As you might have already known, I hosted this month’s IndieWeb Carnival, the topic I chose for June being DIY — Something from (Almost) Nothing. I knew from the start that the theme might be a bit challenging for some, and I wasn’t expecting too many submissions. However, as the month of June unfolded, more and more submissions appeared. So without further ado, I will present you the submissions received, along with my personal thoughts on each of them.

Something From (Almost) Nothing at Tangible Life

A great post about updating the centerpiece of their family room to fit in style with their new furniture design. Thank you, Steve!

Six De-Grease of Kevin Bacon by 💕 Devastatia 💕

As expected, Devastatia takes us on a lovely trip, combining nothingness, Southern cooking, bacon lard, Cajun culture and last, but not least, (covered) titties. Thank you for your post and for making the world better!

Creating Something by Westley Winks

Apart from being a great writer about his interactions in the offline world, Westley is also a kind teacher, and his submission for this month’s Carnival is a great journey into how his website was rebuilt using Astro. Thank you, Westley!

do it myself by Jess Driscoll • jess is typing

Jess wrote a heartfelt post about the (de)motivation of being creative and added the icing on the cake in the form of a tutorial to help you get started with the Ghost publishing platform. Thank you for your submission, Jess!

Crafting tabletop games by Juha-Matti Santala

Having a huge fan of board and card games and also a big crafty guy who loves printing stuff, this post really hit me. It’s amazing what you can now do with the power of Internet, a hundred euro printer and a paper guillotine. This post is not only creative, but also informative and inspiring. Thank you, Juhis!

Dopust by Sara Jakša

Written in Slovenian, Sara wrote a beautiful piece that takes the DYI concept into the philosophical plane of existence and tells us a holiday story. From one perspective, this post is a great “how to” on disconnecting from the consumerist life and reconnecting to life itself. Thank you, Sara!

Ink and Quill by James • capjamesg

If you want to write emails in style, James made a pretty nifty tool to compose emails. It’s the closest thing to snail mail in a digital world and I think it’s beautiful. Thank you!

Receiving webmentions from (almost) nothing by Fabian Holzer

Writing a service or a platform is no easy business, so when Fabian published his post on how he made his own implementation of webmentions, I was a bit jealous. Not only his code is beautiful and thoroughly engineered, but the article also shows his passion about development.

Space News to look forward to by Johanna • dead.garden

When I said “use whichever format suits you” I didn’t expect for an e-zine. I’m not going to talk too much about the content, because it’s captivating, but I will say that this is so beautifully made that I kinda want to steal the idea and start using my typewriter more. Thank you Jo, for being such an inspiration.

Something from nothing is no fairy tale at Writing Slowly

This is one of the creative ways to approach this month’s theme and spots the connection that no one else saw, between the fairy tale and getting something out of almost nothing. Thank you for your submission!

Making and Mending at ribose

This beautiful piece is divided into two great parts, the first one is about making your own solar-power synthesizer, while the second is about repairing clothes. The lovely part of this post is the mood it sends to the reader, as an invitation to just do something, even if you don’t know how, sometimes following a guide, some other times just swinging at the problem and see what sticks. Thank you for your article!

Nothing at The web site of jabberwockie

Oh. Jabberwockie posted a beautiful piece, combining cosmogony and philosophy into one. Thank you for making this in hope that it will make others make things!

My sketch- and notepad by Bob van Vliet

Bob shows us his sketch- and notepad that comes not only as a way to reduce waste, but also as as a way to optimize the thought process of creation. Reminds me of the folder I used in senior high school year, who was pretty much on the same basis. Thank you, Bob, for participating and for unlocking a dear memory to me!

Why I try to do it myself by Amelia Syreth

Mel wrote a really inspiring and heartfelt piece about getting better and doing everything yourself. I love the positive energy it emanates and makes me want to get better for myself and for the ones close to me. Thank you for the energy boost!

Something from Almost Nothing, or, There and Back Again on Feadin.eu

A great article reminiscing about the web that was and that is no more, about creating a site and making it grow and getting your work seen by the people, when readers were more important than reactions on social media. Thank you for your submission!

Making A Vinyl Record Wall by Andrei

Last, but not least, with your permission is my post where I’ve decorated a painting with some records, after not managing to upgrade my desk in time. I aimed high and landed off the mark, but it’s also a lesson in recovering after a failure. I won’t thank myself for doing/writing this article, but I want to thank everyone for reading it.

In the end, I want to thank each and everyone of you who participated. I know the theme was challenging and some people struggled into making something great, I know I have tried and failed, as many others did. Thank you for trying and for not sending me hate mail. I also want to thank the snarky commenters who believed this theme not to attract big crowd, because “it is only suitable for one person, author only because it is made for specific setup”. The theme’s purpose was not to teach, but to inspire and to give people that small shove into doing something. While the number of submissions wasn’t too big, I like every one and I believe every single one of them hit their mark in their own respective way. I’m also happy I got to interact more with the people behind the articles.

As I mentioned before, I know the theme of this month’s challenge is a bit more complex and time consuming and some people didn’t have the time to properly finish what they were planning, so if you finish your project soon, feel free to send me the link, the submissions are still open for a reasonable amount of time. If you started a big project or you want to expand the post you’ve written for the Carnival, I’m inviting everyone who participated to write a follow up post before the end of the year and I’ll write another roundup to show your updates, if there are any.

Thank you once again for participating and make sure you check out the IndieWeb Carnival theme for the month of July 2024 — Tools hosted by James (capjamesg)!