DIY Life

I'm really happy with my cute little 14-inch laptop. Wish I'd chosen a different color, though. The lid is a dark blue that looked sleek and soothing on the website when I placed my order. In real life, though? It looks just like plain old navy blue -- definitely more blah than soothing.

Are you unhappy or bored with your laptop? Yeah? Well, fortunately, there's never been a better time to personalize your machine ... or your iPod, Blackberry, cell or other device, for that matter. Whatever your gadget, make it really pop with a cool custom or DIY skin. Let's take a peek at some of the options:

1. Ready-made Skins. First up, there are tons of ready-made laptop skins out there. These may be purchased from computer manufacturers or from a number of other online sources. Dell, for example, now offers over 200 skin designs in a rainbow of colors and styles. Visit Dell Design Studio to see them all.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opened on Wednesday. Get your fix with some of these fantastic ideas for Harry Potter DIY gear and crafts. -- Instructables

Gear and crafts aren't going to cut it for your Harry Potter fan? Then here's more: How to play a real life game of Quidditch and how to make pensieve punch.

Got a green thumb but no place to garden? Grab yourself an inexpensive shoe organizer and create a vertical garden. -- CasaSugar

Bring an old dresser back to life with a fresh, pretty paint job and an interesting design. Better than a brand-new piece of furniture. -- ShelterPop

It's mid-July, and your air conditioner is probably working hard. Here's how to give it a yearly check-up so that it'll keep you cool year after year. -- Lifehacker

Mmmm ... sushi. Only you can't eat this felt sushi, it's just pretty and fun to play with. -- Craftster

Keep the kids busy this weekend with a project that requires them to slow down a little -- egg shell people. -- eHow

This is going straight to the top of my "want" list. Remember those cute little kitschy suitcases you used to carry as a kid? Now you can make one -- wait for it -- for you laptop. -- Craftzine Blog

When I spied the title "Guard your Laptop with Electric Rings of Death!," well, I had to check it out. And what did I find? Awesome pics of what looks like a bright electric force field circling a laptop! What is this? A DIY electric fence to keep unauthorized sticky fingers off your keyboard? Is it for real? Well, turns out this project is simultaneously very geeky and very cool.

Okay, so it's not a real force field. No, it will not zap your roommate for attempting to access your passwords file. However, creator TeslaDownUnder, says that, yes, the photos are for real and not Photoshopped. It's all done, he says, using a gadget involving rotating electrodes, which was then photographed in a dark room on a long exposure. Voila! Instant force field. Nope, it won't harm a fly. But it looks cool!

My fabulous new laptop is all set up and running beautifully. My old laptop has been consigned to its temporary new home: the garage. There it shall stay until I get an opportunity to take it to an electronics collection event, which my city periodically holds. (It's the green way, people.)

Anyway, I may have been a bit hasty taking it straight to the garage. According to stuff I've been reading online, you should always retire your old computer. That is, before you toss it, recycle it, sell it, give it away, donate it to charity--whatever--it's recommended you carry out some basic steps first.

The following computer retirement tips come courtesy of everyone's favorite software behemoth, Microsoft:

My laptop is dead. Long live the laptop. (And, no. I did not kill it.) Luckily it's demise was slow, giving me ample time to make complete backups of all my documents, photos and videos. Phew. If your computer died and you were not so lucky, don't freak out yet. Your files can probably be retrieved by manually accessing the hard drive.

This is something a techie guru can handle. However, if you're pretty confident you know your way around a computer, you can attempt a DIY job. JoeTech provides groovy instructions on manual hard drive retrieval, along with tons of juicy color photos to guide you in your endeavor. Detail is the key word here; Joe's instructions are just so beautifully detailed.

Now, the laptop featured in Joe's post is a Sony Vaio, but I guess the guts of laptops are all pretty similar. Also interesting to note that Joe's previous laptop, a Dell, lasted for seven years before it bit the dust. Wow. That's three years longer than my old Dell. (And I thought four years of constant use was pretty good mileage!)

Finally: an important note. Realize that as soon as you open up your laptop for a DIY repair/retrieval operation, your warranty is void. Dead. As in deader than your laptop.

Most of the laptop sleeves I've seen are boring. I'm sure they do the necessary job of protecting the laptop, but seriously, can you say boring? On a quest to find a pretty alternative to the boringness of laptop sleeves, I stumbled upon a no-sew laptop cozy made by Derek and Lauren over at Design*Sponge.

Derek and Lauren got their inspiration from redmaloo, who happen to carry all sorts of accessories for electronic devices. Since they were in a DIY mood, they decided to create their own felt laptop sleeve, different of course from redmaloo. They used two pieces of felt, scissors, an iron, sticky Velcro dots, and Stitch-Witchery, a double sided fusible interfacing. Their finished product will keep their laptop ding free.

As advised in the comment section of DS, you may want to come up with a way to protect your laptop from damaging lint. If you're in the mood for a new laptop anyway, learn how to properly kill your laptop, courtesy of Diane Rixon.

Now why would anyone want to kill an innocent laptop? Simple. The current technology is better, faster, and quieter. Affordable, too. Yet maybe you can't justify shelling out for a new machine while your old one continues to perform as slowly and faithfully as an old dog. Or maybe you can justify it, but your Significant Other argues it's beyond the family's means. Yes, it's an evil plan to be sure. Put your laptop out of its misery today, and tomorrow you can merrily trot out and purchase something better. No one need ever know the truth! (Evil laughter)

The best starting point comes courtesy of the UK paper The Register. This publication's website has two handy articles on the subject worth checking out. First up: "Ten ways to kill your laptop." Second: "102 ways to kill your computer." The suggestions here are good for entertainment value and maybe inspiration, but they're not the most subtle. For instance, I'm not sure my Significant Other would believe it if I told him my trusty yet aging Dell died due to my accidentally dropping it off a bridge or down a stairwell. You, too? Okay, so now we turn to the definitive resource: "How to destroy your computer," on the site Dan's Data. This is where you'll find the evil advice you seek: how to off your computer in a way that won't be detected by your (non-techie) loved ones. Muahahahahahaha!

Francesca brought us a wonderful hack on how to build your own MacBook stand. You certainly can't beat free! While I like the idea of using just paper and binder clips, I would like to use something a little more sophisticated to keep my laptop on, if I had one that is.

Instructables has a wonderful hack on how to make a PVC laptop stand. You make the stand by cutting 16 pieces of PVC to length, assemble the shelves, route the cable, and the end result will be a laptop saved from overheating. You'll also save your neck, your eyesight, and precious desktop space.

Of course, I would want to paint the pipe so that it is prettier, but that is just me. I love the hack, and I agree with one of the readers: I would definitely put something under the pipe so that it won't scratch up your desk.

Get your magnifying glass ready. Or your patience, at least. For this is one pesky task, my friends: reattaching a laptop key that has popped off.

I experienced this particular mishap first-hand a few months ago. An over-enthusiastic terrier used my laptop keyboard as a spot from which to vault to the windowsill. Grr. The good news is that even with my non-techie abilities, I was able to fix the problem myself. However, there was a fair bit of humming and hawing involved as I figured out how to click back into place the teensie-weensie plastic hinges that keep your laptop keys click-clacking.

I wish I had known about this -- LaptopRepair101's fine instructions for reattaching laptop keys, complete with excellent close-up photos demonstrating each step. Check it out. Oh, and here are some important facts up-front: Lesson 1: the aforementioned teensie-weensie plastic hinges are actually called key retainers. Lesson 2: if you don't get them repositioned just so, your key will be useless for all time. Lesson 3: be gentle. They are super-fragile. Lesson 4: If you need a replacement key, don't bother calling your computer's manufacturer. Unless you've paid for a tech help plan, they don't care. Instead, search eBay for a replacement key.

If you are unsure what to do with your old laptop, don't throw it away. Instructables user Timatron gives us pictures and complete step by step instructions on how to turn an old laptop into a hanging digital painting. Timatron takes you through the steps of very carefully removing the hinges from the laptop, taking out the battery, framing and matting the laptop, and hanging it up on the wall.

What a neat way to keep your old laptop out of the garbage! Have fun with this project and let your imagination fly as you pick out cool images to use for your new digital painting. Turn your old laptop into a neat Christmas gift and show off your kids to the grandparents. I bet Gramma and Grampa would love to receive such a cool present.

Laptops can get very hot sitting on a desk all day. You don't really need much elevation, just enough for the air to circulate. There are a lot of laptop stands available for about $30. That's not too expensive, but why put out the money for a ready-made product that you can hack together on your own? All you need is 4 binder clips, 4 sheets of paper and 10 minutes.

If you need a quick fix, this is it. He shows you how to hack together a mini and full elevation. You're laptop will run cooler and you will have saved $30.

Affectionately referred to as Tombie, this talking tombstone makes a great Halloween prop. Alan Perakh built a tombstone out of Styrofoam then added the talking face and hooked it up to a laptop for audio. It looks like this project takes some time, but the directions are easy to follow and the result will be well worth it.

There are many Styrofoam tombstone designs out there, but the idea of using clay and adding stone effect paint makes all the difference here. The final prop looks realistic, and perfectly frightening. Play around with your own preferences and make the face look any way you'd like. The audio will be a fun part to design. What will your tombstone say? I can just imagine this guy greeting me at the door, offering instructions before entering the haunted house, or telling spooky tales.

I was surfing around the Internet and I was intrigued by a picture of Paris Hilton carrying a laptop computer which was wrapped in a quilted pink Sumo laptop sleeve. I thought, "Hey wait a second, quilted pink? That's not the style for the Paris Hilton we've all come to know and love!" I can accept the pink color all right but quilted? I'd expect Paris to be sporting patent leather with studs, or something of that nature. Then I realized that it was a picture of the new, improved and "rehabilitated" Paris Hilton and it all made sense.

Here is a better solution for dressing your laptop than to have to drop $35 on a pink quilted laptop sleeve that your grandma could have made in an hour while talking on her cell phone. Here are some hand-made, high quality and trend setting laptop sleeve and cover ideas.