DIY Life

I don't know about your house, but in mine we go through several jugs of milk a week. Because my son loves cereal, and he also loves a big glass of milk with meals, my recycling bin gets pretty full with milk jugs alone.

RePlayGround has a fun way to reuse milk jugs -- make carton catchers. Your main materials include two half-gallon milk jugs, two toilet paper tubes, and a ball (or tin foil to wad into a ball). You'll also need a tack, tape, scissors, markers, and decorative paper.

To make the carton catchers, simply cut out the milk jugs (RePlayGround has diagrams to show you how to cut them), attach the toilet paper tubes to the spouts, and decorate. I haven't made these yet, but I do wonder if the toilet paper tube would be a bit flimsy. You could use a wooden dowel or some plastic pipe for a sturdier handle.

Want more ideas for reusing milk jugs? Anna has 15 creative suggestions.

If you walked into my parents basement right now, you would see every size Ball and Mason jar available. There are, at last count, about 275 jars. Since my parents are both deceased, it will fall to my siblings and me to wash them and get rid of them. Translation: Since I am the only one who goes in the house, I have a big job ahead of me.
I know that I won't recycle them all, but I also won't reuse them all. What to do?

Checking around the internet for ideas on what to do with all the jars, I stumbled upon Myscha's article on sanity saving ideas for canning jars. I must confess, many of the ideas I already knew about, but some of them made the light bulb go off in my head. Here are a few of my favorites from Myscha's list:

• Dry goods organizer
• Drinking glasses
• Desk organizer
• Flower vase
• Soap dispenser

We used the jars as luminaries, leftover food containers, and of course, canning. The green and blue jars are my favorite and I will certainly keep them. Check out the comments readers left; there are more ideas there. Lifehacker had picked up on Myscha's article too, and the readers have lots of things to say about all kinds of glass jars, and the numerous things you can do with them besides throwing them in the recycling bin.

This idea is so wonderfully simple without giving up an ounce of style. The perfect bound blog brings us these classy placeholders just in time for Christmas dinner. All you need is a plain Christmas ball ornament in whatever color matches your table setting. You can stencil, or even more simple, stick on a fancy initial for each guest. If you want to add a little something, attach a nice ribbon for hanging. Your family and friends will love the creativity and have a memorable ornament to add to their tree at home.

Some of the commenters suggest that these would also make great wedding favors. If you're pulling together a winter wedding, these might just be that perfect placeholder/party favor you've been looking for.

[via: Ready 2 Spark]

I love disco balls. They are delightfully tasteless, but, like the lava lamp they have their place. Whether you're decking out the dorm room or looking for something unique in your living-room, this is a simple project that is sure to get guests talking. Here's what you'll need to build a Christmas disco ball:

1. Coat hanger
2. 50 SOLO 9oz clear plastic cups
3. 150 multicolor mini Christmas lights with a controler
4. Soldering iron

The author of this article uses colored Christmas lights, but I imagine that white lights would work well too. They would probably give a softer sparkle, so you can choose based on what style you're going for. The full instructions teach you how to make this Christmas disco creation. Put one together this weekend and it will look great over Christmas and carry you right through the New Year's party.

It's nice that, on the same day that snow -- and plenty of it -- came to my little corner of the Midwest, a new issue of Knitty arrived to soothe the chill. So I made some cocoa, and some English muffins with jam, and sat down to see what's on offer this time around.

Amy Singer, Knitty's founding editor, says that this issue is "all about sparkles and warmth and making things for yourself and the ones you love." There are also a large number of new designers in the Winter issue.

We'll talk about some of the highlights after the break.

You know nothing about soccer, but it brings out a great group of kids, it's excellent exercise and you see tremendous value in team sports, so you sign up. As you're filling out the form you get to that dreaded box where they want to know how you can volunteer with the team. Most recreational soccer clubs are run completely by the efforts of volunteers.

You want to pitch in, but can't offer any real sport skills so you tick the boxes for Team Manager and Snack Coordinator. You show up for the meet and greet to find out that your team and others are missing coaches. The next thing you know, you've stepped up, and don't have a clue where to start.