Magnetic Magic Wand Toy

Do you know a kid that likes to pretend that they are a wizard or a fairy princess? How would you like to give them a toy wand that can turn on/off electronic devices like magic? You may even be able to teach them a thing or two about electronics in the process.

In this project, I show you how you can make magnetic switches that can be used to activate a circuit just like a regular momentary switch. This lets you add magnets and magnet sensitive switches to toys so that they can interact with each other

Instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Magic-Wand-that-can-turn-Electrical-Appliances-On-/

How to Get Emergency Power from a Phone Line

What do you do if the power is out but you need to charge your cellphone to make an emergency phone call (or play Angry Birds). Don't worry there are plenty of power sources all around you that you can tap into. One of them is phone line. Even when in a blackout, there is still electricity in the phone line. This is because the phone company has their own independent backup power system. All you need to tap this power is a simple voltage regulator. Here is how to set it up.

How to Make a Custom Operation Game

Operation is a game that lets you test your hand-eye coordination by removing ailment tokens from a carton patient. The difficult part is that you can't touch the sides of each slot. Since its original release in 1965, there have been a lot of custom versions of this game. There are versions for Star Wars, Iron Man, Toy Story and Sponge Bob. The simple design of the game makes it very versatile and easy to adapt. In this project, I show you how to make your own custom version of the game.

You can get the detailed step by step instructions for this project here.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Custom-Operation-Game/

Wind Activated Garden Lights

This is my first project that I made for Make Magazine's new DIY Hacks & How Tos YouTube series.

We are all familiar with garden fixtures like wind chimes and solar path lights. In this project, Jason Poel Smith combines these two elements and teaches you how to make wind-activated hanging lights. These DIY garden decorations light up and flicker like fireflies whenever the wind blows. The stronger the wind, the more active they are. 

Like any decoration, it don't need to be confined to a garden or back yard. They can also light up the edge of your roof or your porch. You can even bring them in doors and set them across from your A/C vent.

Complete step by step instructions instructions for this build can be found at: http://www.instructables.com/id/Wind-Activated-Garden-Lights/ 

My New Series on Make Magazine's YouTube Channel

Yesterday, Make Magazine launched my new video series on their YouTube channel. I am producing a new project every week and they are hosting it on their YouTube channel and blog. Here is the launching blog post. http://blog.makezine.com/2013/04/22/introducing-diy-hacks-and-how-tos-a-video-series-with-jason-poel-smith/

Two Part Magnetic Stapler

At one point or another, you have probably been frustrated by the limitations of a standard office stapler. They can only staple 3.5 inches into a page. So if you are working on a large or oddly shaped project, then you are usually stuck trying to staple into carpet or a piece of cardboard and then bending the teeth of the stapler down by hand. I think that a better option would be to make a stapler that can be separated into two parts, placed on opposite sides of a paper and aligned with magnets. Here is a simple example of how this could be done.

Open Hard to Remove Lids with Duct Tape

The next time you find yourself battling a tightly sealed jar, try using duct tape.