DIY Life

If you're getting married this summer, it's probably a little late to start planning your big day right now. If you're tying the knot next year, however, or just looking for some last minute tips then -- wow! -- have we got some ideas for you!

Blushing brides learn what to do with treasured wedding mementos, hopeful grooms get pointers on the perfect proposal, and if you're the maid-of-honor, you'll be her hero for suggesting economical ways to make table center-pieces and party favors!

The ties that bind - Dad's probably got enough neckties hanging in his closet and doesn't need another one. If you can get your hands on an old one he doesn't wear anymore -- or one you wish he didn't -- then make him a protective sleeve to fit around his hot coffee cup. As an alternative, you can always involve the kids in a making a skinny tie cake, or just send him a virtual tie to wear while he plays virtual video games.

Picture this - Even thought they might not come right out and say so, dads love to show off pictures of their family just as much as mom and grandma. We've got loads of ideas on how to package your favorite photos besides the standard wood frame from the local department store. How about a frame made from Legos, puzzle pieces, or nuts and washers?

Stylish! - If you're handy with a needle and thread or paintbrush, why not make Pop some monogrammed cufflinks or custom-painted BBQ accessories?

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Don't forget the romance - Fathers deserve to be spoiled on their special day, and we've got seven ways to romance your man and let him know that you think dads are sexy.

Offbeat ideas - This year Dad might be expecting typical gifts like golf balls and car accessories. Why not surprise him this year with an unexpected present, like a family key keeper or his very own nightlight?

New traditions - Maybe Pop is feeling like handymen are a dying breed, but you can let him know that's not the case. This year, start a new tradition based on our DIY: With Dad series. No other gift in the world will make Dad happier than spending time with his kids, even if it's just pushing a rock across the backyard.

You know how it is: gals with straight hair envy their curly-haired friends, and ladies with straight hair wish they could have bouncy ringlets. As a member of the curly-hair club, I've always envied the people I know whose stick-straight hair looks terrific first thing in the morning -- and doesn't go frizzy at the first sign of humidity.

After years (and years, and years) of trying to wrestle my locks into submission, I've learned to embrace the corkscrews and go with the flow. With a little patience, you can learn to love your locks, and here are some of the best tips I've found:

Though I love a good wine, I'm not a wine snob. Part of the fun of choosing a wine at the store is looking at all the whimsical labels. Sure, a bottle's design doesn't tell you much about what's going on under the cork but if the wine turns out to be not-so-great, at least you have a nice label to look at, right?

I like to keep the labels from some wine bottles that are of particular amusement or sentimental value to me. Here are a couple of tricks I use to get the sticky little buggers off with out wrecking the paper or scraping it off with my fingernail.

Mother's Day is right around the corner, but if you don't have a gift yet, there's no need to panic. We've rounded up a bunch of posts to spark your creative juices and make your mom feel like a queen.

If you're planning to give mom flowers -- or if you get some yourself -- keep them looking fresh for a long time with these simple steps. Some, like changing the water daily, you might already be aware of, but did you know you should also trim a bit of stem off each day?

Looking for a perfect Mother's Day craft for little tykes? How about terracotta flower pots covered with handprints of the grandkids? Older kids can take a crack at making roses out of maple leaves or coffee filters.

Moms, if you get roses from the kids this year, keep the fallen petals as they drop and make rose petal beads. The project will take some time, but in the end you'll have a beautiful necklace that smells great and will always remind you of Mother's Day 2008.

Speaking of flowers, if your mother likes the look of fancy framed professionally photographed exotic plants, but doesn't care for the price tag, make her one yourself. You don't need to be a photgraphy expert; just use these tips to take some professional-looking pictures, get them developed and framed, then watch Mom smile.

If you're good with your hands and have some nice rocks and stones handy, consider making Mom a water feature for her yard. You can put one together in a single afternoon for about $25, but your mother will enjoy it for years to come.

Remember making a necklace out of yarn scraps and soda can tabs when you were a kid? Even though it maybe wasn't the prettiest jewelry she'd ever owned, she wore it proudly because you made it. This year, make her a necklace out of pink rhodonite. She'll wear it just as proudly, but this time she won't struggle to keep a straight face.

Serve Mom breakfast in bed in a keepsake tray she'll love. Dress up an inexpensive serving tray with pictures, handprints of the grandkids, and some pretty bows, then use it to take coffee and toast to your Queen for the Day.

If you've got a Flickr account, upload some photos you know mom will love, then make a free picture cube. Or, you could go a little more high-tech and build her a digital picture frame. To really amaze your mom with your crafty skills, give her a box of specially covered pencils that, when lined up, reveal a picture of you!

Taking Mom out to lunch? Make her the prettiest corsage she's ever worn. For a more subtle approach, or as a good craft for the kids, make flower pins from fabric, felt, or yarn instead.

For a quick list of some great gifts (including a couple of spa treaments) keep reading!

Give mom a home facial with these steps from our recurring series "The Scentual Life"

Save some money by making fabric flower cards for mom.

Make mom the perfect breakfast in bed with these tips.

Our series "Avant Yard" brings you the top 10 Mother's Day gifts for gardening.

Need a frame for photos? Make this clever fold-out album for her.

Another regular series, "Kiddie Crafts," features a variety of Mother's Day ideas that you can try.

And "The Scentual Life" brings you a how-to on a home spa, with a focus on feet-- because we know how much mom is on those!

Eco-friendly. Go green. Environmentally aware. Call it whatever you want, we love it when the DIY tips we give you are also good for the environment. As we celebrate Earth Day today, let's take a look at some of the ideas we've shared in in the past that can help you get green.

Nothing says "I'm helping save the Earth" more than a compost pile filled with leftover food scraps and grass clippings. Here's everything you need to know to start your own compost heap, including what kind of organic materials you can toss in (egg shells) and what you can't (meat scraps).

This long list of ideas on how to make your home eco-friendly covers everything from programmable thermostats to spark igniter pilot light systems. Even if you already practice green living, you might find one or two ideas on here that you never thought of.

Make spring cleaning a little less onerous this year by tossing out the harsh chemicals you usually use and cleaning up with essential oils instead. Find recipes for bathroom cleanser, dish soap, glass cleaner, and more.

Many people like to celebrate Earth Day each year by planting seeds and flowers in the yard. Before you haul out the hoe and shovel, consider making seed bombs. Let 'er rip!

Have you pledged to your family and your wallet to cut down on fuel consumption and pedal around on your bike instead? Pull that forlorn bicycle out from the corner of the garage, dust it off, and then use these handy tips to give it a tune-up.

Weed killer and other pesticides can be bad for the environment and terrible for your health. Try this approach that uses a common household ingredient that you probably have leftover from Easter.

Water: can't live without it. Learn some painless ways to conserve it around your home, both inside and out.

Have you just gotten home from the market loaded down with organic food and don't know what to do with the plastic grocery bags? Go fly a kite!

Are ready to commit to a low-flush toilet and aren't sure how to retrofit your commode? We can help.

In many homes, the bathroom is the last vestige of privacy (unless you have kids) and also one of the most eco-unfriendly spots in the house. Here's several things you can do to change that (sorry, no advice on how to keep the kids from interrupting your bath).

For even more Earth-friendly tips, be sure to check out our sister blog, Green Daily.

If you've ever wished you could make scrapbooks of your kids' lives the way all the cool moms you know do, then you ought to take a look at Smilebox. It's an online scrapbook maker that lets users create their own cool scrapbooks to post on a blog, email, or print out to show off to others.

Smilebox requires Flash 9 to run and only works on Windows for now. Since I'm all thumbs when it comes to crafts -- especially scrapbooking and other uber-creative projects -- I wasn't sure I believed the Web site's claim that I could create my own scrapbook in "less than five minutes."

That turned out to be true.

Once you register, the site walks you through each step, from choosing which of your digital photos to use all the way to emailing the finished scrapbook of your kids to an unsuspecting grandmother. Each design is customizable, some even down to the color of the flowers, and the end results are pretty slick indeed.

The basic service is free, but you can pay to upgrade to other plans for additional features and ad-free projects. While Smilebox is clearly aimed at moms, I could easily envision my elementary school-age children using it to create scrapbooks of their own. Be sure to bookmark the site, it's a great rainy day project for the kids.

If you've been reading DIY Life for a while, you know that I really love my Roomba. Well, now my loyalties are divided because I recently met Roomba's floor-washing cousin, the Scooba.

For the uninitiated, Roombas and Scoobas are robots that vacuum and wash your floor, respectively. I was skeptical that either device would do a particularly good job, but I'm happy to have been proven wrong. To keep my Scooba happily cleaning my floors for a long time, I baby it just like I do my Roomba. If you've got a Scooba, here's how to keep it in tip-top shape.

Even though we're pretty savvy DIYers around here, I know there's a lot of you out there that have really got it going on. Take my good friend Jill, for example. She recently came up with a terrific make-it-yourself gift for her mother-in-law -- a personalized serving tray.