DIY Life

Leave it to Better Homes and Gardens. Somehow, they're able to inspire me without making me feel like a second-rate Martha Stewart wanna-be.

Since we joined our CSA farm last year, it's been a pleasure to have new fresh flowers in the house every week. BHG has created a gallery of flower arrangements that can be done in five minutes, and that look positively stunning. Some of their winning combinations:

• poppies surrounded by hosta leaves
• geranium leaves, roses, and trailing vines
• lavender stems and geranium leaves
• hydrangeas with bachelor buttons
• mounded zinneas with bleeding heart foliage

What I really love about BHG's arrangements is that most of the blooms could be found in your own garden, or even in a wild flower field. That makes these arrangements economical, too.

I've been combining wild yarrow with daylilies and daisies for a pretty display on my kitchen's center island. What's you favorite quick and easy flower arrangement?

Nothing says 'fresh' and 'modern' like graphic artwork. It's a perfect pick-me-up to a drab decor, or it can add a funky flair to a traditional decorating scheme. However you choose to use it, graphic is "in."

You could spend a fortune and buy some canvases from a trendy artist, or you can do it yourself. I vote for me!

Plaid has a very easy tutorial showing how to create your own graphic artwork: a set of three coordinating canvases that you can make, using stencils and four colors of paint.

After painting the base color on each of the canvases, just use stencils to paint on the designs. They will have your own personal touch, you can make them to match your own decor, and they will give your room an instant face lift. They'd also make a cherished housewarming gift for a special friend.

If you fear art, as some do, and this project is more than you can handle without an accompanying Margarita, you can try framing some handmade paper instead. A block print design will give you a similar look, and you can still say that you did it.

These days, it's easier than ever to accumulate great art prints, but where to hang them all? And do you really want to pay to have them framed? If they're an odd size or shape, it could become expensive.

Yesterday, an easy solution was posted at Apartment Therapy Chicago. Salvage, thrift, or purchase a plain board at least a few inches bigger all around than your artwork, and stain it, if necessary. Then nail two Boston Bulldog Clips to the board -- they're sometimes just called Bulldog Clips, and are available at most art supply stores. Put your print in the clips, hang it on the wall, and you're all set!

If this isn't your style, you can always try using a nicer board, cut to your specified dimensions and painted a neutral color like black, or a color that coordinates with the art, matte or glossy. You could even consider spray-painting the Bulldog clips with some kind of finish, like metallic black model enamel.

When you're done, you'll have a funky custom display solution, like a giant clipboard that allows you to change your art out on a rotating basis. Pretty cool, huh?

Nothing says Happy Father's Day like a new tie, right? You can surprise the special dad in your life by presenting him with an artistically created necktie cake. A skinny necktie cake is a lot more fun to bake, frost, and embellish than shopping for the perfect tie. Everyone will enjoy this necktie -- with a little dip of ice cream -- and there will be no sense of disappointment from Dad.

MailJust4me provides simple Father's Day projects, including directions for making a necktie cake. I took liberties with their pan recommendations and used two 9 x4 bread pans. When thinking of a design, I checked out some Armani ties to see what's new.

What you need:

• 2 9x4 baked cakes or 1 large rectangular cake cut lengthwise in half
• white frosting
• food coloring
• ziplock bag
• scissors
• M & M's or other candy
• Large tray or platter to hold finished cake

Check out the gallery to see how my cake turned out, then follow me through the break for the decorating instructions.

This paint swatch weaving project is attractive, simple, and best of all, super thrifty. Head down to your local paint store and pick up a bunch of paint swatches. If you're like me, and have a hard time envisioning how things will look when they come together, take a tip from the pros, and follow their suggested color themes. Choose something that complements or contrasts with the current color palette in your room.

Basically, all you have to do is cut the swatches into strips, lay your base, weave it, and glue the back with rubber cement. Add some bold focal points, maybe with a color drawn from the accessories in your room or your focal wall. Framing the woven swatches can take on a variety of forms, depending on the look you're going for. A bold wooden frame would add dramatic impact, where a thin basic frame gives an understated impression.

This would also make a great project for children. You might want to ask the paint store if they have leftover swatches from discontinued colors.

The cool thing about creating paint swatch art projects is that you get the exact colors you're looking for, instead of settling for something that doesn't quite match your current decor. Have you created any other projects with paint swatches?

These handy storage containers are an interesting twist on the pencil case, making them a great place to store craft or school supplies. My youngest son suggested that it would also be good for collecting rocks. Really, it's a convenient carrying case for storage or collecting of any kind (and not just kids' stuff either!). While the little ones are making collection containers and pencil cases, you can be designing your own for use as a gift box.

Materials

• Tall chip container
• Plain 8 1/2 x 11 paper
• Scrapbook paper
• Glue
  
• Push pin paper fasteners
• Ribbon
• Embellishments of choice

Depending on how you plan to use them, or who gets to be the artistic director (you, or your kiddie crafter) you'll end up with very different results. Have a look through the gallery to see how ours turned out. Follow me through the break for step by step instructions.

Leave the harsh food-colorings and egg decorating kits on the shelf. This Easter try something new and natural: dye your Easter eggs with natural coloring.

This handy table lists the various ways that you can achieve rich natural colors. Complete with a description of the color along with mixture and setting instructions, you'll be ready to make your own dyes.

Boiled onion skins for example, will give a deep yellow/gold coloring. A blue/teal color is derived from chopped red cabbage and vinegar, while simmering an egg in grape juice will give you a blue/purple stain.

Canned produce results in a lighter color, while adding vinegar deepens the pigment. Setting times vary among dying agents so keep the table on hand for reference. Make sure you leave extra time for your project because some colors require overnight setting.

Making natural dyes isn't just a way to achieve more earthy colors, and better looking eggs, but a fun challenge for your holiday weekend.

Of all the fun party decorations, this one tops the list, combining coolness and ease of creation. The LED floating balloons would make a great party decoration. The video gives you a demonstration of the balloons in action. Check out the full instructables post for assembly instructions. Thanks to reader Joe, from Hack n Mod for letting us know about this great project.

Making the balloon decorations doesn't take a lot of time or materials. All you do is put a battery strapped LED into a balloon and fill it with helium. The result: One of the most mesmerizing light displays I've ever seen - Go ahead, accuse me of being hyperbolic, but I think this is very cool!

While they sure look neat released into the night sky, we might want to consider the safety and environmental impact of letting so many balloons, lights and mercury filled batteries off into the open air. Without control over where they drop, it really isn't a wise decision. I imagine these would be great for letting go at the beginning of a concert the way the original creator does, or at a hall party.

Fruits, leaves, and cinnamon have wonderful scents. They make your home smell sweet and comfortable. You could go with scented candles or aromatherapy oils, but I think that these things are too creative to not show off. Don't grind down your dried fruit and leaves for potpourri. Instead, put them on display with this crafty dehydrated fruit garland.

First, you'll want to choose what items to dry out. Try red and green apples, some orange slices, and cinnamon. These aromas will go well together, and the color contrast will make for an attractive garland. The full instructables post teaches us how to prepare each fruit, leaf, and spice. There are a couple of ways that you can do this, but avoid my dried apple disaster and follow the instructions carefully the first time!

Now that Christmas is over and the new year has begun, it is time to face the most daunting task of the holiday season. It is time to unstring the house and take down the outdoor decorations. (If you are one of those infidels who leave up their lights all year a la' Homer Simpson you can stop here, log out and go ahead and beat yourself with a 2x4 now.)

Chances are that when the lights and decorations went up, you had "help" in the form of on lookers and back seat decorators to make sure that everything went yup just right, and that you didn't do anything silly with ladders, tree branches, etc. Now that it time to go out into weather that has become pretty nasty all across the U.S. to take them down, you are going to be flying solo out there in the wind, snow, ice, rain, and unfulfilled Christmas wishes while everyone else is inside warm, toasty, and playing with their newest acquisitions.

As you undertake this onerous task I wish you luck, and a lack of trips to the local emergency room. I have a friend who was taking down his decoration a week or so ago who ended up taking that ride to the ER and is now recovering at home with enough metal in his arm to give the TSA guys at the airport a run for their money!

I am a big fan of recycled decorations. Re-using household things will save the item from the recycle or trash bin. It also lets you make something for cheap without all the materials and energy that go into new products. This pop bottle snow man is a great recycled Christmas decoration.

It isn't your typical pop bottle project. You know the ones, they look like something more suitable for the craft table at preschool than for your living room. This snowman decoration is simple, attractive, and resourceful. There are two designs, each with full instructions. I prefer the look of the second one, pictured here. You have lots of flexibility with this one, so bring in some of your own style, adding accessories and make it a unique character. Here's what you'll need:

1. 1 L pop bottle
2. sand, rocks or other weight
3. 2-3" Styrofoam ball
4. White and black acrylic paint
5. Sponge brush
6. Sand paper
7. Black felt
8. Black buttons
9. Craft glue
10. Spray can lid
11. Accessories

If you've lined your window sill with snowmen and still have pop bottles overflowing the recycle bin, try some of these projects and put them to good use.

Although foam-stuffed felt gingerbread houses have their allure, nothing compares to a real, edible gingerbread house. Who cares if it's ephemeral, or if it's a potential target for pets and pests? It's all about the prettiness. And the wonderful smell. And the sugar. (Mmm, sugar.)

You could just buy a kit... and maybe, if it's your first time, that's what you want to do. But if it isn't, you will probably appreciate Gingerbread Lane (a.k.a. Ginger Lane Kitchens), a site with lots of ideas and advice for budding cookie house architects. Everything you need to know to be a successful builder is right there.

You'll find gingerbread and icing recipes, suggestions for which decorative candies to use, a pattern for a "beginner's" basic 8"x8"x12" house, construction and preservation tips, a gallery of creations by the site's owner and others, and plenty of links. While you're there, don't miss Ginger's Parisian street scene... featuring a gingerbread Eiffel Tower!

If you're thinking of putting together your own edible house, why not check out the Flickr Gingerbread House Showcase pool for ideas? Better yet, check out our gingerbread house gallery: it starts right here.

Hmm. What to do with all this unwanted electronic stuff? Let's see: an old computer mouse that no one uses anymore, all the parts from a dead power source, an old power cord, two cds, and a fan cable. Hate to just throw it away... What a waste... (Thoughtfully rubbing chin.)

Well, Flickr member Random42 had all this stuff and he knew just what to do with it: create a Geek Wreath! He says it was inspired by the Geek Wreath featured at Boing Boing. Says the Boing Boing caption for that wreath: "The Geek Wreath is a simple and powerful idea: take a strand of lights and weave it around a wreath of all the goddamned power cables, spare USB cables, obsolete SCSI cables and whatever else you've got cluttering up your home." Awesome!

Now that wreath is fab, but I'm liking Random42's wreath just a tad more. It's a little more festive looking and has a few creative artful touches. Like that old computer mouse. Yep. It's all you could want in a Christmas decoration. It's where geek-thinking meets those traditional Christmas staples: electric lights, wreaths, and whimsy. Nothing goes to waste in this festive creation!

These autumn themed napkin rings will make the perfect addition to your Thanksgiving table. They look so delicate in their design, but will hold up for many years. You can get the whole family involved in crafting the napkin rings.

Materials

1. Salt
2. Flour
3. Water
4. Rolling pin
5. Cutting board
6. Cookie sheet
   
7. Aluminum foil
8. Golden yellow paint or some other autumn color
9. Fine tipped paintbrush
10. Ribbon in a dark autumn color
11. Leaf button or small leaf stamp
12. Sharp kitchen knife
13. Fake autumn leaves (found in most craft stores)
    
14. Hot glue gun

In the full instructions for making Thanksgiving napkin rings you'll find each step and tips along the way. You can choose ribbon and paint colors that match the rest of your Thanksgiving centerpiece. You could even play around with different silk leaves or flowers. If you're not hosting Thanksgiving this year, make a set of rings for your hostess. She'll appreciate the gift, you'll have fun making them, and the cost is next to nothing.