Martha shares a good thing: a fun travel kit to keep kids entertained during trips. Get a plastic box at the store and let the children decorate it. Fill the box with fun things for the kids to do in the car. Don't forget snacks. It is fun to let the children have a map of their own in the car. Make a travel box.
Did you leave Blockbuster and they forgot to open your movie box? This con how-to video will teach you how to open a Blockbuster movie box using an item from the $.99 store. Yes it will only cost you a dollar to buy some very strong magnets to hack open Blockbuster DVD boxes. Watch the video for the step by step process of hacking open plastic movie cases. Hack open Blockbuster Movie boxes.
For creating my costumes I try to use only authentic materials, such as old leather, steel, brass, copper, wood and glass. Nearly nothing is glued, most parts are reversible connected with screws.
With tick-borne diseases on the rise, it is especially important to protect yourself from the prevalence of ticks in the outdoors, especially if you live in a high-risk region like New England, the mid-Atlantic states, and the upper Midwest.
If you ever need to carry multiple plastic bags of heavy groceries from your car to your home, but don't want to strain your fingers or take multiple trips, use a shower curtain ring to carry all of them at once.
Need to bike around in cold weather to get to places? Winterize your bike by adding plastic zip ties around your tires to add more traction when you are biking through ice and snow.
Need to keep your favorite feline entertained at home? Using common household items lying around your bathroom or kitchen, you can craft together DIY cat toys that cost nothing to make and will provide endless entertainment for your favorite cat.
Are you feeling flu-like symptoms that involve fever, headache, muscle pains, vomiting, and a skin rash? Take a glass cup and press the glass surface against your skin. If the rash doesn't fade under pressure like a normal skin rash, then you are suffering from meningitis and you need to seek medical attention right away.
If your love for Chinese takeout has left you with a pile of unused disposable chopsticks in your kitchen drawer, then you're in luck. In addition to being a very versatile eating utensil for pretty much any cuisine, chopsticks also come in handy for eating Cheetos without getting cheesy dust all over your fingers, pitting cherries, skewering food, stirring drinks, cleaning out dirt from hard-to-reach spaces, and more.
Bringing your lunch to work doesn't always have to involve boring brown paper bags and plastic ziplocks.
Using an empty Gatorade bottle, empty 5 oz. food container, power drill, string, and some red nail polish, you can easily construct your own DIY hummingbird feeder in less than 10 minutes to attract hummingbirds to your own backyard garden.
Each year, about 40% of all food produced in the United States goes uneaten and gets thrown away. Become a part of the solution and not the problem by practicing the following simple hacks to make your produce and perishables from the supermarket last for as long as possible.
Ice cream never gets old in hot weather, especially if it's super cheap and made within the comforts of your own home!
After you've completely emptied out your coffee can of its coffee beans, put your caffeinated high to good use by getting crafty and productive with the empty vessel that now lies before you.
Compact discs...remember those? Before you toss your old CD spindle cases away, consider upcycling them to a DIY terrarium, cable storage container, hamster toy, rainfall shower head, bird feeder, bagel sandwich lunch box, and more.
Plastic bread clips, which are primarily used to keep bread bags closed, can also be used to add new life to your old flip-flops, scrape gunk off your nonstick pans, keep matching socks together before laundering, label your cable cords, and more.
Decorating your Christmas tree does not have to be an expensive ordeal. You can easily make personalized, unique ornaments for your tree by using things lying around your home, like toilet paper tubes, paper towels, wine corks, old newspapers, CDs (remember those?), plastic water bottles, and even dry pasta.
With the help of a hot glue gun and other basic craft supplies, the iconic red and white candy cane sticks can be used to make candy cane vases, candy cane wreaths, and candy cane candle holders.
Don't toss out those cardboard tubes just yet. Whenever you have one leftover from a roll of paper towels, toilet paper, or wrapping paper, hang on to it, because it's got some great DIY potential.
Need a broom and a dust pan to clean up your living space? Look no further than your recycling bin and upcycle some of your empty drink containers to make new cleaning tools for your home.
A bike rack that's lightweight, small enough to store in your car, easy to build at home, and only costs 50 dollars sounds to good to be true, right? It's not. This guy built a suction-based bike rack in just two hours with only his jigsaw and a drill. He built the contraption using off-the-shelf suction handles, plastic cutting boards, and a commercial fork mount. All-in-all, it cost him just $44 for one mount and less than $100 to add in a second mount and a rear holder. You can find his fu...
Your hair dryer can come in handy for a number of unexpected uses, from removing crayon marks on walls to helping mold your plastic store-bought glasses to fit your big head. Not surprisingly, your hair dryer can also be used to defrost things, quickly dry wet things, and speed up the cooking at your next summer BBQ by heating up your cooking charcoal quickly after lighting.
Cool cassette tape art by Atlanta based artist Brian Dettmer. From Design Boom:
Replace that flimsy, plastic Guitar Hero axe with a soccer ball. These DIY freestyle-footballers play their full-sized, wall-mounted "Football Hero" with skill, achieving a 76 percent accuracy rating after only 17 games.
This summer's Jell-O Mold Competition at Brooklyn's Gowanus Studio Space yielded edible facsimiles of jewels, caviar, cheeseburger and fries, chicken, eggs, and "real brochettes ensconced inside Jello-O that simulated plastic wrap."
Simple to make and cheap. Splice a pen with the igniter of a Bic lighter. Make sure you use a metal pen. Plastic won't zap. We look at this as a safer cousin to the camera taser prank.
Pachinko originated in Japan as large casino machines that were similar to video slot machines. Players gambled on them for prizes. They were then adapted and became popular in the US as handheld kids' toys made of cardboard, a couple of BBs, some plastic and a rubber band.
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install a gas fireplace. Steps:
Taking apart batteries is one of those things that every adult you've ever known has warned you against. Today, we break the taboo and dive into a lithium battery. Lithium has some pretty cool properties—it burns instantly in water and glows blindly bright under flame. And with just one AA battery, you can make a blinding light beam inspiring supernatural awe in all dictatorial adults who doubted you.
This article will show you how to make a shutter release cable for a Canon camera. It took me about half an hour once all of my materials were gathered. I came in at a total of about eight dollars. It has three switches and buttons. The black button on mine triggers the auto focus. The red button triggers the shutter. Finally, the switch triggers the bulb mode, or long exposure. This can be used to take astronomical photos that show the movement of the stars in the picture. The release cable ...
In the mood for chocolate pretzels? They're easy to make. Get Your Supplies
To make a paper shotgun you will need some tape and three pieces of paper. With the first piece of paper roll it up into a medium size tube and tape down the ends. The other piece of paper is going to work as the handle. Roll that piece up into a tight roll and secure it with tape to one of the ends creating the handle. The last piece of paper is going to be used as the bullets. Cut this piece into three even pieces and roll each piece into a cone shape sealing the end of each cone with tape....
Learn how to make a boutique style bow: Use 23 inches a ribbon to make a 4 inch bow. First, trim and heat seal the edges. Wrap it around your fingers and stretch it so the ends are not overlapping the bottom. Make sure the end is on the bottom and stick a pin through the center. Flip it over so the needle is sticking straight up and take the end and the bottom of the two layers and twist into an "X" shape. Adjust the loops to the desired position. Use a needle and thread to complete the bow. ...
Soldering copper pipes is a basic plumbing skill that once mastered will enable you to tackle many DIY home repair and home improvement projects - for instance, replacing copper water lines or installing a new spigot. It can be as much an art as it is a science, thus the more you get the "feel for it," the faster and easier it gets.
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to install a rain diverter. Steps:
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to troubleshoot a leaky shower. Steps:
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to prevent frozen pipes. Steps:
Watch this video from This Old House to learn how to clear a clogged drain. Steps:
I have an absolutely wonderful time making projects and writing articles for all of you mad scientists! Today, I will bring you behind the scenes for a look at the workbench, tools, and software that make the Mad Science World possible.
The internet is something most people rely on, so when you buy a used laptop without a wireless card or yours needs to be replaced, it's easier to do it yourself. Having someone else do it can cost more than you think, so here's an easy way if you own a Dell Inspiron E1505.
