My latest experiment--a homemade pinhole. Pretty standard.
What I started with: a box of birthday candles.
I opened up the box completely and colored the interior all black. I also removed the plastic covering over the hole.
I got some brass shims from a hardware store--that and the electrical tape were the only things I had to buy. The shims are super thin pieces of brass that I could easily poke a hole in with a sewing pin, and cut with scissors to have it fit inside the box.
I taped the pinhole to the center of the box (roughly) and then taped the box up completely with electrical tape. This is the finished camera.
I put two slits along the sides of the box for the film to fit through. The box is wide enough that it's hard to get the film to go in one side and out the other, so I used a piece of flat cardboard (like from a paper tablet) to thread the film through the box. (Taped the film to the threader and stuck it through the box.)
I used reloadable film cannisters to store the film in, securely taped with electrical tape to the camera to prevent light leaks. I wound it using a little manicure tool that is long, thin, and basically flat. I drew an arrow on it so I'd remember which way the film needed to be wound.
Results...
This is a wood carving my dad made from a self-portrait I drew when I was small. This was roughly an hour exposure, in very dim light--I think the white spot/line is from a light glare traveling across something as the sun came up?
This is a card a friend sent me on my desk. A few minutes exposure.
Spongebob in my bathroom--probably about 10-15 minute exposure.

And I ran. I ran so far away.