DIY Life

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.

Making your own bath and body products is good fun on so many levels. Not only do you get to concoct what you like using all-natural ingredients, but you can customize your products for the season.

Here we are, about to embark on the three-month stretch that we call summer. My three favorite products to make for the sweltering days: powder, body spritz, and skin soother (for after sun exposure). After the break, I'll share recipes and scent blends.

Dreaming of a Mediterranean-style oasis in your own yard? Me too! Okay, let's get inspired!

So, what makes certain gardens "Mediterranean," anyway? Well, for starters, they're designed to withstand both lots of heat and irregular rainfall. The garden designs are visually appealing, true. But they're also low-care and eco-friendly. Because plants are selected for toughness, and lawns are absent or insignificant, there's less need for chemicals and watering.

1. It's all about contrast.
Mediterranean styling is pretty easy to imitate. The essential element? Contrast. That is, contrasting hard, structured surfaces with soft, unstructured foliage and blooms. Think tumbling vines atop high stone walls. Think paved walkways next to climbing roses. Think clipped hedges fronting tall, slender cypress trees. You get the picture.

One of my greatest summer joys is watching butterflies delicately fluttering and swooping in the sun. Last spring, I finally got around to starting my very own butterfly garden. It's still very much a work in progress; however, I'd love to share it with you. Click over to my gallery to take a tour of my butterfly garden.

Want to give butterfly gardening a try yourself? Here are 20 tips to get started!

BUTTERFLIES 101

1. Learn some butterfly garden basics. The most important thing to know is that butterflies are attracted to brightly colored flowers, and to certain plants in particular. Some of the best plants for attracting butterflies are butterfly bush, lantana, pentas, milkweed, purple coneflower, willow, and fennel.

2. Know your local butterflies. Find out which butterflies are commonly found in your state. For example, the butterfly in my picture is a Gulf Fritillary which is found all over Florida. Is there a specific butterfly you want to attract? Perhaps the gorgeous Monarch? Then learn up to find out which plants are most likely to attract that species. Tip: for Monarchs, try planting milkweed.

I am so excited that spring finally came yesterday. I spent most of the day outside picking up aluminum cans that were blown all over the yard, and my daughter, husband and I played in the dirt, soaking up the sun of a glorious 70 degree Sunday. I should have cleaned the grill, and cooked outside.

Now is the time to save money on the electric bill and start cooking outdoors. Even cooking with a grill can cost a ton of money, especially if you do it on a weekly basis. Ecobites has a wonderful alternative for us, featuring an article with instructions showing us how to make a solar cooker.

The solar cooker was made out of recycled plywood and recycled aluminum; items that were readily accessible, could soak up solar rays, and give a high enough temperature to safely cook food. Almost anything would work though, like the cardboard oven shown in the picture. Happy cooking!

I would not recommend gluing aluminum foil to a cooking surface. The chances of the glue leaking through to the food and contaminating it are too great. Try to find some other shiny reflective surface to cook with, or just don't glue the aluminum foil to the surface. To avoid injury to your eyes, wear sunglasses, and do not look right at the cooking surface. As always, safety is the number one priority for a DIY project.

Want colorful flowers this spring? No time to read that 500-page gardening book you got for Christmas? Well, time-pressed gardener, here's how to grow masses of beautiful pansies in 10 easy steps.

1. Know your zone. Is now a good time to plant? The answer depends upon your zone. Check the USDA's plant hardiness map. Pansies are grown as annuals in zones 2 to 11 (i.e. most of the US) during spring and fall. From zone 9 south to zone 11 (south Texas and most of Florida), they will grow right through winter. North of zone 9, they may die down during winter, but come back in Spring. Further north, the cold will kill them stone dead. Bottom line: if the weather is warming up for Spring and you don't expect any really hot weather anytime soon, you're probably good to go.

2. Buy smart. Don't be sucked in by the brightest blooms. Instead, buy dense, sturdy-looking plants with lots of healthy, green leaves and buds. These will give you more blooms in the long run once they get established. Another buying tip: it's better value to buy whole trays of baby pansies rather than pint-sized pots of mature ones. Be patient and those tiny plants will soon grow to full size.

If you're missing the bright days of summer you might be finding some rooms in your house too dark. A dark room can affect your work, change the impression of your decor and impact your mood. Learning how to brighten up a dark room can change your space so drastically. Here are the 11 suggested ways:

1. Turn on a lamp
2. Install a light fixture
3. Add task lighting
4. Replace bulbs with higher wattage
5. Open curtains or blinds
6. Install a skylight
7. Use diffused lighting
8. Mimic the sunrise
9. Use mirrors
10. Paint and decorate the room
11. Clear the clutter

After the jump I'll share the details of my favorite tips.

We know that drinking tea has great health benefits. Now your tea bags can be used for alternative healing and other creative problem solving uses. I knew that tea could freshen tired eyes or ease a sunburn, but I had no idea that it could stop bleeding and pain after losing a tooth or even serve as an effective furniture polish. You'll find more interesting tips in these 15 wonderful uses for tea.

A reader comments that a green tea bag can clean stubborn stains off a white board. Here are a few other uses I was able to dig up. What inventive ways have you used tea bags. Share your tips in the comments.

Are you tired of getting into a 150 degree vehicle after a long day at work? Are you sick of grabbing your sun glasses off your vehicle console only to have them melt into your nose when you put them on? Have those vinyl burns on the backs of your thighs healed up yet? There's a simple solution to vehicle interior overheat that will take you about 10 minutes to make and the chances are that you already have what you need to make it right at your finger tips. It's simple, cheap and easy to store when not in use.

Humans have been leaving their mark on every blank space they could find for the last thirty thousand years. Blank cave walls? Marked. Trees? Marked. Crop fields? Marked. Fire hydrants? Marked... by stray cave dogs. Suffice it to say, the urge to leave one's mark resonates deep within us all, and to that end, check out this sweet Instructable that demonstrates how to BURN your mark into a helpless piece of wood! Muhahahahah (cue dramatic prairie dog)!

Seriously though, if you want to burn something into wood, and you don't own a sweet wood engraver, this is a perfect way to get the job done.

Materials

1. Aluminum foil tape
2. Something to burn your mark into (wood works well)

Tools

1. Exacto knife, or equally sharp razor blade
2. Large magnifying glass (3" or larger)
3. Dark sunglasses (for ocular protection)

Tall and tan and young and lovely. Seems like only yesterday you were sporting your coolest sunglasses, cruising the coast in your convertible, hair blowing in the wind with your darkest tan ever.

And now it's ... well, so faux pas to have a real tan. Even you certainly don't want to be the whitest person on the block. So here's everything you need to know to look like your a member of the local beach club - without the typical streaks associated with a fake tan.

1. Exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate. Yes, you need to get your skin smooth (that also means shave your legs) or you'll be stuck with elbows and knees that look like you've got a bad patch of orange eczema or streaks that look like make you look like you haven't bathed in weeks.
   
2. Moisturize. Your self-tanner will go on much easier if your skin is moisturized. Believe me, this step actually makes a huge difference ... it helps your self-tanner sink in more evenly.
   
3. Apply SPF. I know what you are thinking but the truth is most people forget to do this and really the reason you are giving yourself a fake tan is to protect yourself from the sun.