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Cardboard Christmas tree project

January 2nd, 2009 | 5 Comments | Tags: , ,

Probably a bit late for this now, but I thought my cardboard Christmas tree project was worth a quick post as it’s been mentioned on a couple of friends sites now (cheers Recycle This & The Daily Chump) so I thought it deserved a home.

Tree with modified decorationsHere’s some background: a couple of weeks ago, I decided it would be quite cool to make a cardboard Christmas tree out of a very large cardboard box we had left over after buying a new mattress for our bed. The idea appealed for a few reasons:

  • we had a big box and it seemed a waste to take it to the tip
  • going out to fetch a real tree also seemed wasteful: a waste of petrol, time and also not forgetting it being a total waste of tree
  • I couldn’t face hoovering up pine needles daily
  • Richard Garside & I have a related ongoing project called “Cardboard Laptop Stand” (watch this space) so making cardboard versions of things tends to seep into my mind quite readily

It took about 3 hours to make the tree, and I felt super victorious after it’s construction was complete.
Stuff you need to make your own:

  • Cutting techniquesa very large cardboard box
  • a very sharp Stanley / craft knife and cutting board
  • a metal edged ruler
  • a diagram of the shape of your tree
  • a pen
  • lots of floor space
  • hair grips to secure your decorations, although they mostly stay on on their own

As I was making the tree, I took photos of each step and uploaded them to Flickr, with annotations - essentially forming step-by-step instructions on how to build your very own Cardboard Christmas Tree

GeekUp Leeds Xmas - Tomorrow 17th Dec, 6pm

December 16th, 2008 | No Comments | Tags: , ,

This month is mostly about beer but we’re also going to have a “Makes” show and tell i.e. bring along something you’ve made to chat about - techy or non-techy, food or non-foody :)

Some examples: A website you’ve built, a woolly hat you’ve knitted, an iPhone app you’ve made, chillis you’ve grown, an Arduino powered greenhouse watering system you’ve built, a cake you’ve baked, a ruby gem you’ve written, photograph’s you’ve taken…

Do tell us if you’re coming

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GeekUp Leeds - Quiz Night - Wed 19th Nov, 6pm

November 17th, 2008 | No Comments | Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Your friendly host for the evening will be Mr Tim Waters (aka Chippy) who will be facilitating a Geeky Quiz (QuizUp?)! There will be 3 rounds with 30 questions in total:

Round 1. General geekness
Round 2. Techy questions
Round 3. Internet memes

There’s been rumor of 20:20 presentations from The Hodge on “Search Like A Superstar” and Helen Harrop on “Creativity and Computing” if she can make it…

Which still means we’re looking for volunteers for presentations as they are not confirmed! :) Please get in touch if you’re interested in talking!

Rob and I unfortunately can’t make it as we’ve both committed to help out at the 20 x 20 Science Cafe at the Otley Science Festival where Rob will be predicting the Future of the Internet!!!!!

Big thanks to Tim for taking on GeekUp this month, I’m gutted to be missing the quiz!

Do tell us if you’re coming

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GeekUp Leeds - Wed 15th October, 6pm

October 13th, 2008 | No Comments | Tags: , , , ,

It’s that GeekUp time again so wander down to the Lounge on Wednesday night for your monthly dose of geeky beery fun. This month we have two 20:20 presentations lined up:

  • Rahoul Baruah (aka Baz) on “Telling Stories with RSpec”
  • Jonathan Powell (aka Squiggle) on “No Nonsense Development”

Do tell us if you’re coming

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GeekUp Leeds Needs You! Wed, Sept 17, 6pm

September 11th, 2008 | No Comments | Tags: , , , , , ,


My Last Project

This month at GeekUp we thought we’d borrow from Simon Wheatley’s idea that worked so well at BarCamp and invite GeekUpers to do a 20:20 on their last project.

Your last project could be a website, discovering Ruby Shoes, growing stuff #inthegarden, launching an affiliate network for a bathroom store, doing a web design 101 for a friend, running a celebrity gossip site, setting up your own home security camera network, singing articles from wikipedia accompanied by a ukelele, presenting your own radio show / podcast, setting up a business, joining a rowing club, learning how not to get into your own house, creative crafts, making a greenhouse watering system with an Arduino, PR 101… anything!

So if you’re interested in taking part, do let us know! We’re a friendly bunch and we’ll try not to heckle.

Big thanks to Simon for letting us nick his idea. It’s GPL’d by word of mouth :)

Do tell us if you’re coming

Details: