Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Knex Dish Drain

I have had this build on my list for quite some time. Generally, I use dish drying mats, but I grew up in a family that used a dish drain. I figured it would be quite useful, especially for when I'm drying lots of smaller dishes. It turned out as good as I could have hoped! It fits perfectly in my larger sink, and it can hold several dishes and silverware.








Have a build you'd like to see? Or maybe some ideas for useful builds? Let me know!

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Christmas with Knex: Lighted Christmas Box

I had so much fun with today's build! It was super easy, and I think it turned out fantastic! Who says you have to pay an arm and a leg for cool Christmas decor? More to come!

The "skeleton" for my lighted gift box

It doesn't look like a gift without a bow, right?

Then I just wrapped a strand of 50 lights around it.

 It looks pretty cool!

If you have any more ideas for knex builds, please let me know!

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Knex Electric Train

During high school every year, I would make an electric train every year near Christmas. It was always a little bit of a challenge to improve it each year. Well, this year, I decided to tackle making an electric train again. It's a work-in-progress right now, but I figured I would give an update. I used rubber bands in the wheels in order to give the train traction. The motor is on the back wheels, and I have easy access to the on/off switch. I think I am going to make the track bigger, though. Once I finish, I will take video of the train in motion. =D






Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Knex Wine Holder

This build has been a long time coming. One of my friends recommended building a wine holder several weeks back, and I thought that was a great idea! However, my hubby and I both dislike most forms of alcohol, especially wine. So, my plan was to make a wine holder once Aldi got their seasonal sparkling grape juice in! I know, we're a bit crazy. =P Anyway, I bought said sparkling grape juice (which is so delicious), and today, I made a wine holder.




Friday, November 7, 2014

Knex Napkin Holders and Coasters

Greetings, readers! My builds today are small, but I thought they'd be rather fun. For those of you who don't personally know my hubby and me, our house has K'nex builds all over. It's become our own personal "style." Yes, yes, we're quirky and fun like that. =P I've got quite a list of things I'd like to make out of knex. Today, I present knex coasters and napkin holders.





My husband and I have three cats, so I thought these napkin holders would go just right in our house.

Of course, they could pass as foxes, too.


Stay tuned over the next couple weeks! I will be building an electric train to go around our Christmas tree. It's always so much fun. Come along for the ride! =D

Monday, November 3, 2014

Spruce Up Your Space with Knex Storage Options!

Yesterday, I decided to start organizing my new craft room. As many of you know, I work mainly with remnants when I sew. This gave me a great idea! I made storage cubes to house my remnants. The awesome thing about it is that I can add more cubes. Not only that, but if you were so inclined to buy canvas storage bins/cubes, they would fit pretty well.






I am so excited that I can finally see all my fabrics without having to rifle through them or have them all sprawled out across the floor. The storage cubes will work great for lighter items, but I didn't construct them for heavier items. Of course, it could be reinforced to accommodate heavy objects.

Have an idea for a build? Please, let me know!

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Knex Costumes and Accesories: Sword

Simple build today: a sword. It's a basic sword that I am sure most of my familiar-to-Knex readers have made before (at least in some similar manner). However, for those of you not so seasoned in K'nex building, you can learn how to build a nice, sturdy sword to complement your costume!





Monday, October 20, 2014

Knex Costumes and Accessories: Shield

Easy way to accessorize your costume: K'nex props! When I was younger, I loved creating armor and weapons and reenacting scenes from Chronicles of Narnia and other such movies. Today's accessory, a shield!

The back

The front

The handle

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Knex Costumes and Accessories: Minion Costume

With Halloween hot on our heels, I am starting a series about costuming and accessorizing using K'nex. What's that? You've never even considered using K'nex as part of your costume? Never fear! I'll give you some ideas of traditional and non-traditional ways to use them!

First up, my costume from last year: A minion costume. This costume was a hybrid of K'nex and Fabric. I made the infrastructure using K'nex. I would classify this as a non-traditional use of K'nex, but it was really nifty! Knex work well as a structural component to costumes. If you need a specific shape for your costume and don't know how to achieve it using cardboard or other materials.

Let me apologize for the quality of these pictures. I wasn't planning on using them as a tutorial for others at the time. However, they will give a good frame of reference for how I approached the build.


The eye





A view from the top


The whole body structure

This build required two things: a way to put the costume on as well as the structural support needed to support the fabric overlay. I left the opening at the bottom. It was hard to get into, but not impossible. I just required a little bit of help getting it on. :P 

Here is the completed project:





All in all, the project took quite a lot time, but it turned out just how I wanted!

Friday, October 3, 2014

K'nex Shower Caddy

Today's knex build is a shower caddy. Not too complicated, and it's easily modified for different shower knobs and stuff.






This is my cat, Callie. She loves K'nex. Today while I was building, she came, picked up a knex rod, and ran off with it! For the next half hour, I heard her playing around with it all through the house...until she kicked it under the couch. =P 

K'nex Shadowbox for Small Gaming Characters

For a while now, my husband has been wanting a shadowbox or display case for his gaming action figures. I was going to buy him one for his ...