DIY Life

Tis the season to be jolly... and cook like a maniac. I find myself spending more and more kitchen as the weather drops a few more degrees, and although I don't necessarily enjoy cooking, I do love the smell of homemade dinner on the oven! What I don't love is the amount of finger burns I've accumulated from my hot cookie sheets, scalding tea kettles and fireside marshmallows. No worries; in my adventures, I've learned a secret tip to keeping those digits pain-free after a burn! Hint: It's in your pantry!

Curious? I'll give you another hint: You put it on a hot dog and it rhymes with custard. Yep --- mustard! But not just any mustard will do the trick; you want to rub spicy mustard on the burn directly. Works like a charm, and I have a funny feeling it heals the wound just as fast as the leading drugstore brand.

First aid from the condiment aisle? Sure!

I'll admit it... I've gone under the needle more than once. In fact, I'm considering getting yet another tattoo (though I want to get a new tattoo to cover up another one, so maybe it doesn't really count).

While they didn't hurt that much, I wouldn't say it's exactly pleasant having needles zip in and out of your skin. But these laser tattoo videos on Instructables are a whole new world of pain.

According to Instructables, the sight of getting one's flesh burned by a laser cutter isn't too bad. But the subtle smell of burning flesh isn't exactly enticing. (Gee... I wonder why.) And as for the pain involved, well, let's just say it hurts.

Laser cutters serve their purpose -- for cutting wood, plastic, and the like. Not skin. So, to whoever first thought of this idea, I give you points for creativity. But I think this is a lesson in "Just because you can, it doesn't mean you should."

If you're itching to get inked, go the traditional route or, for an even less invasive method, check out Anna's post on temporary tattoos.

"Home, home on the raaange." Camping, campfires, and campfire songs are so much a part of the American summer. Kids especially love this stuff. "Can we go camping, Mom/Dad? Can we? Can we? Can we?"

Don't have the budget/energy/time to drag the whole family to a real campground? Consider building a stay-cation-style camp site at home. You can do this inside, or try setting up outside on the lawn or on your porch, deck, or patio. Invite all the kids' friends and make a party out of it!

Fake fire will be your centerpiece. I found suggestions on building a faux campfire at TheMeBuilders.com and at Cadvisor.com. This basically involves positioning a fan and some red-colored lightbulbs underneath your "campfire" (bundle of logs). A piece of colored silk scarf flickers and billows when the fan is turned on. Never, ever leave the setup unattended in case the bulbs overheat.

There are more reasons than ever to learn how to burn a CD: to create your own CD wedding favors or to make a story CD for your child, for example.

Are you technically savvy enough to do it? I, for one, am happy to have a husband who is, but in the interest of being a strong, independent woman and a good example to my child, I set out to learn how to do burn a CD myself.

The first thing I learned is that there is this thing called a "Wizard" that pretty much does everything for you; simply drag and drop the files you want to write to the CD and surf the internet during your wait time.

OK, it isn't quite that simple (but it's close), but Worldstart has a tips and tricks page with:

• CD-R versus CD-RW tips
• step-by-step instructions
• a separate tutorial for Microsoft Windows XP, which has its own CD burning software

and more -- everything you will need to know to burn your own CD, in fact. Independence is just a click away!

My three-year-old loves to listen to stories. As a conscientious mom and former reading teacher, this thrills me beyond words. We read books together often throughout the day, and though I love to spin a good yarn, we really like to listen to audiobooks while traveling in the car.

We own some good ones, and we frequent the library to check out lots of recorded books every three weeks. But Owen's favorite stories we can't find on CD, so we've just had to be creative about it. Here's what we've discovered:

• Robert Munsch is an author and storyteller with the sense of humor of a six-year-old boy. This works out for us, and since he's got scads of downloadable stories, it is a great resource.
• If you and your child like the classics, Kiddie Records Weekly has all the old recordings you listened to as a child, scratchy LP quality included! Some of these are really priceless; my son loves this version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with Char-Broil LLC, has issued a voluntary recall of about 400 Char-Broil two-burner gas grills, model 463720108, due to fire and burn hazards. The main burner on the recalled grills does not fit correctly or connect properly to the gas valve, which could result in a propane leak.

Manufactured by Shenzhen Jinwoniu Trading Company LTD of China, the recalled two-burner gas grills were sold exclusively at Mills Fleet Farm stores in Iowa, North Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin from February 2008 through April 2008 for about $120. Please see the CPSC press release for more information.

Consumers are advised to immediately stop using the grill. To receive a free replacement burner and instructions on installing the burner, contact Char-Broil at (866) 671-7988 or visit their website at www.charbroil.com.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with JCPenney, has announced a voluntary recall of about 27,000 Cooks deep fryers.

A faulty heating element in the deep fryer can cause it to overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. JCPenney has received five incident reports concerning the deep fryers, including one report of a minor burn and three reports of damaged counter-tops.

Manufactured in China and sold exclusively at JCPenney stores nationwide, catalog, and www.jcp.com from August 2007 through January 2008 for about $50, the 1/3 gallon capacity Cooks deep fryer has a brushed stainless steel exterior, a wire mesh basket with a handle, black handles, and a lid with a window. Please check the CPSC press release for model number and more information.

Consumers should stop using the recalled deep fryer immediately and return it to the nearest JCPenney store for a full refund. For more information, contact JCPenney at (888) 333-6063, or visit their website at www.jcp.com.

How brave are you? I like to think that I'm fairly tough, especially when it comes to taking pain, but this DIY project is way out of my league. Branding is where the skin is burned to make a scar. In these instructions, they use a soldering iron to burn an image into the skin. The permanent scar is called a "brand". Here's what you'll need:

1. A friend who is willing to hold a 450 degree Celsius iron to your skin, or a friend who is willing to let you do this to them
2. Soldering iron
3. Face mask
4. Wooden spoon
5. Anesthetic
6. Emergency first aid

Please note that the article we're linking to here is not a typical site that we would normally link to. While there wasn't any offensive material on the article we are linking to (except of course for the article itself which is about intentionally burning one's skin), be warned that the rest of the Viceland site may well have offensive material. Oddly, in addition to the items listed above, the article recommends having some jellybeans on hand. If you're still reading then you are either brave or stupid, but either way, you might be interested in checking out their full instructions on DIY branding.