DIY Life

Nothing perturbs me more than sitting in a chair and wobbling back and forth because the chair legs need fixing. I get perturbed because once again I spent my money on something cheap, or someone else did, and they just like to be annoying by rocking back and forth.

Over at the Indianapolis Star, our own extremely talented Shelly Leer learned how to fix annoying chair wobbles when a furniture builder showed her how to apply wood glue to the chair using a turkey basting syringe. Genius!

There's a little more to it: please join me after the break to learn how it's done.

I'm a green gardener. I'm loathe to use toxic chemicals in my yard. However, there are certain situations when only toxic will do. Like, for example, when I recently had to kill a tree. Read on if you're in the same boat and would like some tips. Oh, and be sure to check out my photo gallery, too!

The Camphor Laurel: An Invasive Pest

First up: a bit about the tree in question. The offending plant was a camphor laurel tree (cinnamomum camphora), a native of East Asia that has become an invasive pest here in the US and in other countries, like Australia. Yes, this plant is the source of stinky camphor oil, which is found in products like Vicks® cold remedies.

In my backyard, the camphor is a big pain-in-the-butt-plant. My nemesis. My arch-enemy. It self-sows everywhere. I must have pulled hundreds of tiny seedlings by hand since learning (the hard way) to be more vigilant. Hand weeding camphor seedlings is a nuisance, but it sure beats trying to eradicate them once they become established.

If there is one circus skill I'd love to master, it's walking on stilts. Being hopelessly clumsy and a bit of a coward, I'm not sure it's in the cards for me, but if you're looking for a fun construction project and a new skill, try out these DIY stilts.

The wooden stilts are adjustable, increasing your height by one to three feet. Here's what you need to construct them:

• Wooden 2×4, 15.5" long
• 4 3/8" wing nuts
• 4 3/8" ID flat washers
• 4 3/8" x 4" carriage bolts
• 2 Wooden poles, 8′x1.5"x1.5"
• Table saw
• Drill

The instructions don't seem too complicated, but considering that you'll trust the final product to support you in the air, you'll want to follow them carefully, paying particular attention to the safety tips. I'm guessing that the moderate danger rating has more to do with the difficulty you'll have learning to walk safely on stilts than it does with the actual safety of the stilts.

Even if you're not looking for a new career as a busker, you'll love showing off your new skills and your homemade stilts.

I live north of Atlanta, Georgia, an area currently under homeowner outdoor watering restrictions. Not much is allowed because of a lingering drought. In addition to trying to do my part to conserve water, I want to be able to water my plants, without waiting for Mother Nature to send the rain. I liked Dan Chilton's article on rain barrels, but I wanted to do something a bit different. I built my barrel in about two hours and it's now the repository for all my recycled water and rainfall, such as it is.

Peruse the gallery, follow the construction steps, and you can be the proud owner of your very own rain barrel and, might I say, the envy of your neighbors.

Stacks of newspaper always seem to accumulate in my house. Newspaper always comes in handy for something, even if it is starting a bonfire on a cold winter night. I use newspaper for packing fragile items when I move, so I am starting to gather piles again, in the hopes we can soon move out of this tiny abode into a bigger one.

A Storybook Life has a tutorial on how to make beautiful paper beads using newspaper, water, glue, craft paint, varnish, and a drill. All you need to do is rip the newspaper into small pieces, put the paper in a stockpot and cover with boiling water, stir the paper after about an hour of soaking to help break it apart, drain as much of the water out of the paper as possible, and then add Elmer's glue and shape into a ball. From that large ball, make as many size beads as you can, let the small balls dry, rolling every once in a while to squeeze out more water, and then sand each bead to remove any rough edges when the paper ball is completely dry. Drill a hole, paint, and varnish.

You can make necklaces, bracelets, earrings...whatever you can imagine or would normally use store bought beads for; try using newspaper beads instead. The simply perfect DIY weekend project!

The item we have here is a Black & Decker VPX Starter set model #VPX903X1. The UPC code is:8591103820. This set includes one each: cutoff saw, power screw driver, 3 LED flashlight, VPX battery, battery charger, two screw bits and two jigsaw type blades. Each tool comes with it's own informative owner's manual. I was not provided with a manufacturer's list price so please check with your local dealer about pricing details.

The tools themselves come in a very nice display and carry package which can serve as a tool case for quite some time. Formed recesses hold each component of the set, keeping everything secure, neat and ready. This tool set makes a very nice presentation coming out of the box and holds your interest from there.

Step 1) Get your tools ready! You will need a drill with drill bits, a hammer, a tape measure and a pencil. And, of course, your window pins. You can use one pin per window or two -- one on the left side and one on the right. Your choice.

Step 2) Close and lock your first window. Use your measuring tape and pencil to locate and mark the point to drill your first hole. This is where the window pin will go when the window is in the closed and locked position.

I used to have the coolest tire caps for my old bike. They were just a pair of dice, but at least 95% more awesome than the standard caps that came on the bike (the bike store also had similarly cool skull-shaped caps, but those seemed like they'd be tempting fate). If I hadn't lost the dice caps in a move, I'd definitely be using them on my new bike: a pearl-pink retro cruiser with white pinstriping!

So, I know that you can buy dice tire caps from some bike shops, if they carry them.

But if you have dice and some common equipment around, why not try making your own dice tire valve caps with this tutorial by Instructables user Supersaddy? It's a very simple procedure, even easier if you own a drill press: clamp down a die, drill a hole in it that's big enough to allow for insertion of the valve cap, glue the valve cap into the hole, let them dry... and ride off into the sunset with your rockin' new tire caps. You've got style, my friend.

However, be aware that there are two nearly identical tutorials for dice tire caps on Instructables. The other one recommends using Gorilla Glue, but Gorilla Glue may be inappropriate for the project, because it expands as it dries. That means that it can push the valve cap out of the hole that was drilled for it.

You know nothing about soccer, but it brings out a great group of kids, it's excellent exercise and you see tremendous value in team sports, so you sign up. As you're filling out the form you get to that dreaded box where they want to know how you can volunteer with the team. Most recreational soccer clubs are run completely by the efforts of volunteers.

You want to pitch in, but can't offer any real sport skills so you tick the boxes for Team Manager and Snack Coordinator. You show up for the meet and greet to find out that your team and others are missing coaches. The next thing you know, you've stepped up, and don't have a clue where to start.

A cold thrill of fear still runs through me when I prepare to drill holes in a new part of the house. It brings back memories of my disastrous early DIY attempts in our first house, a 1920s bungalow. The project was shelving installation. I carefully marked out where the holes should go, got my cordless drill in position and - CRUNCH! Instead of cutting through the wall, the drill bit spun and screeched. Instead of a clean hole, I got a big, dusty crater. Oops. I knew I'd done something wrong...but what?! Friends, it was my first close encounter with a masonry wall.