Fun Finds, 1/22/15: Glowing Shrooms, Make-Under Dolls, & Robot Turtles!

I feel like this week the internet finally shook off its holiday/new year doldrums, and started churning out the Good Stuff again, you know? It's been weeks since I found much online to really inspire or capture my imagination, and now suddenly I'm seeing all KINDS of goodies! (Granted, that could be a reflection of my own doldrums-shaking, but still.)

Some of my favorites:

Glowing Mushroom Tutorial by Matt over at Instructables:

These mushrooms are incredibly life-like, and other than the LED wiring, look pretty simple to make! (Just a little silicon caulking and paint, if you can believe it.) I want to make some to display in a glass dome, like a steampunky specimen jar. Would look SO COOL at night.

Oh, and another instructables user made some with blue LEDs:

Awesome.

My favorite photographer, Tom Bricker, did a quick tutorial on Blending Image Layers:

Wowie.

And while we're at it, Tom went to an Owl Cafe in Japan - an OWL CAFE, people - and wrote up a review of the experience, which is fascinating.  I want this one:
 

Yep. DO WANT.

For my fellow Borderlands fans: there's an 11-inch tall, remote-controlled Claptrap coming out in March, and he looks suh-WEET:

He'll cost about $400, and there will only be 5000 made, so... I guess I'll just console myself with our life-sized Claptrap coming together in the garage. Heh.  (More details over at Mashable.)


Remember Lammily, the "realistic fashion doll" that went viral for re-imagining Barbie with actual human proportions? Well in that general spirit, there's a Tasmanian artist now giving Bratz dolls some surprisingly sweet "make-unders:"

Tree Change Dolls repaints the faces, (un)styles the hair, molds new feet, and then outfits these thrift-store finds in clothes she and her mother make by hand:

As I said, the results are surprisingly sweet! Her out-doorsy finished photos really capture the innocence of a much younger and less self-conscious childhood, and the contrast between the dolls' before and after pics could be taken for a serious commentary on today's society - should you be so inclined. (Or if not: lookie! Pretty dolls! :))

Head over to the Tree Change Dolls Tumblr for lots more before-and-afters, and watch that site for her Etsy shop, which she says is coming soon. (And hat tip to Neatorama for the link.)

Another excellent Neatorama find: 40+ DIY uses for wine corks. Most are about what you'd expect (trivets, anyone?), but there are a few real gems in there! My favorite are the drawer pulls from Dollar Store Crafts:

Not sure how durable they'd be long-term, but considering the cost is $FREE, this would be awesome for rustic, vintage, or steampunky designs.

Sue of All Natural Arts just made her best watch-part sculpture yet for Edgar Allen Poe's birthday:

Seriously, how stunning is this?? Sue uses real vintage pocket watches, and those are all tiny watch parts - see how the raven's wings are tiny clock hands? And as if that weren't enough, the pendulum under Poe's ear actually swings back and forth. SWOON.

And finally, in adorable robot news, look what Disney just made!

  This too-cute-for-words, turtle-shaped "Beach Bot" can draw pictures in the sand. Big, BIG pictures:

 And it's orange! ORANGE!!

Ahem.

More over at Wired, where you can watch a video of the BeachBot in action.

So what's inspiring you this month, guys? Hit me up with some more Good Stuff in the comments!