DIY Life

As a Southern girl now living in the Pacific Northwest, I rarely skip my weekly Mexican food fix. There's nothing that can't be cured with chips, salsa, and a frosty margarita. But, I hate paying $8 or more for a cocktail. And, given that an authentic margarita has just three ingredients, I think I can manage to shake it up and save a few bucks.

Our ShelterPop sisters not only supply the perfect margarita recipe but they also make suggestions on how to throw the perfect summertime margarita party -- including how to make this DIY cocktail umbrella lamp. The weekend's just a few days away, and I'm thinking it's margarita time for this mama!

It's pouring down rain, the kids are getting restless -- time for a craft to keep everyone busy! The perfect kiddie craft -- in my opinion, anyway -- is one that you can create out of items you've already got laying around your house. And it's also really helpful when you create something that can make your life easier down the road.

Today's craft achieves both those goals. A marker cap pencil holder is made from the caps of used up markers and one lone sock -- things you can rescue from the trashcan. And when it's complete, it'll make an adorable place for your kiddo to keep their pens and pencils organized while they're doing homework this fall.

Difficulty rating: Easy

You'll need:

• a clean, dry tuna can
• several marker caps
• one old sock
• felt
• ribbon
• various embellishments
• glue

Take a look at the gallery below for easy step-by-step directions.

Frappes. Slushes. Sangria. Just the sweet sound of these drinks conjure up visions of deck parties, frosty pitchers, and those cute little drink umbrellas.

Instead of opting for the same old soda for the July 4th picnic this year, why not stir up these summery drinks to keep your guests cool and refreshed? It's drinkwise-DIY at its simplest: refreshing, thirst-quenching, and made from natural, low-cost ingredients. Cheers!

Plans for homemade hammocks range from the complicated to the super-simple. Let's focus on the latter: those made and hung in an hour or less using easy online instructions. You can have it done in plenty of time for your 4th of July get-together!

You will need an eight or ten foot length of any sturdy fabric and about 50 feet of equally sturdy rope. Both must be tough enough to suspend your weight without snapping.

Earlier this week, I wrote a post with some ideas for planning every family staycation. As I was browsing the Internet today, I found that lots of other people have great ideas, too, but that the most unique ones came from Better Homes and Gardens.

BHG put together a gallery of their 25 best staycation ideas. Some of their more unique activities include:

• turning your home into a spa -- Make some spa-quality products at home and let the pampering begin: for your face, your hands and body, and your feet.
  
• going on a family bike ride
• flying a kite
• having a field day for the kids -- Or, create your own summer camp.
  
• organizing a block party -- You coulc choose to do this in a Mexican or Hawaiian theme, some of BHG's other party ideas.

Whatever you decide to do on your staycation, it seems that the common themes are relaxing and enjoying the people in your life. What's your favorite staycation activity?

Batman kicks butt in his latest movie, The Dark Knight, a gloomy yet action-packed flick that scored big at the box office this weekend. A summer blockbuster has been born, to be sure. The stunningly cool vehicles used in the movie are attracting interest all on their own, especially the sleekly menacing Bat-Pod motorcycle.

It turns out the bike was a bit of a DIY job on the part of the film's creators. According to an article in Popular Mechanics, the 'Pod is actually a motorcycle-ATV hybrid, all wrapped up with plumbing parts and some creative duct-work. The entire exhaust frame was custom built especially for the movie, while those massive wheels suffered blow-out after blow-out until the steering was just right. Another cool little factoid: the footrests disguise the bike's radiator.

Speaking of The Dark Knight, the movie's star, Christian Bale, seems to have gotten himself into a spot of bother with the police. Read all about it at our sister site, Cinematical.

The box air-conditioning unit is a necessary evil for many apartment dwellers. (Those of you about to head off to college, take note!) These things come with a few big cons: they are noisy, they are unsightly, they block the view out of your window, and they are a pain in the neck to install and uninstall.

At least the unsightliness factor is something you can fix! Here are a few suggestions for hiding your air conditioning unit from New York Magazine:

• Decorate it with something pretty like wallpaper scraps.
• Build a decorative cabinet around it, but be careful not to block air flow.
• Disguise it from view with a sheer curtain.
• Hide it with a screen.
• Cover it with artwork and frame it.

[via Apartment Therapy]

You're bound to collect a handful of glow-sticks this summer. They get passed out at firework shows, holiday barbecues, and just about any other outdoor summer evening event. So what do you do after the festivities are over? Well, at our house, we typically find them hiding in the sandbox, lost behind the toy-box, or tossed away in the trash.

Kish, over at Instructables, re-purposed his into this funky glow-stick lamp. You'll need 15 glow-sticks and a plastic bottle; one commenter suggests using a glass bottle instead. If you chose one with an interesting pattern you could get a really cool effect.

This would make a fun accessory for any dorm room, kids room, basement or kitchen (sure, why not!). Check out the video for full instructions.

[via: Daily DIY]

Has the summer bug bit you yet?

If it has, you may be itching to try a new outdoor activity. Hiking and biking may have become passe, so get yourself a skateboard and wheel off to enjoy the great outdoors.

Expert Village has created a skateboarding video series that will teach you the basics, like how to stand, push, and turn on your new board. When you are ready for the fancy moves, watch their videos on the Ollie tricks and how to skate on ramps.

Heck, as a self-proclaimed DIYer, you just may want to build yourself a skateboard ramp. There are lots of free ramp plans available on the internet, and wikiHow even gives you step-by-step instructions on how to build your ramp based on your own plans.

So fire up that enthusiasm for your new hobby and learn to skateboard in style!

Join me each week as I explore the naturally aromatic side of DIY. Helpful recipes for your "scentual" pleasure: from essential oils, herbs, and other botanicals to soap-making, body care products, and other useful blends.

There's nothing like a cool drink to refresh on a hot summer day. Last week, we explored drinks made with fresh mint and essential oils. Now it's time to think beyond the mint.

Did you know that most citrus and herbal essential oils are sold to large food companies as flavoring? Hydrosols, which are the water left behind when plants are steam-distilled into essential oils, are also safe to ingest in small quantities when they're organic and top quality, according to Suzanne Catty, author of Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy.

Make sure your oils and hydrosols are organically grown and of good quality, then read on after the break for drink recipes -- citrus, herbal, and even some floral -- made with essential oils, herbs, and hydrosols.

Summer vacation keeps rolling along. How long until your kids go back to school? Are they spending too much time lounging on the couch? Here are a bunch of summer projects to trick your kids away from their air-conditioned sanctuary and out into the great outdoors of, er, your backyard.

Okay, okay. So the backyard is not the great outdoors. True. But the main thing is to get the kiddos out in the fresh air, learning about nature, and learning about the noble pursuit of maintaining a garden.

Getting their hands dirty
1. Ask them to help with the weeding. Pay them a small amount of pocket money for their time.

"Home, home on the raaange." Camping, campfires, and campfire songs are so much a part of the American summer. Kids especially love this stuff. "Can we go camping, Mom/Dad? Can we? Can we? Can we?"

Don't have the budget/energy/time to drag the whole family to a real campground? Consider building a stay-cation-style camp site at home. You can do this inside, or try setting up outside on the lawn or on your porch, deck, or patio. Invite all the kids' friends and make a party out of it!

Fake fire will be your centerpiece. I found suggestions on building a faux campfire at TheMeBuilders.com and at Cadvisor.com. This basically involves positioning a fan and some red-colored lightbulbs underneath your "campfire" (bundle of logs). A piece of colored silk scarf flickers and billows when the fan is turned on. Never, ever leave the setup unattended in case the bulbs overheat.

Join me each week as I explore the naturally aromatic side of DIY. Helpful recipes for your "scentual" pleasure: from essential oils, herbs, and other botanicals to soap-making, body care products and other useful blends.

The mint in my yard is running wild just about now, begging to be plucked and used. That sure is handy, since it's hot outside! I could really use some cooling fresh mint in my beverages, to combat this sweltering heat.

I'm sure you must also have some peppermint essential oil around the house, right? You've got to have some left over, after making your chocolate mint lip balm and ant repellent, so pull it out and add some cool to your summer drinks.

After the break, I'll share recipes for simple syrup with mint, which can be used for a number of summery delights, and other refreshing minty recipes to keep your beverages interesting -- as well as hydrating.

Mmm-mmm. Fresh basil. It's so very fragrant -- the indispensable ingredient in a host of mid-summer recipes.

My basil is lush, green and ready for picking. Okay, I don't have a whole lot of it out in my garden; however, I'm planning on growing a lot more next summer. In preparation for that lofty enterprise, I thought it'd be cool to find out how the expert basil-growers harvest their beloved herb. Here are some tips I picked up:

1. Know your basil. There are lots of varieties out there, and it's always good to know which one you have, as the flavors vary quite a bit between them. Chances are good that, like me, you've got the most common variety: Genovese sweet basil.