INPUT ARTICLE: Article: In Minecraft, skins are essentially pieces of paper folded around your character to change its appearance. You can edit the color of pixels, or little squares, to make designs, outfits, and costumes. You are limited to editing individual squares, and cannot make complex curves or shapes. Skin editors simplify this process by letting you “paint” your design right onto your character. A quick internet search for “Minecraft Skin Maker” will reveal a host of sites that let you make your own skins.  Some popular sites include MCSkinner, SkinEdit, Minecraftskins, Novaskin, and Minecraft Skin Editor. While very difficult, you can make a custom skin without an editor in Microsoft Paint or Photoshop. This takes careful precision to fit perfectly on your character. You can design almost anything, from astronauts, pirates, and monsters to a version of yourself. The editor will automatically turn your image into a skin, so have fun and be creative. Some sites let your upload your skin directly to Minecraft, but most require that you save the skin and add it to your character yourself. If you want to tweak someone else’s design, or you want to change your own, open the .png file in a photo editor like Photoshop. Here, you can change the colors or edit the pattern. You must stay within the boundaries of the skin, or the skin will not fit your Minecraft character. The site paint.net lets you edit skins with ease. Use the same username and password you used to register for the game to log onto the website. This is your personalized page where you can edit your account. You can navigate directly to www.minecraft.net/profile instead. Click on your homemade skin and press “Upload.” Wait for a confirmation message before continuing. If you already have Minecraft open, restart it. Don’t forget to hit F5 to change your view and see your skin. If you have not updated Minecraft since version 1.3, you will not see your new skin. Update your version of Minecraft to the latest edition to make sure you can see the fruits of your labor. As of May 27, 2015, the newest edition of Minecraft for PC is 1.8.

SUMMARY: Understand how skins work. Navigate to a “skin customizer” online. Use the pre-made colors and accessories to make a custom skin. Save the skin as a .png file. Alternatively, customize pre-made skins in a photo editor. Log on at Minecraft.net. Click on the “Profile” tab at the top of the page. Click on “Browse” and select your skin. Start Minecraft to see your new skin. Remember that the earliest versions of Minecraft do not allow skin changes.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Set the sink in place to prepare for installation. Utility sinks are typically freestanding, so yours shouldn’t need extra fitting. Position the faucet openings near the wall. If the floor is uneven, adjust the screws on the sink’s legs until the sink appears level. Roll some putty in your hands to warm it up. Wrap the putty around the underside of the strainer’s rim. Then push the strainer into the sink’s hole. Under the sink, turn the strainer’s nut clockwise with pliers to tighten it. Wipe away any excess putty that oozes from the strainer. First, use pliers to twist the nut on the P-trap counterclockwise. Remove the nut and the threaded flange, then slide them onto the sink’s tailpiece. Attach the tailpiece to the P-trap, then tighten the nut to hold it in place. You’ll need a pipe approximately 2 1⁄2 in (6.4 cm) long. You may also need to glue on a few fittings to reach the drain. Slip some plastic, ring-shaped compression nuts over the pipes and tighten them with pliers. Spread the putty under the base of the faucet. Set the faucet in the hole on the sink’s rim and push it down to secure it. Wipe away any excess putty. Finish by sliding nuts onto the faucet from below the sink and tightening them. You’ll need a pair of flexible, braided, stainless steel supply tubes. Connect a line to each of the tee fittings on the copper pipes. Twist the nuts with pliers to tighten the lines, then run the other ends through the faucet. Go back to the water supply valve and turn it on. Hot and cold water both should reach the sink. At last, your sink has running water!

SUMMARY: Move the sink near the pipes. Secure the drain strainer in place with plumber’s putty. Set the sink’s tailpiece in a P-trap. Connect the P-trap to the drain pipe with PVC pipe. Secure the faucet to the sink with plumber’s putty. Connect the faucet to the supply pipes with flexible supply lines. Turn the water on to get the sink working.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: If you have a drywall ceiling that's in need of repair, it must be touched up before you paint over the ceiling. If you want to handle the task on your own, pick up supplies at a home-improvement store and repair drywall yourself. Or, if you’re not comfortable handling the patch-up on your own, hire a drywall contractor to repair the damaged drywall. Ask the drywall contractor to do a skim coat to smooth out the ceiling once it’s repaired. Applying a skim coat to the drywall before you paint will make the ceiling glisten after the coat of paint has been applied. If your ceiling is textured, gently paint a single layer by making straight top-to-bottom strokes with your roller brush. Overlap the strokes by about 1 inch (2.5 cm). Do this delicately so that you don’t end up knocking the textured material off of your ceiling.  Applying a skim coat to the drywall before you paint will make the ceiling glisten after the coat of paint has been applied. If you try to paint the textured ceiling on your own and the job goes poorly, call a contractor to repair the paint job. Find a contractor in your area by searching online. For example, search for “professional painter business near me.” Start in an upper corner of the ceiling and work your way down to the wall in straight lines. Each consecutive line must slightly overlap the previous stroke by at least 1⁄2 inch (1.3 cm). Be smooth and consistent with all of your strokes so there are no curving roller marks on the wall. Essentially, you’ll paint your vaulted ceiling as if it were a wall.

SUMMARY:
Repair damaged drywall before painting. Roll on a single light coat of paint for textured ceilings. Paint a vaulted ceiling from top to bottom.