DIY Life

So, the Fourth of July is upon us. That means fireworks, beer, grilling, beer, and oh, did I mention beer? But I digress. Let's talk grill hygiene. What's tackier than a grill with chunks of last week's burgers on it? Cleaning the grill doesn't have to be a big chore.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so a video must be worth, what, a million? The creative folks at Howcast have created a great grill-cleaning how-to video that makes the job a piece of cake. You'll need aluminum foil, a grill scraper, and a bit of patience.

There's also a great tip on making future clean-ups easier -- spraying the grill with non-stick spray while it's still warm. It reminds me of seasoning my cast iron pan. But that's a tip for another blog post!

[Via Howcast.com]

You've got a few friends over on a Friday night. There's good stuff grilling on the barbeque, there's a table full of salads and desserts, there's cold beer in the ... Oh, no!

You forgot to put the beer in the fridge. It's sitting on the porch where you set it down to unlock the door. And it's about 87 degrees out there. You can stick them straight in the freezer, but it'll still be half an hour at least before anyone has a cold brew in their hot little hand. Don't you just wish there was a cooling-down version of the speedy heating-up efficiency of a microwave?

There is! The not-so-dumb folks over at Dumb Little Man have the answer. If you have a container large enough to hold a few bottles, enough ice to cover them, some table salt, and enough room in your fridge for it all, you can have icy-cold beer in about three minutes! Follow the Dumb Little Man link for full details.

For those who need to know, the reason is this: salt speeds up the melting. When a substance goes from solid to liquid, it absorbs extra heat, keeping the water extra cold. So there. Your grade ten physics teacher was right: the subject is relevant to your day-to-day life!

[via Matthew Yglesias]

If you have a family, you're probably in a state of constant chaos, and romancing your man might not rank high on your list of things to do. You've spent hours coordinating your children, and helping them make monogrammed cuff links and hand print crafts. They'll present these to Daddy first thing Sunday morning, and you'll all enjoy a family day, celebrating Dad.

When the day comes to a close, and the kids are tucked in, don't retire to your separate laptops... instead, turn up the heat, and spend a little time letting him know how appreciated he is. This isn't about modeling sexy lingerie (though I'm sure that would be a welcomed surprise!) or buying him expensive concert tickets. It's Father's Day, so spend some time reflecting on the wonderful ways that he contributes to the family, and thanking him for being such a great parenting partner.

So, what does a dad find romantic? I surveyed some of the men in my life, and it turns out they are pretty easy to please. So many dads are busy balancing work and family that all they really want is a little break.

After the jump, I'll share some husband-certified ways to spoil him this Father's Day.

Summer's here and the mercury is rising. That means air conditioning, and if you're like me, you've got that central A/C unit humming along and sucking up the dollars. But some areas in my home don't have A/C. My shop is a good example. OK, it was meant to be a two-car garage, but what a waste of space that would have been.

That's why I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this site that shows how to construct a home- made air conditioner. The one featured here uses a small table-top fan, but I can envision one that uses a big box fan instead. More bang for your buck.

To build one of your own, here's what you'll need:

• A fan
• Ice chest
• Copper tubing
• Aquarium pump
• Ice
  

This set-up is actually quite similar to what I rigged up a few years ago when I used to brew beer. The wort had to be chilled quickly when emptying the brew kettle. Maybe I could rig it up to do both things at the same time. Hmmm...

Some DIYers do it themselves out of necessity. Others do it for fun and entertainment value. And sometimes, they do it for love. Take Bill Bramanti of Illinois, who loves Pabst Blue Ribbon beer. A lot. So much so that he designed his own coffin to look exactly like a can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Mr. Bramanti isn't going anywhere anytime soon, at least to his knowledge, though he has crawled inside to test his coffin out. Instead, for now, his custom-designed coffin will serve as a beer cooler, which he'll naturally fill with his favorite beverage.

Bramanti ordered the coffin from a local funeral home and then had a local sign company create the giant beer can. Bramanit put them together to create one giant conversation piece and a guarantee that he'll spend the afterlife with his favorite brew.

Everybody knew those guys in high-school or college who would crush cans on their heads in some pathetic attempt to prove how cool and tough they were.

Maybe you were that guy? If you were, I suspect that there was very little technique involved, and you probably just built up your pain tolerance.

If you've moved past the self-torture stage, but still think it would be fun to impress your friends (and make them cringe), then take a lesson from this can crushing technique.

The trick is to have finger pressure pinching inward at the same time as your palm and head are crushing it from top to bottom. Instructables contributor suggsugg takes us through four simple steps to painless can crushing.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy your new party trick.

Leading up to the 17th, grocery and specialty stores are stocking their shelves with Irish foods. If you're planning traditional Irish bread for your St.Patrick's day menu, consider making it yourself.

I find bread recipes hard to tackle at the best of times. Beer bread is even more complicated and admittedly, I've only ever made it from a package. "Just add beer" is about all the instructions I thought I could manage. That is until I found this recipe for Lazy Irish beer bread. With a 10 min. prep time and only 45 min. in the oven, you'll be enjoying fresh baked Irish beer bread in less than an hour.

Check out the comments from people who have made this bread. They rave about how good it is, adding in that it's simple and cheap to make.

Don't forget: Better beer makes better bread.

I'll be the first to admit it: I don't spend a lot of time in the kitchen part of my trailer. It has too many windows, too many drawers, and the smell of vinyl wainscoting gives me a headache something fierce! When the wives go out of town, however, I'm oftentimes forced to enter their unholy realm of sausage and flour; and it's during these rare forays into the forsaken principality of pizza rolls that I sometimes stumble upon a fantastic, culinary DIY project.

For instance, did you know you can make lasagna in your dishwasher? It's true. Apparently all you have to do is throw a bunch of ingredients into a foil-wrapped pod and toss it in with your dirty beer koozies. Set that sucker for two hours of steamy, soapy action, and you'll have a festering pile of delicious Italian goodness that will rival anything you've ever tasted from the Olive Garden... or even Fazoli's, for that matter!

Now, if you're like me, dishwasher lasagna might not come to you as quite a surprise. Hell, I've been eating dishwasher medley on a bed of crispy ramen noodles since I was knee high to a grasshopper! And that was back in the days before we even had dishwashers! Back then, mother would just slop all the leftovers together, add a mouth-watering burst of Easy Cheese, stir to a mashed-potato-esque consistency, and we'd be set for the next couple weeks. But I digress.

When I was young(er), I could slug beer with the best of 'em. These day, I prefer to have something that comes in a tall bottle and can be mixed with something a little more tame, hence my love for Kahlua and cream. If you still love your beer, and guys, I know you always will, then you probably will shudder at the thought of even one precious drop being used for anything other than wetting your parched lips.

DIY Maven gives us a list of 9 alternatives uses for beer. Try using beer as plant food, as a cheap alternative for killing pesky bees, slugs and earwigs, removing coffee and tea spills from your carpet, livening up your flat mousy hair, and tenderizing and marinating meat.

See guys, you don't have to get upset anymore when your beer goes flat. It has so many other good uses, you won't mind when your better half snags that almost empty can and uses it to kill that bee that was just about to sting you. Folks, I would love to hear your alternative uses for beer. Please sound off and tell us your best ideas for using flat beer.

Why this list is merely nine and couldn't quite make an acquaintance with one more idea to hit the top ten, I will never know. It works well for David Letterman!

This has got to be one of the neatest compilations of DIY inventions I've ever seen. This site takes 25 ordinary items and finds new and creative ways to transform them into something completely different and totally useful. It's not in English, but you really don't need any explanation, the pictures speak for themselves.

Topping the list is a chopstick hack that I wrote about a while back. All you need is a clothes pin and a pair of chopsticks and you can put together a set of spring-loaded chopsticks. Great for kids! Here are a few more of my favorites on their list:

• Stamp nails - Have you ever seen postage stamp designs and thought they would make funky nail art? Well, if you haven't, you'll start noticing them now, because this is one cool project. All you do is cut out the nail shape from the stamp and stick it on your nail. I imagine you'd apply a top coat of clear polish to finish them off.
• Cactus soother - I have to admit, this one seems awfully cruel, but if you're looking for a quick way to ween your child from the soother it just might work. Replace the nipple with a mini cactus bud. Your little one will never call for his soother or love you in the same way ever again!
• Dish cloth hanger - I have a few hooks around the kitchen where I hang dish cloths. The cloths are typically on the floor, having slid right off the hook. This clever little hack takes the clip out of a binder, pegs it to the wall and gives you a secure place to hang your dishtowel.
  

You'll find all sorts of little treasures there, like inventive uses for tennis balls, beer cans, goggles, tissue, flower pots, rubber gloves, sponges and more. Which one is your favorite?

Alarms, 2 way voice, video surveillance; you can ditch all these home security systems and follow Big Lou's advice for a DIY security system. Here's what you need:

1. Big boots
2. Large men's jacket
3. Gun and Riffle magazine
4. Beer

Curious about this odd combination of materials and how they come together to make one exceptionally reliable security system? Check out her video. Big Lou is a widowed mother of 4 teenage boys and the queen of DIY. Originally from New York, she takes care of all the repairs and maintenance in her Long Island home. She's gorgeous, tough and down right hilarious. Enjoy.

Sure, this has been going around for a few days now, but it fits so well into the "Hillbilly How-to" way of thinking, that I couldn't let it pass. Few things stifle the hillbilly mindset like boring, monotonous office work -- there are no trucks to tinker with, no donkeys to feed, and rarely any NASCAR to watch on TV. Modern office environments are enough to drive most people (hillbillies or not) to the bottle, which is why I thought these two projects were so practical.

Can you spot the hidden booze in this picture?


How about this one?


If it's not immediately noticeable, then you can consider both of these "booze concealing" projects a success. Continue reading if you're interested in seeing the BIG REVEAL!

Have you ever lived in a house or apartment that has a bathroom with no privacy, or had a window that looked out on an ugly view? Blinds and curtains can certainly be helpful in covering up your windows, but you can also create your own window frost. Here is a simple recipe to give you privacy and give you a better view.

You will need:

4 heaping tablespoons Epsom salts
1 cup beer
1 paintbrush, 2 inches wide
Facial tissues or a terry cloth

Make sure your windows are clean by washing with equal parts vinegar and water. Dissolve the Epsom salts in the beer and let the foaming mixture sit for about 30 minutes. Apply with the paintbrush in a circular motion to the inner windowpane. The mixture will dry to form beautiful crystals that will last for a long time.

For an even prettier design, try applying the salt and beer mixture with a wet facial tissue or a terry cloth. Apply as if you were washing the window. While the mixture is still wet, go back and dab it with the wet tissue. This effect will give you a nicer crystallization pattern. To remove the crystals, simply wash the window with water and a terry cloth.

Now you are ready for taking your bath in private. You won't have to worry about nosy neighbors and what's even better, you don't have to look out at that ugly brick wall across the way.