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Pants, revisited
For some, the current selection of game cases for the DS just doesn't meet their needs. Christina Cary, for example, wanted to pack away her bulky plastic boxes, but wasn't able to find a storage solution with enough slots to hold her carts. Even Penguin Unlimited's pouch, for all its cuteness, only holds 24 games -- a paltry amount for the serious collectors out there. Christina ended up doing what any creative craftster would do -- make a case of her own with whatever she had lying around the house. She scrounged up fabric from a pair of pants, plastic from an old pencil case, and other materials to create a 36-cart caddy that rolls up like a rug and sticks shut with two squares of velcro.
Adorable DS Lite Poke-pouches
Reader Andrea sent us pictures of her Pokemon DS Lite cozies, which are either knit or crocheted-- we can't tell the difference. They're big yarn knots in interesting shapes, in any case. She made a Pikachu and a Mew, both of which open up at the neck like Pez dispensers to allow access to the cozied DS inside.Suffice it to say that, were we normal people and not, you know, DS Fanboy, we're pretty sure this would be the first time we felt the desire to hug a DS. But we feel that way every time we hear the words Contra 4. They've got tails! There's just no resisting that. In fact, we can't stand to look at our stupid tailless cases anymore, and we think we're just going to toss them in the garbage.
The tastiest console we've seen all week
Looks like flickr user rufus50 is taking a page from the Martha Stewart cookbook on this one -- though we hope it tastes better than her admittedly beautiful effort apparently did. Now we just need to add a classic controller cake and maybe some game-shaped cakes, and -- are we getting a little silly? It must be the sugar high.For those who are interested in trying this one at home, alas ... no helpful how-to was included with the picture.
Use this to defeat Slight Draft Man
Dr. Light is a terrible parent. If we were taking care of a boy robot, we'd tell him to stay out of Dr. Wily's castle, because it's dangerous and full of those springy helicopter-head things. "Don't forget your Crash Bombs," we'd tell him as he headed out to Flash Man's level. We'd always pack a couple of extra E-Tanks in with his lunch.Most importantly, we'd make sure Mega Man had a warm, cozy blanket, possibly with his own likeness on it. We don't want our poor fighting robot child to get cold. We love you, Mega Man. [Via Wonderland]
Tiny Wii, paper-style
We continue to be intrigued by papercraft, and when there are slick projects like this, how can you blame us? Look, there's even a tiny Wii Sports disc. Now if only we had tiny hands and arms, we could snap on our tiny flaps (so they don't get lost), pick up our tiny Wiimotes, and make some tiny Miis. We've already got the perfect television picked out and ready to go.
Show and Tell: Dangly bits
Reader Rachel, who goes by the alias spugmeistress at Flickr, has a gift, but she also has a problem. You see, she puts together these incredible game-themed jewelry sets, like these stars and coins we know so well from the Mushroom Kingdom (and other goodies, like Zelda sets and Tetris bracelets), but she doesn't know what to do next. That's where you come in -- she's short on new ideas! So if you happen to like game jewelry (this blogger does!), or if you know someone who does, feel free to drop her some suggestions here in the comments or over at her Flickr set, which includes links to her online shop. Got something you want to show off? Doohickeys, thingamabobs, collections from droolworthy to simply sigh-inspiring, ... whatever you've got, if it has a little Nintendo flavor, we want to see it. Just take some pictures (or copy your web album links) and send them to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com. We'll take care of the rest.
Listen to 'Do the Mario' the right way
Let Captain Lou Albano's heavenly voice rattle your windows with this custom-made subwoofer. Flickr user kaizokurisu's friend built him this sub, and then kaizokurisu painted it (very well) to resemble a question-mark block and brick block from Super Mario Bros. Here's an interesting factoid: this is the only time we have ever cared about automotive subwoofers.Seeing this subwoofer just reinforces our desire to have a room in our house decked out with real-life Mario scenery. We'd probably just end up with a massive head injury, so maybe it's best for us just to look at this stuff on the Internet.[Via GayGamer]
More fan-created Phoenix Wright: Ace Apparel
We're slowly gathering entries for our yet-to-be-announced Phoenix Wright Shirt Makers' Club. These elite crafters have decided to express their fandom for Capcom's graphic adventure series and its characters in the most reverent way they know: by giving Phoenix Wright a place of honor on the front of a t-shirt. The latest, from reader Maxy, goes beyond the limitations of home crafting. Maxy's sister has access to professional apparel-printing machinery at a uniform company, and transferred this iconic image of Phoenix on what looks like a 3/4 sleeve baseball shirt. Maya Fey, as pictured on the Gyakuten Saiban boxart, appears on the back. It's kind of unfair that we can't follow Maxy's example and make one of these! It may be unfair enough to warrant an OBJECTION! No, it's just kind of unfair.
Papercraft Wii, possibly photographed with papercraft camera
Yes, the picture quality is very rough! The guy's camera must have been made out of paper itself-- or maybe it was a camera-shaped cake that could only take real pictures by a freak accident. Alternately, it could have been a cell phone.But even in low detail, you get the idea. A crafter named Patrick made a tiny papercraft Wii and Wiimote that any strong waggle could blow away. It would make a nice companion piece to that teensy TV from earlier this year. Now if only we could get the template, so we could amass an army of non-functioning Mini-Wiis.[Via Paper Art Gadgets]
A bracelet to coordinate with Kuribo's Shoe
We don't know what self-respecting Kuribo (Goomba) would wear images of itself while bouncing around in a giant boot, but then, Kuribos don't even have wrists. So there. Humans, however, frequently have wrist-bearing arms on which we can place bracelets. We also have hands and fingers with which to do the beadwork for these bracelets. Unfortunately, we don't have access to giant bouncy green wind-up boots. Oh, the irony, sort of!
To build them out of Lego is my real test
... to avoid stepping on them is my cause I will travel across the landsearching far and wideFor a 1x2 blue pieceto finish Piplup's sideThis gallery of Lego Pokemon brings up two questions (for us, at least): first, why are Lego bricks so inherently awesome? And second, why is the Pokemon cartoon's theme song so inherently hilarious?We find the idea of building our own little Pokemon very appealing. Why go through the trouble of catching them in-game to make them fight, when you can build these guys and smash them against whatever you want? Who needs your rules, anyway?[Via GoNintendo]
What's a diorama?
Inspired by Sega's amazing Sonic the Hedgehog papercrafts, nerd-craft's reverendtimothy made some very nice Mario level dioramas. He went with a more literal 2D approach for the first two, based on World 1-1of Super Mario Bros., but decided on a more 3D look for this interpretation of World 7-3.This is definitely an attractive item for our cats to knock down and ruin. To the printer! [Via Crafty Crafty]
Show and Tell: Getting crafty
We thought it might be nice to take a break from giant, heaping game collections (because we have more!) for something a little more low key, like this case made by reader Audrey. The low key color scheme looks pretty nice with the black DS Lite, and we like anything that snuggles our handhelds. Now we kind of want to hire her to make cases for us. She has a whole set on Flickr called "Things I made," and if you're into crafts, it's worth perusing. Are you crafty? Are you proud of your game-related stuff? You too can be in this spot, with everyone cooing over your awesome gear and swag. Just take some pictures and send them to showmeit [at] dsfanboy [dot] com, and we'll take care of the rest. We've gotten lots of great submissions so far, but we always want more! Big collections, small collections, random items, your beloved DS -- take some photos and send them to us, and your stuff just might turn up here.
Mario tote for toting whatever people tote
First, a confession: we have no idea what people use tote bags for. Toting things, obviously. But what? They're too big to be purses and too small to be overnight bags. However, we like totes because they're called "totes" and give us a reason to say the word "totes." This one's got a Mario pocket on it, and some appliqued Super Mario Bros. 2 items. It's great work, available from Etsy seller TheFennec for a scant $10. The Sub-Space version looks just like this one, but black, and full of coins. Also, like all of Sub-Con, it's just a dream.[Via Wonderland]
Make a pixel t-shirt
The title is imperative for a reason. Seriously, you should either be working on a t-shirt right now or headed out to Michaels to pick up supplies. Oh, or reading this post. That's totally fine.To make this Princess Peach shirt, HackerZen user Lenore adapted the technique used by a very faithful reader to make his Phoenix Wright shirt, adding the extra step of drawing a grid on the shirt with a washable marker, then filling in pixels to make a big sprite. Excellent.But don't just default to Mario. There are a lot of sprites out there. Get creative![Via GoNintendo]
Two lovely Nintendo crafts
These two crafts have the potential to change our lives. How so? In order to acquire and use them, we must learn how to knit, find a reason to start carrying a little handbag, and take more notes. We're not sure we're ready for such a drastic change, so we'll just look at them on the Internet and appreciate them!The felted Mario bag has a tutorial, so if you can knit, we suggest you do so. The Zelda notepad was previously available for sale on Etsy, but is now sold out. Perler bead crafts are not so hard to do, however! [Via Wonderland: here, here]
'Dear Diary: Today I went to the wrong castle again.'
Every day, someone makes an adorable video game artifact to make his or her daily life slightly nerdier, out of nothing but love for the games. Meanwhile, all we do is hang around here and talk endlessly about Pokemans and pseudo-pornographic witch-touchery. This Mario journal was made from the outer cover of a hardbound book, covered with corduroy. Each teensy felt pixel of the Mario sprite was then stitched on by hand. We considered trying this ourselves, but we remembered where all of our writing goes, and we don't want to make a cover big enough to fit over the Internet.[Via Wonderland]
Orc & Troll "monsters" oh my!
Many people have crafted cool WoW-themed items for their friends and families. We've seen cool WoW cakes, nifty paper non-combat pets, We've even seen different takes on people's characters. Recently, I was gifted with a "monster doll" of my own character -- the Troll Rogue on the right. She now sits above my monitor, protecting my desk from any bad guys who decide to raid it. (Sadly, my dear little monster Rogue is not terribly effective at staving off the dreaded Housecattus Napimus though.) In the interest of sharing some of the neat things dreamed up by the WoW community that are out there, I sat down with the artist, Nicole, to find out more about these WoW 'monster' dolls!
Finally, a use for pants
Craftster user Trip_and_fall has made what must be the most charming DS Lite case ever. Or the creepiest, depending on your perspective. On the one hand, it's made out of some old Frito-Lay pajamas. On the other hand, it's made out of old pants. Does that bother anyone else?We'd also like to point out the delicious irony involved in making a pocket out of pants so that your DS Lite doesn't get scratched up in your pants pocket. Furthermore, we'd like to point out that Doritos are often even more delicious than irony.
Tetris ice cubes for the remarkably unashamed
Some of us prefer to hide our geekiness, fearing a loss of social status and reduced favor with the opposite sex. Others know that such things are mere trifles, and display their dorkdom with honor and pride. For those of the latter, we would point you to a step-by-step walkthrough of how to make your very own tetromino ice cubes. Yes, it must be Tetris craft week all around the intertron.The steps are clearly written and easy to follow, but some woodwork and silicone supplies are required. If you're a handyman (or woman), go make yourself some cubes: they'll go wonderfully with that Russian vodka. Just kidding. We mean pop. (Punch Out!! reference FTW)
