Brilliant design and functionality! What more can you ask for? I do love a nice cup of brewed tea, from loose leaves and this cup makes for an easy 2-step brewing process. Tilt the cup one way for brewing [the leaves have their own little compartment], then tilt the other way to strain and drink.
The mug has been designed to fit into your hands. Tipcup has this in several plastic styles and Uncommon Goods offers it in the white and black plastic.
About a year ago I had found this funky square frying pan out on the street. The odd shape attracted me, yet the aluminum metal made it not the greatest frying pan. Fast forward to this year; I wanted a bird feeder and thought about the old frying pan.
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A trip to the hardware store [one of my favorite places to shop] gave me the bits and pieces I needed.
$1.19 1 -5/16″ threaded rod
$ .99 3- 2″ diameter washers @.33/ea
$ .57 3 -5/16″ nuts @.09/ea
$ .14 1-5/16″ cap nut
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$3.17 Total Cost
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Step 1: Removing the old lid knob
This actually proved to be the most difficult step of the whole project. However, after some strong wiggling with the pliers, it popped off and left a small hole in the lid, from which I began.
Step 2: Enlarge the hole on the lid
I used a simple drill-bit holder [not professionally recommended, but it worked] to enlarge the hole left by the old lid knob.
Step 3: Prepare lid
As I wanted the lid to remain as a roof, I put the threaded rod into the hole and capped the outside top of the lid with the cap nut. Then, I added the washer up into the inside of the lid and secured that with another nut.
Step 4: Preparing the bottom of the pan
I measured to find the exact center of the bottom pan, marked it and pounded the drill-bit holder to create a small hole. This was easy, as aluminum is lightweight. I then used a series of drill bits [from my tool box] to further enlarge the hole until it would allow the 5/16″ threaded rod to pass through the bottom of the pan.
Step 5: Drainage
I pounded a few small holes into the bottom of the pan, to allow for any rain/snow drainage-again using the drill-bit holder.
Step 6: Screen lining
To keep the birdseed from falling through the drainage holes, I cut a small square of lightweight screen to line the bottom of the pan. Again, I poking a hole into the screen lining to allow the rod to pass.
Step 7: Attaching the bottom pan
I put a nut onto the threaded rod, then a washer, [just as I had done for the lid in Step 3] positioned the bird feeder onto the slotted perch [the old air conditioner shelf] and -from the bottom- threaded on the washer and the last nut. I tightened the nuts-to fit snug and straightened out the bird feeder.
Step 8: Fill the feeder and wait.
I often see cardinals flying up and down our street, so I’ve added extra black sunflower seeds in hopes of attracting them to the feeder. I also hope the old air conditioner shelf will serve as a landing pad and dream the hungry birds will soon be perched up onto the edges of the frying pan and have a nice meal.
Back in grad school, in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, I worked on the concept of a business that would take-in files [pdfs] and then print them and ship the final book off to you. I called it: Imprint. The web design is in some dusty storage box on a floppy disk [remember those?]. ubyu has brought my idea alive and they look like they make a beautiful product.
ubyu intro from ubyu on Vimeo.
I follow Fast Company and this is one of those things that is just so fabulous, I wished I had thought of it. UP by Jawbone is a really revolutionary invention. You put on the wristband and then check in with your smartphone to check on: eating patterns, sleep cycles and exercise. It costs $100 and will be available at Apple, Target, AT&T stores, and Best Buy.
Travis Bogard, Jawbone’s VP of product development sums it up perfectly, “Health isn’t about going to the gym three times a week. It’s about the thousands of little decisions that you make during the day. It’s about what you do in between those ‘healthy times.'”
Watched a documentary on Steve Jobs and want to remember this:
“When you grow up, you tend to get told that the world is the way it is, and your life is just to live your life inside the world. Try not to bash into the walls too much. Try to have a nice family life. Have fun, save a little money. Life can be much broader, once you discover one simple fact, and that is everything around that you call life was made up by people who were no smarter than you.” – Steve Jobs
Maybe I bought my stylus too soon? I really love the ability to be able to get precision lines on my iPad and now this beautiful 9.5 millimeter rubber tipped tool is coming from Pedro Gomes Design.
The Architect will be available for purchase online for a special pre-order price of 22.95USD. For a limited period only, when a pair of Architects are purchased, stylus cases will be bundled together for free. For more information and to view the promotional video, Love At First Write, please visit www.thearcticstore.com
