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!

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

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.

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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 

Life Size Knight

After weeks of working on this build, it's finally complete! I wasn't keeping track of how many knex pieces I used, but I estimate I used over 3000 pieces! It's over 6' tall including the base and the "feathers," but the body size is around 5'6". The broadsword is a bit shy of 5'. There are 72 red rods that make up the "feathers" on the helmet. The fingers are made up of 84 red connectors.

Spool Holder

I realize it's been a little while since I've put up a build. Life's been crazy busy, and I'm still working on my huge project. Good news, though! I only have a couple more hours of work on my big build! YAY!

Today, the hubby and I were brainstorming, what would my crafty self use in my new craft room? My hubby suggested a spool holder, which is brilliant! I have a thread box, but it only holds like 18 spools. Well, my thread collection has outgrown it. So, I tested the spools on a K'nex rod and found out that it is literally the perfect size for all of the spools of thread that I own! But anyways, you probably didn't want a whole long spiel, so without further ado, here ya go!

Have an idea for my next knex build? Please let me know!