Daily Awesome: Periodic Table of Cupcakes

This is the greatest cupcake-related thing I've seen since Bre Pettis' cupcake CNC.

The edible Periodic Table was created to celebrate the first anniversary of the museum at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.

Periodic Table of Cupcakes by Jennifer McCafferty of JPM Catering; Photo by Rosanne Cook.

Sugru Will Make Your Life Complete

Sugru is the thing you've been wanting your whole life but never existed.  Well it didn't exist your whole life, did it?  It just came out last Wednesday!

If you've ever looked starry-eyed upon a brand new virgin packet of Blu-Tack in the store and fantasized about squidging it in your hands and then having it stay in the shape of whatever you designed well then that product is Sugru.  And Sugru comes in four rad colors of silicone-rubber awesomeness!

What's even better about this material is the philosophy behind it: repair, recycle, reuse, and their motto,  "hack things better."  The champion of Sugru, Jane, has hit the ball right out of the park with this stuff.  I've never clicked BUY SOME on a website faster!

Now which fantastic company or individual wants to sponsor the Sugru people to come to Durham in the Spring for the Maker Faire?  They're on Twitter and Facebook too.

Controllaments

These video game controller ornaments rock and would make terrific holiday presents for your friends.  Only $10 for a set of seven!  I love the creativity and I've got a soft spot for laser-cut acrylic.

What Can I Bring to the Party?

Here are the names and organizations of some of the featured makers at the recent Rhode Island Maker Faire.  The organizers put on an eclectic event that included everything from homemade ice cream to microcontrollers and everything in between.  Maybe you or your friends share some of these talents?  Come out and share your knowledge and passion! Fill out an application today!

100kGarages
100kGarages is a new service to help Makers find digital fabrication shops all over the world. A collaboration between ShopBot Tools and Ponoko, we'll be there to talk to Makers about local manufacturing, digital fabrication, and how 100kGarages can help Makers and Fabbers connect.
Maker: Bill Young

Brooklyn Aerodrome
We build out of mostly trash remote controlled airplanes. They are scratch built, cost around $100 to create and take around 3 hours to build. We will show the aircraft, do demonstration flights and share the design.
Maker: Breck Baldwin

Custom bicycle framebuilding
Circle A Cycles is a world renowned custom bicycle frame and component manufacturing shop which provides the highest quality, custom fit frames for people who have an appreciation for hand built steel bicycles.
Maker: Circle A Cycles

Fun things from wood
recycled wood, furniture, shelves, toys, tools, featuring a variety of geodesic tensigrity spheres formed from slats reclaimed from old fir from trashed doors and roll up blinds. Geometric model instruction sheets handed out. How to make a tensigrity structure from sticks and wire. Amusing clock made from old printer motors.
Maker: Dan Warren

Ice cream in ziplock bags
With a few simple ingredients from home ice cream can be made. Combine milk, sugar and vanilla in a small zip lock bag. In a larger bag, put ice, salt and the sealed bag ice cream bag. Toss or shake for about ten minutes for a single serving of ice cream. Here is just a basic link to one of many different recipes on how to do this: http://homeparents.about.com/od/recipesandcrafts/r/zip_icecream.htm On my kafe lila web site there are photos and a link to myspace.com that shows pictures of my ice cream cart.
Maker: Karen Pace

Our Maker Faire needs this kind of diversity.  Maker Faire:NC isn't all about flame throwers and microcontrollers! We need weavers, cooks, and artists of all kinds.  Maybe what you do falls in one of these suggested categories?

• Green Tech and Clean Tech
• Robotics
• Music Performance and Participation
• 3D Printers and CNC Mill
• Textile Arts and Crafts
• Home Energy Monitoring
• Rockets and RC Toys
• Radios, Vintage Computers and Game Systems
• Electronics
• Electric vehicles
• Biology/Biotech and Chemistry Projects
• Food and Beverage Makers
• Kites
• Shelter (Tents, Domes, etc.)
• Unusual Tools, Machines, or Techniques
• How to Fix Things or Take them Apart (Vacuums, Clocks, Washing Machines, etc.)

Reminder - Make:RDU Meeting is Saturday

Make:RDU is an enthusiasts group of makers, hackers, tinkerers, and creatives that gathers every month at TechShop Durham.  Come out and discuss your ongoing project, past exploits, and share your lore.

A healthy portion of the planning committee for the Maker Faire:NC will be there discussing the upcoming event.  If you'd like to offer your input or just get a preview of the plan, come on out!

A special thanks to TechShop Durham for providing the meeting space for these sessions!

When: 2:00PM, Saturday 11/21/2009

Where: TechShop Durham - 4022 Stirrup Creek Drive #315 - (919) 806-5432

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