Wicked How-To's » Articles

Learn How to Blow Glass (with videos)–Equipment, Where to Find Courses/Classes, etc.

Andrew — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 09:02:34 +0000

Glassblowing is a technique used to create various shapes, containers, and artistic pieces out of glass that requires you to inflate molten glass into a bubble (also called a “parison”) with a blowpipe that can then be shaped into almost anything you desire. Glassblowing is a relatively recent glass working method invented sometime around the last century B.C. (so over 2000 years ago), which uses a certain property of glass

that was prior unknown: inflation. Glass had been heated and molded, but until then nobody had thought to try to use air pressure to expand it into a certain shape. Today I’m going to teach you the basic essentials of glassblowing that you need to get started right away, presuming that you’re a beginner. The expert that

I’ve got here to show you how to do this is Todd Hansen. Todd has been blowing glass at Art of Fire in Lytonsville, Maryland since 1999, where he also teaches classes, manages the studio and designs and creates his own work that he sells nationwide.

First, a few tips

If you’re not sure of what you might be getting yourself into, check around with local glassblowers (find shops that sell handmade glassware–they’ll usually have their own in-house glassblower or one that they buy from), many of them have scheduled public demonstrations that they put on (you may have seen one of these in a mall at some point, as these are popular locations for this because a mall is also a good place for them to try to sell their creations after they do the demo) where you can go and see how it’s done and everything involved, although you’ll really get a good idea of that just from watching these videos but it really can’t replace seeing it done live.

Glass blowing is one of those hands-on things that really needs to be learned directly from someone who knows how to do it. MANY universities, community colleges, and art schools have not only excellent glassblowing facilities with all the necessary equipment, but also classes that the general public are welcome to sign up for (many of these will actually have more people who aren’t going to school there than actual students).

Part 1: Introduction, necessary equipment, and what you’re going to learn

Part 2: Gathering the glass on the blowing iron: honey on the tip of a butter knife

Part 3: How to size a piece of glass on the blowing iron

Part 4: Shaping the glass

Part 5: How to finish the piece

Additional Resources and Further Reading

I highly recommend that you get a book called Glass Blowing: A Technical Manual–it’s specifically designed with beginners in mind and has a couple hundred different color photos and drawings. It covers necessary tools and equipment and then offers a practical overview of the basic techniques—how to gather molten glass from the furnace, shape glass, and use jacks—while making a variety of solid glass objects.

Glassblower.info is an excellent site with tons and tons of information, tutorials, tips, videos, and pictures all about glassblowing, highly recommended.

Also, the most popular forum for glassblowers to get together and exchange tips and information is the Hot Glass Forums–go there, read, ask questions, talk to professional glassblowers, etc.

Learn How to Blow Glass (with videos)–Equipment, Where to Find Courses/Classes, etc. is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Play Horseshoes Properly (and win)–Equipment, Throws, etc.

Andrew — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:45:16 +0000

The game of horseshoes is played outdoors between two people with four horseshoes and two stakes, which are your throwing targets. It’s usually done in a sandbox, but can be played anywhere outside with sufficient open space. The players will alternate taking turns in throwing their horseshoes at the stakes in the ground, which are usually spaced 40 feet (12.19 m) apart. It’s an interesting fact that the actual game of horsehoes uses a U-shaped bar specifically designed for the game which is about twice the size of a real horseshoe (that is, a shoe designed to go on a horse’s foot ). Today, the expert I’ve got on hand to teach you how to play horseshoes

(and win), plus a few tricks you won’t get elsewhere as well, is Jim Harris. Jim has been active in organized horseshoe play for 31 years beginning in 1977. He has played in over 500 tournaments at an average of about 16 per year. He has played in 15 World Tournaments throughout the U.S and Canada, and he won the Alabama State Elders

Championship in 2004 and 2006. Let’s get started.

Part 1: Introduction and what you’re going to learn

Part 2: Rules and 30ft vs 40ft

Part 3: Necessary equipment

A very similar kit to what you see there that I personally recommend to people getting started out that comes with everything you need (including a very durable carrying case, which is a huge plus) is this Champion Sports steel horseshoe set.

Part 4: Proper grips for throwing

Part 5: Game demonstration

Additional Resources and Further Reading

You should head on over to the NHPA (National Horseshoe Pitchers Association) Website and see what they’ve got.

Horseshoesonline.com has got an excellent page (here) full of resources including where to find places to play, rules, diagrams, and other tutorials.

How to Play Horseshoes Properly (and win)–Equipment, Throws, etc. is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Rope Braid Your Hair

Andrew — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 08:11:03 +0000

Today I’m going to show you how to rope braid your hair at home in just a couple of minutes. Once you’ve learned this you’ll be able to do it very quickly on your own, anytime, anywhere, in about 30 seconds or so. It’s one of the easiest hairstyles to do, and it’s especially good for girls with long hair who quickly need to get it out of the way (once it’s been braided it can easily be put up, either into a bun or simply tucked under a hat). First, a couple of tips:

Always do this with clean hair, preferably soon after you’ve showered, and I personally find it’s easier to do when your hair is still wet right after you’ve towel-dried it.
Put some detangling spray or leave-in conditioner in and comb through to make sure you get all tangles out before you start.
If you’d like to learn how to turn this into a French braid, check out my article: French Braid How-To.

What to do

How to Rope Braid Your Hair is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Spool a Spinning Reel Properly (prevents twists and tangles)

Andrew — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:47:59 +0000

Today I’m going to show you how to quickly and easily spool a spinning reel by having a pro demonstrate it for you on video. First, a quick tip before you get started. Most people think it doesn’t matter which direction you spool the line onto the reel, but it does and I’ll tell you why: the line should come off the spool counter-clockwise because when you cast a spinning reel the line comes off clockwise and making the line come off the spool counter-clockwise, you’re helping to reduce a good deal of the line twist. Right, here’s how to do it:

How to Spool a Spinning Reel Properly (prevents twists and tangles) is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Play Ultimate Frisbee (with videos)–Rules, Strategies, and Throws

Andrew — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 05:14:20 +0000

The object of Ultimate Frisbee is to score points by getting a player from your team into the opposing team’s end zone (similar to how end zones work in American football or rugby) with the disc–since you can not run with the disc (one foot must remain planted while you have possession of the disc) this has to be accomplished by getting the player into the end zone first, and then having them catch the disc. Now, the way that Ultimate Frisbee got started was that in the

fall of 1968, Joel Silver (a student at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey) proposed the idea of a school Frisbee team, got the administration to sign off on the idea, and the next summer him and a group of students got together to play. Silver called it the “ultimate game experience,” hence the name. He got the inspiration for the sport from

a form of Frisbee football which he had played before. Gracefulness, sportsman-like conduct, and gentlemanly behavior were held in the highest regard: the way they defined a foul was as “contact sufficient to arouse the ire of the player fouled”, and they never used referees, which is a practice that is still done today: all ultimate matches are self-officiated.

How to play

Today I’ve got Reid Attaway here who is going to be showing you (literally, he’ll be demonstrating and instructing at the same time on video for you so you can see precisely how it’s done) how to play Ultimate Frisbee, plus teach you a few tricks you can start using immediately out on the field. Reid played four years of collegiate competitive Frisbee on the JMU Flying Hellfish Ultimate Frisbee team and he is now part of the JMU Madison Bumblers Alumni Ultimate Frisbee team. Let’s get started.

Part 1: Introduction, which throws we’re going to learn, and necessary equipment

As far as Ultimate discs go, right now the most popular brand, by far, is Discraft, and their most popular official Ultimate disc, which I also recommend, is this: Discraft 175 gram Ultimate Ultra-Star disc

Part 2: Basics of how ultimate frisbee is played (field layout, positions, rules, etc.)

Part 3: Throws! Backhand, forehand (“flick”), the hammer, and the scoober

Part 4: Strategy

Part 5: Drills

Additional Resources and Further Reading

If you’d like to delve more deeply into Ultimate, an excellent book that I recommend is Ultimate Techniques and Tactics–it has more than the mechanics of the game; it presents in-depth instruction on using key skills such as throwing, cutting, and catching in game situations.

You should also check out UPA, the Ultimate Players Association, as well as UltiTalk.com, which is currently the most popular Ultimate Frisbee forum which is the best place to ask questions.

How to Play Ultimate Frisbee (with videos)–Rules, Strategies, and Throws is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Do Trick Pool Shots

Andrew — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:01:27 +0000

A trick shot, in pool or billiards (also sometimes snooker), is a shot that does something which would seem unlikely or impossible. The performance of trick shots in pool is actually an organized cue sport and such trick shot competition is known as “artistic pool”. With trick shots you just use a cue ball and one or several object balls just like you normally would, although there are innumerable various props that you can

use such as drinking glasses, bottles, coins, baskets, chalk, ball racks, etc. These props that you can employ are designed to increase the difficulty of the shot or add some aesthetic or entertainment value (in other words, “makes it look cool” ). There are specialized pool cues that are often used for

performing trick shots, especially the massés that you’re going to learn how to do below.

Today I’ve got professional trick shot artist Andy Segal, who has worked as the technical adviser (concerning how to do pool trick shots) for a movie called Sweet & Lowdown, a Woody Allen film starring Sean Penn. He also filmed a couple of commercials, one for All Detergent and one for AT&T, both obviously involving pool and trick shots. You may have also seen him in a 12 week segment for Spike TV called Bikini Pool Shark. He’s going to show you how to properly perform pool trick shots by demonstrating step-by-step what to do and giving you instructions and tips along the way.

First, a few tips and essential knowledge

If you’re playing on a U.K. pool table as opposed to a standard U.S. one, you will still generally have the 1:2 ratio that U.S. tables have so you’ve got the same angles and your shots can transition easily back and forth between the two types, but the differences you’ve got to watch out for are 1) U.K. tables have rounded corners going into the pocket which makes it slightly harder to pocket balls in the corner because they’ll rattle in instead of out. You can compensate for this by putting a short row of balls coming out from one of the corners of the pocket which will help to guide the object ball in, and 2) U.K. tables don’t have diamonds, which makes it slightly more difficult to judge distances if you’re used to a U.S. table–if you’ve got your own table you can mark the diamonds yourself, or just get used to not having them.
Unlike amateur pool players who don’t tend to practice individual shots until they get them right, you must do this. You have to keep working on the shot until you not only can do it right, but you can do it right 10 times in a row, because if you don’t have that kind of consistency then when you go to show off for friends or compete in front of a crowd and the pressure is on, what do you think the odds are of you pulling the shot off if you can only do it 7 times out of 10 under the most ideal conditions where you’re alone and unwatched with no pressure at all? Put it this way: there’s about a 9 out of 10 chance that you’re about to embarrass yourself, that’s what. Practice, practice, practice. And don’t just aim to pull it off once, aim for consistency.

Let’s get started: Part 1, Introduction and how not to give your kid a concussion with a pool ball

Part 2: The ultimate trap shot and how to do it

Part 3: 1 and 2 ball in the pocket corner. Also, what’s a massé cue?

Part 4: Bank shot around a wall of balls

Part 5: Jump shot out of the rack

Additional resources and recommended reading

A book that every aspiring trick shot artist ought to pick up is Byrne’s Treasury of Trick Shots in Pool and Billiards, with over three hundred secrets and showstoppers explained and diagrammed for you by a master player.

The best overall site for tips, tricks, and tutorials on how to do trick shots is TrickShotTim.com, check it out.

How to Do Trick Pool Shots is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Build a Terrarium

Andrew — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 04:48:27 +0000

A terrarium is a type of vivarium (vivarium is a Latin phrase that means “place of life”): a vivarium is a container, which can be either open or closed, for growing plants and/or raising animals (an aquarium is a type of vivarium) for the purposes of observation, research, or, more commonly, decoration. A terrarium is usually used to create either a temperate woodland type of habitat or a jungle like one. To do this you’ll use leaves and leaf litter, pebbles, and soil. Plants which would be suitable for a terrarium environment might include, for example, tree seedlings and moss–several kinds of plants that are particularly

popular for use in terrariums are African Violets, bromeliads, and Crassulaceae. Today I’ve got an expert here with us, her name is Kacy Paide, who actually makes terrariums professionally and sells them to high-end shops in the Washington, D.C. area. We’re going to take you step-by-step through the

whole process of building your own terrarium, including all tools and materials you’ll need.

First, a few tips

There are a whole litany of containers that can be used as improvised terrariums, as you can see from the picture above, including cookie jars, large jam/preserves jars, fish tanks, decorative bowls, wine bottles, or olive oil bottles. Amazon has a whole selection of various terrarium containers and kits you can see here.
Sometimes tools have to be modified to fit into the container in question–fish tanks are popular for first time terrarium builders because this isn’t necessary. However, with containers with very small openings, such as wine bottles, this will almost definitely be necessary. So if this is your first terrarium you should probably consider something easy to work with that has a large opening.
Use distilled, not tap, water. Tap water contains a lot of minerals and other contaminants, such as chlorine and fluoride, that you don’t want to expose your plants to.
Watch out for mold and other such fuzzy stuff that you don’t want growing in there (this is one of the most common problems with terrariums), keep in mind that you will need to occasionally clean out your terrarium.
If you later want to add an animal, a lizard is usually an excellent choice (make sure the container is big enough and the environment being simulated in your particular terrarium matches the animal’s natural habitat).

Building your terrarium, Part 1: Introduction and necessary materials and equipment

Part 2: Choosing a container

Part 3: how to mix and layer the soil

Part 4: choosing your plants

Part 5: adding and arranging your plants

Part 6: decorating your terrarium (stones, pebbles, driftwood, etc.)

Part 7: watering, caring for, and maintaining your terrarium

Additional Resources and Further Reading

If you’re really interested in terrariums, and especially if you want to make and customize your own, I highly recommend a book called The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature.

Craft Zine has got a really cool article on how they turned an old mason jar into a terrarium, check it out: CRAFT Project: Mason Jar Terrarium

The Garden Helper has got this excellent article on building your own terrarium that includes plant recommendations and other stuff that I would definitely have a look at.

How to Build a Terrarium is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Make Your Own Wedding Bouquet

Andrew — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 04:52:14 +0000

Making your own wedding bouquet is something that you can very easily do on your own at home, especially if you’ve got experience with arranging floral designs or anything of that nature (and even if you don’t, you’ll be able to teach yourself using everything on this page). Of course, the tradition is that the Maid of Honor holds the bouquet during the ceremony, afterward the bride will toss it over her shoulder, and then whoever catches the bouquet is going to get married next. This wide-spread practice is thought to have originated from the Golden Apple of Discord myth (this refers to the Golden Apple of Discord which the Greek goddess Eris said

she would give “to the fairest” at the wedding of Peleus and Thetis–this led to a vanity-fueled dispute between Hera, Athena and Aphrodite which would eventually lead to the Trojan War). Oh, also (and much more romantically): in the 17th and 18th centuries, the tradition was that an upper class bride would be required

to hold a bouquet of roses or flowers as she walked down the aisle to cover up body odor caused by her having spent the last several hours sweating nervously. It was also said to help drive off evil spirits, but I suspect that was just a cover for the B.O. issue.

How to make your bouquet at home

Today I’ve got with us Margaret Flis who is the owner of and chief floral designer for Gathered Stems, a unique and charming flower shop in McLean, Va. Margaret has been in the floral industry for 19 years and has personally designed and made hundreds of original bouquets and other floral arrangements for weddings, parties, and other special events. Let’s get started.

Part 1: Introduction and necessary tools and materials

Part 2: How to choose and prepare your flowers

Part 3: Preparing your greenery

Part 4: How to put your flowers together

Part 5: Finishing the greenery and tying off the bouquet

Part 6: Adding the ribbon and finishing the bouquet

Part 7: How to store your bouquet overnight properly (very important–you want it to look as fresh as possible)

Additional Resources and Further Reading

I highly recommend you pick up a copy of a book by Wedding Magazine called Wedding Bouquets: Over 300 Designs for Every Bride–each of the 300 bouquets in the book comes with lavish close-up photos and careful descriptions of each detail, with recommendations for the kinds of dresses and ceremonies they best complement. Every color theme receives special treatment (with price range indicators), from whites, ivories and creams to yellows and oranges, reds and pinks, blues and purples, as well as variegated and original color schemes.

Also, here’s an awesome site with piles of different arrangements with photos for each one plus tips, articles, and a list of the Top 10 most popular wedding bouquet flowers.

How to Make Your Own Wedding Bouquet is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Ice Skate for Beginners

Andrew — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:45:20 +0000

Today I’m going to teach you the basics of ice skating so that you can A) Get an idea of what it is you’re going to get to do, and B) get started doing it. I’ve got a series of instructional videos by Michael Weiss, a three-time U.S. Men’s Champion, two-time World Bronze Medalist, two-time Olympian, World Junior Champion, and World University Champion. He was also the first U.S. man to land a quadruple toe loop in competition. Before we get started I’ve got a few basic tips for you, and then we’ll get straight to learning the six basic jumps.

Basic essentials and a few tips

If you’ve never tried it I highly recommend you go to a public rink and simply rent a pair of skates. If you do this, wear something comfortable like a loose pair of jeans, make certain that you choose a pair of skates that fit you (skate size often does not match shoe size!), get expert help (or at least help from someone who already knows how to skate fairly well) if at all possible, plus you should probably put some elbow and knee pads on and a helmet–yes, you look silly, but it’s worth avoiding an injury that could put an end to your skating career for a few months before it even has a chance to get started.

Learn how to fall. This is the most important skill a beginner must master first. And the way to do it is to start of low and slow on the ice, and literally practice falling: break your fall with your butt, not your hands (you could break your wrists), elbows, or knees; if you fall

forward, keep your chin up and try very hard not to let it hit the ice, then break the fall with your hands (breaking your wrists is better than your face/head, but wrist guards are still recommended when you do this); pull your hands in to prevent them from being

run over by other skaters; to get up, get on your hands and knees, then move one skate underneath you, and get the second one underneath you as soon as you can. Practice falling forwards and backwards until you can do it without hurting yourself–like I said, start off doing this moving low and slow over the ice (squat, in other words).

Most skating rinks are around 50-60 degrees Fahrenheit, so dress accordingly.

The Six Basic Jumps

Alright, let’s get this party started:

Part 1: Introduction and safety basics

Part 2: The single Sachow jump

Part 3: The loop jump

Part 4: The axel jump

Part 5: The toe loop jump

Part 6: The flip jump

Part 7: The Lutz jump

Additional Resources and Further Reading

If you’re serious about ice skating I highly recommend a book called Conditioning for Figure Skating: Off-Ice Techniques for On-Ice Performance: it covers proper warm-up drills, flexibility stretches, cooldown routines, strength training exercises, jump and plyometric training programs, and endurance conditioning exercises for on-ice injury prevention.

About.com has got a whole section devoted to ice skating techniques and tips.

Here’s an interesting page from Dave Curtis that explains a lot of the jumps with diagrams, definitely worth a look.

How to Ice Skate for Beginners is a post from: Wicked How-To's

How to Apply Hair Extensions

Andrew — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:33:46 +0000

Ok, today I’m going to show you how to sew in hair extensions, plus I’m going to show you how to use the simpler clip-in hair extensions. I’ll show you how to do this regardless of hair type (meaning whether you’re white, black, purple, pink, whatever: you’re going to be shown how to do this properly for your hair type). I’ve got an excellent series of instructional videos here with a professional stylist who’s going to show you, step-by-step, how to apply extensions properly by actually doing it to a client and explaining as she goes along. Then I’ll have someone show you how to use the clip-in extensions. Let’s get started.

Part 1: Introduction and getting started

Part 2: Short hair preparation

Part 3: Attaching short hair

Part 4: Long hair preparation

Part 5: Attaching long hair

How to put in clip-in hair extensions

Additional Resources and Further Reading

Here’s an excellent article on hair extensions that you really should have a look at over at HairBoutique.com called “Hair Extensions the Safe Way”.

How to Apply Hair Extensions is a post from: Wicked How-To's