FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CHICAGO IL–After you’ve polished off the sour candies inside these little tins shaped like Super Mario Brothers Mushrooms, you can re-use them to store any assortment of small things. Available in three different color / flavor combinations at Fractalspin.com, these Nintendo-licensed candies are perfect for video game junkies, retro-enthusiasts, or anyone who loves cute collectibles.

Apart from Mario himself, the mushrooms from the Super Mario Brothers series are among the most iconic representations of the game. The first SMB was the best-selling game in history, and anyone who grew up in the 80s is likely to have played it in their childhood.

When it’s empty you can use the tin as a case for small things, like paper clips, push pins, a roll of solder, little screws, or bolts. Since 1UP mushrooms can give your character an extra life, these would be great to store pain medications like acetaminophen, allergy pills, or vitamins.

To get to the sour candies inside the tins just pop off the cap of the mushroom. The color corresponds to the flavor choice: raspberry (blue), cherry (red), or apple (green). Each is Approx 3″ high and are available individually at http://www.fractalspin.com/x/product.php?productid=239.

No, not “mushroom candy”–candy that tasted like mushrooms would be pretty gag-inducing (but we found some chocolate candies in the shape of mushrooms if the subject intrigues you). We’re talking about candy that come in a mushroom, Super Mario Brothers style. Once you’re done with the candy you can use the mushroom part to store a collection of small things. Check them out: Super Mario Brothers Mushroom Candy.

Yes, those fearsome aliens from Doctor Who can now be your cuddly buddies with a skein of yarn and a bit of time.

Download one of these “EXTERMIKNIT!” knitting patterns in either .doc or ..txt format and start knitting away!

The teeny little arms on these guys cracked me up. Hope you enjoy it too!

[thanks, Wonderland]

What’s a Nerdster? Well “super-nerds, artists, and the edgy, in-the-know” people with a dash of hipster thrown in, says Lauren Bell of DMNews.

Curious if you fit in? Well, we made a test! Take it now:
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An opal or a sapphire may be pretty, but either would be useless when you find yourself without a map at a technology trade show or disoriented in the hills of San Francisco with a dead cell phone. This lovely silver compass ring features a compass instead of a gem, combining utility with beauty (beautility?). And, it’s far cheaper than a GPS unit.

If you’re the type of person who needs constant reassurance of the circumference of your wrist, or if you want to flaunt your geometric prowess or love of quantifiable length, then this is the perfect bracelet for you. This 1/2-inch wide stainless steel bracelet is available in either Imperial (shown) or metric (which would also be 13mm wide) versions. Since conversions between Imperial units are so difficult to do without computation aids, the Imperial version has the added benefit of being a conversion tool. Cool!

Here’s more silver earrings by Individual Icons that feature different sorts of screw head versions, including two type of flathead ones: rounded and flat, and the ubiquitous Phillips head. Anyone who’s proud they’ve got the crafty / DIY bug will surely understand why these little feats of engineering make lovely jewelry.

Peter Kirn from Create Digital Music pointed to an article reviewing their Make> / CDM / Etsy night in Brooklyn and remarked that the author’s coinage of the term “nerdster” was one he could get behind.

Last night, on the not-so-anonymous urging of a PR company that represents Make magazine, I went to “Handmade Music” at Etsy Labs in downtown Brooklyn…

On handmade music night, super-nerds, artists, and the edgy, in-the-know, 20-something crowd converge on the Etsy labs, drawn by promises of newly-invented instruments, techno music, and free pizza…

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If you have spent time assembling, disassembling, hacking, building, constructing or programming you’re likely familiar with the mechanics of the hex nut and realize their engineering importance as well as the fact that their small hexagonal shape is kind of artsy looking on its own. Both aspects get highlighted in a very cool way with these sterling silver earrings in the form of hex nuts by Individual Icons.