Terrarium: The Action Figure Display

After recently moving, I've found myself unpacking an excess of action figures. As any good geek can tell you, figures without boxes have a sad resale value, so I've decided to repurpose some of my old toys to spruce up the new apartment in a cheap and easy terrarium.

 Monster Island in a Box

To create your own boxes universe, you'll need some low-maintenance plants like cacti or African violets; a fishbowl, some figures, and some rocks. Most of my materials I found outside,  my plants were donated from my coworker, and my only purchase--the fishbowl--cost less than $3.00. Amazon.com also offers a terrarium starter kit for less than $10.00 found here.

Step 1: Mix your rocks and dirt and put a generous amount on the bottom of your bowl. The rocks allow water to flow more freely through the dirt and help your terrarium require less maintenance. 








Step 2: Bury the roots of your plants in the dirt. Arrange the leaves carefully. You might like to use some natural decorations such as sticks from outside to serve as "trees" in your micro-universe or some seashells. I added a bit of dry grass.





Step 3:  Arrange your figures inside. Pose-able figures are fun. I chose to use some of my mini-Godzilla collection to create a micro-Monster Island. Another popular idea is Ewok figures for Endor in a Box or Pokemon figures for a battle-arena scene. 

 

Chainmail Costumes

Renaissance Festival is still several months away, as well as Halloween, but it might be a good idea to get the jump on this craft early as it tends to take some time. Today, we'll be exploring how to make chainmail at home.

This project can range from a few week to several months depending on the goal end-product. Full chainmail suits obviously take longer than a headpiece. In addition, the chainmail "weaving" could be repurposed for use in jewelry making, which may only take a few days.

Step 1: Cut rings. If designing jewelry, precut rings can be purchased for a few dollars, but costumes require heavier rings. Metal coils can be purchased from your local hardware store and cut down the middle with bolt-cutters to create useable rings.





Step 2: Use two pliers to open a ring. Place four closed rings in the open circle and close your initial ring.







Step 3: Take your second ring and thread it through two of the four rings in step two. Add two additional rings and close your second ring. Repeat this process until you have a string the desire length. You will then begin the same process sideways. Every "center" ring should have four other rings running through it.




Step 4: Depending on the end product, you may need to make a long sheet of mail which can then be closed  by threading one ring through two rings on the left and two rings on the right.