Soldering Projects

3. A Bright Future for Worn Out Stuff

LED lights make wicked cool light-up crafts, as any good DIYer knows, and there are tons of funky ways you can reuse old wires, switches and resistors to make new stuff, while at the same time honing your soldering skills. Homemade flashlights are popular, as are glowing game controllers, keyboards and mice. Other possible projects range from Frisbees to hula-hoops, and LEDs can also be used to jazz up electric guitars, night-lights, bicycle wheels, Christmas trees and lots more.

Another increasingly popular phenomenon is Tweet-A-Watt. You can take an existing Kill-A-Watt meter and transform it into a tweeting tattle-tale that tells all your friends how much power you're using—even when you're not at home to enjoy it. And you guessed it, to make the necessary adaptations by hand you'll once again be reaching for your soldering iron.