Keith Lewis bakes, paints, makes robots with machine guns, and has stitched not one but two Mario quilts (closeup, from back). They apparently make good gifts, who wouldn’t want one?

Bill Gurstelle thought the exploding balloons were as funny as I did, and now I understand why: the contributing editor of Make magazine knows his way around improvised munitions.

He also knows YouTube videos of oppressed geeks getting back at The Man with potato guns is a good marketing ploy for his audience. Whoosh Boom Splat appears to be his latest book. Amazon doesn’t let me look inside, but how can you go wrong with projects like these?

• The Jam Jar Jet — the simple pulse jet engine that roars
• The Elastic Zip Cannon — a membrane-powered shooter that packs a wallop
• The Mechanical Toe — a bungee-powered kicking machine
• The Vortex Launcher — a projectile shooter that uses air bullets for ammunition
• The Clothespin Snap Shooter — the PG-17 version of a clothespin gun that fires fiery projectiles
• The Architronito — the steam-powered cannon conceived by Leonardo da Vinci

Bill Gurstelle, William Gurstelle, fun, funny, improvised explosives, potato gun, projects