As we embarked on outdoors excursions over the years, we’ve wondered how fun camping would be! We finally had the chance when we set out on a desert road trip across Texas to Louisiana! While camping is a simple affair for many, we had no experience with it and there was/is a learning curve! Here is what we find out on our first front-country camping adventure… Continue reading Firsthand Beginner’s Guide to Camping
Tag Archives: Hobbies
Mimi’s Doggie Door
One of Mimi’s favorite pastimes is getting a breath of fresh air on our balcony. She puts her tiny head between the posts of the balcony and enjoys the spectacular view as much as we do! Recently, however, because our balcony gets quite a few gusts at this height, we have installed a wind barrier to protect our potted garden. Unfortunately, this barrier prohibits Mimi’s 20cm-high view of our 25th-story vista. Here’s our design solution: a tiny laser-cut door to give Mimi an unobstructed view!
Mimi is a happy, peppy pup and the theme we chose was equally fun and playful. For the basics of the main design Continue reading Mimi’s Doggie Door
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Laser-Cut Lunar New Year Rooster Cards
Happy Lunar New Year! Year 2017 is the Year of the Rooster! To welcome in the Lunar New Year (called Tết in Việt and 新年 in Chinese), we made Rooster greeting cards to fill red envelopes (called lì xì in Vietnamese, hong bao in Mandarin, lai see in Cantonese). In our cultures, these red envelopes represent good luck and are distributed to children and unmarried individuals. We deviated from tradition in that Continue reading Laser-Cut Lunar New Year Rooster Cards
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World Maker Faire 2016: The Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth
Just because we moved out of NYC doesn’t mean that we would miss one of our favorite events of the year: World Maker Faire! How do we explain Maker Faire? It’s an Continue reading World Maker Faire 2016: The Greatest Show (& Tell) on Earth
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Magic Mirror: Part 1 – Smart Mirror Proof of Concept
This is part one of our latest home automation project. We all check ourselves in the mirror on our way out of our home. What if, in addition to showing us our appearance, the mirror also showed us some important information about the world into Continue reading Magic Mirror: Part 1 – Smart Mirror Proof of Concept
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Arduino Thermostat: Part 1 – Introduction
Our first major foray into home automation is an Arduino-controlled, Internet-connected thermostat for our apartment. Our HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) unit doesn’t have a connection for an external thermostat, so we couldn’t just Continue reading Arduino Thermostat: Part 1 – Introduction
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3D Origami: Part 2 – Create the Ring Base
VISIT ALL THE POSTS IN OUR 3D ORIGAMI HOW-TO SERIES!
3D Origami: Introduction
3D Origami: Part 1 – Fold the Component Pieces
3D Origami: Part 2 – Make a Ring Base
3D Origami: Part 3 – Coming Soon!
3D ORIGAMI: PART 2 – CREATE THE RING BASE
Now that you have made a large pile of triangular component pieces (see “Part 1: Fold the Component Pieces“), we can start to build a ring base! A ring base is a versatile foundation for any Continue reading 3D Origami: Part 2 – Create the Ring Base
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Pysanky: Part 2 – Materials List for Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Click here to see “Pysanky: Part 1 – Our First Ukrainian Easter Eggs” in which we decorated our first pysanky with our friends Anjie and Lily and give an overview of the process.
In preparation of making our pysanky, we required a number of specialized equipment. Even though pysanka-making kits are Continue reading Pysanky: Part 2 – Materials List for Ukrainian Easter Eggs
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IKEA Hack: Sunken Succulent Lack Table Garden
We are very excited about our latest project which is a practical and eye-pleasing addition to our new apartment. It combines a number of our interests: recycling, gardening, home improvement, and doing it ourselves! It’s moving season and we found a set of discarded IKEA Lack side tables. Here is Mimi modeling one of them. They’re a little Continue reading IKEA Hack: Sunken Succulent Lack Table Garden
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Pysanky: Part 1 – Our First Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Update: Click here to see “Part 2 – Materials list for making Ukrainian Easter eggs” in which we go over the tools and materials needed for this traditional craft.
The Eastern European tradition of creating pysanky (singular pysanka) is generations old with historical and religious undertones. Amazingly, these impressively intricate and magnificently ornate pieces of folk art are created by dyeing the egg, not by painting. Obviously, pysanky takes your typical childhood Easter egg dyeing session to the next level… This Easter season, we made our own versions with Continue reading Pysanky: Part 1 – Our First Ukrainian Easter Eggs
