"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" opened on Wednesday. Get your fix with some of these fantastic ideas for Harry Potter DIY gear and crafts. -- Instructables

Gear and crafts aren't going to cut it for your Harry Potter fan? Then here's more: How to play a real life game of Quidditch and how to make pensieve punch.

Got a green thumb but no place to garden? Grab yourself an inexpensive shoe organizer and create a vertical garden. -- CasaSugar

Bring an old dresser back to life with a fresh, pretty paint job and an interesting design. Better than a brand-new piece of furniture. -- ShelterPop

It's mid-July, and your air conditioner is probably working hard. Here's how to give it a yearly check-up so that it'll keep you cool year after year. -- Lifehacker

Mmmm ... sushi. Only you can't eat this felt sushi, it's just pretty and fun to play with. -- Craftster

Keep the kids busy this weekend with a project that requires them to slow down a little -- egg shell people. -- eHow

This is going straight to the top of my "want" list. Remember those cute little kitschy suitcases you used to carry as a kid? Now you can make one -- wait for it -- for you laptop. -- Craftzine Blog

It's shopping day, you've got the whole family at the mall. Come lunch time, where do you go? The food court, of course!

Have you ever noticed that going to the food court causes people to scatter in 10 different directions? Each person wants something specific, and since the options are seemingly endless, they can get exactly what they want.

But what if you're alone, and you're craving a gourmet meal? For the purposes of this example, we're going to assume that you're a connoisseur of fast-food, and define "gourmet" as "consisting of multiple courses". Can you see where I'm going with this? You got it.

If you're craving a fancy burrito, some salmon sushi, and a slice of pizza with an Orange Julius to wash it down, chances are you can get exactly that at the mall's food court. Keep in mind the following handy tips to make sure that you have the best multi-course fast-food experience possible.

I love the look of sushi, but unlike some other writers around here, I can't stand the taste of it. In fact, I can't even tolerate the flavor of fish! (Ironic, I know, given that I frequently post about Japanese stuff: I'd last about a day in Tokyo.) But there is something that I do famously love to eat, and that something is... cake.

I was therefore completely charmed by Craftster user .mila.'s Sushi Cake, created for a friend's birthday. It looks like a slice of kappa-maki (cucumber roll) or maybe anago-maki (saltwater eel roll), but no fish, seaweed, or rice is to be seen.

Instead, it's four layers of cake and chocolate mousse filling, with a layer of strawberries in the center.The "rice" is shredded coconut, the "nori" ("seaweed" wrap) is buttercream icing tinted green with food coloring, and the "filling" at the center of the roll, really just on top of the cake, is gummi candy in appropriate colors. Wasabi is represented by more green icing, and sliced strawberries stand in for the pink ginger (gari) that usually comes on the side. .Mila. even put chopsticks and soy sauce on the side.

I don't know about you, but I would be thrilled to eat this sushi on my next birthday.

We are a sushi-loving family. Even our three-year-old will tell you his favorite food is sushi. He is so enthusiastic about it, in fact, that it comes out more like "suuuuuuushi." The dog has even been known to snatch a piece or two.

Making your own sushi can be a little tricky, we have found. It is easy to find sushi-grade fish these days, and aside from the nori sometimes being a bit tough, the real challenge is getting the rice to be just the right consistency and flavor.

Let's imagine it now, shall we? Sticky, but not mushy. A little salty, a tad sweet, and just a mild tang from the rice vinegar.

Looking for a tutorial or some recipes to help achieve sushi rice perfection? Mahalo has a list of the ingredients and ratios you will need. They don't offer cooking instructions for the rice, but they do link to other recipes that do, from famous chefs like Alton Brown, who is known for his precision and attention to detail.

So what are you waiting for? Start that water boiling, assemble your ingredients, and make some perfect sushi rice.

If you love sushi and make soap, then keep reading, very closely. I'll tell you how the two connect.

Take-out chopsticks.

Chopsticks are the only tool I will use to make swirls in my soap. They are the perfect size, you can keep them attached and use them double-strength for thicker batches of soap, and they are free.

After pouring layers of non-colored soap and soap with added herbs or clays for color, I insert a chopstick and move it in small circles across the length of the mold until the top layer of soap looks swirly.

It honestly solves a problem in my household, too. It seems that for three people, we order an absurd amount of sushi, because we always are given at least six sets of chopsticks. Rather than waste them, or dedicate an entire storage unit for them, I swirl. It's a win-win situation.

If you need a swirling tutorial, try Teach Soap.