- [Mako] Hey, guys!
Today, I'm going to show
you two DIY gift ideas
for biology lovers and for people
that just love geeky things.
They are super-cute, and easy to make,
and you can also personalize
them however you like.
Let's start with the petri dish soaps
that can represent any bacteria you want.
You will need white and
transparent glycerin soap,
some bowls to microwave it, a round mold,
or, if you want to level up
your petri dish soap game,
you can actually use real petri dishes
that you can buy on Amazon or Ebay.
Then you're also going
to need soap colorants,
soap fragrance of your
choice, rubbing alcohol
to remove any bubbles, and
a pipette for the details.
First, you want to create
the cultivation medium
for the bacteria.
Begin by melting some
transparent glycerin soap
in the microwave for a few seconds.
Once everything is completely melted,
add a little bit of soap fragrance
or essential oil to the
soap, and mix it very well.
Now, depending on the
medium you want to create,
add a few drops of soap colorant
you need to the mixture.
I was going for the Hektoen and XLD agar,
that's why I create a light green
and red colored soap mixture.
From here, just pour
the soap into the molds.
Make sure the soap is free
from any dust or fluff,
spray some rubbing alcohol on
top to get rid of any bubbles,
and then just let everything
harden completely.
Once fully hardened, remove
the soap from the mold
and turn it the other way around.
Now to create the growing
bacteria for our medium,
melt some white glycerin soap.
And depending on the
colony you want to create,
add colorant to the white soap.
Now fill the pipette with soap
and begin drawing small
lines across one of the sides
of the soap by slightly
pressing the pipette
to release the soap.
In microbiology, isolating a pure strain
of bacteria is called streaking,
and we kind of want to
emulate the movement.
You can do it like I did here,
or back and forth in a zig zag motion
to make it look even more realistic.
Then turn the soap and draw
more lines the same way,
crossing the first section of lines.
And, by the way, I have one
tip how to clean the pipette
after the soap has cooled down.
Boil some water and use the hot water,
not boiling water, to clean the pipette.
Just press the top a few
times to fill it with water,
and to release it, and
after a few seconds,
the glass should be clean again.
Next, this is optional, but
now you can use a toothpick
to score a few lines into the soap
to create the movement of
the streaking we just did.
And then add a few dots
on top using a toothpick.
The final section should
have less soap on it
as this is the area where it should have
the least amount of growth.
And this is how my soap turned out.
Of course, you can use any
color combination you like.
It doesn't have to look
super realistic, after all.
The petri dish version is especially great
because it has already a packaging
so it's ready to be gifted.
And you can easily remove
it from the dish as well.
The next idea is a
serotonin molecule necklace
that will remind yourself to be happy.
All you need is glass sticks
and plastic round beads.
You can use any color you like.
Silver wire, but make sure
it's durable or it can break.
Then you're also going to need calottes,
or clam shells, jump
rings, clasps, and pliers.
And, of course, a necklace or plain chain
if you want to create the length you want.
Begin by threading one
of the clam shell beads
onto the wire.
Then thread nine glass sticks
and finalize the string
with another clam shell.
This type of bead is great
as it will cover the wire,
but also create the necessary
parts of the molecule.
Now take the empty string and pull it
through the first glass stick
to secure the clam shell.
Next, thread two more glass sticks
onto the string you just pulled through.
And then move four glass
sticks to the beginning
that they're on the
lower part of the wire.
This is how it looks so far.
Two beads on top and four on the bottom.
And now we want to connect them.
Hold the lower wire to the
top to create a circle,
and then thread the upper
wire through this bead.
This way you should get a hexagon shape.
To create the next loop, start threading
one more glass stick, and one
round bead to the lower wire.
And then add two more
glass sticks afterwards.
Bend the end as we just
did with the first hexagon,
but this time pull the
wire through the third
from the last bead in the row.
Now repeat this with the
last two glass sticks
and bend the end part to
create the right shape.
And then cut off some excess wire
and pull both sides
through the clamshell bead.
Carefully push some of the wire
to the clam shell and cut off the rest.
Now, with your pliers, push
the sides together to close it.
And then create a loop with
the end piece of the bead.
This is how it looks so far.
Decide how long the necklace should be
by measuring it around your neck.
From here, just add the jump rings
to the ends of the chain
or necklace and secure them
to the clam shell loops you just created.
Now cut the chain in half
and start adding a jump ring
and a clasp to one end, and two jump rings
in two different sizes to the other side.
This is going to be the
closure of the necklace.
By the way, you don't have to create
this type of necklace.
You can just use the molecule and add it
as a charm to the necklace.
You can basically create
any molecule you want
with these beads.
And you're done.
I hope you enjoyed this
video and found it helpful.
If you did, don't forget
to give this video
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subscribe if you haven't already
to see more fun and
easy DIYs in the future.
Thank you for watching everyone.
Have a wonderful day
and see you next week.
