How can I make a circuit that delays for more than a minute?

The famous 555 chip, a.k.a. "triple nickel", is your solution.

Use one as an "astable multivibrator" for your square wave blinker, and use another as a triggerable "monostable multivibrator" to trigger the other one.

Master the triple-nickel and you can do all kinds of things.

Use a microcontroller such as the Parallax Propeller, Parallax Stamp or an Arduino. Since you have no experience with electronics I would recommend buying their starter kits (microcontrollers need to be programmed, usually in C or Basic)

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10173

http://www.parallax.com/Store/Microcontrollers/Pro...

I know they are a little pricey, but you can always reuse those microcontroller for more complex projects (involving motors, lights, sensors, etc) and you'll end up learning way more than you were expecting.

hehe

Well you would want a 556 - i.e. dual 555 timer. one for the delay, one for the blinking.

This is a fairly simply old school R-C circuit.

Now if you want to go the digital route. Atmel has small micro controllers for ~$2

You will need a development system ($35) & a computer.

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.d...

http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.d...

While the programing makes them a bit more complex, the circuits are VERY simple & VERY flexible.

There is a great little book called "IC 555 Projects" - I found one on ebay recently, so they can be found very cheaply.

Author = E.A.Parr

Publisher = Babani

ISBN = 0-85934-047-3

list price £2.95

to keep your circuit simple, you could use a flashing LED, also available on Ebay - HTH

to make a real Off postpone you choose some variety of capacity storage it relatively is (quickly ) self sustaining of the unit's capacity grant. this would come from a completely on capacity grant or would be completed by a small battery %. (like those used for reminiscence backup) there are a number of timing chips available to do the pastime - beginning with the 555 & all that's kinfolk. or you need to purchase a waiting made genuine off postpone relay variety a wholesaler

555 Timer IC can be set to delays up to 5 minutes with no problem.

well...i'm no electronics guy...but..they make blinking leds...just learn about them..and how fast and what colors they blink...and i'm sure you can find some type of timer switch...even if it's like an egg timer that you turn and it winds down...or some digital egg timer..or maybe they have pre-made timer switches that you set and it counts down and you can incorporate it into your circuit board. it doesnt sound to hard to make something like that...