In this sequel to The How-To Issue (Nov/Dec 2011),

Challenge shows you how to Do It Yourself (DIY) to save time and money. Revive stale

coffee, change a tyre, fabricate a phone microscope or just hack your life to live better. There’s

so much you can do. Go on, get busy!

17 -24more pages of fabulous DIY tips

November/December 2012

Entertainer Jolyon Caplin shows how musical instruments can be created from simple household items and electronic parts. His invention, the “whirly horn”, is made out of a shower hose, a kitchen funnel and a French horn mouthpiece, put together with a hot glue gun. www.jollyone.net

How to look picture perfect.Get out of direct light Bright light highlights flaws and shadows that can make you look tired.

Smile with your eyes Open your eyes wide, then squint them a little. Tilt your head upwards so your eyes catch the light and sparkle. Think happy or amusing thoughts.

No slouching Keep your head up and your shoulders back.

Never face the camera straight on To look slimmer and more natural, turn sideways slightly and shift your weight to the back leg.

Be seen If you have long hair, flip it behind the shoulder that is closer to the camera so more of your face can be seen.

A staple for DIY jobs, Super Glue was invented by accident – twice.While developing precision gun sights during World War II, Dr Harry Coover accidentally created cyanoacrylate, an extremely quick bonding adhesive. But he abandoned it as it was too sticky for what he needed. Nine years later, in 1951, he and a colleague created the super sticky formulation again while working at Eastman Kodak. This time Dr Coover saw its potential. By 1958, Super Glue was put on sale by Eastman Kodak. Read about more accidental inventions at bit.ly/accinvent

Tired of childhood toy cars that kept getting stuck, Yuichiro Katsumoto built the Catapy, a cute, palm-sized, motorised car with no wheels. A rubber caterpillar track lets the Catapy run across uneven ground and do backflips when it bumps into obstacles to keep going. Showcased at the Singapore Mini Maker Faire, see more of the Catapy here: bit.ly/CATAPY

Urawaza is Japanese for “secret tricks” you can do yourself on the cheap for everyday chores. Here are some to try out:

Ripen mangoes in a flash Give your mangoes a bath in a bowl of hot water for about 10 minutes. This speeds up the starch-to-sugar ripening process.

A perfect manicure on the goWrap your hand around a tennis ball, nails facing you, and apply polish to nails. The ball stabilises your fingers, for a smudge-free manicure. No tennis ball? Try a round fruit, like an apple or orange.

Get greener grass No spray paint needed. Pour some beer on your garden’s bald spots. Beer’s fermented sugars act as natural fertiliser. Grass feed on the sugars while the acids and alcohol kill bad fungi, making your lawn look healthy again.Find more tips in Urawaza: Secret Everyday Tips and Tricks from Japan, available from the National Library.

MAKE MUSIC FOR A SONG

MIRROR, MIRROR

LOOK, MA, NO WHEELS

YOU’RE A WHAT-ZA?

A STICKYACCIDENT

Any shortcut, trick or method that improves everyday life (being more productive, getting organised, losing weight or spending less) can be considered lifehacking.

WHAT IS LIFEHACKING?

Think you can’t handle DIY? Here are some local websites to inspire you to become a maker.

MAKERS TO INSPIRE YOU

HandmadeMovement.sg Keep up with plans and projects for Singapore’s first large-scale indie craft fair in 2013 at Fort Canning Park.handmademovementsg.com

DO/DIY Detailed instructions on how to lift your favourite runway looks and trends on a budget.do-or-diy.blogspot.sg

Monoxious Nothing monotonous about these DIY fashion projects.bit.ly/monoxiousDIY

Operation Overhaul Step-by-step tutorials for craft and jewellery, plus tips on where to find materials in Singapore.operationoverhaul.com

Little Green Dot An eco-friendly directory for Singapore, packed with practical tips and recipes. ourlittlegreendot.com

Illustration by Evon Tay

On a mission to encourage mindful, sustainable living, graphic designer Evon Tay created a seven-day DIY challenge that’s fun and easy enough for those new to DIY to try. Choose a challenge theme (Food, Commute, Making or Mindful Consumption) and write to Evon at hello@DIY-lifestyle.org. You will receive a challenge card of tasks. Complete them and share your progress online to win a token.More details at www.diy-lifestyle.org

CHANGE A TYRE

At a safe spot, park your car on a flat surface and set the emergency brake. Switch on the hazard lights. Take out the spare tyre, reflector triangle, and your tools.

Place the jack under your car in the cor-rect spot (check your owner ’s manual) and turn the hand crank until the wheel is high enough to remove the tyre.

Remove the hubcap to expose the lug nuts. Use a lug wrench to loosen the lug nuts (or bolts) by turning them counter-clockwise, but leave the lug nuts on.

Don’t be stranded with a flat tyre. Fix it yourself instead of waiting (and paying) for help.

WHAT IS A MAKER?Makers are the geeks of DIY who make their own things, such as tech gadgets, open source software, fashion clothing, home decor and more. They do it for fun and as a reaction against consumerist culture. The Maker movement became trendy six years ago, spurred by makers sharing projects on media like MAKE magazine and the Internet.

How about being more hands-on as a New Year resolution? Get started with GOOD magazine’s 30 Days of GOOD Challenge: www.good.is/tag/diy

WANT MORE DIY?

Keep your car operating manual in your car for easy reference. bit.ly/changeatyre

TIP

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BE SURE TO HAVE THESE IN THE CAR: A spare tyre, a lug wrench, a car jack and a reflector triangle.

Remove the lug nuts, placing them in a safe place. Remove the flat tyre and lay it flat so it will not roll away.

Take your spare tyre. Line up the lugs with the holes in the wheel and slide the tyre on. Tighten the lug nuts.

Lower the jack until the wheel is firmly on the ground and finish tighten-ing the lug nuts with the lug wrench following a diagonal pattern.

HOW TO SPOT

Who knows, you might already be on your way to being one.

Duct tape is required cargo on all NASA space shuttle missions. bit.ly/ductforNASA

TRIVIA

Multi-toolHandy for impromptu projects on the go, multi-tools usually have pliers, a mini saw, wire stripper, screwdrivers, file, scissors and even a bottle opener.

Scissors Useful when kept sharp and used specifically for one purpose.

Tape Masking tape is useful for stencil projects and protecting surfaces, while duct tape has all sorts of uses from covering holes to being a temporary fix for things.

Light Bright light or sunlight. All the better to see your work, help dry paint or glue, and grow plants.

Measuring tapeA good one will be steady when stretched out fully, yet flexible enough to measure around corners. Get one with a hook so you can measure without a second person to help.

5TOOLS FOR DIY PROJECTS

TOP

While no two DIYers are alike, in general they’re an upbeat and friendly group that shares a special trait: the courage to screw up.– Mark FrauenfelderEditor-in-chief of MAKE magazine

Willing to make mistakesFailure means better

learning experiences.

Curious as catsCan’t wait to try new things and learn the many skills needed for

DIY projects.

Mends own items Why pay for repairs?

Treats projects as their babiesTakes ideas and nurtures them

into projects.

Part of a community of makers Loves to share knowledge

with others.

Chronic hoarderKeeps a collection of found objects, and homes are strewn with U.F.O.s – unfinished objects or projects.

GROW YOUR OWN VEGGIES

The kids will love these adorable papercraft letters. Print them out at home and fold them up. Each design represents something that starts with the letter and gives a different folding challenge. Print the templates: digitprop.com/alphabet

WHERE TO GO FOR ALL YOUR HARDWARE AND CRAFTY NEEDSHandyman Centre Shaw Centre, #16-01, 1 Scotts Road. Tel 6737 9592A mecca for handymen, well-stocked with household appliances, screws and other hardware items, including a wide selection of power tools.

Spotlight Plaza Singapura, #05-11 to 19, 68 Orchard Road. Tel 6733 9808 An all-in-one store for fabric, craft and home interior projects, with classes in dressmaking, beading and more.

Market of Artists And Designers (MAAD) red dot design museum, 28 Maxwell Road. Tel 6534 7209 A space for celebrating local creativity in art, crafts and performing, MAAD takes place every first Friday of the month.

…with help from the f ishes.

Computer programmer Stephan February found a way to build a self-sustaining aquaponics ecosystem for less than $100. It recycles fish waste

as plant fertiliser, creating a loop of goodness to grow veggies and rear fishes. Rope in the kids to build it!

For video instructions, go to bit.ly/CHOP2 or bit.ly/CHOPs

Star Wars fans: Now you can break into a light stick toy and turn it into a lightsaber for less than $25. Full instructions here: bit.ly/DIYlightsaber

Make colourful, non-toxic playdough with ingredients from the kitchen. Get rainbow colours from red lettuce, carrot, turmeric, pandan, blue pea flower and beetroot. Dyes are extracted by boiling a portion of each ingredient with a cup of water. Full instructions here: bit.ly/DIYplaydough

BE A JE-DIY,

YOU MUST

DOUGH IT YOURSELF

Impress the kids with this simple experiment: In a shallow dish of full-cream milk, add a few drops of different food colouring. Then add a tiny drop of liquid soap in the centre and watch the colours break into fascinating swirls.Full instructions here: bit.ly/colourmilk

FOOD COLOURING FIREWORKS

Water is pumped from the fish tank into the growbed. Fish poop contains nutrients such as nitrates to feed the plants.

How it works The fish tank and growbed are connected by (1) a water pump and (2) a bell siphon.

Water passing through the growbed is cleaned by the plant roots and oxygenated. Water in the growbed rises and is siphoned back into the fish tank.

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PAPERCRAFT ALPHABET

…with these colourful fruit popsicles. Yum.

drinking cups

GADGETS TO

YOUR LIFE

SURF THE INTERWEBS IN SECRECY

PHONE CHARGER HOLDER• a medium-sized flat-backed bottle• scissors / craft knife• sandpaperFull instructions here: bit.ly/bottlecharger

DUSTPAN SCOOPFull instructions here bit.ly/bottlescoop

The dog dicer Works like an egg slicer to dice hotdogs in a jiffy. Also works for carrots, bananas, and grapes, if you’re terrified of choking (or chewing). www.getdogdicer.com

Sushi roller machineGot your fingers all sticky making sushi with bamboo mats? This sushi roller contraption is just the thing for you. bit.ly/sushiroller

Electric cupcake maker Like a waffle machine but for cupcakes, it claims to deliver perfectly cooked cup-cakes in less than 10 minutes, without having to turn on the oven. bit.ly/lakelandcupcake

Flavour shakerDoes all the work of a mortar and pestle to grind spices without the bulky weight. www.jamieoliver.com/flavourshaker/

Want a quick bite but stumped by instructions on the takeaway sushi handroll wrapper?Watch how to do it here: bit.ly/unrolltemaki

Not all things DIY are a success. Regretsy collects examples of ugly, useless things sold on popular

online craft store Etsy. www.regretsy.com

Remove the polarising filter from your LCD monitor and it will appear blank to everyone except you, who’s wearing modified 3-D glasses. Only for those willing to go to some lengths for screen privacy. Instructions at bit.ly/LCDprivacyhack

Save some pennies, enjoy luxurious writing. Snip 2mm off a Montblanc Rollerball ink refill to fit it into a common Pilot G2 pen casing. More at bit.ly/penhack

REFILL A PILOT PEN WITH MONTBLANC INK

9 tablespoons water1/2 cup kiwi, peeled3/4 cup mango, peeled3/4 cup fresh raspberries2 tablespoons sugar (to taste)

Make a syrup by combining water and sugar in a small pot and bring to a boil for about 4-5 minutes on medium heat.

Puree fruits separately and set aside in three bowls.

Pour the syrup equally into the three bowls of fruit puree and mix.

Fill four small plastic cups equally with the kiwi puree and freeze for one hour.

Add mango puree, freeze for 20 minutes.

Insert popsicle sticks and freeze for at least two hours.

Add raspberry puree, freeze overnight.

For more, go to bit.ly/fruitpops

TO O L S I N G R E D I E N TS

popsicle sticks

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Make them into useful things instead. From bottle to...

B E A T T H E H E A TB E A T T H E H E A T

HOW TO UNROLL A TEMAKI ROLL

FOR DIY

GEEKS!

A Mini Maker Faire is a smaller version of the annual Maker Faire in the US, dubbed the World ’s Largest Show (and Tell) Festival showcasing innovation, creativity and resourcefulness. Singapore had its f irst Mini Maker Faire in August as part of the Singapore Science Festival.

INTRO TO 3-D PRINTING EMMA’S 3-D PRINTED “MAGIC ARMS”

WHAT TO DO WITH BAMBOO

MAKE YOUROWN MICROSCOPE

With 3-D printing, you can create anything you want quickly without wasting material; no carving, drilling or sculpting needed. First you design an object using 3-D modelling software like SketchUp (www.sketchup.com). Just like normal printing, the information is sent via USB to a 3-D printer. The materials used for 3-D printing include ABS plastic (the type used in Lego), and even chocolate or sugar for food sculptures.

Two-year-old Emma could not move her arms to play or eat because of a muscle disorder. Using 3-D printing, researchers at a Delaware hospital customised a durable, assistive device with lightweight parts for Emma. She calls them her “magic arms”. Watch: bit.ly/3Dmagic

This fast-growing plant has more uses than just being panda food.

Be a scientist anywhere. Take photos with your own pocketable microscope, designed by Isabelle Desjeux and Leonardus Adi Prasetya Suherlan.

MATERIALS• Door lens viewer (or any lens from a disposable camera, old mobile phone, optical parts of a DVD player, etc.) • Pliers • Clear tape or Blu-Tack • Clothes peg

INSTRUC TIONS1 Use pliers to dismantle the door lens viewer and use the blunt side of the pliers to push out the lenses from the column.

2 There will be a few different lenses in the door lens viewer. Experiment with different combinations of lenses for the microscope you want.

3 Drill a hole in a clothes peg the size of the lens and attach the lens with clear tape or Blu-Tack.

4 Peg your microscope on your camera phone or tablet. Try varying the distance from lens to object and from the camera lens as well to get a good focus.

The iBam 2 is a locally made smartphone speaker amplifier from the Sustainable Living Lab. Handmade from raw bamboo, the iBam 2 works with any smartphone with speakers at the base. It retails at $79 online with some proceeds going to disadvantaged women and youths-at-risk.bit.ly/iBam2

In 2009, Chuah Sun Soon’s self-assembled bamboo bicycle weathered the elements as he travelled the Silk Route in Central Asia, proving the durability of bamboo. Read his adventure story here: bit.ly/centralasiacycle

Compared to popular 3-D printers like the MakerBot, a made-in-Singapore machine, the Portabee, retails at an affordable $630. The Portabee (bit.ly/portabee) is foldable so you can carry it around to print 3-D pieces on the go. So what can you make with 3-D printing? From Canon camera models to replacement air hockey pucks, get ideas and digital designs for objects to print at Thingiverse.www.thingiverse.com

A MINI MAKER FAIRE SPECIAL . . .A MINI MAKER FAIRE SPECIAL . . .

Q&AKICK INTO HIGH GEARJames Norris (no relation to Chuck Norris) went from being “a little deviant” to co-founder of social enterprise Self Spark. At the Singapore Mini Maker Faire, he shared about DI Y Lifehacking 101.What’s your morning routine to getting things done? I’m currently on a productivity experiment: I start at 6am – meditate, breakfast, gym – and I’m in the office by 9am. I do six cycles of 90-minute productive work followed by a 20-minute break until 9pm. Checking email goes after lunch because that is when your digestion draws energy from your brain. Email perks you up when you are tired.

You track your goals daily. Why is that important? The more specific you are with setting goals and the clearer you are with your day-to-day progress, the more likely you will achieve your goals. It’s fun to see what you have achieved. Charting your goals tells you quickly and visually whether you are on track.

What’s a simple way to improve work relationships?Start every day by sending an email of thanks, appreciation or recognition to one of your colleagues, especially if you’re a manager! Your colleagues will love it and research shows this increases productivity across the board. Find out more at www.jamesnorris.org

Now that you can make a winning paper plane (see The How-to Issue, Nov/Dec 2011), add more thrust to your craft with this paper plane launcher by Singaporean Derek Low, inventor of the Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm or BRAD.

THINGS YOU NEED:• A piece of cardboard (A5 sized)• Double-sided tape• 2motors 1.5v-6v DC• 2 bottle caps• 2 battery holders• 4 AAA-batteries• Wires• Wire stripper• Soldering iron

HOW IT WORKS:The batteries power the motors, which are attached to the bottle caps and make them spin outwards. The paper plane is launched from in between the spinning bottle caps.

INSTRUC TIONS:1 Drill holes in the centre of the bottle caps and put the motors through the holes.

2 Use double-sided tape to paste the motors metal side up at the edge of the cardboard.

3 Make sure the bottle caps extend out of the cardboard, with a small gap (for the paper plane) in between the caps.

4 Paste the battery holder to the other end of the cardboard.

5 Solder the red and black wires to the motor connectors as shown in diagram above.

Want to ride safely but not get helmet hair? Two industrial design students devised the fashionable Hövding invisible bicycle helmet. See how it works at www.hovding.com

TRIVIA

motor

batteryholder

batteryholder

motor

cardboard

bottle capbottle cap

A MINI MAKER FAIRE SPECIAL . . .A MINI MAKER FAIRE SPECIAL . . .

LIFEHACKINGA cheat sheet to some of the best lifehacks.

Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good; it’s only necessary that, if they do fail, they do so in an interesting way.– Robert Rosen

Pause a whileWhen you get stressed or upset, take a break. Practise the Six Second Pause: distract yourself with six things such as recalling six words in a foreign language or listing six TV characters. This works because chemicals of emotion are said to only last about six seconds in the brain.

Idea stormBrainstorming works best when you defer judgement, encourage wild ideas, think visually, and build on the ideas of others. Keep practising to stay sharp: think up 50 ideas for the use of a pebble or other simple items. Record your ideas and share them.

USE YOUR HEADSome things you didn’t know you could do.

Dude, where’s my car?Forgot where you left your car in a large car park? Boost your car key remote signal. Point the remote under your chin, open your mouth and press the button. Your oral cavity will amplify the signal, and with luck, you'll find your car.

Untangle the Web. Add and subtract

Put quote marks around a word or phrase to find the exact term A hyphen before a term removes that term from search results

Hello, operator?Limit your search to pages of a website by adding “site:www.websiteURL.com”If you are searching for a specific file type, add “filetype:pdf/doc”Double periods between dates limit your search to that time periodUse the tilde (~) sign in front of terms to find related words: ~college will also show “university” in search results.

Make a loop at one end and lay it flat on your device.

Freeze and sneezeTo stop brain freeze,

press your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth. The more pressure you apply, the

quicker the relief.To stop a sneeze, press

your tongue firmly behind your teeth or tickle the roof of your mouth with your tongue. Want to get the

sneeze out? Looking into a bright light may bring on the sneezing.

WRAP CORDS WITHOUT TANGLES

Add a few grains of salt to your cuppa and zap it for a minute in the microwave. Salt reduces the bitterness

of stale coffee naturally and your coffee will taste almost as good as new.

REVIVE STALE COFFEE

101

Wind the cord around the device.

Fold the cord of the other end. Insert the folded end into the loop and tighten the loop.

bit.ly/notanglecord

Have a familiar photo or meme but forgot the source? Drag the photo into the Google Images search bar to see all the websites linking to the image.

TIP

Can you get out of bed, have breakfast, and be out the door in five minutes? Watch how this Japanese man scores more ZZZs (and laughs) with his wacky morning routine: bit.ly/5minmorning

TIP

Get movingPerk up in 20 minutes with light interval training.

8 mins – Brisk walk warm-up 1 min – Jog 2 mins – Walk 1 min – Jog 2 mins – Walk 1 min – Jog 5 mins – Brisk walk cool-down

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