Living the DIY Life: March 22-28. 2008

This past week, it seemed like the entire blogging team here at DIY Life was knocked down with one illness or another. I won't share the gruesome details, except to confess that I could really use a tissue... do you have one?

Although we did not manage to post quite as much as we would have liked, we still had a number of useful, interesting, or just plain cool articles for your reading pleasure. For example:

• Ian Lesnet began his series which will teach us how to make a 100% DIY digital audio recorder with the building blocks of the project: Program a Texas Instruments MSP430 microcontroller. If you've ever wanted to get in on the digital maker subculture (you know, the one celebrated over at the justly-beloved Make), but didn't know where to start, Ian can get you up to speed.
• Would you, too, like to find blogging "fame" and "fortune"? Got a ten-spot and a dream? Well, my friends, Victor Agreda, Jr. has the post you've been waiting for: Starting your own blogging empire for peanuts.

What else were we up to? The usual mix of gardening and outdoor home improvement, maintaining the great indoors, and crafting for fun and relaxation. We have fences, decks, water conservation, organizing tips, Scooba care, digital scrapbooks, hard-rocking cookies, and much more, all after the break.

In the yard:

• In this week's Avant Yard column, Diane Rixon explained the pros (many) and cons (few, but serious) of growing pampas grass.
• Perpetual Remodeling Syndrome, with Kelly Smith, was all about refinishing your deck; in this week's column, Kelly confessed anti-deck-paint prejudice, and suggested some alternatives.
• Mike Johnson discussed how to go about the onerous task of setting a fence post properly. It's not as simple as digging a hole!
• I discussed why Epsom Salt might be a good addition to your spring gardening routine.

Around the house:

• Bill Volk discussed ways to reduce both indoor and outdoor water usage.
• Bethany Sanders discussed organizational tips for a first apartment, with recent college grads and current students in mind. If you start out organized to begin with, it'll be easier to stay organized in the long run.
• Lisa Hoover has discussed other vacuum cleaner maintenance tips before: this time, she talks about how to care for the Scooba, Roomba's sister appliance that washes smooth floors.

Crafty things:

• Lisa Hoover tried out Smilebox, a service that allows you to make digital scrapbooks online. And we don't just mean slideshows: you can add the same sorts of elements to your pages that you would in a paper scrapbook.
• Debra McDuffee taught us how to adapt our favorite essential oil scents to work in soap form.
• Debra also suggested that we tackle small painting jobs, like furniture, with trim rollers: they're easier to use than brushes, and the results are better.
• I thought the sign-language sugar cookies currently popular on Craftster were worth talking about, especially since there are many possible hand gestures to depict.
• Kelly Smith showed us how to iron woodworking plans right onto the wood prior to cutting it.

Our top three most popular posts this week were:

1. 8 Do-it-yourself wedding centerpieces by Anna Sattler
2. Free knit and crochet patterns: the best of October 2007 by M.E. Williams
3. Easter bunnies and spring lambs to knit and crochet: Part I by... aw, shucks, me again! I'm blushing.

Would I be incorrect in assuming that you guys like weddings and knitting... or is that textbook "misinterpretation of statistical data"? I don't know, but we're happy that you appreciate these posts. See you next week!