diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
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index 0000000..9f30a35
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+pkg/*
+*.gem
+.bundle
diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
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index 0000000..fb1be68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+source "http://rubygems.org"
+
+# Specify your gem's dependencies in render_anywhere.gemspec
+gemspec
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
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--- /dev/null
+++ b/README.md
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+render_anywhere
+====================
+
+Out of the box, Rails can render templates in a controller context only. This little gem allows for calling "render" from anywhere: models, background jobs, rake tasks, you name it.
+
+Installation
+------------------
+
+    gem install render_anywhere
+
+Usage
+--------------------
+
+Put render_anywhere in your Gemfile: 
+
+    gem 'render_anywhere', :require => false
+
+In your Rails app, in a rake task, model, background job, or where ever you like, require render_anywhere, include the module and call render with the same arguments as ActionController::Base#render takes. It will return a string.
+
+    require 'render_anywhere'
+
+    class AnyClass
+      include RenderAnwhere
+
+      def build_html
+        html = render :template => 'normal/template/reference',
+                      :layout => 'application'
+        html
+      end
+    end
+
+Thanks
+--------------------
+
+[Yapp](http://yapp.us), whose CTO (me) kindly agreed to open source this library. App yourself!
+
+The basic approach used here came from [this gist](https://gist.github.com/977181) by [Julien Guimont aka juggy](https://github.com/juggy). Thanks!
+
+Author
+--------------------
+
+Luke Melia, [@lukemelia](https://twitter.com/lukemelia), [lukemelia.com](http://lukemelia.com)
+
+License
+--------------------
+
+The MIT License. Copyright (c) 2011, Yapp, Inc.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Rakefile b/Rakefile
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..14cfe0b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Rakefile
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+require 'bundler'
+Bundler::GemHelper.install_tasks
diff --git a/lib/render_anywhere.rb b/lib/render_anywhere.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38f4077
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/render_anywhere.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+require 'abstract_controller'
+require 'action_view'
+
+require 'render_anywhere/version'
+require 'render_anywhere/rendering_controller'
+
+module RenderAnywhere
+  def render(*args)
+    rendering_controller.render_to_string(*args)
+  end
+  
+  def rendering_controller
+    @rendering_controller ||= RenderingController.new
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/render_anywhere/rendering_controller.rb b/lib/render_anywhere/rendering_controller.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..67da4f6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/render_anywhere/rendering_controller.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+class RenderingController < AbstractController::Base
+  # Include all the concerns we need to make this work
+  include AbstractController::Logger
+  include AbstractController::Rendering
+  include AbstractController::Layouts
+  include AbstractController::Helpers
+  include AbstractController::Translation
+  include AbstractController::AssetPaths
+  include Rails.application.routes.url_helpers
+
+  # this is you normal rails application helper
+  helper ApplicationHelper
+
+  # Define additional helpers, this one is for csrf_meta_tag
+  helper_method :protect_against_forgery?
+
+  # override the layout in your subclass if needed.
+  layout 'application'
+
+  # configure the different paths correctly
+  def initialize(*args)
+    super()
+    lookup_context.view_paths = Rails.root.join('app', 'views')
+    config.javascripts_dir = Rails.root.join('public', 'javascripts')
+    config.stylesheets_dir = Rails.root.join('public', 'stylesheets')
+    config.assets_dir = Rails.root.join('public')
+  end
+
+  # we are not in a browser, no need for this
+  def protect_against_forgery?
+    false
+  end
+
+  # so that your flash calls still work
+  def flash
+    {}
+  end
+
+  # same asset host as the controllers
+  self.asset_host = ActionController::Base.asset_host
+
+  # and nil request to differentiate between live and offline
+  def request
+    nil
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/render_anywhere/version.rb b/lib/render_anywhere/version.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..322d40f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/render_anywhere/version.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module RenderAnywhere
+  VERSION = "0.0.1"
+end
diff --git a/render_anywhere.gemspec b/render_anywhere.gemspec
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ae340ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/render_anywhere.gemspec
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
+$:.push File.expand_path("../lib", __FILE__)
+require "render_anywhere/version"
+
+Gem::Specification.new do |s|
+  s.name        = "render_anywhere"
+  s.version     = RenderAnywhere::VERSION
+  s.platform    = Gem::Platform::RUBY
+  s.authors     = ["Luke Melia"]
+  s.email       = ["luke@lukemelia.com"]
+  s.homepage    = ""
+  s.summary     = %q{Render Rails templates to a string from anywhere.}
+  s.description = %q{Out of the box, Rails will render templates in a controller context only. This gem allows for calling "render" from anywhere: models, background jobs, rake tasks, you name it.}
+
+  s.rubyforge_project = "render_anywhere"
+
+  s.files         = `git ls-files`.split("\n")
+  s.test_files    = `git ls-files -- {test,spec,features}/*`.split("\n")
+  s.executables   = `git ls-files -- bin/*`.split("\n").map{ |f| File.basename(f) }
+  s.require_paths = ["lib"]
+  
+  s.add_dependency('rails', '>= 3.0.7')
+end