DIY Holiday Contest: Gingerbread house from scratch

Reader Kendall scoffed at the gingerbread house templates he saw at the his neighborhood box store this year, opting instead to build his gingerbread house entirely from scratch. The results, and instructions from Kendall, after the jump.

Kendall writes:

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house, but every holiday something comes up, like finals, having a baby, going out of town... This year I wanted to make it so.

Here´s how he did it:

1. Create a template. I made mine out of paper first, realized gingerbread dough sticks to paper, and used parchment paper instead (available at any decent grocery store). Because this was the first house I made, I was conservative in the design, next time I´m going for St. Peter´s Basilica.

For more pics of Kendall´s gingerbread house and the rest of his step-by-step, click here (click through gallery in reverse order... sorry).

Got your own savvy DIY holiday project? Want to win your own copy of Lifehacker the book and other great prizes? Check out the DIY Holiday Contest rules for details. — Adam Pash

ContestCookingDIYHolidaysHousehold [SHOW]

School Teaching Kids How To Use Fountain Pens; Do They Teach Math With An Abacus Too?
Now I´m as big a fan of the fountain pen as the next guy, but I´m not exactly convinced that it´s vital to teach our school kids how to use one. However, it appears not everyone agrees. Following just a few months after the hand-wringing from some adults that the kids of today are doomed for being better at using computers than being able to write cursive, comes the news of a private school in Scotland that has decided that teaching kids how to write with fountain pens is of utmost importance. Apparently, fountain pens (not other types of pens) boost the kids´ self-esteem and improve their academic performance. It´s not at all clear how they go about proving this, other than a couple of random anecdotes, but the school is absolutely positive that fountain pens are the key to a child´s success. Not to knock the importance of decent handwriting, but if the purpose of school is to prepare kids for the world they´re going to enter as adults, I would think that how to use a fountain pen would be pretty far down the list of marketable skills. Then again, this other article points out how business schools feel they need to teach students to be better writers, as they tend to send stuff out without proofreading (or thinking) when they type it up on a computer. [SHOW]

Making a plastic composite coffee table
Here is a walk thru/how to make a custom, resin-poured, plexiglass coffee table, with stainless steel legs, Cityplus writes - "The following hubpage illustrates the steps I used to make a custom coffee table. I´ve tried to make it as informative as possible so anyone interested (or with enough time) can make one themselves. The first step was to design the overall shape and hole pattern. I did the design layout in Adobe Illustrator. There are a total of 1298 holes (hence the name) which create the circular pattern on the top of the table. The shape is a modified rectangle, drawing inspiration from old-style Television sets and grainy pixelated resolution. A free copy of the Illustrator file I created is available for download. I did not have access to a large bed CNC machine for the drilling, so I had to drill every hole myself. I had the design template printed out, full scale, on a large format printer at Kinko´s. I then glued this printout onto a 3/4" thick piece of plexiglas that had been cut to size. " - Link. [Read this article] [Comment on this article]
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North Korea Nuke Talks to Resume December 18th - AlaskaReport

E Canada Now

North Korea Nuke Talks to Resume December 18th
AlaskaReport - Dec 9, 2006
Washington, DC - Talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program are now scheduled for Dec. 18 in Beijing. North Korea has avoided talking for more than a year, but agreed to resume negotiations eventually.
Japan opposes resuming N. Korea nuclear talks Jerusalem Post
Six-way talks due next week The News - International
WOI - The State - The Daily Yomiuri - NDTV.com
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