Cheaper (and perhaps cuter) than a maid, the simple scrub bot is easy and cheap to make: "This state of the art cleaning robot is great at polishing floors and shining glass tables (provided that you soap it up first). It also disperses small particulates evenly across your floor in such a manner that your home may look cleaner than it actually is."
If you've ever had even the slightest encounter with bed bugs, you know they are the most feared, nastiest vermin in New York City, as well as other closely populated spaces (re: college dorms). The latest nasty bit of news on the topic concerns clothing retailer Hollister- their flagship Soho store was shut down for three days for infestation.
Lock up your grandfather clocks; there's a new lady on the scene. Meet "365" by German designer Siren Elise Wilhelmsen, an electric grandmother clock that completes a two-meter (or six-and-a-half-foot) knitted scarf once every 52 weeks.
We love the photo booth. Inevitably the best pictures from any wedding come from, not the professional photographer, but the photo booth stationed in the far corner where tipsy guests act very very silly. Brett Ratner, director of Rush Hour and X-men, has a photo booth installed in his house. After several years of parties...he decided to publish a book of all the candids. Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake and many others mug for the camera without the aid of fancy lighting or make up ar...
via Cracked Think Disney came up with all those fairytales on its own? No way. The Mouse House single-handedly ripped off dozens of classic tales, turning adult fare into kid-friendly cartoons!
I've been digging their latest album I Will Be for the past couple months, should be a fun time. Dum Dum Girls / Crocodiles / Dunes / Soft Healer @ The Echo ($12)
This is one serious secret door. In fact, you can hardly call it a door, being it is the entire exterior of a house(!)
Making a difference can be done even before you leave your house... Are you thinking about a friend... maybe send them an email and say.. HEY I was just thinking about you... how are you doing? They could be surprised that you remembered... Many of us remember people but take little time to acknowledge it.... So when you are at the coffee shop this morning or filling up your car at the gas station. Wish them a "Super Dooper Day!" They might think you are on crack, but you will have made them ...
I don't know about you, but I've been counting down the days until the release of Iron Man 2. And that day is finally here. For those of us who won't make it to the theater until tonight, here's a little sneak preview for you, courtesy of NYC SFX house Perception.
I don't know about you, but my mom was planting food in her yard long before it was ever considered "cool" or "progressive". We had scallions, plums, apples, pomegranates, melons and zucchinis in our yard. It was part of our sustenance, and at no point was it ever considered a luxury. It was just something we did to supplement our groceries because it was practical.
Ew. Ew. Ew. Valentine's Day has passed but, take it from me, ladies always like a little romance... Portland-based industrial designer Sarah Tisdale fell for her next door neighbor and consequently dreamed up the perfect gift.
Spring is coming around the corner, and what better to welcome it through the door than houseplants? Design Sponge posts a simple tutorial on plant propagation, the natural process of using plant cuttings to produce more plants. Surprisingly easy (and cheap).
Have you seen all the adorable miniature garden ideas? Containers of some sort (wood boxes, planters, drawers, wheel barrows, bird baths…) hold a little scene full of tiny living plants along with little adornments like garden benches, hardscapes and paths. They are absolutely enchanting for all ages and how fun to shop the house and find special little things to decorate your tiny garden whether indoors or out. Not only can you plant real, live tiny plants in your garden. Consider little suc...
If you're ever paranoid about locking yourself out of your house, the worst thing you can do is to hide your spare key in an obvious spot, like under the doormat, under a planter, or anywhere near the front door.
Add new life to your old light bulbs by transforming them into a DIY light bulb aquarium. Using needle-nose pliers, a screwdriver, and a small hammer, you can remove the copper connector and other inner components from the light bulb to create a clear opening from the stem to within the bulb.
Shower curtains and shower curtain liners are great for making sure that your bathroom floor doesn't collect water, but eventually you'll want to replace them. When you do, the old one can be repurposed for a number of practical uses around the house and outdoors.
Other than the expected task of removing lint from clothing, lint rollers are a great tool to have around the house for a wide variety of cleaning and non-cleaning uses.
If you're using an Android phone or tablet with Google Now, then you and your little ones are in for a little treat. Just tell Google, "Let's Go Caroling," and watch the holiday metamorphosis as your device changes into a personal, karaoke caroling machine. Just in time for the holidays! Choose from one of five famous Christmas songs (Jingle Bells, Up on the House Top, Deck the Halls, O Christmas Tree, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas), press Play, then keep up with the bouncing ball as it h...
Even if you never plan on visiting a golf course for the rest of your life, it's still a good idea to have a few golf tees lying around the house. You never know when you might need to replace a small cap, stake a picnic blanket to the ground on a windy day, and (assuming that they are clean and new) hold a thick sandwich together.
However much you love cooking fried fish for dinner, there's no need for your kitchen to smell fishy for days afterward. Keep your post-cooking funky kitchen smell to a minimum by boiling cloves in water, simmering lemon peels, oven roasting coffee beans, or leaving bowls of white vinegar on the kitchen counter overnight.
Sooner or later you're going to have to deal with a stuck zipper, whether it's on your favorite jacket, backpack, or pair of pants. Simply tugging hard on the zipper tab hardly ever works, but a few things lying around your house might do the trick.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Commonly used for aromatherapy purposes, essential oils can also be used to remove sticker gunk, make your room smell nice while vacuuming, concoct DIY toothpaste, deter rodents from hanging out in your house, and more.
For a long time, Apple has had Remote—an app that can be used on any iOS device in order to remotely control iTunes. Remote allows users to walk around their home and change the music by simply going through their phone. And now, Android has released its own version of the Apple Remote app! Retune is a free app found on Google Play that has the capability to control iTunes—change songs, TV shows, and movies—using your Android device. You can view the entire iTunes library on your Android devi...
Why buy Christmas tags for your presents when they are so easy to make yourself! Here I’ll be showing you how to make simple, easy Christmas Tags out of stuff that you may already have round the house.
If you need a cloudy background for a photo or video, you can always turn an old aquarium into a DIY cloud tank. But, if you want something more fun and less creepy, these fluffy cloud props by Serena Thompson might be more what you're looking for. It'd even make a good Halloween costume if you tweak it a little. All you need is some balloons, tape, flour, newspaper, and a bunch of pillow stuffing. Serena made them by taping balloons together and applying a mixture of water and flour, then co...
When it comes to common household items with a million practical uses, baking soda reigns supreme. We all know that baking soda is great for deodorizing stinky things, whitening your teeth, and helping with clean-up around the house, but did you know about the other weirdly unexpected and esoteric uses for baking soda?
Bleach is a great product for getting rid of tough stains and disinfecting areas around the house, but the amount of harmful chemicals these products have inside of them is extremely high, as you can probably tell by reading the MSDS for the Clorox brand.
Though it may seem like sacrilege for some to use butter for something other than to flavor your food with delicious buttery goodness, butter has many other surprisingly practical uses, like keeping your hard cheeses mold-free or helping you swallow your pills.
Just like soda pop, beer has many strangely useful and non-drinkable uses that can be pretty handy around the house and garden, in the kitchen, and even for your beauty routine. Beer bath, anyone?
According to mainstream media reports, one of Barack Obama’s White House spokesmen said this in response to the recent “free speech” trial in Russia:
How many trips up and down the stairs do you think it took artist Janne Parviainen to create this incredible topographical light painting? Apparently, quite a few. Using only one LED, he moves around his house, tracing all of the surfaces. Sometimes the exposure times are up to 30 minutes to achieve this effect. He's done similar projects in the past, like these fun, but slightly creepy skeletons. Check out Janne's website and Flickr profile to see more of his work.
Originally invented in the 1950s to develop a rust-preventing solvent and degreaser for the aerospace industry, WD-40 spray has at least 2,000 practical uses for house-cleaning, gardening, furniture maintenance, farming, and more. Commonly used to repel water and prevent corrosion, WD-40 can also be used to help lubricate stuck objects (like zippers and LEGO parts), make shovels slippier for more efficient use, and even keep pigeons from pooping on your balcony.
These dog days of summer are the perfect window of time to make giant homemade soap bubbles outdoors.
You have to see this amazing tutorial on how to make a WALL-E toy from junk just lying around your house. Literally. This is ingenious! Filth Wizardry: Home made recycled WALL-E.
Jan Vorman has installed quick LEGO-fixes all over the world - from Italy to Germany to Israel to Holland.
To Mario enthusiasts everywhere: Mario mania has been lovingly expressed all over the web for some time now (including How-To). The most recent accomplishment brings together two classic favorites: Mario plus LEGOs.
"Bang Goes The Theory" is back on Wonderment. This time it's not a vortex cannon demolishing houses (three little pigs style). In this episode, Jem Stansfield's latest stunt involves him climbing a 1210 feet high building like a real life Spider-Man. Stansfield uses a special pair of hand built vacuum gloves, powered by a vacuum cleaner on his back.
Wu Yulu's life story belongs in a Disney movie. The 46-year-old Chinese farmer has built 26 robots over the past 30 years, with no education beyond high school. He says he loves his robots more dearly than his own sons and rides around his village in a robot powered rickshaw.
Want your boyfriend to clean house? Make it a game. This Wii remote-controlled Pac Man vacuum will transform every alpha male into a....maid!
WonderHowTo house favorite, Sam Nouyoun gives the lowdown on "fuming" super glue to develop latent fingerprints on smooth surfaces.
