DIY Life

All homes have exterior surfaces that are designed to protect the home from the elements. There are many different types, but the two general ones are brick and siding. Some homes have a combination of the two.

If you're giving your home a face lift, you have choices. Let's talk about the many types of siding.

Cedar Siding for the Home

Western Red Cedar siding is the type most commonly used. It's a natural product, known for its beauty and durability. For energy efficiency, rigid foam sheathing may be applied prior to installing the siding. If this option is taken, kiln-dried cedar siding should be used, because of its stability.

Little ones like to get in on the action when it comes to giving gifts. As much as they like to open a present, I always watch in delight when I see how happy a child is to give a grown-up a present, especially if they made the gift.

You can watch in delight too when your child makes the perfect Father's Day desk accessory for the special dad in their life. All you need is cardboard, craft sticks, acrylic paint, glue, and alphabet foam stamps, and of course, a willing child or two. This project is geared towards younger children, so you will have to help them cut out the cardboard that is used in making the letters, and also help them with the gluing of the letters.

Dad will love his new desk accessory, but if he doesn't have a desk, the cardboard decoration will sit perfectly among pictures of his loving family at home. Best of all, he'll get a charge out of knowing that his little DIYers made the Father's Day accessory themselves, just for him.

Before I had children, my Dad got some pretty good Father's Day gifts. Home Depot gift certificates and cool tech toys were among his favorites. When our oldest was born, 5 years ago, we started giving framed pictures instead.

As our family has grown, the photos have become more abundant, and the frames cheaper. He loves having pictures of the grandchildren, but I wanted to come up with something a bit more creative this year.

With nearly every visit to my parents' place, Grandpa takes the children up to his garden to check on the plants. My boys love to notice how Grandpa's garden is growing, and to report on the changes since their last visit. My dad loves to garden, and sharing that with his grandkids has become a sort of ritual. This Father's Day, we decided to build on that and make him a stepping stone.

After the jump, I'll tell you how we made this garden stone, and offer some tips for making your own.

In this age of doing-it-yourself, handmade gifts are becoming more and more popular. The trouble with that is making sure your gifts are original and unique.

Making a spoon rest out of clay can be as one-of-a-kind as you want it to be, or you can make it simple and use a cookie cutter so your kids can help with the project. The article suggests making a heart spoon rest, but you could make anything you wanted to -- freehand, or use a cookie cutter or stencil of your choice.

You'll need air-drying clay, acrylic paint, both in colors and clear, and any tools you will want to use to work the clay. Suggestions about how to make hole to hang the spoon rest and how to make it rest on a flat surface easily are included in the instructions. You can paint it when it is dry and even put felt on the bottom for a nice base.

If your kids -- or you! -- know your way around a can of Play Doh, you can easily make a clay spoon rest as a keepsake gift for any occasion.

Easter is coming up in a few days, and since the kids are home from school on spring break, it is time to get the house decorated. In other words, get them busy coloring eggs, making an Easter basket, and turducken too.

Decorating the house for Easter is just as important as any other holiday, especially if the Easter Bunny is to know to come to the right house. You can let him know he is at the right house by sprucing up your windows with these awesome kid painted window silhouettes. You'll need clear contact paper, masking tape, acrylic paint, paint brushes, and fine sandpaper.

The directions and accompanying pictures are super easy to follow, and easy enough for little kids to follow too. Let them slap on whatever color paint they want. After all, it is their holiday, and The Bunny is coming for their sakes, not ours. For a little more adult theme, and a project that older kids can follow, check out this post on making window clings with your kids, using ready made pics.

[via: Craft]

I am a shoe fanatic. Every time I go to my local thrift store, I always manage to come home with one or ten pairs of shoes. I stopped counting the pairs of shoes that have somehow managed to migrate to the back of my closet.

I was just not sure what to do with all my shoes, especially the ones that I no longer want to wear because they are scuffed, or are no longer in style, so I was really thrilled when M.E. Williams pointed me to a post written by lindsycarranza over on Craftster. Lindsycarranza had received a free bag of shoes from Craig's List. The shoes weren't in great condition, so she decided to paint them.

To prevent the shoes from cracking, she says to apply fabric glue first. Then paint the shoes with a mix of acrylic paint and textile medium. Finally, to get a high gloss, use an acrylic varnish to seal the shoes.

Her shoes are awesome, and I must admit I am kicking myself because I never thought to paint high heel shoes, mostly because of the way the tops of the shoes can crack. If the shoes do happen to crack though, that is just incentive to paint them again.

If you are after a way to paint shoes other than high heels, check out this post on how to paint a mural on your boring shoes.