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You scribblers drew a new line with our dead pen challenge, creating jump ropes, bud vases, and beaded curtains from dried-up doodlers. But the award for best penmanship goes to Jaspal Marwah and Sarah Hunt of Vancouver, British Columbia, who, though not quite proving the pen is mightier than the sword, have shown us that it can at least stand up to a butter knife.

DEAD PEN CUTLERY

Assorted dead pens and markers
Assorted pieces of old cutlery
Hot glue

Hammer
Hot glue gun
Safety goggles and gloves (optional)

1. Take the pens apart. Get rid of their ink cartridges, springs, and any other innards, and set the empty barrels aside.
2. You can use tools to cut the cutlery if you want, but we just bent the forks and spoons back and forth until they snapped, leaving only a bit of the handle attached. (We're not body builders, so it shouldn't be too hard for others to replicate.)
3. Separate the knife blades from their handles by breaking them with the hammer or another favorite smashing tool. Use only knives with plastic handles—they’re easier to deal with than wooden ones.
4. Fill the empty pen barrels with hot glue, stick in the knife blades and cut-off pieces of cutlery, and let dry.
5. Set the table.
6. Invite your writer friends over for dinner.

{ TIP } When rescuing your cutlery from a garage sale or thrift shop, look for pieces with a thin bridge between the handle and the food-collecting part. They'll be easier to snap in two, and more likely to fit into the pen barrels.

{ SAFETY FIRST } On a danger scale of "eating pudding" to "tinkering with nuclear waste in the basement," we'd say this project is firmly on the pudding side—but you might want to wear some safety goggles and gloves, just in case.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Check out the dead pen challenge runners-up!

NEXT UP: UMBRELLAS

{Deadline: November 30, 2007}
by Anthony Discenza

Along with umbrella ownership comes a treacherous twin dilemma: Buy a cheap one, and it breaks as soon as the wind picks up. On the flip side, lay down some cash for a durable (and thus pricey) model, and you're doomed to leave it on the floor of a movie theater.

It seems that most of us take the former route, resulting in an all-too-common sight: a post-storm urban landscape dotted with ruined umbrellas, their webbed skeletons reminiscent of shipwrecked pterodactyls. Of course, we can blame it on the rain—but until we put a stop to this global warming business, we'll suffer no shortage of weather-wrecked nylon shields. And so we implore you, dear readers: Reinvent your bent, your battered, your hung-out-to-dry! The most waterproof solution wins a subscription and a ReadyMade T-shirt.

Send photos or projects to: MacGyver Challenge, 817 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA 94710 or articles@readymademag.com.

Other Features

RE-USE
Build furniture from vintage stereo gear

ARCHIVES
Peruse projects and features from past issues of ReadyMade

Vampire Weekend, the Raconteurs, CSS, Antibalas, a daily treasure hunt conducted via texting, a vendor village, massage station, on site hairstylist and ReadyMade?! How can you beat that?
ReadyMade sponsors the Indie Market and a special pre-event Macgyver Challenge. Come for the music (Beck, !!!, etc), stay for the drawing jam, the 'Power of One' photo exhibit, the 1 Reel Film Festival, and much more.
Artists include Dinosaur Jr., Ghostface, Apples in Stereo, and more. Don't forget the artists at the onsite indie design and craft fair and at Flatstock, the finest in rock poster design. Be an artist yourself at the ReadyMade booth —we'll have crafts!
This year's architectural tours, film screenings, exhibitions, design lectures, and home shows will reinforce the theme of "Design for Community".