These 3 projects give an idle Raspberry Pi an everyday purpose (August 7 - 9)

Published Aug 6, 2026, 9:00 AM EDT Patrick Campanale has been in the tech space for well over a decade, specializing in PC/gaming news and reviews, as well as maker-focused products to build small businesses. With a start in technology back in 2010 surrounding the Palm/webOS ecosystem, Patrick spent his formative years developing mobile applications as well as blogging for various publications, eventually leading to starting his own website in 2014. After running a technology blog for a few years, he stepped out of that role and into the world of high-end custom PC manufacturing and building, with a focus on YouTube video production and overclocking. Then, six years ago, Patrick joined the 9to5Toys team as an editor/writer/reviewer with over 14,000 articles being published there there, ranging from deals and roundups to in-depth reviews on the latest technology, video games, 3D printers, and more. In his free time, Patrick loves to create projects from wood using various robots and methods, including leveraging the technologies of CNCs and lasers. If Patrick isn't working on a computer or playing video games, he's likely in his 2-car garage workshop creating something unique. In addition to all this, Patrick is also a youth pastor at his local church where he feels God has called him to serve, and he loves every minute of it. It's that time of the week again, the time when I show you some fun Raspberry Pi projects to tackle before Monday arrives. This weekend, I'm showcasing how to build a custom photo frame with Immich, how to simplify your Docker setup, and how to build a whole-home dashboard. Create a custom photo frame from your Immich library with ImmichFrame Your digital photo frame shouldn't need the cloud to work Credit: Adam Davison / How-To Geek Digital picture frames are a great way to add a personal touch to any room. Some digital picture frames pull from an SD card, which is great because it's local, but not great because it needs to be updated when new pictures are available. Others use sources like Google Photos, but that requires a cloud connection (and your photos to be stored with Google). But, if you are someone who likes to host your own services, then there's a good chance you're using Immich—and if not, you should be. Immich is a Google Photos replacement that runs on your own hardware. ImmichFrame is a project that lets you turn existing Immich photo libraries into a digital photo frame, and it's the perfect project to tackle this weekend. All you need is Immich running somewhere in your homelab, a Raspberry Pi, and a display of any kind. It can be an HDMI screen or something that plugs into the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi, as ImmichFrame works with both. From there, you select the albums, people, tags, favorites, or memories filter for what ImmichFrame will display on the screen. You can also choose to show dates, locations, weather, or calendar information for the displayed photos. Since ImmichFrame is pulling the data from your local Immich server, it can function completely offline, meaning it works even if the internet goes down (so long as your home network is still working). This is a fun and simple project to tackle this weekend. Whether you plug ImmichFrame into a spare TV or monitor, or you get a dedicated wall-mountable screen for the Pi, take some time before Monday comes to build this unique custom picture frame, you won't regret it. Simplify your Docker setup with Dockpeek A central dashboard makes managing your Docker containers easy Have you ever wanted a simple-to-use, centralized location to access all of your Docker containers? Dockpeek is designed just for that. While Dockpeek isn't built to launch or manage Docker containers, it does display what containers are running or stopped, as well as the open ports, what server the container is running on, and even tags to help categorize your containers. Dockpeek is a pretty lightweight container itself, and it's designed to turn your active containers into quick-click links. Instead of having to remember what server Audiobookshelf is running on, then remember what port, just visit the Dockpeek instance, find the Audiobookshelf container, and click the port number. That's all there is to it. Dockpeek can monitor containers on the local system, but it can also integrate with other Docker servers on your network to become a central dashboard for everything. You don't need to connect a display to the system running Dockpeek, meaning it's the perfect container to run on a low-power Pi, like a Pi Zero 2 W or an older Pi 3 B. To access it, you just need to navigate to the IP address and port of Dockpeek, or set up a reverse proxy to access it via a domain name. One thing to note though, because Dockpeek exposes some internal server workings, I'd keep it either behind a VPN or on LAN only, not accessible from outside your network. Either way, though, Dockpeek is a fantastic piece of software that can really simplify your Docker setup once deployed. Get your household organized before school starts with Homechart Calendars, tasks, notes, shopping lists, and more right on your wall If you have ever wanted to have a centralized hub for your entire household, then Homechart is exactly what you've been looking for. Homechart is designed to be a self-hosted household organizer. Combining calendars, tasks, notes, shopping lists, meal planning, budgeting, and more, Homechart can give everyone in the house an overview of the day and week at a quick glance. Whether you want to check what's on the shopping list before you head to the store, or need to see when the kid's next soccer game is, it's all right there in front of you. I'd recommend a slightly more powerful Raspberry Pi for this project if you want to host Homechart on the Pi you use, but if you plan to just access it from the Pi and host it on another server then any version should do. Simply plug the Pi accessing Homechart into a display and you'll be off to the races. Homechart does have multiple plans, though, even for self-hosting. The free tier includes calendars, tasks, secrets, contacts, notes, and shopping. Meal planning, budgeting, rewards, and a few other features are locked behind a paid account. However, Homechart does offer a lifetime license if you want to avoid monthly or yearly subscriptions. So, if you're ready to get your household organized ahead of school starting, spin up Homechart and get it set up. The organization it offers could be just what you need ahead of the 2026-2027 school year. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Brand Raspberry Pi CPU Cortex-A72 (ARM v8) Memory 2 GB With the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, you can create all kinds of fun projects, and upgrade gadgets around your home. Alternatively, install a full desktop OS and use it like a regular computer. Raspberry Pi Zero 2WH The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WW is super tiny and super affordable, but it packs enough computing power for a variety of DIY projects. You can use it to create a handheld retro gaming console, for Klipper/Mainsail, a super compact home or media server, and more. Plus, the GPIO header pins come pre-soldered for ease of use. Sometimes a Pi project is just using the Pi as a remote access terminal Some Raspberry Pi projects require all sorts of tinkering with the Pi itself, from using GPIO pins to building or deploying custom software. However, some projects can simply use the Pi as a "thin client" to access another device. Don't let complicated Raspberry Pi projects get you down if you don't have time to do them. Sometimes the best use for a Pi is simply to be plugged into a display in kiosk mode showing your home's dashboard.