Mod Mischief

Last year, the theme for the Sourdough Rendezvous was "the future is now" and the organizers decided that, in keeping with the theme, the annual ball would be a steampunk ball. The Steampunk Ball was such a huge success, the organizers decided to do it again this year. While YuKonstruct helped with decorations last year, the makerspace's only contribution was laser cutting gears out of cardboard. This time around, Rendezvous approached YuKonstruct to design and build some really impressive steampunk props. Chris and I jumped at the opportunity to build some epic steampunk decor. Chris designed an airship and porthole photobooth backdrop in SketchUp and then we built them with the help of several YuKonstruct and Yukon Comic Culture Society volunteers. Another YuKonstruct member made an awesome jacob's ladder and incredible compass rose for the stage. A video posted by Allison (@modmischief) on Feb 26, 2016 at 11:17pm PST It was a ...

babies look adorable in top hats Last week I made a tiny top hat and covered it in sound-reactive LEDs. For the most part I followed instructions from Offbeat Bride to make a mini cardboard top hat.   Then I covered the hat in black silk. I didn't actually realize the shirt I was using was real silk until after I had already started cutting it up. I found it at the free store and had assumed that it was cheap polyester. Now I have a little silk top hat! There was a bunch of leftover copper tape and little LED stickers from the Christmas card craft night at YuKonstruct , so I decided to use some to decorate the hat. With the chibitronics effects and sensor stickers I was able to get the lights to fade on and off and to light up in reaction to noise.   I've posted the full step by step instructions for making the mini top hat on instructables .   Originally I was making the hat to wear to the Rendezvous Steampunk Ball , but now I've got an even...

Monster Hunter I love that pith helmet! This safari ensemble features one of our dihydrogen monoxide projectile weapons . Don't worry, I'd never actually hurt Ludo .  Another outfit to go with one of our painted waterguns . Rocketeer You can see more photos and all the instruction for making the rocket pack over on Instructables .

Steampunk Ottawa organized an outing to the Nature Museum and I jumped at the chance to tag along. what I wore Did you know that the museum is free on Thursday evenings? I might need to drag Chris there in a few weeks when their new whale exhibit is open. They've already installed a huge whale, hanging in the atrium.    inflatable whale! Some of the highlights of the trip included bird watching....   and the Preternatural modern art exhibit , which included some pieces with a quirky mad science feel (just the thing for the Victorian futurist). We didn't have time to see my favourite part of the museum, the dinosaurs , but that's just all the more reason for me to go back again soon. Steampunk ladies & gentlemen I have to admit, I enjoyed some of the steampunk fashions as much, if not more, than the museum exhibits. It's great meeting locals who love to play dress up as much as I do!

I started working on this steampunk flux capacitor months ago. Made mostly from dollar store items (and those awesome antique edges from etsy ), I thought it would be a pretty quick and easy project. I somehow forgot that what little I learned about electricity in high school is long forgotten. So Chris and I learned to solder and I discovered the importance of resistors after blowing through a bunch of LEDs. But try as we might, we just can't get it to flux. Maybe we just need to get our hands on some plutonium. pencil case, medicine droppers & pill boxes

We steampunked a couple cheap water guns from Walmart. You can see the full how-to over on instructables . They'll be perfect to carry when I'm wearing my pith helmet and Soviet aviator goggles on the playa.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Chris and I went to the Steampunk Science Fair and saw lots of neat props and great vendors. I picked up an awesome 1960s motorcycle jacket from Zamira for only $35. It's really more Joan Jett than steampunk but I'm so glad she had it at her booth. While considerably more expensive, I'd love to get a custom corset from shameless fashion . All the steampunk ladies wandering around were giving me a serious case of corset envy.

  Inspired by the tutorial on Design*Spong e , I made Chris a little Valentines gift with a steampunk twist. Baby, you can turn me on... Also on Instructables

As per a previous post , I had big plans to steampunk my broken television . To fit with the rest of my living room’s look (or at least what I would like the living room to look like) I decided to go for something a little less Wild Wild West , a little more Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow . I started with a broken tv and a cheap ikea-esque tv stand I got from some friends when they moved last summer. fabulously free At first I didn’t have much luck while looking to buy some cool table legs but then I found a great little end table on kijiji to give it some midcentury flair. midcentury mod kijiji find Chris and I attached the two pieces together and then spray painted the whole thing a sexy high-gloss black. hot We wanted to fit in a bunch of electronic stuff along with the television. It was a tight squeeze but by taking everything out of the cases, we were able to get it in. taking things apart putting it all together After securing everything inside the cabinet, we traced ou...

To celebrate Etsy Day I’ve been perusing the site’s undiscovered shops . That’s where I found these : Won’t they be the perfect little add-ons to any future steampunk pieces ?

Another record request painted on salvaged canvas instead. Nikola Tesla I tried to give this one some steampunk flair, hence the gears and springs. The background actually has a bronze sheen to it that looks much cooler in person. Trust me.

from Curious Expeditions Lately I’ve been wasting many, many hours browsing through images of all things Steampunk on the interwebs. This works well with my Etsy addiction. So when I came home last night to find my television broken, I saw it as a golden opportunity to try my very own steampunk mod. Okay, I’ll admit that when I first noticed the power button was broken off I didn’t immediately see this as a good thing. Fortunately, Chris was able to open my eyes to the possibilities. Worst case scenario: I’ll open up the tv and never get it working again. But as the tv was originally found in a dumpster, then sold to a friend who gave it back to me years later, it cost me a grand total of negative 5 dollars. While it would be missed, it would not be a great loss. If everything goes well: I’ll have bragging rights to the coolest television around that only gets 3 channels. I’m so looking forward to satisfying my anachrotechnofetish. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on my progress. ...