INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Either gather pinecones from outside or buy a package from a craft store. Short, round pine cones work best for this wreath, but use what is available. You’ll need around 40-60 pinecones, depending on how tightly you bunch them on the hanger.  If you pick up pinecones from outdoors, it’s a good idea to bake them in the oven at 200℉ (93℃) for about 20 minutes. This kills bugs and crystallizes the pine tar, which reduces the mess of the wreath. Break or cut stems from the bottom of the pinecones. Buy a bag of pony beads that are commonly used for crafts. They can be multicolored, if you intend to spray paint the wreath, or plain white. Use a hot glue gun to attach one bead to the bottom of each pinecone. When you glue the beads, make sure to glue the side of the bead to pinecone so the hole can be strung onto the coat hanger. Grab a wire hanger from your closet, or find one at the thrift store. Bend the coat hanger so it forms a circle. You may need to use a pair of pliers to get the shape just right, but it doesn’t have to be a perfect circle. Be sure to untwist the top part, as well, so you can add the pinecones. One at a time, stick the end of the hanger through the beads. Bunch the pinecones close together so they form a tight circle and the hanger is not visible. Alternate pinecones toward the center of the hanger and towards the outside of the hanger.  How many pinecones you have and the various sizes of them will determine how close they will fit together. Don’t be afraid to cram them a little bit so that the petals hook together. Fitting the pinecones together so that they begin to look like a uniform wreath is a bit of an artform. Move them around as you go until the wreath looks the way you want it to. Once all of the pinecones have been strung onto the hanger, grab the pliers again. Use them to twist the ends of the hanger together as they were in the first place. Make sure the top still forms a hook so you can use it to hang the wreath. If you don’t want to use the hook of the hanger to hang the wreath, use the pliers to bend it down so it is hidden behind the wreath. Then tie a ribbon or a piece of wire around the wreath to hang it. If you want to leave the pinecones with a natural look, you are all done with the wreath. If you want to spruce it up, spray the wreath with silver spray paint. Add holly, ribbons, or other embellishments to finish the wreath off any way you want.  Take a red ribbon and spiral it around the entire wreath. Then tie another ribbon in a bow and glue it to the top part of the wreath. Snip some small sprigs from the pine tree and glue them around the wreath. Add a few flowers like baby's breath or poinsettias.

SUMMARY: Choose your pinecones. Glue a pony bead to the bottom of each pine cone. Bend a wire coat hanger into a circle. String the beads onto the hanger. Use pliers to twist the hanger back together. Spray paint the wreath or add decorations.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Your choice will usually be based on the availability of materials needed by the method, the technical difficulty level of the method or the quality of PCB you desire to obtain. Here's a brief summary of the different methods and their main features that will help you decide:   Acid etching method: this method requires extreme safety measure, the availability of many materials such as the etchant and it is somewhat slow. The quality of PCB obtained varies according to the materials you use but generally, it is a good method for simple to intermediate levels of complexity circuits. Circuits involving more close wiring and tiny wires usually use other methods.  UV etching method: this method is used for transposition of your PCB layout onto your PCB board and requires more expensive materials that might not be available everywhere. However, the steps are relatively simple and can produce finer and more complicated circuit layouts.  Mechanical etching/routing method: this method requires special machines that will mechanically etch away unnecessary copper from the board or route empty separators between wires. It can be expensive if you intend to buy one of those machines and usually leasing them requires the availability of a workshop nearby. However, this method is good if you need to create many copies of the circuit and also can produce fine PCBs.  Laser etching method: this is usually used by large production companies, but can be found on some universities. The concept is similar to mechanical etching but LASER beams are used to etch the board. It is usually hard to access such machines, but if your local university is one of the lucky ones having such machine, you can use their facilities if they allow it. For acid etching, you need to draw the circuitry using an etchant resistant material. Special markers can be found easily for this specific purpose if you intend to do the drawing by hand (not appropriate for medium to large circuits). Laser printers' ink is the most commonly used material however. This is usually done by converting your circuit's schematic diagram into a PCB layout using PCB layout software. There are many open source software packages for PCB layout creation and design, some are listed here to give you a head-start:  PCB ShortCut  Print it out on a glossy paper, such as magazine paper. You should ensure the circuit is mirrored before doing that (most PCB layout programs have this as an option when printing). Once printed, make sure you don’t touch the ink part on the paper as it can get on your hands. Start up your iron. Set the iron on the cotton setting and wait until it heats up.   Be careful, the paper will be hot. The paper should be stuck to the circuit board, don’t rip it out. An alternative approach is to immerse the board and paper in hot water for a few minutes (up to 10 minutes). If certain areas seem particularly difficult to peel off, you can try soaking a bit more. If everything went well, you will have a copper board with your PCB pads and signal lines traced out in black toner. Get the big droplets of water off by softly wiping with a napkin or sponge or just letting them fall out. It shouldn’t take more than 30 seconds and it should not be vigorous or else the ink on to the circuit might come off. This process removes any unnecessary copper from the board leaving only wiring of the final circuit.

SUMMARY:
Choose a method to use for creating the PCB. Create the PCB Layout of your circuit. Once you are happy with the schematic on your computer, match the size of the diagram on the software so that both the circuit board and the paper will have the needed sizes. Print out the diagram from the software's File menu. Align the circuit diagram on the paper with the circuit board (the diagram should be facing the copper part of the circuit board). Once heated, carefully place the iron on top of the paper which is on top of the circuit board. Place the iron there for about 30-45 seconds (depending on your iron). After lifting the iron, put it aside carefully and take the circuit board to your nearest source of water. Start the water flow and hold the circuit board below it. Slowing start taking off the paper and soon all of the paper should come off. Dry the board. Etch the board using one of the methods below.