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We’re all suckers for romance, even if most of us believe Valentine’s Day is a holiday dreamed up by industry fatcats. Here are MAKE’s staff picks for ways to celebrate with that special someone, maker style. Read on, it’s a big list!

Build a bike

A personalized bike built for your sweetie can be really romantic, since all that hard work and custom choices relate specifically to the one you love. MAKE Advisory Board member Saul Griffith built a bike for his lady, Staff Editor Arwen O’Reilly Griffith. She writes:

When my husband and I were dating, we had a running argument about flowers. I love them, whether it’s a rare orchid or a weed from the sidewalk, and it mystified me that he could never remember to surprise me with even a dandelion. But one Valentine’s Day, he presented this bicycle to me with a grin from ear to ear. His addiction is bicycles, so I knew this was a true gesture of love. He bought the different components on Craigslist and from various bike stores to make a bike that fit me to a T, stenciled my name on the frame, and hand-build the wheels. The spokes were twisted, just like two beautiful flowers.

What are you doing to celebrate Valentine’s Day with your maker love? Share with us in the comments!

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by Cameo Wood

I opened my beekeeping store in downtown San Francisco in June, and I’ve found that everyone loves beekeepers or bees, and that beekeepers are serious makers. What they can’t find to buy, they generally end up building. I’ve also been stocking my store with the beekeeper in mind, and here are some of the top sellers, at my store and abroad!

8-Frame English Garden Hive

If you’re just getting started in beekeeping, choosing the type of hive can be confusing. The only hive I use or sell is the 8-Frame medium Cypress hive, called the “hive of the future” by Bee Culture Magazine’s Kim Flottum. Having one consistent size for all your equipment is a huge time saver, and is ideal for beginners and experienced beekeepers alike. There are two problems with the traditional 10-Frame shallow/deep sized box methodology.

• If your bees decide to make honey in your deep, you don’t really have any recourse. You now have a 100+ pound box of honey that you need to lift every time you work your hive.
• If you get brood (bee larva) in your honey shallows (hive box usually intended for honey only), or honey in your brood deeps (primarily intended for larva), there’s no way to switch the frames around — you’re stuck with a mess.

The 8-Frame medium garden hive solves all of those problems. This is a beautiful hive that is all set up. You only have to paint/lacquer it, and you’re set to go. Also, get a load of that gorgeous copper A-Line top… Fancy!

Apidan Overalls with Air Openings and Detachable Hood ($175)

The one thing that every beekeeper tends to buy eventually is a full sting-proof suit, for the days when the bees are cranky. Bees tend to sting if something is wrong in the hive, if the queen has died, if there was a recent invader, or if it’s really cold and rainy outside. In these cases, the bees would really prefer if you didn’t come barging into their home, making a mess of everything they’ve been building. For all these reasons, but mostly for the ones I can’t anticipate, the full sting-proof suit is at the top of my list. These are the best I’ve found, and they look darn cool to boot. Find them in HMSBeekeeper or in the UK from beeproofsuits.

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Handmade gifts make a unique and thoughtful impression, whether you make them yourself or support enterprising artisans who vend their wares at craft fairs and online. All of us at Make: Online have teamed up to bring you this roundup of our favorite handmade geekery from around the web.

CoolRockets

Collector’s Edition Giant Custom “The Moon” Rocket Cabinet by Jeff Brewer of Cool Rockets. This is a one-off, 6′ tall cabinet in the form of a gorgeous, snazzy 1950’s moon rocket! It’s a custom job, so you may need to commission your own, and I don’t have any idea about the price. It’s based on the 12″ tall cast resin Fleet Edition rocket, which is arguably more affordable at $64.95. Jeff custom builds, molds, and hand-casts these in resin, then paints and hand-weathers them to perfection. I’ve have a few friends with these sitting on their desks, and I’ve long coveted them! — John Park

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by Paul Overton

Since I started my blog a year ago, I have been amazed at how many guys have emailed me to say that they’ve enjoyed doing crafts for years but thought they were alone in the world. Me? I’ve been doing crafts since I was a kid. Both my parents are artists and my mom worked in the craft industry, so I always had a brush or a hook or a needle and thread in my hand. My craft-type interests are all over the map, and because of that, so is this guide. It’s mostly centered on things I own, know, love, and use for the majority of the crafting work that I do, and since crafting is such a wide category, prepare yourself to travel a considerable distance in the next few paragraphs. Also, while there are some relatively inexpensive items on the list, I’ll ask you to bear in mind that “cheap tools aren’t good and good tools aren’t cheap.” The same holds true for tattoos, by the way. Let’s get started…

Janome TB12 ($199.00)

If you have someone interested in sewing in your house, and you’re on the verge of your first machine purchase, I would definitely consider the Janome TB12 Threadbanger (named for those adorable kids over at threadbanger.com). This is a no-frills, 12-stitch machine that is a real workhorse. While it won’t do leatherwork, or industrial-type sewing, it’ll do most anything else. The motor is super-quiet, the light is good, and there’s not a lot of reading the manual that needs to happen before you start laying down some stitches.

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