DIY Life

I have always loved giving photographs as gifts. In my young and single days, I'd elegantly frame my own photographs of landscapes, flowers, or architecture. Now, people get pictures of my kid. He's pretty cute, so it works out on all fronts, but I think the gift is most appreciated when the photograph comes with a classy frame, made by you.

Every Dad needs pictures of his kids at the office, right? For this cute "Dad" frame, all you need is some oaktag or poster board, scissors and glue. The holes in the letters D-A-D frame photos of your kids -- cute! Martha Stewart has a similar project with a template for the D-A-D.

A rustic photo frame made from twigs can go with just about any decor, from country to modern. Using twigs, twine and a little glue, you can make one is a few short minutes. You could frame your child, but this type of frame would also look nice around a woodland landscape that is somehow meaningful to the recipient.

Do you know someone who doesn't need anything, but you still love them enough to give them a one of a kind gift? I think I may have found the perfect Christmas gift for that someone who has everything.

Eric Harshbarger competes in Scrabble tournaments, but also has a serious Lego profession. It would seem that every time he competed in a tournament, someone would tell him that he should make a Scrabble board out of LEGOs. So he did just that. He glued each Lego piece together and made a circular Scrabble board. He even made tile racks from Legos. He put his name on his finished board so that no one would mistake his board for someone else's.

Just think, every time you want to play Scrabble, you won't have to move your tile rack. With the circular concept, everything should stay in place and turn nicely with the lazy-susan turntable glued to the bottom of your new Scrabble board. What a great gift to give someone who loves Scrabble. If you need other ideas on what to do with Legos or just want to add to your Lego collection, check out the 75th Anniversary Lego special, courtesy of Dan Chilton.

There are lots of toys on the market today that can teach children the joy of building stuff, but few are as venerable and versatile as the classic LEGO. For the last 75 years, these colorful connecting blocks have captured the imagination of kids and adults alike, combining to create some truly unique LEGO structures, machines, and useful devises.

In honor of the company's platinum anniversary, we thought it would be fun to create a comprehensive compendium of LEGO projects (and other cool creations). Whether you're wanting to build your own LEGO ultrasonic sonar or rubber band gun, I'm sure you'll find one or two projects on this list that will spark your inner LEGO-addict, compelling you to either drag out the old bucket full of blocks from your closet, or go buy a brand new set from the store.