DIY Life

Back in the 1964 Winter Olympics, my uncle won the only gold medal for the US team. Even though it took place before I was born, it's still something the family is so proud of. We're a family that gets pretty excited about the Olympics... because we know that it's a dream that can really come true.

You can get your family geared up for the Olympics with some of these simple crafts:

• Use some red, yellow, and orange tissue paper to create an Olympic torch. If you have kids, this is a great time to teach them about the history of the torch relay.
  
• Have a family gathering during the Olympics. Set up some fun games such as relays, swimming, soccer, basketball and so forth. Then hand out home-made gold, silver, and bronze-painted medals to the winners.

Not a hard-core DIY'er? Then you probably loathe caulking... the gunked-up tubes and the unwieldy caulking guns are a pain, that's true.

Here's a cool solution, new out this month from GE: Caulk Singles. As the name suggests, these are cute little single-use, easy-grip tubes of caulk. Says a GE product representative, "Caulk Singles will do for caulk what the bleach pen and disposable razor did for people on the go."

Why? GE believes the product offers busy people a fast, no-tools-required way to get small caulking jobs done. Caulk Singles are available in both 100% silicone (with a choice of white or clear) and paintable acrylic. They retail at 1.25 ounces for $2.48.

Oooh! Free stuff! GE is giving away samples... just fill out this form at the Caulk Singles promotional website.

My bead addiction is a little out of hand. I order online, and anything that even looks halfway interesting somehow ends up in my collection. It is a little too easy just to click "Add to cart", I guess.

So I ended up with an assortment of crackle glass beads. They are two-toned, and I could never quite figure out what to do with them.

Inspiration struck last night, and I am thrilled at the way my design turned out. In fact, I made pairs of earrings with almost every color of the beads I had, just to see how they looked. My favorite pair are the ones made with the black beads, but with the right outfit, the pink and the red would be appealing too.

Join me after the break to learn how to make crackle glass earrings.

For a few weeks now, the promise of springtime has had me thinking green -- green necklaces, green earrings, green bath salts. Now that Spring has finally arrived, I'm all aglow with pink.

I'm dreaming of the pink perennials that will soon come to life in my gardens, the rosy hue of the tulips, and planting the cheery impatiens and petunias.

Since I still have until May to wait for my happy pink gardens, I thought I'd create a pink rhodonite necklace in the meantime. This stone is said to promote emotional and mental balance: who couldn't use some of that?

This is the first time I have created a design using gemstone chips, so I was excited to begin. I still felt the need to have some round beads in there, but I think it turned out to be a nice balance of free-form and shaped beads.

To create this approximately 18-inch necklace, you'll need these supplies:

• 27 rhodonite chips
• (28) 4mm round silver beads
• (140) #11 seed beads, matte olive rose
• approximately 20 inches Accu-Flex beading wire, 21 strand, .019-inch diameter
• 2 crimp beads
• 1 sterling silver 19 gage 5mm closed jumpring
• clasp of your choice (I used lobster claw)
• crimping pliers

Read on for instructions on how to assemble this rhodonite necklace.

Continuing to recraft finds from the game closet (last week was Monopoly wine charms) here is another easy project that uses old dominoes to make a bracelet.

A single domino could be used as a pendant on a necklace as a gift for someone with a favorite number or a birthday present by using the numbers to represent their age. Wooden dominoes like the ones that I used would also make great coasters by gluing them together (like the Scrabble tile coasters).

After the jump is the list of supplies and suggestions for making a few of your own domino bracelets.

Every Wednesday I will be bringing you a project that has been recrafted from something else. I dabble in everything from paper crafts and sewing to construction and electronics so there will be a broad range of projects. The focus being the reuse of items -- often items available for little money or even free.

This month I raided the game closet for inspiration. For years I have stocked those shelves with thrift store purchases. By keeping an eye out for odd games and even the standby classics I have more games than I will ever likely play. A few duplicates give me the raw materials for some nostalgic projects.

We entertain often enough to have the occasion to need to distinguish one glass of wine from another. For some reason people congregate in the kitchen and by milling around, glasses of wine end up misplaced and the ownership of fuller glasses disputed. Putting a unique ring on each glass stem will help people remember which glass is their own -- but there may be arguments over who gets the shoe!

Christmas is in less than a week: is all of your shopping done? It's getting a bit late to order anything (especially if you don't want to pony up for pricey overnight shipping), but if you're shopping for crafty friends, there's probably a lot available in your own town.

However, bead, paint, and yarn choices are completely subjective, you may not know what tools your loved ones need (beading loom? spinning wheel? umbrella swift? easel?), kits can be hit-or-miss, and I'm not sure anyone needs craft-themed sweatshirts. (Ever.) Have major advances in the world of crochet hooks or embroidery hoops really been made in the past year? Probably not. So when I thought about what makes a great holiday gift in the DIY realm, I kept coming back to one thing....

Please join us after the break to find the best of the latest craft books! There's certainly something here to please almost every creative person on your list: beaders and jewelry makers, people straddling the mixed-media art/craft divide, knitters, crocheters, scrapbookers, and anyone else who likes to learn how to make interesting things with their hands.

(Even better, you shouldn't have any problem finding most of these books at 4:00 in the afternoon on December 24th.)

Do you keep rose bushes? How have they done this summer? Mine have had a rough year, between black spot (a fungal infection), Japanese beetles (who think roses are a good snack), and a late spring freeze. But I still love my roses, and I'm happy that they're hanging on, even thriving.

If you have roses, and haven't had too many problems with them lately, you probably know that the second peak bloom of the year is coming in the next few weeks (well, at least if you live in a climate similar to mine, in Ohio, and don't keep antique roses that only bloom in the late Spring).

On a healthy plant, that usually means masses of blossoms. If you have a lot of roses, or neighbors who do and who just throw fallen petals away with the garden trash, you might be interested in C. Jeanne Heida's recipe for rose petal beads. It will help you turn those piles and piles of discarded petals into a pretty necklace with an intense fragrance. It's not a fast project, but it's easy, fun, and it smells great!

Join me after the break to find out more about rose petal beads: dozens of recipes exist, with varying scents, and colors ranging from light brown to red to black. I've linked a few.

Crafty Ginger has a great tutorial for making "Tree Branch earrings" with just wire, pliers, and a few beads and findings.

"Elegant" and "personal" are not words that always go with "easy" and "last-minute gift," but this jewelry project is an exception. Even a beginner should be able to create something they and the recipient will love. The technique itself is applicable to larger projects, like necklaces and garlands.

If made in sterling silver wire, these earrings would also be perfect gifts for bridal attendants. Try making a pair or two in cheaper craft wire, first, to get the feel of the process.