1) Ring Holder

For the friend who loves to accent their look with a few carefully placed rings, a ring holder is a great and easy to make a gift. Start by cutting a small piece of wood at an angle. Then take the small piece of wood and cut various slits into the wood. For example, cut a small slit into the top and then into the top left corner. Make sure the hole only goes a few centimeters into the wood and not far enough to cut completely through. Take the piece and sand the edges and cover it with polyurethane and let it dry. And you’ve very easily created a rustic artsy ring holder. They’re so easy you could make one for everyone on your list.

2) Wood/Stone Necklace

If you have someone in your life always looking to add new and handmade jewelry pieces to their collection, making them a necklace is the perfect gift. Start by cutting a very thin piece of wood. Once cut, drill two holes into two of the corners of the square wooden piece. Coat the piece in polyurethane and let it dry. Then take a stone of your choice and cut off a triangular piece. It may be helpful to pick a stone with some colors to add a pop of color to the piece. Sand down the edges of the stone piece using a sanding wheel. Superglue the stone piece to one of the bottom corners of the wooden piece that doesn’t have a hole. Then run a chain through the top two holes and you’ve got a stylish rustic necklace to give to a friend.

3) Wooden Floating Frame

Get your friend or family member a poster with a fun print, maybe some cool art from their favorite movie, or just something motivational. Then, make it more personal by building the frame yourself. Start with a 1×3 inch pine board at 8 feet. Set your saw to a 45-degree angle and cut and add two inches to the measurement of your print. So, for example, if your print is 16×24, then cut your wood pieces to be 18 and 26 inches. Line up the pieces and use wood glue to connect each of the pieces, holding them together for a few seconds to make sure they stick. If you want to add an extra layer of security, use a nail gun to connect the pieces while they dry. Cut four 8 inch pieces of wood, also at 45-degree angles.

In addition, cut four wood rings or use something small to elevate the wood pieces. Use wood glue to glue the four wooden pieces into the corners of the frame, positioning the wood rings beneath to allow them to be slightly raised into the frame. Let the pieces dry and then paint over the wood with the wood stain of your choice. Use dual-sided hanging tape on the four 8 inch pieces and then place your print into the frame. You can even engrave the frame to give it a more personal touch.

4) Balanced Wine Bottle Display

Two 45 degree cuts that are 8 inches apart and then one and one quarter inch hole that is drilled 5 and ⅞ from the bottom. After everything has been cut, sand the whole and the outer edges of the wood. Then simply finish the wood however you’d like, you can do anything from charring the wood to simply adding a stain. Then test out the gift to make sure it works. Place the piece so that the side with the hole is facing up and so that the bottom piece is flat on a counter. Then place the top of a wine bottle into the hole and watch as it seemingly defies gravity.

The post DIY Homemade Holiday Gifts appeared first on Inventionland.

Pie

You can hardly find a Thanksgiving meal without its most iconic dessert: pie. Whether your family is on team apple, team blueberry, team key lime, or team cherry (we could go on) it’s hard to imagine a Thanksgiving meal feeling complete without one. You may even wonder–how could people live in a world without pie? No? Just us? Well, luckily we haven’t really had to. The origins of pie date all the way back to Ancient Greece when they created the pastry shell by combining flour and water. It made its way through Rome and medieval England all the way down through history until finally landing on our dinner tables. You may be surprised to learn, however, that dessert pie wasn’t served at the original Thanksgiving celebration in 1691. At this time, only the English version of pie had made its way to American which was primarily meat-based. It wasn’t until the early 1800s that dessert pie began appearing on American dinner plates.

Mashed Potatoes

Another big staple of Thanksgiving dinner (and, let’s be honest, the one we most look forward to breaking our diets for) are mashed potatoes. They started out with a bit of a tumultuous history, even once being banned in France because of the fear that vegetables would cause leprosy… yikes. But let’s fast forward to 1887 where the world got its first glimpse into the more automated world of potato mashing. Inventors Jacob Fitzgerald and William H. Silver applied for a patent for the ‘potato-masher and fruit-crusher’ which was designed to crush the potato through a series of small holes, similar to a garlic press. This version was a vast improvement on simply crushing the potatoes on your own as it produced a smoother and more buttery soft potato.

Tinsel

There’s nothing quite like the way tinsel shines among the lights on our Christmas trees. You may be surprised to learn, however, when Tinsel first became a Christmas decoration in the early 1600s it was made of genuine silver which was shredded into thin slivers. There were a few problems with this at the time. The first was that silver eventually tarnishes so you’d only achieve that magnetic shine for a limited amount of time. The second was that, as you could likely guess, silver is expensive so it could only be afforded as a decoration by the very wealthy. This led to the invention of the artificial garland we know today which is typically made of plastic and comes in a variety of festive colors.

Elf on the Shelf

You’ve likely seen this one circulating around quite a bit and there’s a good reason for that- it’s a fairly recent tradition. It derives from a book by the same title written in 2004 by author Carol Aebersold and her daughter Bell Chanda. The book tells the story of how Santa knows if you’ve been naughty or nice because elves will visit children between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. The book reached the bestseller list in 2013 and the plot has caused the tradition we often see of parents photographing these elves hiding or being caught in precarious scenarios.

Gingerbread House

When it comes to the origins of Gingerbread houses, fact and fantasy tend to intertwine. People often attribute the creation of Gingerbread Houses to The Brothers Grimm. The famed fairy tale writers wrote the famous story of Hansel and Gretel in the early 19th century and, suddenly, Gingerbread houses were everywhere and eventually became the Christmas tradition we look forward to every year. But did these fiction writers invent the Gingerbread house? It’s a great story, but it’s sadly false. Gingerbread houses had already been around since the 1600s, a few centuries after Gingerbread cookies were invented. There were even Gingerbread fairs in England and France throughout the middle ages. Though we may not know the original architect of these structures, the Grimm Brothers fairy tale was responsible for popularizing the art, and we can thank them for one of our favorite (and messiest) holiday activities.

Nutcracker

The earliest forms of the Nutcracker started in 15th and 16th century France and England. Though woodworkers were creating intricate designs, they were far from the colorful soldiers that are now a staple of the Christmas season. Standing wooden nutcrackers in the form of soldiers and kings were shown in the Sonnenberg and Erzgebirge regions of Germany by 1800 and 1830 and the term “Nussknacker” appeared in the dictionary of the Brothers Grimm. In 1872 Wilhelm Fuchtner, known as the father of the Nutcracker, made the first commercial production of nutcrackers using the lathe to create many of the same design. Now they’ve gone from being a functional woodworking piece to a colorful Christmas tradition!

The post Holiday Inventions: Thanksgiving & Christmas appeared first on Inventionland.

It makes sense…because of the nature of gunpowder and other ingredients, fireworks can’t be mass-produced by means of automation, as even the tiniest spark from any machine could cause a catastrophic explosion. Before you watch your favorite fireworks display, take a look at how these fascinating little rockets are made:

First, The Main Fuse…

The basic construction of a firework is an exterior shell with several separate compartments. The burning fuse explodes one compartment at a time, creating those staggered bursts you see in the sky. For safety, the naturally colorless glue used throughout production is tinted blue while liquid but dries clear. The first compartment of the firework is the lift charge, a gunpowder bag with a long, fast-action fuse placed at the base of the shell that launches the firework about 1000 feet into the air. While the first compartment dries, the second compartment is built, where a powdered explosive is spooned into the center and then capped. A brown cardboard shock absorber is added to shield this section from the first compartment explosion, followed by a corrugated cardboard disc and a plastic spacer.

These barriers allow approximately one and a half seconds for the fuse to burn through these two components, creating a slight delay between the explosion of the first and the second compartments. Gluing the second compartment together is tricky: if it’s too tight it’ll stifle the explosion, but it also has to be tight enough to withstand the delay.

Next, Stars and Comets…

A sleeve is glued onto a case, then filled with hundreds of stars. Stars are carefully formulated and measured explosives that give the firework its beautiful flashes of color (fitting name, right?). Coloring agents range from magnesium for white, to copper salts for blue, to charcoal for orange. These are very delicate and must be handled carefully, or they could detonate.  Comets (which leave the long trail of sparks) are then added to give another dimension of decoration to the firework.

Finally, the two compartments are assembled and the remaining space is filled with the same combination of ingredients. Once the shell is full, the cover is glued into place. The tighter the seal on the compartments, the more the internal pressure will build…which makes for a more spectacular explosion.

Ready to Launch

The lift charge, which was created first and dried while the other compartments were being built, is now ready to be placed at the base of the shell.  At this point, the fireworks are wrapped in craft paper and a label using international color codes identifies the size and type of shell to the pyrotechnic engineer who will set up the display.

Finally, Thank Your Local Fireworks Pyrotechnician

We know what you’re thinking… “That’s fascinating, but how do all those explosives dazzle the audience?” The actual choreography of the display is thanks to a fireworks pyrotechnician, but the basic delivery is the same: When the computer system sends the electrical pulse that lights the main fuse, it starts a chain reaction. The secondary fuse running down the outside of the shell will ignite the lift charge, sending the firework almost 1,000 feet into the sky. Meanwhile, the time-delayed fuse inside the shell burns a few seconds slower, allowing the firework to reach altitude before detonating the gunpowder, comets, and stars for a bright, sparkling, almost magical display that, upon viewing, can’t help but leave the audience feeling a little more patriotic.

The post Invention Spotlight: Fireworks appeared first on Inventionland.

STRING LIGHTS

While they might be a hassle to get untangled, prior to their release, people would decorate their trees with live candles. As you can imagine, this was actually pretty dangerous, so Edward Johnson sought to create a safer alternative. Johnson, the protégé of Thomas Edison, debuted his electric Christmas lights to the public in the late 1800s and the tradition of wrestling with them each year has persisted ever since.

GIFT CARDS

These popular stocking stuffers and gifts from relatives you don’t really speak with first debuted in 1998. Nancy Gensburg and Carol Jacobsohn of Swift Gifts in Illinois combined the magic of modern credit cards with store-specific gift certificates and gift cards were born. They were an instant hit and now most retailers have some version of a gift card.

YULE LOGS

Few people burn actual yule logs anymore. The tradition started as a pagan ritual to celebrate the winter solstice, usually burning pine, birch, oak, or aspen (with each type of wood having a different meaning). The modern equivalent is the yule log cake or “Buche de Noel.”  A chocolate sponge cake is rolled around cream and decorated to look like a traditional yule log. It was first created by a French pastry chef in the late 1880s.

THE DREIDEL

Before becoming the game of choice at Hanukah gatherings, the dreidel started as a top popular in Germany during Christmastime. The Jewish community soon adopted the toy, changing the letters on the top from German to Yiddish. Some stories also suggest that they were used as a cover-up after illegally reading the Torah while hiding from the Seleucids.

CANDY CANES

White sugar candy sticks were popular treats, but in 1670 the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral decided to bend them to look like shepherd’s crooks. They were handed out to children to keep them quiet during services. It wasn’t until the 1900s that the peppermint flavor and iconic red stripes were added, making them the wintertime snack we all know and love.

GREETING CARDS

Surprisingly, Hallmark had nothing to do with the first Christmas card, although they did help popularize them years later. The first card was designed in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole and his friend, artist John Horsley. The inscription was a simple “A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to You.” Believe it or not, the card was actually quite controversial because it included an image of a child being given a glass of wine. But one controversial card didn’t stop this fad. Today, thanks to sites like Shutterfly, many families send out personalize cards with family photos so you can see just how much everyone has grown in the last year.

WRAPPING PAPER

We have Hallmark to thank for wrapping paper, naturally. People traditionally wrapped their presents in fabric or plain papers, but the Kansas City, Missouri Hall Brothers store ran out of the latter one day in 1917. They started offering patterned envelope liners as an alternative. Shoppers loved it and gift wrap hasn’t been the same since. Today, you can find gift wrap decorated with everything from donuts to dinosaurs, and it’s become an art to match the gift wrap with the receiver’s personality.

ARTIFICIAL CHRISTMAS TREES

While going out as a family to pick out the perfect Christmas tree is considered iconic, nowadays many pull the artificial one from the basement. Early artificial trees were made in Germany out of wire covered in green-dyed feathers. In the 1930s, the plastic tree most are familiar with was introduced by Addis, a toilet brush company and the first trees were made out of, you guessed it–toilet brush bristles. We’ve come a long way since then and now you can get trees pre-lit, snow covered and in all colors of the rainbow.

The post Invention Spotlight: Holiday Inventions appeared first on Inventionland.

At the core of this celebration is innovation and National Innovation Day was created to encourage children and young people alike to not only be creative, but also innovative, too.

Every year on February 16, a celebration is held to recognize innovation and this year, we want to focus on the ingenuity and creativity that’s seen through the lens of idea people with different backgrounds.

Young Minds

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math make up the acronym STEM. Now more than ever, we’re seeing young minds being challenged – in a good way. Applying all four of these subjects into course lessons is, in turn, challenging these young adults to think outside-of-the-box and to channel their creativity and imagination to discover new innovation.  Just take our friends at the Inventionland Institute for example.  This project-based course introduces students to the critical entrepreneurial skills that are needed to succeed in the 21^st century, all while working to “Inspire the creator within.”  It’s through guidance and hands-on learning techniques that not only inspire, but also motivate this young generation of creative minds to follow their dreams and ideas.

Designers

In the eyes of designers, innovation is the lifeblood to which their creativity flows through. Innovation gives designers the motivation, ideas and ingenuity to take something that was once in their imagination and transform that thought into something tangible – into a piece of reality. Imagine how Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak must have felt after years and years of tinkering away in a garage to see the product that once lived in their minds right in front of them. These two innovators poured their own creativity and imagination into this product and designed the first ready-made home computer.  To that point, our designers at Inventionland work tirelessly to discover, sketch and transform invention ideas. This is an integral part of the overall invention process.

Builders and Makers

Let us paint a picture. You’ve just stumbled upon a problem that as of that moment doesn’t have a solution. Being that you’re an innovative thinker, you begin to brainstorm ideas as to how you can solve this problem. Old computer parts, empty soup cans, rope from an old tire swing – to some, this sounds like nothing more than a pile of junk. But, to builders and makers, this pile of material is nothing short of gold. It’s with these materials that you can begin to build something that’ll hopefully solve an existing problem.  For example, just take Prototype Builder Tommy “Bones” Werner, who uses Inventionland’s “Magic Bins” to fuel his innovative fire to turn nothing into something.  It’s this creative energy that’s recognized and celebrated on National Innovation Day.

So today, as we celebrate National Innovation Day, we challenge you to challenge yourself and take the necessary steps to make your invention dreams closer to being reality!

Copyright Inventionland, 2016

The post Who’s Celebrating National Innovation Day? appeared first on Inventionland.

This Presidents’ Day, we celebrate the one and only United States President to ever hold a patent for one of his inventions. President Abraham Lincoln was granted patent No. 6,469 on May 22, 1849 for a flotation system for lifting riverboats stuck on sandbars.

In his patent application, Lincoln stated:

“Be it known that I, Abraham Lincoln, of Springfield, in the county of Sangamon, in the state of Illinois, have invented a new and improved manner of combining adjustable buoyant air chambers with a steam boat or other vessel for the purpose of enabling their draught of water to be readily lessened to enable them to pass over bars, or through shallow water, without discharging their cargoes…”

 Not unlike many of our Creationeers here at Inventionland, Lincoln was known for his interest in engineering and mechanics. But he shares something else in common with many inventors and creators as a whole.

For many designers and engineers, it’s a beautiful thing to see your name on a patent as a sort of testament to say, “I created that!”

While it is one thing to see your name on a patent, at Inventionland, this feeling of accomplishment is further enhanced when a final working prototype is in hand. It’s a moment when skilled designers, engineers, builders and the like can really say not only “I created that,” but also “It works!”

Our founder and CEO George Davison, an inventor himself, attests to the value of a working prototype.

“There is a reason why we used to be required to build the invention or device before we could show it to the patent office. Reality meant something and proof that the concept would work was required… It’s why we still build our inventions to demonstrate them to the world…”

And, build we will! Here’s to Presidents’ Day and the start of another busy week at Inventionland!

In honor of our 16^th president, here’s a look at his very own patent, No. 6,469:

Copyright Inventionland, 2016

Sources:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/inventive-abe-131184751/?no-ist

https://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/education/patent.htm

https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/famous-inventors/what-did-abraham-lincoln-invent.htm

Images:

https://americacomesalive.com/2014/12/11/abraham-lincolns-patent/#.VrzgmvkrLIU

https://asmarterplanet.com/files/2014/01/SP-Lincoln_patent_620x350.jpg

The post From Patent to Prototype: “I created that!” appeared first on Inventionland.

We know that when a bunch of designers and engineers get together for Halloween, they bring their best costume game.

While not everyone at the 2015 Inventionland Halloween party could take away top prizes, there were several inventive costumes that deserve some accolades for their innovation!

Designer Tess upped the ante when she showed up to the Inventionland Halloween party with her “Masquerade Face Off” costume.

Though it might not seem too creepy at first glance, if you look again, you’d be a “bloody” liar if you didn’t think this creative costume wasn’t creepy!

Her inspiration for this costume came from something that she saw online. From there, she was inspired to create her own version.

“I’ve always loved the thought of a masquerade [costume], so it was really fun to make!” said Tess.

So, what all went into the makings of this costume? For starters, she did her usual makeup but then added stage blood where the mask would cover and allowed it to drip as though in her own words, “it was ripped off!”

From there, she turned to Bev, our talented seamstress here at Inventionland, for her expert opinion on her bustle skirt.

“I wanted to have somewhat of a 20^th century feel. I pulled a few feathers from the bustle skirt and neck piece and added it to the side of the mask to help tie it all together.” said Tess.

Finally, the mask was no easy task as Tess informed us; it took quite some time to make it look like her skin in addition to adding the stage blood and stitches. “It was a pretty messy process!” she said.

The Inventionland Halloween party wasn’t the only event where her “Masquerade Face Off” costume made an appearance. In fact, she also wore it at an art gallery showing at Lucifer’s Gallery in Pittsburgh, where she was able to showcase some of her creepier watercolor paintings!

For husband and wife Jon (Builder) and Sharon (Prototype Builder), their costume was a family affair; they even brought their little dog Willow into it, too!

“We wanted to do something together,” said Jon. “Sharon really wanted Willow to be part of it; she loves that dog,” he said.

Both Sharon and Jon worked together to create a jailhouse costume that was made of cardboard.

Sharon painted the entire exterior so that it would look like stones. “She’s an awesome painter!” said Jon, who also did some painting himself.

“I used scrap PVC and metallic paint to make the jailhouse look like it had real iron bars,” said Jon.

The entire costume took about eight to 10 hours to construct and at the party, Sharon played “Jail House Rock” from a Bluetooth speaker that they incorporated into the costume by creating an “old time speaker on the outside of the jailhouse,” Jon noted.

For their jail suits, Sharon and Jon went to Goodwill, where they found a striped baby onesie for Willow and then headed to Home Depot for painters’ suits that they taped off and spray-painted with stripes.

While the pair didn’t take home any top prizes, their jailhouse will now be incorporated in Inventionland Halloween parties for years to come!

The party may be over, but there’s one more insanely creepy character still walking around Inventionland. Check back Monday to see who we’re talking about.

Copyright Inventionland, 2015

The post Inventive Costumes: Halloween Party Honorable Mentions! appeared first on Inventionland.

At Inventionland, we’d like to take this time to celebrate our hard-working inventors who have followed their hearts to turn their inventing dreams into tangible inventions.

So sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor, because we’d like to take a moment to celebrate YOU, the inventor.

Happy Labor Day from all of us at Inventionland – enjoy your day!

Copyright Inventionland, 2015

Image:

https://envision-hotel-boston.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Labor-Day-32.jpg

The post Happy Labor Day! appeared first on Inventionland.