DIY Life

Hillbilly How-to: DIY Kitchen-y Stuff

Dan Chilton — 2008-01-29T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: food, household hacks, in the kitchen

I'll be the first to admit it: I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen part of my trailer. It has too many windows, too many drawers, and the smell of vinyl wainscoting gives me a headache something fierce! When the wives go out of town, however, I'm oftentimes forced to enter their unholy realm of sausage and flour; and it's during these rare forays into the forsaken principality of pizza rolls that I sometimes stumble upon a fantastic, culinary DIY project.

For instance, did you know you can make lasagna in your dishwasher? It's true. Apparently all you have to do is throw a bunch of ingredients into a foil-wrapped pod and toss it in with your dirty beer koozies. Set that sucker for two hours of steamy, soapy action, and you'll have a festering pile of delicious Italian goodness that will rival anything you've ever tasted from the Olive Garden... or even Fazoli's, for that matter!

Now, if you're like me, dishwasher lasagna might not come to you as quite a surprise. Hell, I've been eating dishwasher medley on a bed of crispy ramen noodles since I was knee high to a grasshopper! And that was back in the days before we even had dishwashers! Back then, mother would just slop all the leftovers together, add a mouth-watering burst of Easy Cheese, stir to a mashed-potato-esque consistency, and we'd be set for the next couple weeks. But I digress.

Speaking of dishwashers and the stuff we stick inside them, I came up with a great idea for a koozie replacement when all my sweet branded ones were in the wash. You're not going to believe me on this one, but Rice Krispie treats are about as good as any turkey-shaped, John-Deere-branded koozie you'll find on today's market. I can hear you all now: "did he say Rice Krispie treats?! Has he lost his marbles?!" The answer is NO to all your stupid skeptical questions... except the one about whether I really said Rice Krispie treats... because that's true.

I'd throw together an entire step-by-step tutorial to show you how it's done, but some dude already beat me to it -- and besides, I'm almost out of time from the 18,000 free hours AOL sent me in the mail last year. In fact, I better be logging off ASAP. The wives are due back any minute now, and I still haven't cleaned up my mess from last night's foil-pod-in-the-microwave incident. I think I'll take the Bud-mobile down to the store and buy some Swiss Rolls too. The girls love them things.

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Living the DIY Life: Week of November 10 - 16

Dan Chilton — 2007-11-16T22:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

In case you missed our announcement on Monday, DIY Life is currently looking for new writers. If you or someone you know is interested in writing for our little website (and getting paid for it), feel free to drop us a line.

In other news, we're less than a week away from T-Day... can you believe that?! It seemed like Halloween was only last week! Before you know it, it'll be Christmas, then 2008 will roll around, then Valentine's Day will be here, then it will time to gear up for the 2009 holiday season, then the US will celebrate 250 years since the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and then I'll be dead.

Sheesh. Maybe we should slow down a bit and take some time to stop and smell the roses. To that end, here are some of our favorite posts from the last week... in case you missed them on the first go-round:

Here are DIY Life's top three most viewed stories for the past week (I think the secret is to start the title with a number):

And a final reminder: since winter-like weather has been slow in coming to most parts of the US, there's still time to winterize your roses. M.E. shows you how.

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership, will tell.

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Make a floorboard picket fence to hide your wires

Dan Chilton — 2007-11-13T19:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, household hacks, organization and storage, electrical, electronics

Today on Unclutterer, they featured a fantastic conceptual design from Boiler that transforms your floorboard into a miniature picket fence, creating a perfect place to store all those ugly, hanging wires.

From the site: The Picket Fence adapts to older homes and cleanly manages the electrical necessities of the occupants. The baseboards have a certain thickness to them, typically much thicker than an electrical cord. By sticking these pickets onto the baseboard, a space is created between the wall and the picket points. This space serves as a track for routing all of the wires cleanly around the room. They can go wherever they like and double back as much as they need to, all concealed behind a picket fence. Because of the gaps between the individual pickets, a plug can jump out wherever it is needed.

What a clean and interesting way to hide wire clutter! This could easily be turned into a DIY weekend project with little more than an Exacto knife, durable foamcore, and some double-sided taped. Give it a try and let us know how it turns out!

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DIY Life is looking for more writers

Dan Chilton — 2007-11-12T17:00:00 00:00

Attention all DIYers! Your favorite DIY blog (that would be us, I hope) is currently looking for fresh-faced, talented writers to help us expand our dominance in the do-it-yourself universe. We've only been around for a little over three months, but our readership has grown so quickly that it's time to start exploring new and interesting DIY topics to help us sustain our growth.

We've tried to cover nearly every corner of the DIY world at one time or another, but haven't been able to give full-time focus to certain niche topics, such as:

Woodworking
Home repair / remodeling
Automotive repair / restoration
Landscaping
Electronics / gadgets / hacks and mods

If you have a special knowledge in one or more of these areas, and would like to earn a few extra bucks by writing about them, we'd love to hear from you. Continue reading to find out more.

Here's how it works:

You write short articles online (blog posts) for us that help our readers do-it-themselves, and we'll pay you. Simple as that! But you can't be any geek off the street. You gotta be handy with the steel (a.k.a. writing skills), if you know what I mean... earn your keep.

Here is what we need from you:

To apply for this blogging "position", send the following information to the email addresses at the bottom of the screen:

Some information about you

Your full name
What your qualifications and interests are in the realm of DIY.
The address(es) of your blog(s) or website(s) if you've already been writing on the subject.
What you can bring to DIYlife that we haven't already got, and so on.
What we can depend on you to do. How many posts can you write a week? Can you write every day, every other day, or just during a particular phase of the moon? If we needed an original step-by-step walk-through done from scratch in 48 hours, could you do it? We need to know.

Three original blog posts

Consider this the audition, the resume, the golf-swing. We want you to write some stuff (imagine that). We won't accept anything that's been published anywhere before. (Note: You retain ownership and all rights to anything you submit in your application, and we won't publish it anywhere, unless we bring you on-board.) Emphasis on the original, emphasis on the three. Show off your knowledge of your topic, show off your ability to go in-depth and beyond the blurb, show off your wit and passion, and show off your impeccable grammar and spelling. Send us one of each of the following three kinds of posts:

Technique or tool profile: Introduce us to a tool or technique that we may not have heard of or know about. Tell us about the particulars of it, how an average joe could use the tool effectively or perform this technique.
How-to/tutorial: Show us how to do something useful. It can be a simple tip (or a bunch of tips), or it can be a full-fledged tutorial, but make sure it's good, original and interesting to read.
News item: An in-depth report on a current event or trend in the DIY world. This can be something about a retailer or a general story on what people are doing to their homes, etc. We're not the Associated Press, and your post shouldn't read like it, but it should be interesting and informative.

A tall order, to be sure, but we know you're up to it. Impress us, entertain us, make us wish we had grabbed you three months ago!

No attachments, please! Send your samples in the body of your e-mail.

After double-checking to make sure you've included all of the above, send your email with samples to the address you see in the graphic below. Due to the volume of applications, we cannot personally reply to every applicant. Yes, this is a paid position, in case we hadn't mentioned that already.

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Living the DIY Life: week of October 27 - November 2

Dan Chilton — 2007-11-02T20:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

Now that Halloween is over, we've focused our DIY holiday spirit on the next big celebration of the year: Thanksgiving! In my book, the more a holiday focuses on food, the better. I can't wait to read all the turkey-related articles over the next few weeks.

Mmmm. Turkey-related articles.

Now, in case you missed them, here's a quick look at some of our favorite posts from the last week:

Speaking of turkey -- Mmmm, garbage can turkey.
Have lots of candy corn left over from Halloween? Turn it into cookies!
M.E. published the longest DIY article EVER!
Does your vacuum cleaner suck? If not, read this.
Dude, where's my drawstring?!
Mmmm, make your own candy bars.
Does your bathroom vanity suck? If so, install a new one!
What time is it? Time to build a new clock!

And in case you were wondering, this week's most popular stories were "How to clean vinyl siding" and "Disney's Haunted Mansion: 999 Crafty Haunts."

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership, will tell.

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Living the DIY Life: October 20 - 26

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-29T08:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

This post was supposed to go live on Friday, but I've been having internet problems all weekend, so here it is... finally... on a Monday. For those of you who had continual internet connectivity over the last week, here's a list of some of the best posts you might've missed on the first go-around:

Did the stink from "How to de-stinkify your shoes" get used in "Making the ultimate stink bomb?"
You can't go wrong with DIY car shampoo on a shoestring
Rasterbator: It might sound dirty, but it's not.
Let's hear it for my favorite all-around tool: the vise-grip!
Make a banjo. Devilishly simple... just like the banjo player from DELIVERANCE!
Cardboard furniture? Awesome!
Return of Punk-man... despite what you might think, this post isn't about Iggy Pop.
Jawa jive: build your own Star Wars Jawa. Wootinee!
16 basic products (and tools) you need to clean everything in your house

Living the DIY Life: October 13-19

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-19T18:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

The beginning of this week saw the first annual Blog Action Day, which DIY Life proudly participated in with a slew of our own green DIY posts. Along with staying green, we've been continuing our barrage of Halloween-themed DIY projects to help you get the most out of the spookiest day of the year -- we even went so far as to create a special Halloween page to collect all of our sweet DIY tricks and treats! AWESOME!

And in case you missed them, here's a quick rundown of some of our favorite posts from the last week:

This week's top three most viewed articles were:

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership, will tell.

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Blog Action Day - October 15, 2007

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-15T08:00:00 00:00

Filed under: staying green

Today, October 15, 2007, thousands of blogs across the blogosphere will join together under the banner of environmental-friendliness for the inaugural Blog Action Day. Keeping with the idea of green-centric posting, DIY Life will be publishing several articles devoted to helping you help the environment in a do-it-yourself kind of way, which, in our opinion, is the best "kind of way" around.

In case you've missed them in the past, here are 25 previous DIY Life articles that fit the bill for today's posting pattern:

For more green DIY tips, make sure to check our "Staying Green" section often.

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Living the DIY Life: Week of October 6 - 12

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-12T22:00:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

Halloween is swinging into high gear, and DIY Life has been busy pumping out posts that will help you make the most out of All Hallows' Eve. In case you missed them, here are some of the best Halloween posts from the last week:

Gary's videos illustrate how to speed-carve a pumpkin, and make one puke too!
Heather shows us how to transform a baby bump into a pumpkin... or should I say, BUMPkin (lame, I know).
M.E. has a cool pattern for making a hat that transforms into Jack Skellington.
Francesca loses her head over this cool DIY Marie Antoinette costume.
For those looking to save a bit of money this Halloween, Maureen has lots of resources for easy-to-make kids' costumes.

And rounding off our week, here are DIY Life's most visited posts for the week of October 6th through 12th.

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership will tell.

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Hillbilly How-to: Practical uses for your old computer pieces

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-09T14:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, weekend projects, computers and internet, geek it yourself, electronics

Computers are good for many things -- I use mine mostly for listening to compact discs, playing that awesome pinball game, and checking the finishing times at NASCAR.com -- but did you know they can be just as useful when they're broken? In all, I think I've burned through eight computers over the last three years -- one got crushed when my prized moose head fell off the wall, and I spilled various liquids on the other seven. Typically when I bust up one of my PCs, I just toss it on the burn pile with everything else, but then I got to thinking, "I bet I could tear this sucker apart and use the various pieces in all sorts of different ways."

For instance, discarded keyboards make great dog toys, and you can use those little gray mouse balls to build a sweet miniature billiard set. Now, I bet you're thinking to yourself, "surely you can't do much else with a broken computer!" Au contraire, mon amie. Check out these other ingenious uses for discarded computer pieces:

There's nothing that I love more than a summer sausage hot dog, but after two of three of those tasty monstrosities, I must admit, I'm usually feeling pretty full. Enter the compact-disc-player-summer-sausage-slicer! This handy little mod will allow you to slice up anything that's roughly the diameter and toughness of a summer sausage. Now you can share your sausagey goodness all over the land!

Not much to this one. Just break off the clickers from your old mouse, apply gorilla glue, and stick it anywhere that might benefit from having a little storage bucket glued to the wall. The shower is an obvious choice, as you can use it to store your toothbrush and/or nose hair clippers. I have a bunch of mice glued up in my workshop, which I use to store various nuts and bolts and nails and stuff.

When my fifth oldest boy brought home a baby squirrel last week, I thought to myself, "dang! Where are we gonna store that critter until it gets big enough to eat?" And that's when the wheels started to twist in my brain. I ran out to the woods, picked up one of my old monitors, busted out the insides, gorilla glued some chicken wire to the front, and VOILA! A fully functional squirrel cage!

My wife loves birds. Why? I'm not sure, but being the supportive and caring husband that I am, I thought I'd feed her unnatural appetite by building a custom birdhouse for her out of one of my old PCs. Not too much to this project -- just tear out all the wires and whatnot, and then use a hammer to knock out everything else. The keyboard on top was my own special touch. I put it up there in hopes of attracting some Blue "J"s. Get it?! GET IT?!

This one here is both the easiest to make and the one I use the most: the beer-bottle-spill-preventer. It's not really a "computer piece," per se, as much as it's just a compact disc jammed over the top of a beer bottle. As an added bonus, the disc also acts as a barrier between your nose and fingers, so if they stink, which mine often do, you won't have to smell them while you drink your brew.

And that about does it for my nifty computer inventions. You got any that are better? If so, let me know, because I got three more ruined PCs sitting in my backyard just begging to be used for something.

[via Dark Roasted Blend]

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Living the DIY Life: Week of September 29 - October 5

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-05T23:31:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

We post so many great projects here at DIY Life, that sometimes it's hard to keep track of them all (psst, if you're having trouble, try our RSS feed). In hopes of alleviating your DIY overload, we've compiled a brief list of some of the best posts from the last week, just in case you missed them the first time around.

One bag travel is the way to go!
Stinky clothes, Pigpen? Roll your own laundry detergent!
Nothing spells coolness quite like homemade play dough.
Man I'm tired... I need an ENERGY BOOST!!!
Destroy disgusting dust demons.

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership will tell.

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Hillbilly How-to: Add air conditioning to any car, truck, or tractor

Dan Chilton — 2007-10-03T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: cars and transportation, fix-it, seasonal, weekend projects, geek it yourself, ventilation

Summer is slowly drawing to an end here in the Northern hemisphere, which means this post is geared primarily to our hillbilly brethren South of the equator. However, it's never too early to get a jump on next Summer's oppressive heat, so I guess us Northenders can glean something from it as well.

Okay, here's the problem: it's hotter outside than two muskrats making love in a wool sock in the middle of the Sahara, and your pathetic ride doesn't have air conditioning. What's a sweat-hating hillbilly to do? You could always roll down the windows, allowing your sweaty pits to air out through your functional sleaveless flannel, but then you'll run the risk of making the back of your mullet all frizzy! Their must be some other way to stay cool!

Enter the ultra-portable hillbilly car/truck air conditioner!

Isn't that a thing of beauty, folks? Apparently all you need to cool down your hot Thunderbird is an A/C window unit, a little bit of duct, some electrical wire, lots of duct tape, and a sawzall (in case you don't have a sunroof). Simply wire the window unit into your battery, and redirect the frosty cool breeze into the captain's cabin! What could be easier?!

Now, the guy in the picture might look intimidatingly smart (with his sleeved shirt buttoned up all the way), but let me assure you, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to get this done. Here's another picture to help you out:

Well, I guess that picture is pretty much the same as the first one... only the door is closed, and the professor is out of the frame. Oh well. I'm sure you got the idea. "Pit stains are the mother of invention," or something like that. Oh, and while we're on the topic of cooling your car, how about this prototype for warming it up during the winter:

Same principle as the air conditioner, only you don't want the heater to get too close to your vinyl seats. Trust me!

So, whether you live above or below the globe's belt, one of these projects will be relevant for you. Now get out there, and give 'er the ol' hillbilly try! Yee Haa!

[via Engadget]

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Living the DIY Life: Week of September 22 - 28

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-28T17:46:00 00:00

Filed under: miscellaneous

Heather helped us answer the age old question, "is my bra too big?"
Maureen pointed us to a tutorial showing how to turn a coffee filter into a ~~bra~~ rose.
Brian shows us how to turn plotter printer cores into quick and dirty lightsabers.
"Instead of buying bubble mailers, why not make your own?" Anna posts.
It seems I can never find a safety pin when I need one, but now, thanks to the video Francesca found, I can roll my own from one of the hundreds of paper clips I keep hidden in my left pocket.
Looking for some sweet inside tips on low-cost/high-yield stocks? Aren't we all. Gary suggests several resources to help you research the next hot commodity... or you could just do what I do, and check your spam folder for H0t $t0c|< T1P$!!!
M.E. suggests you knit your own Katamari Damacy ear muffs (read: giant, white, Princess Leia ear poofs), but you might need to refer back to Heather's bra post if they feel too tight.

What new and exciting things will we learn next week? Only time, and your continued readership will tell.

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25 skills every man (and woman) should know

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-19T16:00:00 00:00

Filed under: fix-it, geek it yourself, DIY: Back to Basics

There's been a lot of talk recently about the decline of handiness among the greater American populace (including a great article by our own Francesca Clarke), and to that end Popular Science has compiled a list of 25 skills that everyone should know. As is to be expected, many of the skills reflect our society's increasing reliance on technology (especially dealing with personal computers and networks). Let's take a look at these skills, and see how we (and by we, I mean ME) measure up:

1. Patch a radiator hose - Radiator hose? No. Pantyhose? Yes. Although, I'm sure if you gave me a new one I could replace it without any problems. (0.5 points)

2. Protect your computer - Yes. I never let my computer go to parties without a box of condoms... too many viruses out there. (1 point)

3. Rescue a boater who has capsized - I certified for my lifeguard badge in Boy Scouts, and I swam the English Channel when I was nine, so "yes." (1 point)

4. Frame a wall - It might be a little wavy in places, but I've framed enough walls with my dad that I think I could pull this off. (1 point)

5. Retouch digital photos - Did you see my console TV embedded into the wall picture?! Come on! I should give myself two points, but I don't want to be greedy. (1 point)

6. Back up a trailer - I can do this, but I have to drive slowly... and reverse directions several times. (1 point)

7. Build a campfire - I am the master of building campfires. Last time we went camping, I built a raging bonfire in the middle of a downpour with little more than a wet sandwich and four broken NES cartridges! I'll write a post about it later. (1 point)

8. Fix a dead outlet - If by "fix" you mean remove the faulty outlet and replace it with a new one, then "yes." If you mean removing the outlet, opening it up, figuring out why it's broken, and then fixing it, then "no." I'm not Superman. (0.5 points)

9. Navigate with a map and compass - Yes. GPS navigation makes me laugh! (1 point)

10. Use a torque wrench - Oh, HELL YEAH! (1 point)

11. Sharpen a knife - Not only can I sharpen knifes, I can also sharpen scissors using aluminum foil! (1 point)

12. Perform CPR - I've watched enough episodes of Baywatch to do two things: 1) perform CPR successfully, and 2) tell you anything and everything you would ever want to know about C.J. Parker. (1 point)

13. Fillet a fish - You couldn't pay me to eat, let alone touch, a fish. If it's from the sea, it's not for me! (0 points)

14. Maneuver a car out of a skid - Here in Southwest Missouri, we having a saying about the weather, "if you don't like it, wait 15 minutes." I'm not sure what that has to do with anything, but we've had enough freak ice storms, in which I've driven donuts in countless grocery store parking lots, that I can safely attest to being able to correct my car out of a skid (before hitting a light pole). (1 point)

15. Get a car unstuck - Stuck in snow? Grab some sand and cardboard. Stuck in mud? Wait a few days till it dries up... or use a rope. (1 point)

16. Back up data - If it's related to a computer, I can do it with my eyes closed. YES! (1 point)

17. Paint a room - In 2005, we moved into a new house and opened a movie theater. My wife and I (and several of our friends and family members) painted every visible wall in both buildings. Unbelievable the amount of time that took. (1 point)

18. Mix concrete - Bonus points: I can do it in a concrete mixer (obviously), or with a wheelbarrow and shovel. (1 point)

19. Clean a bolt-action rifle - Learned this little trick at Boy Scout camp, and have yet to use it to this day. However, if the gun were pointed at my head, I think I could clean it. (1 point)

20. Change oil and filter - I can change the oil, but I've yet to figure out where the filter is in our new car. RTFM, right?! NO! I REFUSE!!! (0.5 points)

21. Hook up an HDTV - Give me some HDMI / DVI / component cable, and I'll have that sucker up and running in no time. (1 point)

22. Bleed brakes - If this involves stabbing the brakes, then no... I can't bring myself to harm another living being. (0 points)

23. Paddle a canoe - Remember how I told you that I started a campfire with a wet sandwich? Well, that sandwich wouldn't have been wet had my paddling been anything less than amazing. I was paddling so fast, it looked like a Mark Twain-era riverboat was churning up the water. (1 point)

24. Fix a bike flat - Oh yeah! I even know how to find the hole or leak using nothing but water and my keen hawk-like eyes. (1 point)

25. Extend your wireless network - I can either convert an old router into a repeater, or use this fancy trick to boost the frequency coming off the broadcasting antennae. (1 point)

Ok, so let's add up my points... 21.5 out of 25... that's an 86%... not too bad! Of course, that's to be expected from a writer on DIY Life -- the most renowned do-it-yourself website in the universe! How well did you fare?

I think this is pretty good list to gauge a person's handiness, but it could've used some more rudimentary skills like: how to split wood, clean a chimney, or milk a rooster. Any others you'd care to add?

[via Popular Mechanics]

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Hillbilly How-to: hide your hooch from the head honcho

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-18T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: food, household hacks, organization and storage, recreation, geek it yourself, entertaining

Sure, this has been going around for a few days now, but it fits so well into the "Hillbilly How-to" way of thinking, that I couldn't let it pass. Few things stifle the hillbilly mindset like boring, monotonous office work -- there are no trucks to tinker with, no donkeys to feed, and rarely any NASCAR to watch on TV. Modern office environments are enough to drive most people (hillbillies or not) to the bottle, which is why I thought these two projects were so practical.

Can you spot the hidden booze in this picture?

How about this one?

If it's not immediately noticeable, then you can consider both of these "booze concealing" projects a success. Continue reading if you're interested in seeing the BIG REVEAL!

Two copy paper boxes + sharp knife + mini-fridge = genius. As you can plainly see, where there's a will, there's always a way. Of course, I'm sure some of you are thinking "drinking in the workplace is reprehensible. Why would you even suggest something like that?!" Perhaps you work in hillbilly-free environment (good for you), but not all of us are as lucky. Just remember, a hammered hillbilly is a happy hillbilly.

Here's to you (*raises a frosty brew from the copy paper fridge*)!

[via neatorama]

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Hide your valuables in a fake wall outlet

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-12T12:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, organization and storage, geek it yourself, electrical, framing and drywall

If there's two things I know about us as humans, it's this: we all have valuables, and we all have a surplus of wall outlets. "But what about homeless people," you counter. "They have neither valuables NOR wall outlets." Well my argumentative friend, that's a good point, and to that I say, "how many homeless people do you think will read this post?" The answer, of course, is one, but luckily she's never been a fan of my writing, so we can safely continue with the assumption that no homeless people will ever see this incredibly important article.

Now, where was I? Oh yeah: how to hide your tiny stash inside a fake wall outlet. If you find yourself with an over-abundance of small valuables, as I often do when I happen across a handful of Dr. Pepper-flavored jelly beans, the best place to store them is somewhere close-by and out of sight (duh!).

This instructable suggests using a non-wired electrical outlet for your hidden mini-vault, but I think it work even better with a cable outlet for two main reasons: 1) the coax plug would double as a little handle, making it easer to open and close your secret chamber, and 2) the guts of a coax cable outlet take up a lot less room than an electrical box.

So, next time you have a filthy, sweaty wad of Benjamins that you need to hide, give this little project a try... or, if you're looking for something a bit more secure, send me an e-mail and I'll gladly spend hold on to it for you.

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Cut your electric bill in half without conserving energy

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-12T10:00:00 00:00

Filed under: backyard science, household hacks, weekend projects, geek it yourself, electrical, electronics

I was hesitant to post this tutorial, seeing as how it could get your utilities turned off if you were caught doing it, but I thought it deserved a little attention if for no other reason than to illustrate an easily fixable vulnerability in the way utility companies currently read meters. To be completely honest with you, I'm not 100% sure how, or even if this project works. Luckily for us, however, we have some fantastic readers who will (and should) quickly jump in and let me know what a dork I am for believing that something like this would even work in the first place.

So, with that out of the way, let's look at how you can "supposedly" cut your electrical bill in half by creating some sort of weak electromagnetic field around your meter.

Materials

Copper wire (apparently any gauge will work)
Two magnets (one significantly larger than the other)
Electrical tape
Plastic cup
Enough distilled water to fill the plastic cup
Saran wrap, or other plastic wrapping
Rubber band

Tools

Wire cutter / stripper

Time

Less than 15 minutes. This one's definitely a quickie.

Steps

Cut off two lengths of wire that are roughly 15 to 20 inches long each. If you're using dual wire, like speaker wire, just cut one length and pull the two wires apart.
Take one of your wires and strip off about an inch of sheathing from one end, and three inches from the opposite. Repeat for the second wire.
Using the electrical tape, secure the end of each wire with the one inch strip to the inside of your plastic cup. Situate the wires so they are at opposite sides of the cup from each other.
Fill the cup with distilled water.
Stuff the excess wire into the cup until you're left with roughly six to eight inches of wire hanging out on each side.
Cover the top of the cup with saran wrap and secure it with a rubber band.
Take the end of one of the exposed wires, and wrap the three inches worth of copper around one of the magnets. Repeat with the second wire as well.
Tape the wire around each magnet to make sure it's secure.
Place the cup on top of your electric meter and allow the magnets to hang down on each side (roughly horizontal with the spinning disc inside the meter).
If needed, secure the cup and magnets to the meter itself.

If you've done everything correctly, the magnets should eventually slow down your meter, leading to a lower number when the meter is read, and thus a smaller electric bill. If you're going to try this at home, it might be beneficial to hide your cup-o-magnets when the meter reader comes by to jot down your current usage. The last thing you want is for them to turn you in for tampering with their equipment. Other than that, have fun and let us know if it really works.

Also, here's the video that inspired this tutorial. WARNING: really awful music ahead! Mute your speakers while you can (sound is optional in this one)!

In the end, the best way to reduce your electric bill, and your environmental footstep at the same time, is to practice energy conservation.

NOTE: DIY Life does not condone stealing, nor do we actually recommend you do this to save power (you won't, and at worst you'll be fined and/or jailed)-- this is provided for informational purposes only. [-Ed.]

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Hillbilly How-to: turn any old tv into a flat panel

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-11T18:00:00 00:00

Filed under: home decor, household hacks, organization and storage, recreation, audio and video, geek it yourself, framing and drywall, remodeling, electronics, entertaining

Flat panel TVs are cool. I'm sure you've seen one before, either while you were walking through your local electronics store, or visiting that friend or relative who gets paid eight times more than you; and I bet you've found yourself imagining where you'd put your very own flat panel if you ever found the money to buy one. Well, do I have good news for you: turns out you can turn just about any good, working old TV into a slick flat panel unit with little more than a Sawzall and some spare wood.

Believe it or not, the TV you see above is a full-size, space-hogging CRT. "But where's the rest of the television," you ask? Continue reading to find out...

Turns out all you need to turn that bulky old clunker of a TV into a slick-looking flat panel is a little extra closet room! I bet your wheels are turning now, aren't they -- thinking up all the other cool things you could embed into your walls. I should warn you, however, that console TVs don't look quite as nice as the newer model televisions.

Other than that, the sky (and your available closet space) is the limit!

[via the always funny new shelton wet/dry, who are in no way to be considered hillbillies]

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Leave your mark with solvent transfers

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-04T17:00:00 00:00

Filed under: weekend projects, art, Crafts, photography

One of the coolest and easiest ways to transfer images to another medium (paper, wood, shirt, etc.) is by using the solvent transfer method. Utilizing cheap, easily attainable materials, this process is a good alternative to the time-extensive silk screening method. Solvent transfers can be done in a variety of different ways, producing a nearly limitless array of results, but we'll focus on the most straight-forward approach in today's how-to.

Materials

An image that you want to transfer. Once you've found a suitable image, either make a copy of it (using a real copying machine) or print it out on a laser printer. Ink jet printers will not work.
Blending marker or other suitable solvent. Blending markers contain Xylene (solvent), but you can also buy it in bulk at most art supply stores. Other people have had success with acetone, wintergreen oil, and tea tree oil, but Xylene seems to work the best across a variety of mediums.
Transfer Medium. Whatever you choose to transfer your image to, it will need to by somewhat porous and smooth for the ink to adhere properly.
Artist's tape. This can be found, along with your Xylene or blending marker, at most art supply stores.

Tools

A spoon. Used for rubbing the image onto the transfer medium

Time

The length of this project depends on the complexity of your design, and the number of pictures you're wanting to transfer. The key is to take your time and ensure you get a good transfer onto your medium. Once the image is transferred, it will need to dry for several hours (again, depending on the medium).

Steps

For the sake of brevity, we'll demonstrate the steps using paper as our transfer medium. Whatever you choose to use, make sure it is as flat as possible, and secured with artist's tape before beginning.

Take the transfer medium paper and use your artist's tape to secure it to a clean flat surface.
Take the image you want to transfer and lay it face down on your transfer medium paper.
Align the image and secure the top two corners with artist's tape.
Using your blending marker, outline the image through the back of paper (the image paper, not the transfer medium paper).
Once you've coated the back of the image with your blending marker, use the back of your spoon to carefully rub the image onto your transfer medium.
As you rub, occasionally lift the image and make sure the resulting transfer is to your liking. If needed, you can always repeat steps 4 and 5.
After you're finished, carefully remove your image and artist's tape, and marvel at your newly transferred picture. Beautiful!

With practice, you should be able to control the darkness of your transferred image by varying the pressure you apply on the spoon. If you're looking for design inspiration, check out these amazing Moleskine solvent transfers.

[via1 and via2]

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Turn your bottles of booze into awesome lamps

Dan Chilton — 2007-09-04T15:00:00 00:00

Filed under: household hacks, in the kitchen, recreation, lighting, entertaining

Instructables user huirub has a great new tutorial on how to transform any clear bottle of booze (or non-alcoholic clear liquid, if you want to be boring) into a cool accent lamp. Using readily available LED stickies, this simple project doesn't require any wiring or soldering, making it ideal for those of us who can't tell the difference between a volt and a vole (whatever that is).

The original tutorial calls for Dot-It LED lights (~$6 USD per unit), but I imagine you could get away with using any low-profile LED light source. If you're not afraid of building your own LED light array, however, this little tutorial might come in handy. I could envision this making a really cool bar backdrop if you had enough multi-colored alcohols and LED lights. Or, better yet, program the LEDs so they pulsate to the beat of some groovy music. It would be just like Waltzing Waters, only not as lame!

[via Instructables]

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