Sweets: Piranha Plant Truffles

Super Mario Bros. Piranha Plant Pops by George Naylor

The CakeCrumbs blog has posted a tutorial on how to make these Super Mario Bros.-themed cake pops, which would be perfect snacks for some game release day party.

Tutorial: Scarlet Witch Painting

"Digital painting tutorial Scarlet Witch part 1 of 3: Blocking in drawing" by Xia Taptara

For image captures of this tutorial, head on over to IDrawGirls.com.

"Learn to draw Scarlet Witch from The Avenger. In this video, you will learn how to draw a female figure with her left arm coming forward as foreshortening shot. You will learn basic technique on how to blocking in form and messes before you start painting. In this tutorial, I am drawing Scarlet Witch or Wanda Maximoff. She is a fictional comic book character that appears in books published by Marvel Comics.

The Scarlet Witch can tap into mystic energy for reality-altering effects; this power was formerly limited to the creation of "hex-spheres" of reality-disrupting quasi-psionic force to cause molecular disturbances in a target's probability field, resulting in spontaneous combustion, deflection of objects in flight, and so on. She later became able to alter reality on a far greater scale, creating entire armies of enemies from nowhere."

Tutorial: Spider-Man Painting

"Drawing Spider-Man tutorial part 1 of 3 lines and pose" by Xia Taptara

For detailed images of this tutorial, head on over to IDrawGirls.com.

"How to draw and paint amazing Spider-Man. Learn to draw, shade and color Marvel comics superhero from art video tutorial and step by step images. This one is also more stylize or than my usual semi realistic drawing and painting tutorial. I personally think it's a lot more fun to exaggerate or accentuate some characters, especially Spiderman, to your preference style. I think Spiderman and the Hulk look great when modify and exaggerate, not Capatain America or Ironman. Some characters look better realistically. I will also explain and show you how I come up with the pose I choose. This tutorial is part one (drawing) of three part video on Spider-Man digital painting and illustration tutorial."

Tutorial: How to draw Rocket Raccoon

"How to draw Rocket Raccoon" by Xia Taptara

For a step-by-step tutorial on drawing Rocket Raccoon, head over to IDrawGirls.com.

"The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books. Rocket Raccoon wears rocket skates that enable him to fly short distances and can carry the weight of at least one other animal with him. He always carries a laser pistol. His ship, the Rakk 'n Ruin, was used to transport himself and his First Mate Wal Rus across the planet and into outer space."

Tutorial: Drawing Rocket Racoon

"ROCKET RACCOON GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY" by EasyDrawings101

Learn how to draw Rocket Racoon from Guardians of the Galaxy.

Tutorial: How to Draw Drax

"How to draw Drax from Guardian of the Galaxy tutorial" by Xia Taptara

Check out the Drawing Drax from Guardian of the Galaxy tutorial from IDrawGirls.com.

"The Guardians of the Galaxy are a fictional superhero team that appear in comic books. Drax the Destroyer was a human whose family was attacked and killed by the supervillain Thanos. Needing a champion to combat Thanos, the being known as Kronos took Arthur's spirit and placed it in a powerful new body, and Drax the Destroyer was born. Drax's powers included enhanced strength and resilience, flight, and the ability to project energy blasts from his hands. The character often battled Thanos."

Tutorial: Speed painting Star Lord

"Speed painting tutorial Star Lord" by Xia Taptara

I am painting a character called Star Lord from The Guardians of the Galaxy for this tutorial. Also for actual image and step by step images go to IDrawGirls.com.

This video shows you my speed painting technique and talks about foundations that you will need for speedpainting or any digital painting. I was really excited when I saw the trailer from Marvel so I have to paint the dude.

Link Round-Up: July 2, 2014

Game of Thrones Inspired Line Art Logos in Illustrator

Interview: Alibi.com interviews Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

The 1964/65 New York World's Fair And The Design of Star Trek

Concept Art for Ron Howard's The Dark Tower

Download your own LEGO Star Wars C-3PO Minifig Papercraft Model

Giving Back Through Photography: 12 Great Ways to Use Your Camera For Good

VICE parodies the classic series in this cheeky Star Trek web comic

Why is it creative geniuses tend to have a form of mental illness?

Video: Make Inflatable Death Star

"12 Foot Inflatable Death Star" by MAKE

To celebrate May the 4th, Caleb Kraft created a giant inflatable Death Star.  He began by creating a pattern from a twelve foot beach ball.  Basically, he sewed himself a pillowcase for the ball and painted it with Death Star shapes.  It looks time consuming, but it’s a straightforward project. You can make your own and start taking over the galaxy soon!

Crafts: Iron Throne Bean Bag

"Iron Throne Bean Bag" by Nerd by Night

Nerd By Night has step-by-step instructions (with pictures) on how to make your own very own Iron Throne beanbag chair. It may not live up to the grand scale of George R.R. Martin's original vision, but it's a whole lot more comfortable than sitting on a twisted mass of swords.

I've included some photos of the process below, but you'll need to click through to read the finer points of the instructions.  Basically, what it boils down to is that you need to sew four sections together out of grey canvas, then paint them.  It looks like a fun project.

Sweets: Hobbit Door Cookies

"Hobbit Door Cookies" by Mike of Semi Sweet Designs

Learn how to make these awesome Hobbit Door cookies for your next Hobbit premiere party over at Semi Sweet Designs.  They're labor intensive, but they're sure to impress guests!

Tutorial: Painting a Mural

"Painting your own Mural without Knowing how to Draw" by Life Made Simple

I found this tutorial floating across my Tumblr dashboard this morning, and I thought it was brilliant.  This is absolutely perfect for those large blank white apartment walls you end up living with for a decade after high school.

Tutorial: Reading Light

"Nikon Behind the Scenes: Reading Light" by NikonUSA

Nikon has recruited notable National Geographic photographer Joe McNally to walk us through a clear and concise explanation of the fundamental first steps of recognizing lighting opportunities and flash photography. The video is marketing material, but useful, nonetheless.

Lego Creation: Articulated Robot

Articulated Robot by Aaron Williams

Visit William's Flickr gallery for the full nine pages of instructions for assembling on of these yourself.

Tutorial: Make a REAL Minecraft Cake

"Make a REAL Minecraft Cake at Home!" by Marimo Marshmallow

[Previously: Minecraft Cake]

Here's a tutorial for a slightly simpler version of a Minecraft Cake than the one we previously featured.  For recipes and detailed instructions, visit the Marimo Mashmallow Store.

"My friend can introduce this new game for me called MINECRAFT and we can build many things! We can make a MINECRAFT cake in this game and also real cake! I hope you can also try this fun recipe also! This is a new style video so maybe my skill is poor for this but I will work hard to improve my skill and make better videos from now! I hope you can enjoy this fun recipe! Thank you very much for your support!"

Tutorial: Minecraft Cake Recipe

"Minecraft Cake Recipe tutorial 3D" by Ann Reardon of How To Cook That

[Previously: Minecraft Cake]

This step-by-step tutorial demonstrates how to make a Minecraft cake using fondant and buttercream.
For more on how to make a 3D Minecraft birthday cake, check out the recipe and template at HowToCookThat.  For a simpler take on the Minecraft cake, check out the version we posted from Marimo Marshmallow.

DIY: Middle Earth Map

Middle Earth Map

Make your own with this tutorial from Instructables.

"This year for Christmas I decided to create a present for my wife. We are both nerds and the release of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" put into motion a project I had wanted to do for a while but had put on a back burner due to school. My wife has always voiced a desire to have a large map on the wall of our office. Initally I thought to make a duplicate of the map that is used in the film but I thought it wouldn't be large enough so I instead decided to make a huge map of Middle Earth for the office. I liked the idea of a map but I wanted to make it look a little more unique and aged than just a simple map. So I set out to make an aged map of Middle Earth and wanted to take you along on for this unexpected journey."

DIY: Thrors' Map

Thrors' Map

Make your own with this tutorial from Instructables.

"Some of us like books, especially the maps in them. I really like "The Hobbit" and I thought I should make Thror's map.  I couldn't find a suitable map to print, all of them were black or white or weren't the same map as the one in the book. I made a printable map, that was like the one in the book. Here it is: http://i.imgur.com/3TGWD82.png Print it with a laserjet printer and off we go."

Crafts: R2-D2 Tree Skirt

R2-D2 Tree Skirt by Ninja Bettie 42

Make your own with this tutorial from Team Fighting Mongoose!

"For about $8.00, this epic tree skirt was born.  I purchased a yard of 72″ grey felt and another of blue (the ribbon and other accents I had in my arsenal), although my lack of measurements found that a yard was not quite wide enough for the skirt to be one piece, I was able to pattern it into three pieces with the same end result.  In hindsight, I probably would not have needed the full amount of blue felt, but again, I had no pattern, plan, or measurements in mind when shopping; only a vision and a wealth of Google R2D2 image results to service as a rough guideline.

After a few hours of trial and error, the finished result turned out amazing.  I am notorious for over-estimating my crafting abilities and not being able to realize fully my designs, but this is a project that I am extremely proud of.  I’m just sad that the tree can’t be up all year round."

Sweets: Gingerbread Dice

D&D D20 Dice Gingerbread House from Our Nerd Home

These are made of graham crackers and put together with melted chocolate melts.  For my money, this nerdier design and simpler assembly beats the traditional gingerbread house any day of the week. Our Nerd Home is putting up a tutorial for the red and green chocolate dice next week, so make sure to bookmark the site.