Suitcase record player At Fred Flare I hear so many people who are getting into collecting records say that they want an affordable turntable. It's always good to have something that doesn't take up too much space, won't set you back much....and something that has style! This has one it all. $99

STEP ONE: Download and install Audacity. Then, download and install LAME. You'll need to move the LAME.dll file into the audacity folder to export projects into .mp3's once you actually get to the recording part. Think you got it down? Good! No? Here's some general help for Audacity.

STEP TWO: Onto the hardware! You'll need an RCA to a 1/8" wire. You can find this at RadioShack or similar stores. Once you get that, you'll hook the RCA end into the output of your mixer (See the photo with the empty output box? With the 1/8" end, you're going to stick that into your mic input on your computer. On my computer, it's the pink area, as you can see in the picture. Everything should be fully connected now! (Above left: the RCA to 1/8" converter, Above Right: Showing the pink area where 1/8" input should go, Bottom Photo: The back of my mixer showing output)

STEP THREE: Find the Volume Control on your computer, and select mute all. If you don't, this will interfere with your recording, and you'll get all the extra event sounds. Open audacity. As soon as you hit record, a new audio track will show up (the bar with all the blue in it). If you're fully connected, you should see something like the picture to the left. If you're just getting a straight line, you're not properly connected. Check to make sure your mixer is on the right channel you're trying to record off of! You may want to do some tests as to what sounds good. What sounds good off of a soundsystem will NOT sound good for a recording. You'll want to mess with the settings on both channels, and even the line if you're using that. I've marked where the proper settings are on my mixer to make it easy in the future.

STEP FOUR: When you're pleased with how it sounds from your computer, and you want to save it as an MP3, you'll go to "Project" on the menu bar, and select "Edit ID3 tags". Input the title of the song or podcast, the artist, and any other fields you think are necessary. Then from the File menu, select "export as MP3...". This will prompt you to name the file. Name the file, and hit save. It'll convert it within a few seconds (or longer if it's a full podcast).

STEP FIVE: If you have an account through PodOMatic (which is what I use), you have the choice to upload a file. Choose a title, tags, and comments, if you choose. Toward the bottom of the page, you'll see the area to upload your track. Browse and find where it's located. Click upload, and you're set! Uploading make take some time. Once it's all ready, select "post episode". Congratulations! You just made your first podcast!

The more you advance with Audacity, you'll see that you can easily select an area and delete or add to it. It's quite easy to use! The more you use it, the more you learn, and the easier things will become. It just takes practice like everything else. I really have to give props to Agent76 for helping me out with all my questions. Without him, I would have no clue on where to start with these new fangled podcast things!!

STEP ONE: Gather materials: Old record you'll never ever listen to, cookie sheet, a large bowl, a small bowl, and an oven preheated at 200*f. Set up supplies like in the picture, using the small bowl underneath the record.

STEP TWO: With the oven preheated at 200*f, shove that baby in there on the cookie sheet. Don't worry, its not used to catch excess drippings, its just used to easily take the setup out. The record won't get hot enough to completely melt...that is if you're not impatient and keep the oven at 200*! Keep it in there for five minutes to get a good flimsy record.

STEP THREE: So the five minutes is up..Now, this is where you'll have to work fast! Take the whole setup out of the oven and quickly flip the record over into the larger bowl. It should be about warm, but not too hot to the touch. This larger bowl is to just help you form the record into a more bowl-like shape. It hardens very quickly, so you'll have to work fast. If you're still not happy with it, you can throw it back in the oven and try again.

TIP: You can use these as goodie bowls to put crap in for your friends if you're too poor to go shopping or if you totally forgot it was their birthday or something. They'll think its sweet cause its homemade and neat, and you'll think "holy crap, this only cost me about 50 cents." OR you can make one for yourself and stash your crap in there..I use mine to put jewelry in. and bills. and make up. I love these things.

STEP ONE: Gather materials: An old LP sleeve, Xacto Knife (or scissors will do), Ruler, Clothes pins, and Very strong glue.

STEP TWO: Cut sleeve into separate sides, so both front and back are free pieces. Right now would also be a good time to trim off excess and jagged edges, so your box looks nicer and measurements are more precise.

STEP THREE: Measure 2 Inches off every edge of the front part of the LP sleeve. Make sure that each edge is 2 inches, because you don't want your box to be crooked! NOTE: I dashed the lines in this diagram because you will be cutting on them, these will be your tabs in which you'll put glue on a few steps ahead!

STEP FOUR: This is one of the most tricky steps-You'll want to put the edge of your ruler onto the lines in which you just created. Fold up gently, especially if it is an older record sleeve (they're more prone to "flaking"). Do this on all four lines. This will create the edges and sides to your box.

STEP FIVE: Cut along the dashed lines to create the tabs. Fold upward like in photo.

STEP SIX: On the front (where the image is) on each tab, put a few dabs of the strong glue and press the longer side to each tab. Then, clip your clothespins on the edges above the tabs to hold the box together until it sets up.

STEP SEVEN: When you've got all the tabs and sides glued together, your own box should look like the one pictured.

STEP EIGHT: For the bottom of the box, follow steps three through seven, except while measuring in, measure in 2 5/8" instead. It needs to be smaller so it can fit inside the top!

STEP NINE: Your glue should be allowed to set up over night or so, so its nice and strong. There's also many extras you can do to this box, such as put a coat of polyurethane on it, to give it a nice glossy coat (like in the photo, but beware, older LP covers tend to be more porous, and absorb the liquid and become spotty!) Or even line it with some vintage fabric you've saved but never use for anything else. Just use the same cutting directions as above, and glue in with tacky glue and trim off excess when dry. Enjoy!