DIY Life

When I was growing up, I wasn't allowed to drink soda. Even back then, my dad was pretty smart. He said the stuff would make me fat and rot my teeth. Seems research studies are proving him right about the unhealthiness of soda.

When I was old enough to move out of the house, I started drinking soda like mad. My dad was right; I did indeed gain some unneeded weight and I had to go to the dentist because I had cavities.

If you are trying to kick the soda habit, try jazzing up water with natural flavorings. You can make your water super cold with ice chips, then add in some lemon or lime juice, along with a couple slices of the fruit. Keeping water refrigerated at all times will get you reaching for the jug instead of the can.

The state I live in manufactures one of the tastiest ginger ales ever. I've traveled around the US a lot and I have yet to find it anywhere else. It may have poor distribution elsewhere, but in my state it's a staple. Good thing, too. Every time I have a stomachache, I crave ginger ale over anything else.

It turns out that dispensing ginger ale as a treatment for stomachaches isn't an old wives' tale. Martha Edwards at That's Fit just posted about the many health benefits of ginger. Her post included a link to a recipe for ginger ale -- it's a great way to get that yummy taste without all the unpronounceable ingredients that most sodas have.

All you need is a cup of peeled and finely chopped ginger, water, sugar, club soda, lime juice, and lime wedges. Head on over to Simply Recipes for the details.

In this economy, there's no time like the present to look in the pantry and take stock of things, to distinguish between the must-haves and the fluff.

Things like tinned smoked oysters might not need to be replaced. The same goes for gourmet cookies. And that six pack of Coke? Who needs that, when there's perfectly good drinking water free from the tap? Or so I thought... until I began reading about the many wonders of Coke.

It turns out Coke is more than just a sweet drink that gives you a lift: it can be used for everything from creating a better curl to cleaning stubborn toilet stains. After the break, you'll find a few more clever uses for the carbonated drink....

Everybody knew those guys in high-school or college who would crush cans on their heads in some pathetic attempt to prove how cool and tough they were.

Maybe you were that guy? If you were, I suspect that there was very little technique involved, and you probably just built up your pain tolerance.

If you've moved past the self-torture stage, but still think it would be fun to impress your friends (and make them cringe), then take a lesson from this can crushing technique.

The trick is to have finger pressure pinching inward at the same time as your palm and head are crushing it from top to bottom. Instructables contributor suggsugg takes us through four simple steps to painless can crushing.

Have a great weekend, and enjoy your new party trick.

I really enjoy going to estate sales, garage sales; pretty much any kind of sale. What one person deems junk, I just might have the light bulb go off and think that junk could be turned into something useful and new-to-me.

Soda crates make gorgeous picture frames. All you need to do is glue your photos to a wooden frame that can be inserted into the crate holes, attach two heavy duty picture hangers to the soda crate and hang on the wall. You can change the pictures anytime you want to if you decide not to glue the frame into the box.

I've seen soda crates at many sales and flea markets, but always overlooked them, mostly because I just didn't want to hang the heavy things on my wall. They would be nice to have around just for the aspect of saying I own another something vintage, but I just can't clutter up my small already cluttered house. I think when we get into our bigger house I will definitely find soda crates and make them into picture frames.

We've heard our fair share of warnings about Coke and the health issues that accompany too much consumption of any cola product. Some of them are pretty shocking. We know that one can of Cola has 100% of your daily recommended sugar intake, causing a urinary excretion of calcium and other necessary vitamins and minerals. I get emails about twice a year, telling me that coke is strong enough to clean the toilet or dissolve corrosion from car batteries. I'm disgusted for a few days but eventually make my way back to that tempting can of Coke, despite all the warnings.

So how do they make that distinct recipe that so many of us love? Store brand imitations pale in comparison. I never would have guessed that a home brew would be possible, but it is. The brewing process takes months, and is far too intensive to do with any regularity, but it would be a neat experiment. Check out the full instructions if you're interested in becoming a cola-chemist on your own. Just think about how impressed your friends will be when you offer some home-brewed cola. Hold a blind taste test and see how good you are.

When it comes to entertaining little ones, simple ideas can be surprisingly effective -- even in an age where toy manufacturers pitch increasingly complex toys to kids, toddlers, and even babies. If you're curious about this issue, by the way, there is at least one book devoted to the topic: Buy, Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas. It's an enlightening read, to say the least.

But back to the topic of simple play ideas. What could be simpler and more fun than blowing bubbles? You can make your own bubble blowing liquid at home very easily. The advantage of making your own is that you know for sure what is in it. If you prefer, you can use eco-friendly dish washing detergent instead of whatever is in the commercially produced bubble potions.

I adapted this "recipe" for bubble liquid and instructions on how to make a bubble ring from Parenting magazine.

As shown in this cool Metacafe video, you can strengthen your wimpy wi-fi signal with the help of a soda can, some tin snips, and a hole punch (better wear work gloves for this one, too). It's a nifty way to recycle.

All you're really doing here is cutting the clean, empty can in half (on a top-to-bottom axis), cutting off the top, punching a hole in the bottom, and sliding the resulting curved surface over a wi-fi antenna via the hole. Because there are still sharp edges on the can, I'd consider avoiding this one if you have kids or curious pets. You could also try taping up the edges carefully, or using a product like Plasti-Dip to put a rubbery coating on the edges.

My guess is that it works by redirecting the signal, to keep it from dispersing as much in a circular area and by bouncing it specifically to where you want it to go. Think of it as something like the concave surface of a satellite dish. If you read the comments on the video, you'll find that someone suggests that you look up "parabolic antenna" formula on Google to figure out exactly where you should point the open side of the can.

[via Apartment Therapy Home Tech, thanks Farrah]