DIY Life

The problem with big box hardware stores like Lowe's and The Home Depot is that (outside of their garden centers) they are still catering to tradesmen when half their customers are actually women. Tired and grumpy women.

Each time I shop at either one (and, no, I have no preference), I leave asking myself: why can't these hardware behemoths be more like Target, Walmart, or similar mega-stores, where shopping is fun ... or at least easier. How so, you ask? Read on! Here's my list of requests for Lowe's and Home Depot execs:

1. Bring in door greeters and maps so we customers don't waste time walking (and walking and walking) up and down the aisles searching for that certain essential dood-ad or trying to locate the bathrooms. Would it be so hard to install mall-style store directory kiosks, stocked with printed store layout leaflets?

While we are not TECHNICALLY in a recession (A friend pointed out that the definition of recession requires 2 quarters in a row of declining GDP) we are definitely in economic doldrums.

We have had four quarters of definitely sub par growth as a nation, the housing bubble has definitely burst, and more and more companies are looking to trim any fat they can.

Economically unstable areas already hit hard by the economic down turn now have even more bad news headed their way. One of the staples of these areas has always been self reliance, and the entry of big box home improvement stores into unstable areas has been a boon to these areas in terms of jobs and the ability to find cheap materials to do their projects. This is about to change for the worse. Especially for states east of the Mississippi.

What? You mean I'm not just supposed to shove my winter clothes in the back of the closet, semi-folded, and hope I can find them again when the weather starts getting nippy?

Nope. Apparently there is a right way to store your winter clothes, and I will grudgingly admit that it makes sense (although my way does work!).

For example, you really should make sure everything is washed well and all stains are removed, so that you don't wind up with permanent stains six months later.

Also, beware the plastic storage container: if you have bug larvae in there, your clothes will be a feast for the summer. Your fashionable sweaters may have more holes than is stylin'.

Tips on using (or not using) mothballs, hanging (or not hanging) clothes for storing and finding the best places to store are included in this helpful article.

I suppose I am off to do some laundry and try to store my winter clothes properly this year....

Every sewing room I have ever laid eyes on has been a big mess. To the person who owns the room, it looks exactly as it should, because they know where every pair of scissors, every piece of felt, and every bit of yarn and string is located.

Secretly, I think they are too freaked to even start cleaning up their mess. Most sewing rooms I have seen are small, with barely enough room to work, let alone a place to store all their crafting necessities. Everyone wishes they had a way to end the mess and become more organized.

Craftster user StephaniePrice had an issue with accessibility in her sewing room too, so she decided to go to her local Lowe's and buy a pegboard. Her husband drew the tomato pincushion on the pegboard, and she got happy with a jigsaw. Several coats of primer, and red, black, and green paint for the tomato, completed her new board.

I think the pegboard is a fantastic way to end the clutter in any room. If you decide to do this project, be sure to read through all the reader comments; Stephanie tells how she hung the pegboard and the vinyl "pins" on the wall, as well as how she removed any excess paint from the holes.

If "get organized" topped your list of New Year's resolutions, you're not alone; if you still haven't crossed it off, you're also not alone. Spring is the time for new beginnings, and with some helpful advice, you'll be able to take that tired resolution off your list and get organized once and for all.

Check out these 5 organizing tips from the pros. In each tip, they encourage us to get creative. Don't be bound by what you believe you can do with your space. Come to it with fresh eyes: see where you can make it more usable, and how you can fit in the things you need without being overrun by them.

One tip that I found particularly useful is to get rid of all those circular storage baskets kicking around the house. They might look great, but they are not designed for efficient storage. Replace them with square or rectangular baskets. These will hold more things, fit better into corners, and leave less unused space around them.

The end of the article leaves us with this important thought: "The less "stuff" you have out in your home, the bigger and calmer it will look." I'd add: the less stuff you have, and the bigger and calmer it looks, the more relaxed you will feel.

Within the last year Friskies dry cat food switched from a paper bag with a plastic liner to a type of woven plastic for their big bags of product. The paper bags my cats could chew through, but these new bags are nearly impossible to tear. Without a use in mind I began to tuck them away once they were emptied.

My girlfriend suggested that we start to bring our own bags to the grocery store recently. So we started to collect the canvas totes and conference bags that we had around to keep in the car for our next trip to the store. But none were very large and the pile was bulky and quite mismatched in size and style. Then I realized that the cat food bags could work well for our trips to the store.

If you have cats and shop at warehouse stores or a store that charges for bags these giant sacks might work well for you. Of course, it may take a while to collect enough bags to hold all of your groceries. We just found out that our grocery store gives you a two cent credit for each bag of your own that you use.

My Tupperware cupboard is a scattered collection of mis-matched containers and lids. Cleaning it out, I found far more lids than containers. Typically, I would just get rid of the extra lids, making a collection of matching containers. Lifehacker points us to these top 12 uses for plastic container lids.

Little round lids make great coasters for kids. You could use the slightly larger ones as plant coasters, keeping water from dripping outside the pot. Toss aside the abrasive scrubbers, and use a plastic lid to scrape your pots and pans. they are strong, non-stick and won't damage things. The crafting options are endless, like using lids as paint pallets, glitter, or bead holders or as a protective piece to catch glue gun drips.

Have you re-used stray container lids? Tell us how!

If you and your kids (admit it, you play too!) have a big Lego collection then you know the frustration of digging for the right piece and never really knowing what you have and where to find things. In our house, this is one of the biggest barriers for our little guy in bringing his idea from conception to creation.

You may have tried different ways of sorting similar pieces. We've been through all sorts of bins and containers, but ultimately we end up with everything mixed together and dumped out on the floor in search of that perfect piece. I'm in favor of organizing these pieces if it will save him some frustration and save me from stepping on all the stray pieces!

Evil Mad Scientist suggests that we stack like pieces together. This keeps everything in bricks, making them easy to manage. It will take some discipline, but it's the best idea I've heard and I can tell you that we plan on giving it a try at our house. The article is full of pictures and actually illustrates how the various pieces will go together.

Take control of your Lego bin and spend your time building instead of looking for the right piece.

When you opened your storage boxes filled with Christmas decorations, did you find bits and pieces of broken light bulbs, ornaments, and cherished keepsakes? Many of us did, simply because we just didn't wrap them properly, or worse yet, we accidentally dropped the storage container.

RealSimple has some great Holiday decoration storage tricks for us, including how to store our precious ornaments and breakable light bulbs. The ideas include: Shredding paper to cushion fragile items, using a leg of pantyhose to keep gift wrap from being destroyed, items to store last when you need them first next year, and how to store your food based decorations so Fido can't get at them.

Every year, my mother always seemed to break a few decorations. Luckily, the ones that she brought from Germany almost 50 years ago somehow stay intact year after year. With the storage ideas from realsimple.com, I can now pass them along to my daughter and teach her about her German heritage.

[via:Lifehacker]

PVC pipe. It's affordable, easy to work with, durable. Not, it's not very pretty, but let me say again: it's affordable! PVC is sort of a wonder-plastic and can be used creatively in many a DIY project. (That is, if you're willing to overlook the fact that it's highly toxic and, therefore, not exactly a green choice.) Like this one, for example: build a bike rack using PVC pipe. I found this one on Instructables, offered up for public consumption by user "imarunner2."

This is a nice 'n' easy little project. If you have a halfway decent saw, you can make this. You will need a length of three-quarter-inch PVC pipe and a bunch of connecting joints -- six t-joints and six elbow joints. All the pieces are glued together using PVC cement. One Instructables reader tried it out and found himself out-of-pocket by a mere $5. Peanuts!

Interested in bigger, more elaborate models? Take a look at some of the pics people have uploaded to Flickr. You've got your king-size garage versions, and then you've got your mondo versions, too. That last one must've been a fun weekend project. Not.

Liking the DIY-with-PVC concept? Check out Gary's post on a DIY vehicle shelter made from PVC pipes.

I took a negotiations class a couple of years ago. I really rocked it. Seriously, I was amazing. I had people giving up their land and walking away winners. Does this make me a master haggler? Not at all. While I was great in class I just can't seem to translate those skills to the outside world. I don't think I'm unique in this struggle. Most people are pretty comfortable in a setting designed for negotiation but freeze up when things are unstructured.

How to haggle, offers 12 steps to effective haggling. These aren't your typical negotiation tips, but truly applicable pointers designed to get you through an unstructured haggle successfully. The first tip is to stop caring what people think of you. I think that getting over this alone is half the challenge for many of us.

Saving money always matters, but this is the season where a little savings at the grocery store can leave room in the budget for a few extra Christmas gifts, it's that much more important. It seems like our local newspaper has tripled in width to accommodate all the holiday flyers, and digging through to find the grocery coupons can leave your head spinning.

A sale doesn't always mean savings. You'll head to one store because of a deal on meat, but if that store regularly has higher prices on bread and cheese, which you'll grab while you're there, you might not be saving on your total purchase.

The Grocery Guide will take all the stress out of shopping and point you to your highest savings. Simply put in your zip code and they have the prices from your local stores. They track flyers and coupons, offering the biggest savings and saving you the trouble of finding the best deal for your shopping list. Compare your options, search for coupons and print recipes.

The Grocery Guide includes hundreds of stores across the country. They are missing some of the smaller neighborhood stores, but those aren't usually your most economical choices anyway. Don't spend your holidays walking up and down the grocery store aisle comparing prices, do a little search at home then head out with a plan.

[via: Lifehacker]

The stores are decorated in snowflakes and cardboard Santas line the strip mall doors. Christmas is still a while away, but if we're taking our cues from the retailers then the message is shop, shop, shop. I resist shopping too early because I always end up changing my mind, or thinking of a more suitable gift. Of course, I also end up in a mad rush on Christmas eve, settling for a sub-par choice because I left things too late.

Whether you're halfway finished your shopping or are weeks away from starting, these 6 tips will help you keep Christmas shopping simple, on budget, and with gifts everyone will like. Here are the two that I think will save you the most shopping grief.

Have you ever indulged in a Twix candy bar and wondered how they create such a delicious cookie, caramel, and chocolate creation? Maybe the Almond J or the Snickers bar are the ones that you steal from your little guy's Halloween bag. Now you can duplicate these famous recipes at home. You can use higher quality ingredients and transform a convenience store chocolate bar into a true delicacy. You'll probably need some candy-making experience, or at least be a confident baker before you take these on. The art of tempering chocolate or perfecting a caramel recipe are beyond me, but I'm ready to learn after finding out that I could be making my own candy bars!

I wouldn't suggest handing out homemade candy on Halloween. Instead, make these tempting chocolate bars and indulge in them while you sit at the door and hand out the store-bought stuff to your trick-or-treaters.

The stores are getting all their new winter coats in, and depending on where you live, it's almost time to bundle up. With so many beautiful coats it's hard to choose one that will suite you just right. I am forever noticing long sleek jackets on women and commenting on how attractive they look. When I get to the store and try that same style on myself, I look like a child in my mother's coat. Certain shapes are flattered by certain coat styles, and the wrong fit can highlight all the areas we're looking to hide.

Coat Check - Beat the chill with a coat that flatters explains which coats are right for which body shapes. If you have a pear shape figure, you'll want to look for a coat that balances out proportions. A belted trench will work well for you. You can find this cut in everything from khaki to fur; you'll have no shortage of style, just stick with the most attractive fit for you. If you have a boyish figure, you'll want to choose a feminine cut, with distinct lines that hold their own shape. A princess cut pea-coat or a 1940's inspired wrap coat will be stunning on you.

Have a look through their suggestions and consider which style best fits you. You can take their recommendations on cut, and translate it to fit your own personal style, be it sporty, classic or business. There is something for everyone, and since you'll be spending a lot of time in this coat, loving the way you look will make a big difference.