machines. Artist U-ram Choe’s Round Table is a kinetic sculpture featuring 18 headless characters supporting table on their backs. Its mechanisms are programmed to keep a rubber band “head” from rolling off the table. The piece was displayed at the MMCA Seoul in 2022.
Composer and artist Sky Macklay shows off her Harmonitree, a wonderfully inventive musical instrument that plays harmonicas. It uses a tree-shaped inflatable airbag to push air through its harmonicas and can be left to make music on its own, but it is best when given a big hug for interactive sounds. She’s also built one that triggers with motion sensors.
Tattoo artist Allan Graves created this awesome series of zines celebrating horror illustrations and advertising from the 1970s and 1980s. Each issue has 100 pages packed with gruesome and graphic imagery that is definitely not for kids. Monsterama #4 hits 8.30.2023, and you can grab the first three issues here.
Restaurants in Japan sometimes use fake food in their display windows. Shigeharu Takeuchi has been honing his skills in creating lookalike food for over 50 years. In this Process X video, you’ll see how he makes realistic lettuce, omelets, tempura shrimp, and other inedible delicacies from wax, pigments, and plastic. He even makes caulk look like an appetizing dessert.
After seeing another artist make a tabletop by scorching wood, Burls Art was inspired to try the technique with a guitar body. After burning some maple, he coated it with epoxy to preserve its finish, then cut a thick sheet of copper to inlay into its face. He forced the copper into a blue-green patina using ammonia, vinegar, and salt.
Say you cracked a tail light on your classic car. You could search eBay or junkyards for a replacement, but if you can’t find one, a repair might be your only option. We watched in awe as this talented craftsman fixed a missing piece of plastic from an old taillight, precisely matching its texture and color, and making it look as good as new.
Lại Trần Ninh Kiềm, aka Killusion, is a Vietnamese performer who combines laser light shows with dance. In this brief video, you’ll get a small taste of his skills with a routine choreographed to Arius’ remix of Blinding Lights. Check out Killusion on Instagram and Tik Tok for more great performances, including Laserman.
We thought the Teletubbies were pretty weird to begin with. Thanks to Adam from North of the Border, these kids’ show characters are now downright creepy. His nightmare-fuel “Terrortubby” versions of Dipsy, Laa-Laa, Po, and Tinky-Winky look like they just stepped from the gates of hell to steal your children.
We love playing classic arcade games. But an arcade cabinet isn’t exactly the kind of thing you’d put right in the middle of most living rooms. Maker Alexandre Chappel shows us how he designed and built a 2-player arcade machine that hides inside of a sleek wood cabinet that hangs neatly on a wall.
Remember to live every time you take a sip from this ceramic stein in the shape of a human skull sitting on a tree stump. Each mug is hand-sculpted by Trevor Foster Studio and glazed with shades of brown to reveal its rich details. It holds up to 16 oz. and is heat and dishwasher-safe with the artist’s mark embossed on the bottom.
This duo of stainless steel tools helps with measuring, drawing, and other everyday tasks. The wallet-friendly Horizon Helvetica features inch, cm, pixel, and pica rulers, a compass, a protractor, a t-square, a set square, and an isometric grid. Its sibling, the Horizon Key, has a bottle opener, hex bolt wrenches, a mini saw, a spoke wrench, a screwdriver, and more.