Fun DIY Projects
How To: Make Your Own DIY Leaf Skeleton
Making your own leaf skeleton is a fun, DIY project where you strip green leaves of their outer coating and tissue, leaving behind the "skeleton" of delicate veins underneath. Leaf skeletons can then be used as framed art pieces, or delicate decor for homemade cards or ornaments.
How To: Make a DIY Light Bulb Aquarium
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.
How To: Make Your Own Rose Water for Beauty & Food Uses
Using rose petals plucked from your own garden, a large pot with an inverted lid, and some ice, you can create your own DIY rose water which can then be used as an ingredient to make your own beauty supplies or for floral-scented cocktails and desserts.
How To: Make Your Own Temporary Tattoo
Whether you need very temporary skin art for a costume or simply want to test-run a potential tattoo design before it gets permanent, making your own temporary tattoo only requires wax paper, a printout or drawing of your desired design, black eyeliner, rubbing alcohol, baby powder, liquid bandage, and a lot of patience.
How To: Make DIY Rock Candy at Home
Not to be confused with Pop Rocks, rock candy, which is large chunks of crystallized sugar, is a wonderfully simple snack in and of itself, and can be used to dissolve in tea or coffee as well as on top of other desserts.
How To: Repaint Old Wooden Furniture
Bored of your living room furniture? As a weekend DIY project, one easy way to give new life to old wooden furniture is to add a new coat of paint. All you need are a drop cloth to cover the floor, sandpaper and sanding sponges, primer, latex paint, a foam roller, synthetic bristle brushes, and a well-ventilated room to paint the furniture in.
How To: Create Giant, Reusable Bubbles Out of Elmer's Glue & Liquid Starch
Creating giant, reusable bubbles at home is easy, and it's a fun project for children. Just dump a whole bottle of non-toxic Elmer's Clear School Glue into a bowl, add fine glitter and watercolors (or food coloring), and slowly mix together Sta-Flo Liquid Starch to form a pliable concoction.
How To: 10 Ways to Make a DIY Bird Feeder Out of Random Household Objects
Want to attract more birds into your backyard for your viewing pleasure? With a simple household objects and bird seeds, you can easily turn your backyard or outdoor balcony into a bustling destination for your neighborhood birds.
How To: Send a Secret Message Inside an Egg
Whether it's for Valentine's Day or you simply want to send a note to someone in a unique way, a secret message inside of a seemingly untouched raw egg is the perfect way to go.
Winter Warmth: How to Make a Cheap Microwavable Heat Pack Using a Sock & Dry Beans
Using dry beans and and some scraps of cotton fabric, you can make your own DIY microwavable heat pack which can be used to relieve sore muscles, warm your hands when stepping outside into cold weather, heating up your pillow case on a freezing night, and more.
How To: Make Your Own DIY Lipstick Out of Crayola Crayons
You probably shouldn't ever eat Crayola crayons, but you can definitely chop them up into tiny pieces, melt them over boiling water with coconut oil and olive oil, pour into an empty contact lens case and use the final congealed product as lipstick for your lips. Yes, it really is that simple.
How To: Make a Non-Toxic, Reusable Air Freshener to Keep Your Car Smelling Awesome
If you want to keep the inside of your car smelling awesome, don't buy commercial air fresheners. They contain toxic synthetic chemicals which can be harmful to your health.
How To: Make a Smartphone Case Out of Duct Tape & Staplers (No Sewing Required)
Whether you use an iPhone, BlackBerry, or Android smartphone, it definitely doesn't deserve to get scratched up by car keys or other sharp objects that may be in your pocket or handbag. If you're too cheap to invest in a protective phone case, how about making your very own of duct tape and staplers?
How To: Make & Grow Your Own Chia Pet
If you missed out on the Chia Pet craze from the '80s and '90s, don't worry—it's never too late to build and make your own weirdly head-shaped thing with grass hair growing on top.
How To: Make Your Own DIY Hummingbird Feeder Using Recyclable Materials
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.
How To: Make a Miniature Meditative Zen Garden for Your Desktop
If you don't have the backyard space to make a Japanese rock garden where you can spend long afternoons meditatively raking ripple-like patterns into the sand below your feet, settle for the next best thing by making a simple, miniature zen garden that can easily fit on the corner of your desk or nightstand.
Guerrilla Gardening 101: How to Make a Seed Bomb
Build up your arm strength and beautify your local community in a single stroke by dropping homemade seed bombs in and around your neighborhood. A guerrilla gardening technique anyone can participate in, seed bombing is a fun and effective way to add tiny oases of wildflowers and healthy green plants in vacant lots and other overlooked and neglected parcels of land.
How To: Turn a Plastic Garbage Bag into a High-Flying DIY Kite
Where one sees plastic garbage bags, I see living creatures soaring high in the windy skies—and you can too. The choice is completely yours. But, wouldn't it be nice to spare one trash bag the indignity of holding waste?
How To: 12 Crafty Uses for Those Old Books Gathering Dust on Your Bookshelf
Add a little extra life to old books you'll probably never read again by transforming them into a sneaky secret book safe, an e-book reader case, a picture frame, or even a book planter for your indoor succulents.
How To: Cut Glass Bottles in Half Using Fire and Glass Cutters or Acetone-Soaked String
Want to make your own glass drinking cups? You don't need to be a glassworker to get creative. Just recycle some of your old beer, soda, or wine bottles into stylish toothbrush holders or glass cups.
How To: Turn an Old Hardback Book into an Awesome Kindle Cover
If you love the digital convenience of ebooks but miss the analog tangibility of physical books, then this DIY cover is for you. It will work with pretty much any Kindle, Nook, tablet, or e-reader, and only requires a hardcover book, an elastic band, and some simple craft supplies.
How To: 11 Creative Ideas for Making a Personalized DIY Wall Clock
Want to make your own DIY wall clock? Using just a drill, a craft knife, picture hangers, and a cheap clock kit, you can make your own creative and customized clock that will keep you on time and give some visually pleasing eye candy to your living space.
How To: 7 Fabulous Ideas for Making Your Own Drink Coasters
Whether you're a coffee fiend or beer enthusiast, having good coasters is necessary to prevent watermarks from forming on your tables. But instead of going out and buying a set, consider making some custom ones yourself that match you and your home's personality.
How To: Make a Soda Bottle Broom and Milk Jug Dustpan
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.
How To: Make Giant Homemade Soap Bubbles
These dog days of summer are the perfect window of time to make giant homemade soap bubbles outdoors.
How To: Read Your Own Palm Lines
Palmistry is the art of characterizing or foretelling the future through the reading of palm lines. Though there are certainly many variations and techniques when it comes to interpreting the meaning of palm lines, you can brush up on Palmistry 101 by getting acquainted with your four major palm lines: the heart line, head line, life line, and fate line.
How To: Make a Smoke Bomb with Sugar and Potassium Nitrate
Surprisingly, making your very own smoke grenade is pretty easy—and cheap. All you need is a saucepan or skillet, piezoelectric lighter, sugar and some potassium nitrate (easily available online and in most gardening stores).
How To: Effectively Disguise Yourself and Keep Your Identity Secret
The art of disguise is a very important skill to master, no matter if you're a hounded celebrity trying to ditch the paparazzi or just someone who'd like to step out of the house without being recognized. If you think simply throwing on sunglasses and a hat is a good disguise, you are so wrong.
Dress to the Nines: 7 DIY Tricks for Keeping Your Wardrobe Looking Shiny and New
Refresh your wardrobe without buying a single new article of clothing. Yep, it can be done. Because who really has the money these days to splurge on new clothes? And no, you don't have to be a DIY sewing genius to work with what you already have. Sometimes it's a matter of simple improvements, like making your dingy white tank top look super white again, or fixing those embarrassing scratches on your formerly spotless leather shoes.