DIY Life

I have a horrid coffee addiction. For some reason, I can't quite focus in the morning without my daily cuppa. I usually stop there, but it's not pretty. Needless to say, at one point, I had dozens of these frappuccino bottles rolling around in the backseat of my car (did I tell you I'm a reformed slob?). If only I'd saved them for a tutorial as good as this one...

What You Need:
(1) Starbucks Frappuccino bottle
(1) White and (1) Clear can of spray paint
(1) Set of colored paint for your letters
(1) Fine paint brush
(1) Pencil
(3) Sheets of carbon paper
(3) Print-off sheets of your choice words

That's it! A quick and easy tutorial with a big result. I'd love to use these for as party centerpieces, as they're cheaper than most vases, and come on -- the coffee inside is just icing on the proverbial cake!

And while we're talking spray paint, don't forget to check out Kelly Edward's foolproof spray paint tips right here!

You're bound to collect a handful of glow-sticks this summer. They get passed out at firework shows, holiday barbecues, and just about any other outdoor summer evening event. So what do you do after the festivities are over? Well, at our house, we typically find them hiding in the sandbox, lost behind the toy-box, or tossed away in the trash.

Kish, over at Instructables, re-purposed his into this funky glow-stick lamp. You'll need 15 glow-sticks and a plastic bottle; one commenter suggests using a glass bottle instead. If you chose one with an interesting pattern you could get a really cool effect.

This would make a fun accessory for any dorm room, kids room, basement or kitchen (sure, why not!). Check out the video for full instructions.

[via: Daily DIY]

As I have said many times before; almost everything has more than one use, and I believe it is our duty as inhabitants of this planet to recycle as many items as possible, sometimes reusing the same item over and over again.

Plastic soda and water bottles are items that can be reused. Join me after the break, as I give you a list of things that you can reuse plastic bottles for, which I found over at Green Home.

Bring a bit of vintage style into your bathroom with Julie Reed's crocheted bath rug. The doily pattern that she used is from 1918: authentic and classic. The full tutorial will give you everything you need to recreate this bath mat in your own home.

Julie doesn't just list supplies and steps, but walks us through what works and what doesn't, as she chooses the right yarn and tries to minimize the ruffled edge.

I love her color choice. The juniper and charcoal heather compliment each other beautifully. This is the kind of inspired piece you could build your whole bathroom around. After the break, I'll discuss some DIY ways to finish off your vintage style bathroom.

I'm trying to drink more water. In fact, I'm trying to get our whole family on board, carrying water bottles with us on weekend outings, avoiding our habitual Starbucks and Slurpee stops.

The only drawback to carrying a water bottle with you everywhere you go is that you have the burden of actually having to carry it. I often bring one in the car and leave it there, or stash it in my bag, but then don't actually pull it out the entire trip.

What I need is a handy water bottle holder that's easily accessible. It wouldn't hurt if it was a funky fashion accessory too!

The solution: Kathy Mack's fabric water bottle carrier.

I love to bake and I gasp every time I have to buy a new bottle of vanilla extract. I go right past the organic vanilla because, even though I know it is best for me, it is just too expensive. Some of you may not think vanilla extract, whether it be real or imitation, is very expensive, but as much as I use it, there has to be a real good alternative to buying from the store.

Ian sent me a personal email on an instructable he wrote, how to make diy vanilla extract. He put months of work into his vanilla making project. He tells us that it is better to make our own vanilla extract so that we can be free of the artificial colors and corn sweeteners that are found in commercial vanilla extracts. Ian tells us what real vanilla is and where it grows, how to choose our vanilla beans, what supplies we will need, including vodka, and the steps and directions needed to make the extract.

Make sure you have plenty of time to read Ian's instructable, because he not only gives us the background of the vanilla bean, he shares with us what he knows about the different flavors of beans from various regions around the world. In my opinion, Ian's vanilla bean reviews are priceless, and I for one appreciate all the time he has taken in finding just the perfect beans to make the best tasting vanilla extract on the planet.

The art of creating musical instruments by hand is probably as old as man's use of tools. In fact, instrument making may actually predate tool making because I'd be willing to bet that ancient man found it more enjoyable making music than digging holes. I have always found xylophones to be some of the funnest of all instruments because of the carefree nature of their sounds. It seems to me that the xylophone lends itself to the idea of building one of your own so I went in search of xylophone ideas and have brought you some of the ones that I find most noteworthy.

You can start by checking out a web page titled: Basic Xylophone Building, by Jim Dobel of Elemental Design. In his web page, Jim gives you a good quick tutorial about what makes a xylophone tick. He gives a very basic description of the elements of a wood xylophone and how they are constructed and work. Jim also has some other interesting musical instrument links on his page that you might want to check out.

Looking at the prices of lamps kind of makes my stomach queasy. Even the cheap ones are too expensive. My lamps are in desperate need of being upgraded. It isn't that I don't like them anymore, it's just that the lamp shades have to be fixed. Oh, and I don't like them.

Over on Instructables, bekathwia has made a lamp from an old champagne-like bottle. She recommends using a bottle that is heavier on the bottom, since a top-heavy lamp would be a fire hazard. I think you could weigh the bottle down with some colored sand to avoid the issue of it toppling over.

You can purchase your lamp parts at the hardware store, but what fun would that be? Why not gather up the parts you've been saving just for this special lamp making day. A rubber stopper, a short threaded bar (which in my opinion could be a bolt with the head cut off), a bulb socket with cap, switch, and shell, some electrical wire and of course, a wall plug. You know you have all of it stashed somewhere.

In any case, you should be able to follow the easy step by step instructions, and in no time flat, you'll have made your very own table lamp from a bottle. If this idea isn't up your alley, then check out these other lamp making ideas from DIY Life, and you'll be sure to find something to suit your lamp tastes.

One of the biggest risks of being stuck out in the wilderness is being without water. Water is simply necessary. What if all you could find was a dirty mud puddle? Would you know how to turn that filthy water into safe drinking water? This MacGyver style DIY tip shows you how to purify water when you're stuck in the wilderness.

What you need

1. Empty plastic bottle
2. String
3. Match(es)
4. Wood (or other combustible material - a shoe might do)

What to do

1. Collect the dirty water in the bottle
2. Tie a string around the bottle
3. Build a fire
4. Holding the bottle by the string, put it directly over the flames
5. Let the water boil
6. Drink the water once it has cooled down

Instructables user huirub has a great new tutorial on how to transform any clear bottle of booze (or non-alcoholic clear liquid, if you want to be boring) into a cool accent lamp. Using readily available LED stickies, this simple project doesn't require any wiring or soldering, making it ideal for those of us who can't tell the difference between a volt and a vole (whatever that is).

The original tutorial calls for Dot-It LED lights (~$6 USD per unit), but I imagine you could get away with using any low-profile LED light source. If you're not afraid of building your own LED light array, however, this little tutorial might come in handy. I could envision this making a really cool bar backdrop if you had enough multi-colored alcohols and LED lights. Or, better yet, program the LEDs so they pulsate to the beat of some groovy music. It would be just like Waltzing Waters, only not as lame!

[via Instructables]

Finding new life for materials that would otherwise be headed for the city dump is always such a satisfying endeavor. It's recycling at its most instantly gratifying. Plus, people come up with such clever repurposing projects. Case in point: this slightly dangerous Instructable on turning a wine bottle into a drinking glass.

This project requires some specialized equipment, but what better excuse to acquire some new tools? For starters, you'll need a bottle cutter, which you can purchase new for less than $30 and used for considerably less. (The clever being responsible for this Instructable, fstedle, recommends getting a cutter with a metal frame rather than plastic.)

The priciest parts you'll need are a rotary tool with a grinding bit and drum-sanding attachments. You might also want to invest in some etching cream and glass stencils to decorate your glasses (fstedle suggests initials, and you also can find stencils for all kinds of decorative designs). Bottles, of course, you can get for free from wine-guzzling friends, relatives and neighbors. Oh, and don't forget a mask! There's nothing good about inhaling ground glass.

On the other, um, hand, if you prefer things you can make with no tools other than your own lovely mitts, try this Instructable (more like a Destructable) on how to break a beer bottle with your bare manos. Not as functional but such good fun!