Instructional

Everyone loves cake! Here's a new take on the old classic that will bring a little bit of color to your next creative confection. By separating your cake batter into several cups and coloring each one just before dumping it all into a cake pan, you can create all sorts of psychedelic patterns in your cake. Yum! [via].

These Bokeh lens covers can produce some pretty nifty effects in your photographs. Essentially, they appear to turn blurry parts of your picture into the shape of the hole you've cut in the Bokeh. For example, the hearts in the background of this picture of a dog are produced by the custom Bokeh lens. Learn how to make your own Bokeh and then go show off your stuff in the flickr group. [via]

She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. No only can she make point five past lightspeed, but she can make the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs and outrun imperial starships.

I think this is about the coolest papercraft model to grace our pages. Simply print out the 6 or so pages of pieces and you're ready to go.

Millennium Flacon Papercraft. [via]

Don't miss out on the other awesome Science Fiction papercraft models from the same author (yes, they have the Enterprise).

In case you've been living under a rock for the last year, everyone is poor. For the most part, we all have the same jobs, make the same amount of money, and inflation hasn't increased the prices of goods too terribly - but somehow we're all still pinching pennies.

Here's a few Christmas related DIY projects to help ease the strain on that old wallet of yours. Wait - wouldn't strain on a wallet be a good thing?

Christmas Tree Projector

Photojojo has some really cool ornament ideas you can make from any old photo you have lying around.

Christmas Light Controller

Ah, we wouldn't leave you hanging! Of course we have to include at least one project that requires you to dust off your soldering iron. This Christmas light controller can be made in 5 minutes ... supposedly.

Christmas Card Star

Got a big pile of Christmas cards on your kitchen table? Well aren't you popular! Put those cards to good use by turning them into a unique star to top your tree with.

Christmas Cards

Be sure your "friends" don't just cut up your christmas card as part of some misguided DIY Christmas Tree Star art project - make it unique! Here's a roundup of several DIY Christmas Card ideas.

Hidden Tree Watering System

Here's a project sure to disappoint - a hidden tree watering system disguised as a wrapped gift! Little Timmy won't know what hit him as he finds a bucket full of water inside the nicely wrapped box instead of that laser eyes super robot he wanted. Then again, if you were planning on giving him a bucket full of water anyway, this project is a great way to hit two birds with one stone!

Snow Globes

If you can make out that image, what you see is someone making their own snow globe out of an old jar. Pretty cool, and a good way to get rid of all those mini city models you have piling up.

All those easy mix cake boxes got you down? Sick of dealing with cake pans and ovens? Try this easy to make cake-in-a-cup consisting of hot chocolate mix, flour, an egg, some oil and cooking spray, and a bit of microwave magic. Taste tests over at Lifehacker leave a bit to be desired, but as they say "even the worst chocolate cake is better than no chocolate cake." If you give this one a try, sound of in the comments and let us know how it went!

We've brought you many-a-papercraft toy here on DIY:happy, but now it's time for Paper Critters. This website allows you to design your papercraft toys with their design tools and you can even use your own picture (above, Jake from Zoomdoogle). How fun is that?

This gift box will set you back exactly $2 (hey, no tax!) and can hold just about anything you can find in one of those quarter vending machine eggs. You can really up the ante by using a couple Jacksons and filling the box with something from the jewelry counter instead of a vending machine. Whatever you do, be sure to leave your next restaurant tip in a little paper money coffin. [via]

It's not important how tall you are, it's important how you compare to famous celebrities. Nothing makes you feel better than knowing your taller than Tom Cruise, and could therefore probably beat him in a fight. The folks over at whotallyouare.com have printable charts featuring the names of celebrities and their heights. This is an excellently fun activity and conversation piece! [via]

This paperclip device stand isn't just great for iPhones and iPods, it's pretty stellar for almost any small electronic gizmo. A creative set of "blueprints" help you make all the right bends so your stand comes out uniform and actually kinda professional looking. We think Apple should start including these instructions with every iPaperClip. [Thanks, Dan]

These are rough times for some of us, and it's hitting us where it hurts: our pocket books. This is the time when DIY projects become more about having what you want (or need), but not spending like there's no tomorrow to get it. This project is no exception - you too can have your very own really expensive Canon 1D made out of balsa wood. Have the camera of your dreams on the budget of your nightmares. [via] [Thanks, Brikon]