DIY Life

One of the most fun and educational things you can do with your child(ren) is to start your own garden.

You don't have to make it a veggie garden, although eating what they grow does tend to intrigue the little ones. You can do a flower garden, a butterfly garden, or a cactus garden, to name a few.

I am also going to teach you how to add another twist to it. You and the small ones can build a garden that moves!

Why make a mobile garden? A mobile garden means you can change locations so you can use different plants at different times of the year that have different sunlight requirements. It also means that you can bring the garden to you when you want to work on it. Details after the break!

The U.S. Consumer Safety Product Commission, in cooperation with Aloha Housewares Inc., is voluntary recalling about 152,000 portable electric heaters. The unit can overheat and melt plastic parts, posing a fire hazard. Aloha Housewares has received 29 reports of electric heaters catching fire, smoking, or melting. They have received 18 reports of property damage, and have received one report of minor burns to a person's hands and feet.

Manufactured in China, the recall involves "Aloha Breeze" white electric oscillating tower heaters sold at Walmart and small retail chain stores nationwide from August 2006 through November 2007 for between $35 and $45. Check the CPSC press release for model numbers and date codes.

Stop using the recalled portable heater immediately and contact Aloha Housewares for a replacement. For more information on the recall, contact them at (800) 295-4448, or email them at ahitexaslq@aol.com.

Having a vise isn't enough, is it? Today's Toolstravaganza prize is a little more than a vise-- it's a workbench. A portable workbench that'll handle up to 550 pounds! This wonder from Black and Decker folds up (notice the word portable in the title?), does extra duty as a vise or a sawhorse. Plus, it's made of steel, what else?

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and validate it. Entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EST August 5. Full rules after the jump or on our Toolstravaganza page. Thanks for reading and good luck!

Let's say you're on vacation and need to take some info with you-- an address, a map, or several paragraphs of info. Maybe too much to write down, but not enough to hunt down a printer (a futile effort in many hotels). Why not take a pic and let your camera hold the info?

My camera (shown in the gallery), a Casio Exilim Z60, happens to have a Text mode for capturing printed and on-screen text. But most any camera will work provided the following:

• Macro setting is mandatory. Zoom won't do, as usually you can't hold the camera steady enough.
• Flash: macro usually means turn it off, and computer screens will look blank with it reflecting
  
• Make sure autofocus isn't squirrelly.
• The bigger the LCD screen on the back of your camera, and the easier to navigate or zoom into a pic, the better your results.

Be aware that this is a completely improvised method. In theory, you could carry a small (32 MB) memory card around just for grabbing info vs. memory shots. But I find it's just less fuss to grab some info at the hotel and just scan back on the camera until I find it. Usually this info isn't needed all night. It helps that my Casio has a calendar too, which adds to the faux-PDA concept. Amaze your friends by pretending you can access Google Maps on your camera!