DIY Life

Mother's Day invariably means an avalanche of mundane gift ideas for mom. If your mom is into gardening big-time, why not get something she can use and/or enjoy year-round--unlike, say, that $60 bunch of flowers or (yawn) potted herb garden you were about to order. Read on for ten gifts that real gardening moms would love to receive this Mother's Day!

Oh and by the way: all of the following gift ideas are available on the Web, which is cool because it means you don't have to schlep to the mall or your local blue- or orange-hued home and garden superstore. The down side: prices do not include tax or shipping. But, hey, if you can avoid a trip to the mall on Saturday it's worth it, right?

1. Japanese hand shears, $25-$48
Renowned for their beauty and durability are these Japanese hand tools. The secret? They are constructed from carbon steel (as opposed to stainless steel). Elegant rolled steel handles give them an unusual and distinctive appearance. In order to prevent rusting, these tools must always be dried after use and oiled occasionally. Aficionados swear it's worth the effort.

A few months back, the control knob on my clothes dryer broke. Since it involved only a minor DIY repair job, I thought this a fab opportunity to try shopping for spare parts online. Result? A 10 out of 10 experience. I used PartSelect and was really happy. Other likely-looking choices include PartStore and big box store sites like SearsPartsDirect, to name just two of the many sites out there.

I was thrilled with how easy it was to locate such a tiny and obscure plastic doo-dad via the Web. Thrilled because ordering it online was possible in the first place. Also thrilled because such sites make simple appliance repairs easier for the beginner DIY'er. Interested? After the break, I'll share what you should know before cracking out that credit card:

The Speed Factor. Buying spare parts online saves you lots of valuable time. In the olden days, you would have to flip through the phone book to find likely parts suppliers. Then you would have to make some phone calls. Next, you would waste at least an hour driving to and from the supplier.

Bring a little edge to your personality. Make people respect you, dammit! Master the art of evil laughter, a timeless mannerism designed to shock and intimidate your foes into fearful submission. Beautifully concise instructions for the beginner can be found at wikiHow. Here's the basic procedure:

1. Cultivate an evil attitude. Yes, you're a very nice person, but for this to work you must look and feel convincingly evil. If you're really too nice to actually think evil thoughts, just pretend you're a famous movie bad guy/gal. Like Batman's nemesis, the Penguin.

2. Adopt the stance of evil. Cock your eyebrow and look maniacal. The latter is best achieved by acting as though anyone else in the room has disappeared. Fix your eyes on a distant point. Do not make eye contact with those around you. Remember: you're absorbed in evil thoughts right now!

3. Perfect pitch. Go for a high-pitched or low-pitched laugh. Choose one and stick with it for a convincing performance. Here's what you're aiming for if you're going for low-pitch: a throaty "Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha!" High-pitched laughers should do a hysterical-sounding "Me-he-he-he-he!" Got it?

4. Practice in private. Yes, perfect those moves in front of a mirror. Use hand gestures if you think it helps. Oh, and use the Web. Clips on sites like You Tube will be invaluable to practice along to. Like this one and this one, for example. Light relief: check out some of the baby evil laughter, like this one.

Now say it loud: "Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

We would love to get a new router for our home computers. Unfortunately, it's not in the budget right now. Sigh. So we continue to work with the one we have. And our Wi-Fi connection is...meh. If you find yourself in the same boat, just know there are things you can do to maximize the power of the router you have. I found some dandy suggestions at Yahoo's tech blog.

Well, okay, okay. The blogger's first suggestion is to upgrade to newer and more powerful technology, which I've already ruled out for myself. However, his subsequent tips reminded me that any wireless connection can be improved with a little patient experimentation. For example, did you know that the antenna on your router does not have to stand straight upright? Twist it around. Go nuts. Second, play around with your router's location. Help that good Wi-Fi juice flow through all the obstacles in its way (primarily walls, electronic devices or appliances), and make its way to your laptop. Heck, I've heard that even a soda can could improve your connection!

The creators of Burbia are "living life on the edge...of the patio." Har har. Burbia is all about light-hearted yet edgy humor -- "the suburbs with attitude," they say. The site is a fun outlet for people like you and me, who somehow found themselves residing in the suburbs, mowing lawns and DIY'ing on weekends, yet don't see themselves as your typical suburbanites.

There are many things I'm really liking about Burbia. Thing 1: funny little not-your-usual-inspirational-quotations. Like the current example: "A prudent man does not make the goat the gardener." Hmm. Thing 2: Burbia's "Overheard" page. Read the shocking and/or inane comments the Burbia team have overheard or that their readers have sent in. Have something to contribute? Send it in! Thing 3: "Safari:" who can resist photos with funny captions. Warning: major time-waster. Yup. Burbia even has a little online store, with some of their bestest humor emblazoned on the usual products: mugs, ball caps, and hoodies. Example: "Pro-Choice: I Choose Not to Mow the Lawn."

All this stuff reminds me: how did I end up a lawn-mower-owning suburbanite anyway?!

There's a damp patch in my garage. I've been in denial for a long time, telling myself it's probably caused by rainwater seeping through the garage's concrete foundation. However, the patch has gotten bigger...and bigger. Meanwhile, there's been no rain for at least a week now. Time to face facts: I may have a leaking water heater. Bah!

Looking on the bright side, I might be able to fix this problem myself and avoid shelling out precious dollars for a plumber. (Please, oh, please!) Off I go to look for advice on the Web. Here' s what I found most useful:

Sites to check out:

• Home Tips is an ideal starting point, with a for-beginners-style intro to tank repair, and a ton of other problem-solving articles.

Did you know that many household items are considered hazardous? This means you cannot just toss 'em in the trash when their useful lives are over. Well...you can just toss 'em in the trash, but that would make you naughty, naughty, and not very green-minded, wouldn't it?

There's no shortage of advice out there on safe disposal for hazardous household waste. But, really, who has time to sit down and read the ten-page brochure your city's waste collection division mailed you? That is, if you can dig it out from the depths of your To Do pile. (I think that's where mine was last sighted.) If you're like me, you'll simply turn to the Web for help. There are fabulous tips like this DIY Life post by Francesca. However, if you're pressed for time and need to save your brain cells for other tasks, check out this fun little interactive tool from the website Learner. It will help you decide whether what you've got is hazardous and therefore requires special disposal. Happy bonus for tired minds: no reading required -- just click on the little pictures to test your knowledge. It's a geeky yet fun way to educate yourself!

Oh, happy day! We are finally going to renovate one of our nasty, outdated bathrooms. This is great news, although I can't help but dwell on the niggling problems. Problem 1: I will have to undertake the nightmarish task of finding good, pleasant, honest contractors who are actually available to do the work sometime this century. Although my hope is that this should be easier given the downturn in the housing market. (Hey, gotta make lemonade from lemons...) Problem 2: the room is very small and narrow. It also has an odd, sloping roof with no crawl space above the ceiling, so replacing the ancient light fixture could be tricky.

Can my dream tub fit within this weird little room? That is the question. Okay, the answer is probably a big fat "No" -- at least to the big bathtub of my dreams. However, I'm willing to compromise on a smaller, narrower tub. So last night I spent a little time surfing around on the Web looking for inspiration. First up: I continue to be shocked at the lack of practical planning advice on manufacturer web sites. I'm looking at you American Standard and Kohler. You both need to send your Web design monkeys back to the drawing board 'cause although your sites are stylish, they aren't much help to the confused homeowner!

Choosing new flooring? Experiencing painful indecision? Well, I sympathize. In fact, I just about tore my hair out last spring while trying to decide what should replace the disgusting cheapo vinyl in our kitchen. Here's why it's so stressful: a new floor is a big commitment, and you'd better choose correctly. Wish you'd gone with the hazelnut hardwood instead of the java bean laminate? Too late! Unlike a coat of paint, you can't just redo your floor in an afternoon. Then there's the expense factor. Phew. Flooring is darn expensive, especially if -- like us -- your sub-floor is uneven.

Before you give up in frustration, check out a really awesome interactive design tool. Flooring manufacturer Mannington's My Virtual Decorator is free and it's compatible with both PCs and Macs. It's easy to use and the photos look pretty real. Best of all, while the basic Virtual Decorator can be used online, the My Virtual Decorator program can be downloaded to your hard drive. Once it's on your computer, you can click in your own photo for use in mock-up designs. To get the proportions right, though, you'll need to use a photo that incorporates some special tags that you can print out from your home printer.

The photo of my kitchen (above) shows what correct tag placement looks like. Once it's up you can decorate the scene however you like, changing the color of the walls, and, of course, trying out all the different flooring types and colors.

Saving money always matters, but this is the season where a little savings at the grocery store can leave room in the budget for a few extra Christmas gifts, it's that much more important. It seems like our local newspaper has tripled in width to accommodate all the holiday flyers, and digging through to find the grocery coupons can leave your head spinning.

A sale doesn't always mean savings. You'll head to one store because of a deal on meat, but if that store regularly has higher prices on bread and cheese, which you'll grab while you're there, you might not be saving on your total purchase.

The Grocery Guide will take all the stress out of shopping and point you to your highest savings. Simply put in your zip code and they have the prices from your local stores. They track flyers and coupons, offering the biggest savings and saving you the trouble of finding the best deal for your shopping list. Compare your options, search for coupons and print recipes.

The Grocery Guide includes hundreds of stores across the country. They are missing some of the smaller neighborhood stores, but those aren't usually your most economical choices anyway. Don't spend your holidays walking up and down the grocery store aisle comparing prices, do a little search at home then head out with a plan.

[via: Lifehacker]

Several of my silver jewelry pieces have been looking less than stellar of late. So I've added: "Necklaces -- clean them!!" to my ever-growing things-to-do list. Being a bit of a Web nerd, I got to thinking about what tips and warnings on silver care might be floating around in cyberspace. So I took a look. The best guide I found was wikiHow's "How to Clean Silver." Here are some highlights:

Wondering what all these buttons and text do in DIY Life? Wonder no more! Let's take a look at our top 5 features... Be sure to check out our How to use DIY Life video as well.

1. Categories and Tags
You may access categories at the top of the page. Click on "Tech" and a drawer will open, revealing all the tech categories. By clicking on those words, like "electronics," you'll see a page with only posts in that specific category. This is nice when you just want to see posts about knitting, or drywall or robotics. Browse around!

The tags, on the right, a little further down, are words each blogger adds when they write a post. Think of them like keywords, and this list will change once in a while (unlike categories, which are hard-wired). Click on a tag, and you'll find posts with those tags-- even if they span multiple categories.

Keep reading to learn how you can see fresh, hourly updates by category or tag, how to leave comments, how to search the site, and what reference pages we have available (hint: see area 5 there).

Mark Frauenfelder is well-known to web-heads as the editor of MAKE magazine and the founder of BoingBoing, which may be the world's most popular English-language blog (they say it is, anyway). His recent book, Rule The Web, is full of tips and tricks to help you do just that. Even if you think you're an old hand at this Internet game, you might still be able to learn something from his book.

Some of the tips in the book, like the general information about eBay, will seem like no-brainers to anyone who has any experience with the sites or processes in question. But there are also sidebar tips, labeled "Deeper," which usually include inside or obscure information that may be new even to quasi-experts.

Find out more about Rule the Web after the break!