Holy Man-Crafts Batman...literally!

It's a good week to be a Batman fan. Just one day after filming began on The Dark Knight Rises, along comes a new viral campaign in support of the flick that has already given way to our very first look at Tom Hardy as the villainous Bane! And, apparently, we have some tech-savvy fans to thank for getting the image to us sooner than later. It seems they managed to figure out that the spectrum of an audio file at the Dark Knight Rises website says #thefirerises, a hashtag that opens up a Twitter account, which when tweeted out slowly creates the above picture. Thankfully, they found a way to speed up the process and provide us with the big reveal now. Ahh. July 20, 2012, can't come soon enough!



In celebration of this first peek at The Dark Knight Rises, I offer you some Batman inspired crafts, all of which you can make yourself or purchase on etsy.com

A Very Manly Craft...Via thetrendygirl.net

Today's craft comes from an unlikely source; www.thetrendygirl.net. Summer is just around the corner. The time for flip-flops and short shorts is coming. So what are we all to do with those bulky winter hoodies? Why turn them into clever laptop sleeves of course!

Manly Product Feature: Goat's Milk Soap

World Market's Goat's Milk Soap is made with goat's milk, pure vegetable oils and contains no additives or preservatives. Goat's milk is well known as a natural moisturizer for soothing dry or aging skin. It will get you clean at the end of a long day at work, whether you are an accountant or a construction worker. Scents include Mangosteen, Sandalwood, Lavender, Red Jasmine, Green Seaweed or Lemongrass (my personal favorite). Available at World Market stores everywhere for around $4.99

Dawes: Four Man Band

Dawes is an American rock band comprising brothers Taylor and Griffin Goldsmith, Wylie Gelber, and Tay Strathairn, hailing from Los Angeles, California.Dawes is part of the Laurel Canyon sound, whose influences include Crosby, Stills, and Nash and Neil Young, among others, centered in the North Hills area of Los Angeles.The band recorded their debut album, North Hills, in Laurel Canyon in a live setting to analog tape, resulting in a sound that Rolling Stone magazine called "authentically vintage". Dawes' sophomore effort, entitled Nothing is Wrong, will be released on June 7th. Check out dawestheband.com for more info and to hear some of the new album!

Scrabble Tile Pendant

Today's craft is one that the whole family can enjoy (mom, dad, brother, sister, and even uncle Bob). Scrabble is a game that has stood the test of time...but what do you do when your scrabble board has seen better days and you have to get a new one? You use the old tiles to make very fashionable (and gender neutral) pendants. All you need is a little Modge-Podge (which you can get at any craft store), an image printed off of your computer (some mustache clip-art perhaps?), a scrabble tile, and some imagination.

Summer:The Season of the Beard?

The eternal summer question is almost upon us – to shave or not to shave? A lot of men grow “winter beards,” either under the assumption it will help keep their necks warm or as part of growing contest with their friends. The assumption that facial hair will keep your face warm in the winter is as wrong as the assumption that leads to too many cases of springtime shaving – that a beard will be hot and uncomfortable in the summer. While a beard does serve to keep your neck warm in the winter, the problem is snow and ice accumulating on your face fuzz during long walks or sojourns into the outdoors. Then you get inside, the ice melts and you have a cold, wet beard. Obviously, it’s easy enough to deal with this by simply wiping the snow and ice off your face before you go inside, but it’s important for potential shavers to realize that this same quality works in your favor in the summer. Your beard will help keep you cool for a while after you jump into the pool, pond or puddle in an attempt to fight off the summer heat.

Happy Mother's Day

Thanks for always putting up with me Mom...even when I am a little bit of an ass

Baker's Dozen Eggs (a quick and manly brekfast)

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day (especially when that day is full of final exams before summer break) it gets your mind and your metabolism going. For a quick and easy, all inclusive breakfast-in-a-cup, try these "Baker's Dozen Eggs"



Ingredients
•5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
•12 slices extra-thin whole wheat bread
•1/2 pound prosciutto or Serrano ham, thinly sliced
•12 medium eggs
•Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
•1/4 cup heavy cream
•Chopped fresh chives, for garnish
•1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Manchego cheese, for garnish

Directions
1.Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2.Butter a 12-cup muffin tin. Butter one side of each slice of bread. Press each slice of bread, buttered side up, gently into the bottom of a muffin cup. Transfer to oven and bake for 3 minutes.
3.Gently press ham into each bread cup. Carefully, crack one egg on top of ham. Repeat process until all bread cups are filled. Season each with salt and pepper; top with 1/2 teaspoon cream.
4.Carefully transfer muffin tin to oven and bake eggs until whites are just set, 10 to 15 minutes. Using an offset spatula, remove bread cups from muffin tin and transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with chives and cheese; serve immediately.

100,00 toothpicks, some glue, and a helluva lot of free time

This amazes me! Thirty five years ago, long before I was even born,an artist Scott Weaver began work on this insanely complex kinetic sculpture, Rolling through the Bay, that he continues to modify and expand even today. The elaborate sculpture is comprised of multiple “tours” that move pingpong balls through neighborhoods, historical locations, and iconic symbols of San Francisco, all recreated with a little glue, some toothpicks, and an incredible amount of ingenuity. The artists says "I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding."

The Airborne Toxic Event's "All At Once" (a very manly album)

From The Guardian: "The Airborne Toxic Event's 2009 debut pitched itself perfectly between Bright Eyes, the Killers and the Strokes. This time, they've muscled up, nodded to the blue collar and emerged somewhere between Bruce Springsteen, U2 and the Pogues. Frontman Mikel Jollett is as adept at songwriting as guiding his band through such changes: All At Once and Numb are instant, stadium-size anthems, and when the band sound as if they're trying to cover too many bases at once, Jollett's enthusiasm for a killer chorus and a good, dramatic yarn sees him home. The Kids Are Ready to Die's overegged line "I was 13 when I had my first taste of danger" – an age when most of us face no greater peril than falling off a bicycle – ventures towards self-parody, but when the song itself is so strong, it doesn't seem to matter."

TATE is one of the best bands I have ever heard, and by far one of the best live acts I have ever seen (3 hour non-stop musical mayhem last time around). Their new album is pretty fantastic, and they are on tour now. They will be in Cbus two weeks from today (Sunday 15 May) at the Newport Music Hall. Im counting down the days!

Ginger Pear Martini

The martini is a very manly drink. James Bond 007 himself drink them; shaken not stirred. Whether or not you are a fan of the martini, I ensure you that you will love this ginger pear variation. The other night. my boyfriend and I had dinner at Lemongrass, a "fusion bistro" in the short north neighborhood of Cbus (that Ben Folds frequents when he is in Columbus). I had their ginger pear martini, and I enjoyed it soo much that i decided to try and make it...hope you enjoy.




Ingredients:
Fresh gingerroot
1 fresh lime
2 canned pear slices in heavy syrup (from 15-ounce can)*
1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) syrup from can of pears
2 ounces (1/4 cup) pear-flavored vodka
Ice

Directions:
Peel skin from ginger with the side of a spoon. Finely grate enough ginger to prepare as many drinks as needed.

To make one cocktail drink: Juice lime and pour into martini shaker. Add two pear slices to the martini shaker. Add thumbnail-sized portion of ginger and muddle ingredients together. Pour syrup from canned pears into shaker. Fill shaker with ice and add vodka. Shake vigorously 10 times and strain into chilled martini glass, making sure to keep solids out of the cocktail.

To Celebrate The Royal Wedding...A Buckingham Palace Jell-O Mold

Bompas & Parr was founded June 2007 and creates food art using gelatin desserts, colloquially called jellies. Named after the defunct food company of the same name, the company uses food molds to make edible decorations shaped like buildings and other architectural structures. Bompas & Parr (two manly-men with an affinity for bow ties) have been noted for their detail and have competed in culinary artwork competitions, an example being the Architectural Jelly Design Competition organised for the London Festival of Architecture.The company claims their projects explore how the taste of food is altered through synaesthesia, performance and setting. Currently the focus of their projects is gelatin based because they feel it is a perfect medium for an examination of food and architecture due to its plastic form and the historic role it has played in exploring notions of taste. Bompas & Parr also claims to be the first group to ever record the sound of jelly wobbling.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4X-TOP0RWo

Holy Earth Friendly Products Batman

Holy Man-Crafts Batman is not simply a blog about crafting; in the months to come Holy Man-Crafts Batman will feature recipes (for manly meals), gardening tips (for the manly horticulturist),prduct features (for manly consumers), book,movie,and music and reviews (for manly literature,cinema,and music) etc., Today I offer you the very first Holy Man-Crafts Batman Product Feature. A true man is one who cares about the world he lives in; he wants to take care of the environment. A true man is also someone who pays attention to his hygeine and cleanliness. Today the blog features a few products that you manly-men may enjoy. I use them myself;

1. Natural Elements Ultra Purex- #1 selling natural laundry detergent and delivers the deep-down clean you expect from regular Ultra Purex detergents, but contains naturally sourced ingredients with natural fragrance extracts. Hypoallergenic and dye-free, Purex Natural Elements detergents are perfect for sensitive skin.


2. Burt's Bees Natural Toothpaste- It's only natural to want to show off your smile! So the wonderful people at Burt's Bees created a natural toothpaste with added whitening power to brighten teeth in just two weeks. With cranberry extract, which emerging evidence suggests may help to inhibit certain plaque-causing bacteria from adhering to teeth, and calcium and phosphorous to promote strong, healthy teeth, Burt's Bees natural toothpastes also help ensure that your pearly whites are as healthy as they look.


3. Joe Grooming Products- Established in 2002, Joe Grooming's goal was to create a natural and organic line of hair products. By lowering surfactant levels in their shampoos, adding soothing, moisturizing extracts to both cleansing and styling products, and fragrancing with essential oils rather than synthetic fragrances,the people at Joe Grooming have created a style friendly, and earth friendly product.

Manly Sailor's Knot Bracelets

So summer is just around the corner, and with summer comes manly barbecues and yacht parties. Now what is the perfect man accessory for such occasions? A nautical knot bracelet of course. For years Girl Scouts have been making and exchanging friendship bracelets, and all of us boys have bee missing out on the fun. Well you and your man friends can now make and exchange these




Supplies you’ll need:

* 3.5 yards of twine
* 14 ounce can for a smaller bracelet or a 20 ounce can for a larger bracelet. Any other round object that has the appropriate circumference for your wrist will do.



Directions:

1. Wrap one end of the twine around the can to shape an X. Leave about a 4" tail. You will need this tail at the end to finish the bracelet.

2. Wrap the long end of the twine around the can again and bring it up to the middle of the X. Then pass the long end of the twine under the right, upper leg of the X and pull the long end all the way through.

3. Next, move the upper left leg of the X over the right leg of the X to create an oval shape.

4. Pull the long end of the twine through the oval shaped opening you just set up.

5. Turn the can a bit and you will see that the oval shape has created another X shape. Again, pass the long end of the twine under the right upper leg of the X and pull the end through.

6. Repeat steps 3 through 5 until you get to the beginning of your project.

7. You will now find a three-stranded braid. Follow the twine you initially laid out and create a parallel second line.

8. Continue around the can. If you find that it's getting too tight to pass the twine through the openings, you may want to take the bracelet off the can and continue with the knotting in your hand. If you take it off, be careful not to pull the twine too tight, otherwise your bracelet will shrink on your wrist.

9. Continue knotting the rope around the bracelet until each strand of the braid has one parallel line — a total of three passes. At this point you can stop or add another three passes to create the traditional pattern of three parallel lines, like the bracelet in the third picture in this step.

10. To finish, just knot the ends together and weave them into the inside of the bracelet.

Curried Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs are a perennial favorite at family gatherings, especially at Easter when hardboiled eggs abound. But unlike Grandma’s eggs, seasoned with yellow mustard and a bit of relish, these Curried Deviled Easter Eggs are packed with complex flavors.

Mango chutney adds spice and sweetness to the mixture of mashed egg yolks and mayonnaise, and curry powder further enhances the flavor of the filling. Finely chopped green onions add freshness, and crispy crumbled bacon adds a salty crunch.

These eggs can be made the evening before your Easter brunch. Alternately, I like to prepare the filling ahead of time without adding the bacon. An hour or two before my guests arrive, I then fold in the crisp bacon and pipe the filling into the creamy colored boiled egg whites.


2 slices bacon, cooked until crisp, drained and finely chopped
1 dozen eggs
1/3 cup regular or reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon finely chopped mango chutney
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Place eggs in a Dutch oven and cover with water. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Immediately place eggs in a bowl of ice water to chill completely. Crack shells by rolling eggs on a work surface and peel under cold running water. Dry eggs with paper towels, slice them in half and remove the yolk.

Mash the egg yolks in a bowl. Add mayonnaise, chutney, curry powder and green onion. Fold in chopped bacon and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pipe or spoon filling into the halved eggs and cover and chill until ready to serve.

Makes 12 servings.

Manly Easter Eggs

Soooo Easter is upon us. And that means that hard-boiled eggs are also upon us…so we may as well make those eggs handsome (not pretty) right? and what better way to do that than by adding a mustache!?

But if mustachioed eggs are not your thing...here is a simple recipe for egg dye (you can of course always buy the PAAS Easter Egg Dye tablets at your local grocery, but if you wanna try things the oooold fashioned way, here ya go)

1/4 teaspoon food coloring

3/4 cup boiling water (for each color)

1 tablespoon vinegar (for each color)

For each color, measure food color, water and vinegar into bowl about size of a cereal bowl. Mix well with spoon, use separate spoon for each color. Following each color listed below, you will find the number of drops of each food coloring to be added to about 2 - 4 ounces of vinegar for dipping.

Lime - 24 yellow, 4 green

Purple - 15 blue, 5 red

Cantaloupe - 24 yellow, 2 red

Jade - 17 green, 3 blue

Plum - 10 red, 4 blue

Spearmint - 12 green, 6 yellow, 2 blue

Raspberry - 14 red, 6 blue

Maize - 24 yellow, 1 red

Watermelon - 25 red, 2 blue

Teal - 15 green, 5 blue

Enjoy a Happy Easter with the ones you love!

Doctor Who+Crafts=Awesome

So tonight, series 6 of Doctor Who will premier in the US on BBC America. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Doctor Who, I highly suggest that you google it immediately...in short; Doctor Who is one of the greatest Sci-Fi television series ever made! Each episode is chock full of aliens, evil robots, time travel, and adventure! I am not ashamed to say that i geek out over anything related to it. In the UK, the show has a cult-like following, and a growing one here in the US. To celebrate the start of the new season, I have decided to share with you a few Doctor Who inspired crafts... a hand-knit sonic screwdriver, clothespin doll representations of the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors, and a pair of hand-made TARDIS cuff links.

Welcome to Holy Man-Crafts Batman!

Welcome to Holy Man-Crafts Batman; a blog about the modern male and the pursuit of domestic-godship. For generations men have disregarded the joys of crafting, cooking, and making because these activities were considered to be un-manly. This blog is for those men who aren't afraid to get in touch with their "inner-Martha Stewart." It is the 21st century, and it is okay to have a hot-glue gun in your tool box...