Every wand we craft has unique mythos and a special spell. This wand is called the Scarlet Sunset.
Mythos
Scarlet Sunset was crafted as the sun was setting so its magic is strongest at night. For difficult spells, it is recommended to wait till a new moon. It plays well with fire and can even use fire as a healing energy to cure people and creatures.
Special Spell
Incendium Purgatio (Fire purification)
It is 14 3/4 inches long. Made of poplar grown in the Hip Monster’s realm. The wood was spoke shaven straight, soaked in oil with a rosemary and chives blend then polished with bee’s wax.
Need to track the moon phases for that perfect time to cast a spell? Worried about when you are due to change into a werewolf?
The following instructions are for a quick DIY Sun, Earth, Moon Orrery we did for a school project. This is suitable for ages 6 to 12 but may need adult supervision. We were inspired by this article in instructables.com but needed a much simpler design.
This project was also the start of HipMonsters, and we still use some of the same skills for our robots and woodworking projects.
Please note, this material is provided for informational purposes only and is not a guide on how to create the designs. Please read our disclaimer.Equipment
Equipment:
Drill
Pliers
Wire Cutters
Parts:
Plywood (10 X 10 inches)
4 inch bolt with 3 nuts and 3 washers
2 inch bolt with 3 nuts and 3 washers
3 foam balls of different sizes
9 inches of thick wire (may use coat hangers)
5 inches of thin wire (may use pipe cleaner)
Foam padding
Step 1
First, measure the center hole for the main screw. This screw will support the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
Step 2
Next, drill the hole and push the large screw through the hole and secure it with a washer and bolt.
Step 3
Turn over the base and stick four foam pads on the bottom. We used one large foam pad for furniture and cut it into four pieces. These foam padding will prevent the center bolt from scratching the table when placed upright.
Step 4
Turn the base back over and make sure the foam padding is tall enough to prevent the bolt from scratching the table. If not, then add another layer of foam. Next, screw another a nut to the halfway point on the bolt and then put a washer on top.
Step 5
Now we need to make the support wire for the Earth. Take the larger wire and bend both ends using a screwdriver as shown. The goal is the make the loops tight enough so the bolts are secure when threaded through them.
Step 6
Here, both ends are ready to secure the Earth to the center shaft. Notice one loop is smaller than the other. The larger loop is for the center bolt; the smaller one is for Earth’s bolt.
Step 7
Now, thread the smaller bolt through the smaller loop.
Step 8
Secure the bolt to the arm with a washer and nut. Then screw a nut halfway up the bolt. This bolt will serve as support for the Moon’s arm.
Step 9
Next, create the Moon’s arm. Bend the thinner wire similar to the Earth’s arm but only put a loop on one end. Bend the other end up to support the Moon.
Step 10
Now connect the thin wire to the screw on Earth’s arm and secure with a bolt.
Step 11
And we are nearly there! Just connect the thick wire to the screw and put a washer and bolt on top. Make sure to screw on tightly, the weight of the arm can make it droop.
Step 12
And finally we are ready to add the Sun, Earth, and Moon. The smallest ball is the Moon and goes on the smallest arm. The Earth is the mid-sized ball and put onto the outer bolt. The largest ball is the Sun and placed on the center bolts. You can paint the balls as the final step if you want to.Putting it all together
The Sun, Earth, Moon orrery is almost complete, we just need to assemble! Here are all the pieces laid out. We substitute the foam balls in one build with a ping pong ball for the Sun and felt balls for the Earth and Moon.Enjoy
You now have your own Sun, Earth, Moon Orrery and predict the next eclipse or start planning for the next full moon! Keep a watch out for werewolves!
Every wand we craft has unique mythos and a special spell. This wand is called the Night View.
Mythos
The wand Night View has a darker side. Made of poplar and dyed in dark herbs she is ready for night time adventures!.
Special Spell
Noctem Visus (Night Vision)
It is 13 1/2 inches long. Made of poplar grown in the Hip Monster’s realm. The wood was spoke shaven straight, soaked in oil with a blueberries and mint blend then polished with bee’s wax.
Inspired by our trips to Hawaii, the sisters team decided to make their own working DIY ukulele. We ended up making a whole lot of them because it is a good way to practice some woodworking skills. We advise using wood that isn’t to hard for the sides, because that makes drilling the center hole a lot easier.
We are missing some photos between the required supplies and the final clamping – sorry.
Clamping the front and back together
After lots of cutting and drilling, we clamped the front and back together. We used a big drill bit to drill the center hole after measuring for the right spot. Make sure that you don’t put two keyholes directly on top of each other, leave room for the strings to go down.
Ready for painting
We put the keys in and glued the bridge on. We double-checked out measurements a lot so the strings would all align. We also made sure to sand it a lot, you don’t want to get a splinter while playing music.
Top ViewClose up of the end with the bridge
(The keys and bridge came from a set ordered online)
Painted in a color scheme with sparkly paint
Here is an indestructible DIY ukulele capable of fending off a troll. Made from poplar and bound together with the magic of the ages, its music will impress even fairies.
This puzzle box was inspired by Roy Underhill’s Woodwright Shop. Based on an early American grease pot design it is crafted out of poplar. It measures 8 inches by 3 inches, just big enough to hide special jewels or a secret treasure.
Puzzle Box
The clean dovetail is essential to making this puzzle box work. Ideally, you want to use a harder wood than you used for the box.
Dovetail close upMeasuring a dovetail
Use a chisel to measure the width of a dovetail. Cut two sets of parallel line and carefully remove the outer edges, then cut it off the wooden beam.
Cutting the lid and lock.
Make use to secure the wood and cut very slowly to get a clean cut. If using a Japanese saw let the weight of the saw do the cutting, instead of using lots of force.
Drill a hole after cutting off the lid
We tried drilling the hole before cutting and found out the pieces did not align tightly. Even a thin blade takes a lot of material from a piece of wood.
Finished box
Remember to carve out the dovetail before cutting the lid and lock. Be prepared to make mistakes- that is all part of the process. For the locking slider make sure it is angled to secure the lid. We made that mistake more than once, so we used the wood that we made mistakes on for other projects.
Fully opened
To make the dovetail pop, we typically use a darker stain. To make it harder to unlock, you can paint the whole piece to hide the locking mechanism.
When the sisters team discovered Transformer comics (Go WindBlade!) they wanted a whole city of Transformers to play with. While that was way too expensive, they could build their own shape-shifting toy robots out of wood.
Getting Started
Borrowing from wooden dolls, we settled on a design with rubber bands attaching the arms and head to the body and a bolt to attached the legs enabling the robot to shift forms.
Drilling to holes
First we cut and drilled all the wood based on a working design.
Assembling Begins!
We used lego wheels for the robots that transformed into cars.
Fitting the rubber bands
Attaching the rubber bands proved difficult. We used a jewelry tool to thread the rubber bands through the holes in the wood (many broke in the process).
Final Touches
A few more adjustments, including sanding the edges, and widening holes.
The robot is complete!
By using springs in the legs, the toy robot can hold a standing position.
The assembly line
After we perfect a design, it was just a matter of creating a assembly line to crank out droids! We did some that turned into cars, some that turned into bugs, and some that turned in to other forms!
Severus Snape and Professor Sprout are two of our favorite characters in Harry Potter, and their story inspired the sister team to begin exploring potion making and herbology.
From our hidden garden in the city, the HipMonsters sister team will bring you tips on growing herbs in a city, how best to preserve and prepare your herbs, and how to have fun!
Our herb Garden
We started our herb garden by clearing and preparing several patches in our yard that were suitable for growing herbs. We ended up with two beds that received full midday sun and others that were in the shade most of the day during summer. Our yard is really old, so to prepare the beds we dug down 24 inches and churned in lost of fresh dirt. All of the beds had good drainage.
The sunniest bed after planting
After the beds were done, we observed how much sun they received and how the water drained. Using this information, we researched the best herbs for each bed focusing on herbs that were well-suited for San Francisco’s climate. Here is a good article to start your research.
Sage in Bloom
Here is a list of some of the herbs that worked best:
Thyme
Yerba Buena
Rosemary
Sage
Oregano
Tarragon
Red Veined Sorrel
Chives
Basil
Parsley
Onions
Wild Garlic
Roses
Borage
Lavender
English
Spanish
Mint
Spearmint
Mojito
Peppermint
Our Flower Garden
Most of our yard has is dedicated to native plants or flowers that are good for bees. This gives us flowers nearly year round. The credit for most of the planting is the prior owner who took great care to attract bees and birds. We have tried to follow in her footsteps and have several bumble bee nests throughout our yard as well as lots of honey bees from neighboring hives.
Many of the flowers are perfect for drying but most are not good in flower arrangement because they die too quickly once cut. Here is a great article on the types of flowers in our yard. Even though most of the flowers are native, we still need to care or them and fertilize the beds a few times a year using liquid kelp. The most important thing is to never rip up the flowers after they die. We leave them to assure the seeds will spread for next year’s crop. This does look a little unkept but the next spring will make up for it.
Potion collection
And now our Harry Potter fandom kicks in. Given our growing collection of herbs and dried flowers, we decided to make to our own potion cabinet hidden deep in our basement!
Our well-used mortar and pestle
From our store we craft little bags and jars filled with ground up herbs and flowers as presents.
Herbs ready for cooking
We also bottle up our best dried herbs to be used in our cooking and potion-making!
The HipMonsters team does not like trees going to waste, so whenever we stumble upon a piece of wood too rotten or misshapen to be used for our projects, we create a wooden monster!
Allie!
Born from a dead branch of a juniper bush, this monster is built to protect a child’s room. It is very possessive and will only allow one monster in the room at a time. Perfect for making sure human children have a restful nighttime sleep.
Allie from the front.
We made Allie’s eyes out of two styrofoam balls.
Allie from the rear.
Allie was one of our first monsters and is at the front of our house very Halloween!
When we go hiking, we sometimes pick up some good pieces of wood to make into staffs or other creations. We found this one in a park close to our house, it was made from a fallen eucalyptus branch. Every staff we craft has a unique mythos and special spell. This staff is called the Twisted Wave.
Mythos
The staff Twisted Wave craves unexpected journey and visitors. Travelers should only journey with Twisting Wave if they want to encounter potential friends, it is a peaceful staff, and does not like engaging in battle.
Special Spell
Amicitia (Friendship)
Twisting Wave is 5 feet high, perfect for navigating tricky terrain. The wood was spoke shaven, soaked in oil with a red clay then polished with bee’s wax.
