MEET THE MAKERS

THAT Damned Band is an accordion-driven musical explosion of creative storytelling and superb musicianship. An acoustic band consisting of some of Ausin, Texas’ most outgoing and original improvisational instrumentalists play songs that veer through genres from Old-time to New Orleans jazz to punk rock performance art to vaudeville, while singing songs about goblins, piracy, and whiskey.

A delight to the ear, a remembrance of times gone by with a modern flare… a time when Freak Shows Graced the Midways. John Robinson, www.sideshowworld.com

THE BAND: A visceral entry into a world of Goblins, Freaks, Pirates, and the Others from all possible worlds, all swimming in punch, all breaking open the head, all dancing through as many possible realms of existence as are possible, ad infimnitum. Think of the darkest shadow under the bed, the dustiest memory on the shelf, the most brilliant color you ever felt. That is where our songs come from.
THAT Damned Band is an accordion driven group of multi-talented songsters, which pay musical tribute to eastern European, yiddish, and old-tyme vaudevillian era music and styles. THAT Damned Band features a unique arrangement that includes Accordion, Clarinet, Jug, flute, saw, Resonator Guitar, Washtub bass, Tuba, Drums, and washboard. An emotionally charged musical set is spiced up with occasional performances by REAL LIVING HUMAN ODDITIES and circus sideshow acts.

Learn to make your own bars of soap using a glycerin base that you can easily melt and pour. This project can be completed in a matter of minutes. Participants choose the color, fragrance & toy for their soap, and pour it into a soap mold where it needs to set. After they have set they are ready to use! Each person will go home with a completed soap, instruction sheet and reusable soap mold for future soapy projects. This is an easy, fun & creative project that is great for kids!

A stepper motor driven drawing machine that creates complex guilloché patterns. Guilloché is the word used to describe intricate repetitive patterns often used in security printing and fine metal working.

The elegant and mechanically simple design of the machine is based on a drawing toy from the 1920’s called the Hoot Nanny

The machine uses three micro-step motors that are controlled by a program written in PureData. Careful control of the motor speed ratios and positioning of the pen arms results in complex patterns. Some of the best patterns are the result of setting the speeds very near but not quite on specific harmonic relationships.

The pen traces a Lissajous curve and the paper rotates beneath the pen, thus tracing out the complex pattern.
The patterns take from 10 minutes to an hour to create.

Remember the Atari 2600, the video game system introduced in 1977 that revolutionized the world? Did you know that it’s still going strong with a big homebrew scene? Ben Combee will show off modded Atari 2600 and 7800 consoles along with the tools and code needed to write your own games and demos.

LEGO-compatible iPhone and iPod Touch cases (www.smallworks.com)

demonstration of iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) connectivity to LEGO Mindstorms NXT (http://mindstorms.lego.com/)

maybe demonstration of iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) connectivity to LEGO Power Functions (http://powerfunctions.lego.com)

maybe (maybe) demonstration of iOS (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) connectivity to Arduino

Hello, my name is Jamie McShan. I live in Dripping Springs and I have a full size fully remote R2-D2 from the movie Star Wars. I take him to different charity events such as visits to the children’s hospital as well as events such as the Star Wars in Concert were he did a photo shoot with Anthony Daniels (C3P0) and he has been on stage with Weird Al Yankovic twice. You can take a look at my website www.jamiemcshan.com to see some of the events he has been at. Thought I would ask if you would interested in him coming to your event. I can drive him around and the kids and adults can take photos, ask questions, etc.

ATX Hackerspace exists to promote and encourage technical, scientific, and artistic skills through projects, collaboration, and education. The space itself is a shared garage or workshop that provides not only access to advanced equipment one would otherwise be unable to afford or house (such as our laser cutter, 3D printers and machine shop equipment) but to the wealth of knowledge and expertise housed in the brains of it’s various members.

I hand crochet jewelry using simply a small steel hook and thread, with pearls, gemstones, glass, shells, and other beautiful materials from around the world. My fiber art guitars pay homage to two of my passions – music and craft. Awarded Best of Austin Shopping 2011, Austin Chronicle.

Manic Trout is jewelry with funky finesse expressed in dramatic,
unexpected pieces. Locally and hand made, artisanal jewelry with a
vintage edge, Manic Trout creates looks that are colorful, unique and
incorporate unusual combinations of materials, textures and styles. Manic
Trout is jewelry for life’s manic moments. Visit manictrout.com for more
information.

Come get wet and play with the forces of nature. Sand + water + rocks+ tilted table = FUN!!

This was a fun Maker booth at 2008’s Austin Faire. And the kids who were six and three years of age then are recreating it for Austin’s first mini maker faire!

The FBBb is a funky gigantic brain mounted on a bird’s body. It’s wings flap, beak articulates, makes sounds, lights flash, and moves around on a radio controlled platform. It is powered by a solar charged 12v battery. It is the newest in THEGIANTBRAIN series. Someone called it a Chucky Cheese animatronic gone weird or weirder. The 5’ tall piece is made of hacked toys, micro-processors, electric motors, new and recycled materials and much more.

The Weavers and Spinners Society of Austin will warp an upright tapestry loom. We will have yarn. Then everyone at mini-maker faire can help us weave a collaborative tapestry. We might also have some drop spindles if someone wants to spin the yarn for their weft piece for the tapestry.

Collage is taking materials normally thrown away and making them into something thought provoking, beautiful or mind blowing. Each collage made is a personal exploration.

Join in and make a greeting card, poster or postcard.

I designed and patented a magnetic bookmark that stays ON your book and IN your book till you’re done reading! Attaches to your book’s cover, so it doesn’t leave your book! No more lost bookmarks, taking it out and it disappears, falling out of your book, dog-eared pages…and it’ll stick to your fridge when you’re in between books!

100% handmade by me using cotton fabrics, magnets, and ribbon.

This is a radio controlled LED light tower which plays recorded video patterns. Use your smart phone or tablet to select and play light patterns.

Recycled crafts for kids both young and old!

Offering an abundant array of glass bubble magnets and an assortment of further frivolities.

Themed photo booths catered to your event. Props, imagination, and creativity!We provide optional printing on site, all themed back drops are made only once.We are creative, whimsical, and a bit silly, but mostly we like to have fun!!All photos are posted on our website with connections to all major social media outlets.If you like our Zappy Springs Page you can share and tag yourself and spread the love!

AmeliaBeth creates jewelry and accessories for men and women, upcycled from Scrabble tiles. Each piece has a colorful image on the front and the Scrabble letter on the back.

Faux Fur Festival Ware.

I’m an Americana Singer/Songwriter. WOuld be happy to perform at the event if you are having live music!

Looking for a foray into wood-working but don’t know where to start? Don’t have the time and space for a huge collection of tools or a shop? Don’t have the attention span for 80 hour long masterpiece projects? Then consider learning how to turn on a [mini] lathe!

With a mini lathe you can turn pens, toys, bowls, kitchen utensils, and loads of other gifts and trinkets. The beauty is a mini lathe is small and relatively inexpensive. Projects can be completed quickly (usually in a single evening), and the materials cost is fairly low — fallen trees, scrap wood, etc.

It’s a great way to decompress after work and is a foundational skill upon which you can build other great things.

The Merfluke VII is a device you wear on your lower legs to allow you to swim in much the same way that dolphins, among the fastest swimmers in the ocean, do. This kind of swimming is called thunniform and differs from swimming with flexible fins, which is called carangiform. The Merfluke VII is comfortable to use and relatively safe. I have swum about a kilometer with it. I am attempting to make it more efficient than normal swim fins, although this prototype has not come close to that yet.

The Merfluke consists of a four bar linkage that is securely braced against the lower legs. The rotation of the feet around the ankle joint control the angle of a dolphin-like fluke. The fluke is 18” behind the feet. The person merfluking uses the quads, hams, glutes, and abdominal muscles to drive the fluke up and down through the water. As the fluke oscillates up and down the feet are pointed and flexed to control the angle of attack of the fluke, so that it can describe a sinusoid in the water, providing propulsion much as a dolphin does.

The Merfluke is made out of aluminum, polycarbonate, wood, polyurethane foam, and vinyl. Anybody can make one.

At the present state of development (the seventh complete prototype made over the course of five years) it is functional, but has not achieved the goal: to allow an athlete to swim faster than ever before.

Join The Modern Quilt Guild to learn the fundamentals of quilt making. We’ll cover the basics of hand piecing and talk a bit about modern quilt design.

Microcontrollers drive those robot things, cellphones, toasters, toys, and of course those ultra cool minicopters. You’ll find about a hundred of them in any car.

Come be part of the fun for very little $$$. You got a computer and a few electronic parts and about $10, you can get going on your own using yamaplos’ Libre manual.

Try out the activities right here!

Microcontrollers are fun, more importantly they a career choice with many possibilities – resources available are affordable and designed especially for the independent learner, such as homeschoolers, and also for the Science/Technology classroom situation where the teacher is not an engineer.

Captain Cozmic of Planet Patrol in Space Adventure mini web-series created by John P. Funk. John explains that the inspiration for his fun filled action packed Space Adventure cartoon was born out of his love for the Apollo Space Program of the 1960’s, 70’s.

John uses real miniatures and model inventions that he makes from scratch in similar fashion to the spaceships, landscapes and sets created for the original Star Wars films. John incorporates LED lighting and electronics making his models real Special Effects miniatures. John then precisely photographs every model, figure and set location and photoshop’s them into a format in which he can render his images into 3D Studio combining 3D FX graphics thus giving his show a unique look that is a testament to his skills as a visual artist, filmmaker and storyteller.

‘Lil Tchotchkes is a program designed to guide students in grades 6-12 to create a mini business with their art and/or crafts. A carefully designed curriculum will guide the students enrolled in the 6 week summer 2012 program, through the process of creating a well thought out and constructed mini business. Incorporated in the curriculum is financial planning, budgeting, and saving for future goals, in addition to making the product, marketing, pricing, and branding. Visitors can visit the tent to create a one of a kind upcycled ‘Lil Tchotchkes patch using a Yudu machine and/or a rustic cowboy and cowgirl mobile that is reflective of the style used with Fartsy Arts, my personal mini business that has served as the biggest inspiration for the development of ‘Lil Tchotchkes.

one of a kind wearable art; jewelry made with nail polish and beaded collage.

The WonderCraft offers all DIYers something new, a place to make things with friends, a handmade shop, and a mobile studio inside an Airstream. Visit the Craft Bar and create something off the Make Menu.The WonderCraft will be providing these fun crafts at a low cost to the Faire-goers: Hammered Jewelry: Come over and personalize a charm with your initials, special date, or paint. This versatile project goes well with other jewelry creations and makes a great gift. We will teach you how to hammer each piece safely, use a Dremmel, and basic jewelry skills.
Photo Charms: Take a spin in our handmade photobooth and use the pictures to make photo charms. Easy and fun! Pair it with your hammered charm for a unique necklace.

Blinkenworks is a catch-all name for the LED and electronics projects made by Christian Miller. Works on display include the Uberhoop (the world’s most technologically advanced hula hoop!), portable EKGs with beating heart displays, illuminated clothing, wirelessly controlled interior and exterior lighting, and more!

The Homeless Coach RV has undergone an Xstream Makeover by over 200 people and 85 businesses in the greater Austin community transforming it into a mobile, live-streaming, social networking & coaching platform missioned to ssensselemoH… reverse Homelessness.

The Analog Tele-Phonographer is a passive acoustic audio amplifier made for iPhone or iPad, using salvaged brass instruments, stainless steel, and surplus machine parts. Analog Tele-Phonographers use no batteries, electricity, cables, or electronics. They simply harness the sound coming from your device’s built-in speaker, and provide a louder, warmer, richer tone.

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Let your creativity take control. Come see how you can turn recycled materials into works of creative expression. Look at Motorizations, Fabrications, and Transformations of everyday items into works of wonder. See if you can solve a problem in an instant. Learn about classes, projects and products that can inspire your creativity. All this and more awaits your arrival.

All sounds are electronic – after all, the human ear converts sound waves into electrical impulses that get sent to the brain. Mickey will explain how a synthesizer turns electrical impulses into sound waves. He will discuss the basics of electronic sound synthesis which covers electronics, physics, biology, and history. Then, he will dive into the inner workings of a synthesizer, demonstrating and explaining fundamental parts of a modular synth. Mickey will also make lots of weird noises for your enjoyment!

No Hassle Hof LEDS: This class presents a small, easy to solder project that can be used for beginner’s soldering classes. The idea is to present a short class in basic soldering skills with the end product being a simple circuit built in class that the student can take home.

The iconic lights from the car in the original knight rider series are reproduced in several projects generally available on the internet using a variety of schematics and components. To keep the kit simple and low cost, we settled on a popular design using a 555 timer and a 4017 decade counter.

We plan to support 12 kits total for the Maker Faire. We expect to have 6 attendees sit down with us at a time.

Mini living walls are a fun way to grow food in a small space! Using mostly reclaimed and recycled materials, you’ll build or take home a kit to make your own, easy to grow mini living wall for your desk-top, kitchen herb window, or balcony.

Horto domi is an open hardware raised-bed garden unit with environmental control and monitoring via web-interface thanks to Arduino Ethernet. DIY sensors, such as those collecting moisture and temperature data help monitor the environment within the dome and will eventually be used to automate conditions. The goal is to grow whatever you want, whenever you want, wherever you are. Horto domi is Latin for ‘Garden at home.’ It’s a statement to healthful food independence, a “neo-renaissance” tip of the hat to Arduino, and it sounds like horticultural dome. Particular consideration was taken in this prototype’s design to maximize the mineral and nutrient value of the beyond-organic produce and minimize environmental contamination risks.
This project was inspired by Luke Iseman’s Garduino, published in Make Magazine, Volume 18, and engaged by Marcin Jacubowski’s Open Source Ecology GVCS.

BabyBolt: Striking Kidwear handmade in Austin, Texas. BabyBolt outfits kiddos from birth to 8 in unique retro mod inspired fabrics and designs. Made with love and built to last, you’ll find baby essentials like bibs and onesies, fun gifts like crayon and pencil rolls, and cool appliqued shirts for older kids.

This device is a Climbing Arc Device. It’s common name is the Jacob’s Ladder. An electrical transformer places a high voltage across V shaped electrodes. An arc forms and moves up the electrode, reforming at the bottom, continuing the cycle.

Come and get your hands on real tools and woodworking materials! You’ll learn how to use a drill, needle, and thread to create your own personal stitched wood plaque.

HSMM-MESH is a project by Amateur Radio Operators where we take Linksys WRT54G wireless routers/access points, load our own customized firmware (mostly written right here in Austin), and turn the router into an Amateur Radio High-Speed-Multimedia Mesh network node.
We then attempt to link as many nodes as possible to form our own Ham Radio high speed wireless network.We use gain antennas, amps, filters, and other creative ideas to get long paths (miles!) out of these nodes.There are groups and users all across the country starting to setup HSMM-MESH nodes for their own use.

Did you know you can make gummy candy at home easily and inexpensively? Not only does this mean you can use your own molds to make whatever shape you want, but you can also tailor it to all kinds of weird and wonderful cake decorating techniques. Come see one of the biggest geeks in the sugar arts industry play with food and you’ll leave raring to try your own ideas at home!

The ArduiNIX is an Arduino compatible shield which plugs right onto the top of the Arduino** board. ArduiNIX takes care of stepping power from 9vDC – 12vDC 650mA wall wart* up to a maximum of approx. 250vDC to drive any and all Nixie tubes. ArduiNIX also provides Multiplexed display for up to 80 elements by using 4 anode channels and 20 cathode channels.

Not only does the ArduiNIX provide a nixie tube platform for standard clock functions, but it is also user programmable, meaning if you can program it using the arduino environment, you can make it happen on your nixie display.

Reloved Creative is a well-spring for art, design and instruction. With the goal of becoming a cooperative for artists and aspiring artists, we share the belief that we are most inspired when we work together. We can bring art education back in to the community and make owning and creating art affordable to all. Connecting and networking for resources, supplies, studio space and marketing on the grassroots level. Reloved Creative means reviving traditions that work, like guilds for artists; Reloved Creative means seeing art as life’s greatest expression, love.

Demonstration of various types of activities that can be done with Ham Radio, includes VHF and HF Radio, Digital modes including using customized Linksys routers to do MESH networking via Amateur Radio, and interactive stations for youngsters to learn about morse code and basic electronics.

The Four Rocking Horses of the Apocalypse project was born in 2009.  I started with one adult sized rocking horse.  I knew I wanted it to look skeletal and dark, and I knew I wanted it to be ridden and enjoyed.  Never having worked with wood, or large-scale sculpture (really, any kind of sculpture), I just started drawing.  I borrowed tools, bought wood, asked friends to help, learned to sculpt, and eventually a giant rocking skeletal horse was born.  She was alone, not yet part of some large scale project, just a rocking horse for grown ups to ride.

Then a friend planted a seed by mentioning the idea of having four rocking horses representing the four horsemen of the apocalypse.  That seed immediately sprouted roots, and before I knew it I was planning the 2nd rocking horse.

My interpretation of these horsemen from Revelations in the Bible is very loose, it’s an artistic idea based mostly on how I want them to look, and less on the many academic and theological interpretations.  I want them to appear ominous and imposing, but the catch is that they are giant toys.  They are meant to be fantastic and absurd, but also beautiful and magical.  You cannot ride one of the mammoths without feeling a little joy.  With this world feeling so unstable, and all the theories of its end, the rocking horses bring light to a dark time.

Hooping has exploded as a fitness / dance revolution. Hula-hooping success for all ages has come by using handmade, heavier, larger diameter hoops. Explore hooping with a variety of sizes! Notice how much easier and slower large, over-sized hoops spin. Laura Scarborough & her Hoopcircle play-zone give tips on how to hoop and also how to MAKE your own larger hoops!

For more than twenty years, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) has been helping inspire students from grades K through 12 to beomce science and technology leaders.

This year, over 100,000 students from grades K through 12 will participate in one of FIRST’s four robotics competitions – Junior FIRST Lego League (Jr. FLL), FIRST Lego League (FLL), the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) and the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

This demonstration showcases students and the robots they’ve developed during the 2011-2012 competition season.

Shooting Straws
Discover how aerospace engineers design rockets. Come design a high flying straw rocket with Girlstart! Create unique straw fins to see how far your rocket will soar.

TXFX Haunters Group, Round Rock Chapter is a group of Home Haunters who create haunted walkthroughs of their yard or garage and build the majority of the props from ordinary household items and some specialty items. We use air pneumatics, electronics, windshield wiper and reindeer motors to power our creations. We make our own tombstones from foam using tools we that made such as our homemade Hot Wire Table to cut the foam, which we can do live demonstrations in the booth with, we build animatronics using pvc and items from our local hardware store, we’ve begun making our own masks using latex molds and cloth. A few of us build electronics to use as timers and event triggers and we do this all for the love of making Halloween.

The Edge of Imagination Station is an interactive mobile stop motion animation lab. Stop motion is a type of animation where a series of still pictures are played as a movie giving the illusion of motion. Using chalk, paper, clay, 3-D objects and custom user friendly software, participants can bring their ideas to life and add sounds right here, right now. All the videos that are created are grouped together and posted online at www.theedgeofimaginationstation.com. So what are you waiting for? Make ART now!

This is a ceiling fan that has LEDs attached to the fan’s blades.
When the fan rotates a scolling message is displayed and can be as long as 999 characters. The control circuit uses a microcontroller that was developed here in Austin. The last prototype was displayed at the Austin Maker Faire 2008 and this design has many improvements.
Visitors are welcome to type in a message and watch it appear on the sign through the magic of radio waves.

Unleash the story you were meant to live: a visual Affirmation Collage Workshop

Twisted Stitches 512 sells crocheted art, adornments and accessories.

Learn about the importance of native plants by making seed balls. Made from native wildflower seeds and growing medium, these compact seed balls are easy to share with others to plant throughout the community. This is hands-on environmental education!

Ceramics:Each piece is hand created with a process called Raku. The doll heads are initially fired (bisque) to a cone 6. Each piece is glazed and fired to a temperature of 1900 degrees then very carefully removed and placed in a metal container with sawdust which produces thick black smoke. The carbon is wicked into the porous clay body, blackening the clay and accentuating the crackle pattern of the glaze.

An assortment of dinky BEAM robots and nifty tiny things. This booth focuses on simple, low cost crafts and electronics demos as a collaboration of art and fabrication.
There will be cute. And derpy.

Build an infinity mirror illusion device using a battery-powered LED string, a mirror and a plastic plate!

Dead Music Capital Band – An outrageously macabre musical party from Austin, TX

A local nonprofit organization promoting electric transportation and
providing support for those who own or build battery powered vehicles.
AustinEV presents some example projects built by some of our members.

Come and see the magic of endless possibilities from Austin’s first DIY design on demand resource. W help to make your ideas a reality! Join us to see what amazing projects our make+SHift members have been making from creating intricate designs on the CNC machine to our DIY micro manufacturers! Founder Brooke M Davis will be on there to answer questions about your projects as well as she will speak on how she used make+Shift to create her own Luxury CNC furniture designs

Watch as lifeless, old cookie tins are ripped apart before your very eyes and re-imagined into lovely, lightweight pieces of jewelry. Be astounded by the use of common, inexpensive tools to create objects of extraordinary beauty. Delight in the opportunity to create your own one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Amaze your friends with your newfound upcycling prowess.

Unrepeatables Nail Polish Jewelry

Speech Topic: FreeSourcing: How to find and get free materials for your craft projects, share them with friends and save them from the landfill. We’ll go over where to find them, how to get permission to take them, what to do if they say no, and how to keep your eyes peeled for more. From grandmother’s button bins to business’ recycling bins, we’ll discover new ways of viewing the world around you.

Bernadette Noll is an author, crafter, mother of four, extroverted partner of an introvert, co-founder of Future Craft Collective and Slow Family Living and lover of improvisational crafting. She is the author of Make Stuff Together from Wiley Publishing June 2011 and Slow Family Living; 100 ways to slow down, connect and enjoy family life, Perigee publishing Fall 2012.