How to: Make a DIY Industrial Record Cabinet

In the era of digital entertainment and the cloud, it can be tough to store physical media. While you can snag giant hard drives with a footprint smaller than a single book, it can be tough to find a spot for those things you can touch. Particularly vinyl records, lps, albums, or whatever you like to call 'em. Milk crates have shrunk, and with the exception of IKEA's Expedit series, or expensive custom DJ furniture, it's hard to find cabinets or shelves deep and tall enough to handle those twelve inchers.

Unless, of course, you make it yourself. And while you're at it, make sure it can double as seating for your next music-filled get-together.    

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How To: Make a Back Yard Drink Caddy for $2.00

At first, this may seem a little superfluous. But then, one of your buddies gets out the frisbee. And then the neighbor's dog comes to say hello, or someone stumbles in your direction, and your ice cold beverage is all over the ground. Honestly, I think of three times I could/would have used one of these in the last week, even though it's been raining like crazy.

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How To: Refinish an Old Metal Toolbox

I'm with John. The selection of toolboxes at hardware stores is awful: flimsy black and yellow junk emblazoned with brands, or cheap synthetic fabrics with seams that are already beginning to come apart.

So, like John, I'm always on the lookout for old metal toolboxes and tackle boxes when at the thrift shop and other secondhand stores. And, over the years, I have a pretty heathly collection of perfectly usable, albeit rust cover and pretty shabby looking, old steel toolboxes.

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How To: Make a Silver Ring, from a Quarter

Interesting fact for Monday, December 6th, 2010: U.S. quarters manufactured before 1964 are made of silver. Huh.

Even more interesting, that quarter can be transformed into a  silver ring, using a spoon!

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Help Us Decide if These are Cool or Not: Metal Neckties

We recently spied these metal neckties on Recyclart, and I've had them open in a browser tab for a week, cause I just can't decide how I feel about them. I know I'd never buy one, but are they interesting and unique, or simply the heirs of the gag gift novelty tie?

Please post your thoughts in the comments below.

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Quiltsryche: Quilting with a Hard Edge

Seattle-based textile artist and designer Boo Davis creates "modern heirloom quilts just like your metal-loving, half-blind Grandma would...[with] bold designs, eye-popping color combinations and a touch of evil," under her studio, Quiltsryche.

"Dare to Be Square Quilting," her new book, will be published this month, and is a little more tame than her standard fare. And understandably so; recently interviewed by the New York Times, Davis revealed, "I set out to do a hard-edged, metal-infused guide to quilting. My proposal outlined projects like a Blizzard of Oz scarf and a quilt called Snake Pit, as if Slash were to have a quilt on his bed. It made the rounds of the book publishers, and everyone said, “This is awesome, but we can’t touch it with a 10-foot pole.” Finally, Potter Craft came back with, “We love your aesthetic, we love your voice, can you do a completely different book?” And I did just that and I’m actually happy with it.  

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