It’s not the prettiest project ever, but again–it’s a work in progress, and creator FlurryOfDestiny, who has a killer name, is planning to give it another paint job. But what makes this particular katamari so great is that it’s made of styrofoam (at least, part of it is), for ease-of-stickiness. And the deviantARTist behind the idea wants to make it big: a few feet in diameter.

I bet if you cover your entire house in rubber cement, you can turn anything into a katamari. This is just a guess. Purely hypothetical. Possibly disastrous (or amazing).

But all tacky products aside, keep an eye out for any styrofoam balls that turn up. You can always recycle ‘em into a katamari of your own, and then we can all race to see who can make the biggest.

Ah, lovely, colorful, and not-quite-deadly. Two out of three ain’t bad, as they say. Id’s softer, gentler grenades are at least life-size, so you know they’re satisfying in the hand, even if they are significantly more squeezable than a real grenade. Also? Less useful against zombies, or not-zombies, as the case may be (those last Resident Evil games have been veering away from the normal undead menace, after all… if you can call any violent, face-pounding menace of any sort normal).

But they look great in Photoshop, and really, that should be enough for anyone.

[via Geek Crafts]

I’m also on the verge of finally purchasing an iPhone. Now that I’m making some money in life (big news!) and have recently learned that you can purchase refurbished iPhones at a considerably less “thanks for not [expletive deleted] me over big time” price.

Also, I’m terribly prone to impulse purchases, and $20, which is how much this Legend of Zelda iPhone case is selling for at Etsy, is a very impulse-friendly kind of price. Plus, I really dig the “homemade” look of it.

So yeah… consider this transaction transacted.

[via Geeky Gadgets]

The gun can fire up to 200 rubber bands in rapid succession, and yes, reloading is a bitch. It was made by a certain Mr. Nakamura, who has actually written a book about making rubber band guns. Here he is showing off his gun to an extremely overjoyed old man:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Mr. Nakamura is of course, a member of the Japan Rubber Band Gun Shooting Association. I’m not kidding:

If there’s any association worth joining, it’s that one. Of course the association’s name can also mean that members shoot at rubber band guns, but we’ve got video of Mr. Nakamura and his l33t rubber band gunnery:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Want to make your own RBMG? Here’s Mr. Nakamura’s online guide. It’s in Japanese of course.

[via Nowhere Else]

The helicopter uses a motorcycle’s engine, as well as steel pipes for the frame and wood from an Elm tree for the rotor blades. Wu’s father says that all in all his son spent less than £1,000 (approx. $1,700 USD) to develop the helicopter. Now the helicopter doesn’t look impressive – or safe – but you try building a helicopter with your own hands. I can’t even make a decent sandwich with mine.

Wu also claims that he “used his memories of middle school physics lessons” as well as other “relevant knowledge” acquired via surfing the internet on his mobile phone to build the helicopter. Awesome. What’s not awesome – although it’s probably for the best – is that the Chinese government has forbidden Wu from flying his creation, citing safety reasons. And probably envy.

Edit: I’ve removed the video because the helicopter in it is almost certainly not the one built by Wu. But it gets better: According to the person who posted the video, that other helicopter was also made by a Chinese farmer, Shaorong Chen. What are the chances? Can someone else back this up? And what is it with Chinese farmers and helicopters?

Thanks to Black ICE for the heads up!

[via Ananova & DVICE via Inventor Spot]

The great thing about this costume is that unlike some other group costumes, you would be very recognizable apart or together. The bad thing is that it looks insanely uncomfortable and awkward to haul around all those cardboard boxes. Let’s just say, bobbing for apples will not be a part of your evening.

Essentially a bunch of guys got together and taped a bunch of cardboard boxes together, painted them, and used electrical tape for the black outlines. Then, presumably, they went out and let the praise and accolades rain down upon their cube-covered selves.

See the slideshow and be inspired to make your own at Instructables.

The blue parts are appliqued on with yellow buttons sewn on for the dots. The characters are hand-sewn for maximum cuteness!

Crafter Curegreed made this as a treat for her boyfriend. She said it took hours and hours to get it right. What a lucky guy! Check out this animation of the game in action.

Check out more pics here.

[via Craft:]

These shoes are no one-note craft, though. In addition to the Dalek painting on the front, you’ve also got “EXTERMINATE” written on the back. Ergo, no matter what direction you’re facing, your shoes will be shown to be more unique than anyone else’s.

These were created by kelly_bear, who originally envisioned a Dalek on one shoe and a Cyberman on the other shoe, so that her shoes could reenact an epic battle at a moment’s notice. Upon realizing it was too hard to paint a Cyberman she decided to go double-Dalek instead.

You’ve gotta love the choice of pink argyle to soften up the evilness.

[via Craft:]

Crafter Betz White made this one for her brother Roger’s birthday, so she called it a Rog-A-Sketch. The cool carrier is made from wool felt with Velcro closures and has button knobs that really turn.

I loved my Etch-A-Sketch when I was a kid, despite the fact that I could never actually draw anything non-geometric with it. Still, I want one of these for my laptop!

Note to Betz: please make more, add a strap, and put this baby on Etsy!

[via Craft:]

Here’s the skinny: you open up the Nintendo case, take out the guts, file down the interior plastic rods with a rotary tool, attach hinges, reglue the power buttons on, and voila! You’ve got a lunchbox that’s sure to get looks of admiration and delight from all those who share the office fridge.

I’m not exactly sure why Alpha Flight’s Sasquatch is in the pictures. I guess he’s kind of doing the Vanna White thing.

If you’ve got a busted Nintendo, a free afternoon, and a hankering for a turkey on rye and some ice-cold Capri-Sun, then check out the how-to that Fluctifragus put up on Instructables.

Welcome Robot 1.5 is red and yellow as an homage to Ironman. When you turn him on, the LED lights come on to let you know he’s in sensing mode. Input to his sensors from people passing by triggers the waving.  Check out this video to see WR 1.5 in action.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Sure, he kind of welcomes people with a Nazi-like salute, but let’s recall the robot was made in just one day. It would take me like a year to make anything even approaching this. Besides, Armanda says that now that the whole one day thing is over, she plans to fix that wave right up, plus add an elevator sensor and sound. Until then, check out more of her robotic LED mashup art projects here.

The project was posted by the aptly named Wurlitzergirl (who presumably cranks old-timey organ music through those those cuddly koala bears.) She says that all you need is one pair of cheap headphones, two stuffed animals (preferably the type with a seam up its back,) a seam ripper, needle and thread, and some quality music- and she claims you can make ‘em in only 10 minutes. Not too tough. Of course, this is all assuming you want to have the Princess Leia-style look in which the cinnamon bun thingies are replaced with rather large plush animals. Which you probably don’t. Still, A+ for creativity and for having the cojones to wear this out in public.

On another note: do you think all that stuffing and fuzz has noise-canceling properties?

Peep the project at Instructables.

I’m not sure what’s up with the Philip K. Dick quote on there but I’m sure there’s a good reason for it. Artist Eunice Szpillman was asked to do the artwork for the Spanish video game mag SuperJuegos Xtreme. She documented the process with her iPhone camera.

Me, I always found Arkanoid a little boring. I mean, it’s essentially Pong with a couple more colors and an annoying high-pitched song. If you’re feeling pangs of rose-colored nostalgia about it, play a round or two and I bet you’ll agree with me.

[via Craft:]

You can get the pattern here, although since I don’t understand knitting terminology it might as well be in Japanese, which as we know I also don’t understand too well. The photo is from zakkalife, who made this specimen for her 5-year-old and who is currently ruminating on the idea of making a whole bunch of these and putting them together into a blanket.

Knitting your kids novelty washcloths by hand, eh? What a super lady. My mom made me use regular washcloths like everyone else. I didn’t even realize how deprived I was as a child until just now. In fact, I’m only sharing this with you because I am certain that a Transformers washcloth is very likely that one thing that’s been missing in your life, preventing you from attaining true happiness and fulfillment. So, you’re welcome.

[via Craft:]

Dig Dug was one of the first games I mastered, so if anyone wants to make these for me, feel free. In fact, seeing these inspired me to fire up my Firenes app and check out how accurately these pillows were rendered. Of course, I ended up playing a few rounds. The verdict: I am no longer a master. So I’m gonna have to wrap this up and get back to practicing.

Flickr user manicmaiden made them for her brother’s birthday. What a sweet sister!

[via Craft:]

SwashBot 3 is the latest RC robot in the SwashBot series, following the cute and crabby SwashBot 1 and the more impersonal, wooden SwashBot 2.

Creator Crabfu, who is also an artist and animator, created SwashBot 3 to be a robotically delicious blend of cuddly, clever, and crabtastic. SwashBot 3′s body is made out of neat moldable plastic pellets called ShapeLock and he has movable LED eyes. He is controlled by a ridiculously large remote control (straight from the Star Trek prop closet) that can move his body and eyes in different directions.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

He can’t cook or anything like some other robots I know, but he’s still really cool – especially for that teeny tiny contingent of folks (like myself) who are San Francisco Giants fans of a certain era and remember the much loved/much maligned Crazy Crab. Best. Mascot. Ever.

[via Laughing Squid]