DIY Life

Last week we took a peek at ways to decorate your walls without breaking your lease's no-drill, no-nail policy. In particular, we looked at clever little stick-up products that sub for regular picture hooks. Today we continue this topic, but focus on ways to decorate the walls themselves.

Strategy 1: Negotiate! Persuade your landlord to compromise. Suggest a new paint job for the living room (or the whole apartment/house) in exchange for agreeing to the no-nail, no-drill policy. If he/she hesitates, offer to let them pre-approve your color choice.

Ask permission to install a gallery-style picture hanging rail. Emphasize that you would pay for and install the rail all by yourself, but that you would generously leave it behind for the next tenant.

The key to success here may be all in how you pitch it. Don't act like you're asking a favor of your landlord. Do not get whiney. Do sell your suggestions as improvements that will benefit the property owner.

We all need renewal time, and a little pampering pleasure tops my list. Who doesn't love facials, pedicures, full body scrubs and the like? You can create the decadence of a day at the spa, right in your own home.

So plan on a little you-time, invite your girlfriends over for a spa party, or create a spa day for your mom, just in time for Mother's Day (and early enough that you can get your materials together!). Or, get some pretty containers and give these "products" as gifts.

This week, we'll start with pampering the feet, and columns on the face and body (and hands) will follow in subsequent weeks.

Doing puzzles regularly can help keep your mind sharp. Puzzles come in all shapes and sizes, from very simple "connect the dots with the fewest number of lines" brain teasers done with pencils and paper, to incredibly complex wooden boxes with secret mechanisms, to nearly impenetrable codes like the ones on the Kryptos sculpture.

On the "simple" end is this weaver's puzzle by Mike Reilly... simple to make, but so devilishly difficult to solve that you'd better take notes on what you did while you're making it, or even you might not be able to find the solution a second time.

Essentially, you have a small wooden board and some nails (or pins, tacks, pegs, etc). Nails are hammered into the board in a random pattern. A thread is attached to one of the nails, and on the board, there is an empty hole where a nail should be. That last nail is attached to the free end of the thread.

Your job, as a puzzle solver, is to wrap the thread around each peg only once, then place the free nail into its hole, without any excess string hanging off of the puzzle. It's appropriate for supervised kids, but with at least hundreds of possible solutions, it's not as easy as it sounds.

Since letting us know about his work, Mike has created a D.I.Y puzzle projects page. If you like the Weaver's Puzzle, the L.I.P.S. (Lines in Particular Shapes) Puzzle is definitely worth a look. It requires just common office supplies like graph paper, a straight edge, and a pen. What will he think of next?

You're bound to make mistakes while you're learning to woodwork, and even as a seasoned woodworker. The real separation is in those who know how to fix them and those who don't. A good woodworker can fix his mistakes so seamlessly that you'd never know there was one when looking at the final project.

Canadian Home Workshop compiled a list of these 10 woodworking mistakes and how to fix them:

1. Removing Router Burn
2. Tightening Sloppy Mortise-and-Tenon Joints
3. Eliminating Gaps in Face Frame Joints
4. Adjusting a Too-Deep Hinge Pocket
5. Removing Mystery Glue Smears
6. Repair Dents in Wood
7. Widening Cabinet Doors That Are Too Narrow
8. Fixing Nail-Split or Screw-Split Wood
9. Salvaging a Bubbly Finish
10. Lengthening a Board You Cut Too Short

Number 10 sounds more like a job for for a magician then a woodworker. I'll share that secret with you after the break.

Manicured nails make a great impression. For most of us, long nails dazzled with jewels just don't match our DIY'er lifestyle. In this edition of DIY spa treatment, I'll show you how to achieve a spa quality manicure that you can live with and easily maintain.

What you'll need

1. Nail brush
2. Soap
3. Nail clippers
4. Emery board
5. Q-tips
6. Nail polish remover
7. Colored polish
8. Clear top coat polish

After the break I'll give you the step by step for your at home manicure. While I am now painfully aware that I am not a hand model, the gallery pictures illustrate each step along the way.