Product Description

HOW TO MAKE {ALMOST} EVERYTHING

A Do-It-Yourself Primer

You need this book. As the stuff of life piles up and things spin out of control, we could all use a little help. These never-before-seen designs and how-tos are full of surprise and wonder. Learn how to turn everyday objects into spellbinding inventions to give away to friends or keep for yourself. Our simple self-improvement techniques will make you smarter, better-looking, and more well-adjusted.


(RE) MAKE IT!

This is the “sales copy” section. Here we will talk about how useful, delight-inducing, and excellently well put together this book is. If things have gone a little flat and you’re searching for inspiration, look no further. ReadyMade is full of fun projects for the whole family. It solves problems, cures dizzy spells, and holds open the door. It has a collegial, ’50s garage tinkerer sensibility. It read Popular Science as a kid and dreamt of building rockets. It launches with fiery trails. It soars. When it falls, it brushes itself off and starts over. It is the Captain of Creativity. Resistance is futile. This book is 100% hope.

First project: Personalize this book and protect it from theft by cutting out this portion of the cover and replacing it with your own photo. (See page 16)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60730 in Books
• Published on: 2005-12-06
• Released on: 2005-12-06
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 208 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A partly serious, partly humorous look at materials we usually discard, the work provides step-by-step instructions on how to transform paper, plastic, metal, wood, concrete and fabric into such unlikely (and undesirable) household items as a chopstick clock or a colander light sconce. Berger and Hawthorne (the editor-in-chief and publisher, respectively, of ReadyMade magazine) also include acknowledged failures, such as the water bottle lounge chair, too fragile and noisy to sit on. Each section begins with a history of the "raw" material, designed to make readers more aware of the environment and the uses of these materials. In addition to proposing new uses for Fed Ex boxes (a CD rack) and plastic detergent containers (an "ultraclean coatrack"), the authors also offer how-to advice, both silly (how to write a love note) and useful (how to self-publish). The playfulness extends to noncraft instruction on what to do with plastic ("how to start a business on credit cards") and glass ("how to break through your own glass ceiling"). Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, who coined the term "readymade," the authors are interested in encouraging creative thinking as much as, if not more than, making re-purposed objects. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
From the pages of ReadyMade magazine appears this compendium of more than 30 projects making the most of recycled paper, plastic, wood, metal, glass, and fabric. Not content to simply show and tell, authors Berger (magazine editor in chief) and Hawthorne (magazine publisher and CEO) add their own funny commentary. Want to debate the utility of chopsticks versus forks? Need to research the manufacture and ingredients of polyester, say, or specific alloys? Desire non-do-it-yourself recycling ideas for some of the more than 730 pounds of paper an average American uses each year? Instructions are easy to follow, the tone is always engaging, and all the projects are practical (for instance, why not have a beer-can room divider or FedEx CD rack?). Appended are abbreviations, hardware screw sizes, conversions, and glossary. Barbara Jacobs
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"ReadyMade embodies a spirit of not just DIY, not just reuse/recycle, but a revolutionary sort of aesthetic ethos that allows us to make elegant objects from unelegant things. Because elegance is decadent—and we can't have that during wartime—elegance is only acceptable if it's pasted together, with spit and glue, from the detritus of a too-prosperous/too-ridiculous world. This is ReadyMade. For now, it's the only tasteful way to have taste." —Dave Eggers

"The smart founders of ReadyMade magazine offer up a sophisticated, clever, and raw approach to design, guaranteed to thrill and inspire modern do-it-yourselfers of any age." —Todd Oldham

Customer Reviews

Well
This book is not a how to book. The beginning of the book tells you more that it is a way to get YOU to think about how to reuse materials. It has sections for each type of material, paper, plastic, metals.
So if you are looking for a huge how to do-something, this book is not for you. But if you want to see some ways to reuse stuff and stimulate your own creative mind, this book definitely would be interesting to you.

A few ideas worth using
As a reader of ReadyMade magazine, I was expecting similar projects in this book. I borrowed this from the library instead of buying it. I'm glad I did. I won't bother mentioning the same things other reviewers did, most statements I agree with.

If I were still in college living in that dorm room or even in my first apartment, I do not doubt this book would provide endless ideas for my decor. I can guarantee the beer can wall divider would've amused me and my roommate to no end had we thought of making one for our dorm room.

Aesthetically speaking, the book design and layout are perfect, but the contents... are kind of "ghetto". If your dorm/ apartment/ home has that edgy, rebel, ultra modern, youthful look, the items would probably fit in just fine.

The projects are relatively inexpensive and most parts can be acquired by cruising down the streets or at the thrift store to pick up homeless furniture and materials.

For those of use with slightly more permanent, quasi-furnished dwellings, the projects might not blend in as well. I don't see a TIDE bottle coat rack looking great next to... well.... any of my furniture.

Since Amazon didn't list the projects, I will. They are as follows:

Hardcover photo frame
FedEx (triangular) Cardboard Mailer CD rack
Poster-Tube Magazine tree
Phone Book coffee table
Shopping Bag woven rug
Shoe box Shoji Screen
Jewel Case wall mural (this is a pretty nifty idea for those pesky cases)
Take-out Chandelier (colander plus clear plastic silverware)
Water bottle chaise lounger
No-sew messenger bag (featured everywhere)
Stacked TIDE bottle coat rack
Clothespin Doormat
Pallet Bike Rack
Chopstick Clock
Drawer unit storage
Door Mirror
Veneer Lampshade
Hubcap fountain
Coat hanger wine rack
Wall of beer cans room divider
Ladder shelving
Water bottle chandelier (glass bottles)
Plexi Post-it board
Window Frame light box
Martini glass bird feeder
Lampshade from old sweaters
Denim dog bed
Lace doily fruit bowl,
Carpet kid chair
And loads of other small projects...

Any of those sound appealing to you? I'd suggest borrowing the book from your library first if you're not 100% sure the projects are for you.

ReadyMade changed my life (well, almost)
This book appears to provoke profound ambivalence. However, for me, it was pee-in-your-pants funny and extremely inspiring, in the creative sense. In my review of the magazine by the same name, I said that it leads one to view the built environment in new and wonderful ways. The same holds in this case. In the reduce-reuse-recycle scheme, it makes an absolutely compelling case for creative reuse. This has two major benefits: (1) it helps overcome mindless consumerism and (2) it makes one a more appreciative and thoughtful person. Excellent outcomes. I recommend it highly.