DIY Life

My husband has a freakishly organized tool box. I tease him that it's because he spends all his time in front of the computer instead of working around the house, but the truth is, he just likes to keep things tidy so that he can easily find the tool he's looking for. Part of me admires him -- you know, the part that's not too busy teasing him!

Whether you're cleaning out an old overstuffed tool bag, setting up house for the first time, or putting together some dorm room necessities, you'll want to include these 11 must-have tools. Including the essentials, like a hammer, level, pliers, and screwdrivers, Dustin claims that these tools will get you through basic household repairs and simple projects.

People must feel passionately about their tools, because the comments bring out some heated discussions about the validity of these recommendations, and argue for tools that didn't make the cut. I wouldn't add any tools to the list, but I think every family toolbox needs the the ever-important duct tape, crazy glue, and some other useful odds and ends like zap-straps and string.

What are your household handyman must haves?

It never fails: as soon as I get to a critical part in preparing the evening's meal, my three-year-old needs me. It doesn't matter if the quinoa is boiling over or if the roasting veggies are burned to a crisp; if Owen's fire hat is missing, it needs to be found pronto.

So what do we do in my house to minimize these moments? I don't juggle the potatoes or toss shrimp tails into my chef's hat, but if I have enough energy to be mildly creative, here's what works for us:

• Let Owen concoct. I give him a bowl and let him use water, flour, and other ingredients to mix his own concoction. And if his super heroes decide to go swimming in it? So what! It is all in good fun.
• Make pizza. If we are having pizza for dinner, Owen helps roll the dough, put on the sauce and sprinkle on the toppings. You can't have pizza every night, but it is sure to get your kids to want to help in the kitchen.
  

Not many people really like to weed, although I must admit that I am one of the few who finds it oddly relaxing. There is something about the instant gratification of pulling the weeds and seeing a fresh garden that is extremely satisfying.

Aside from visiting the gallery to to see my weeding in action, you can put these tips to work for you and discover how weeding can be a job you'll look forward to:

• Use a hand rake. I like to use the rake in my right hand to loosen the roots of the weeds, then pull them out with my left. It really does make the weeding go twice as fast.
• Weed early. The roots of the weeds will be less established and much easier to pull out. Just be careful not to weed your growing perennials, like I have been known to do!
• Weed often. It won't seem like a monumental task if you pluck a few weeds here and there, as opposed to spending a marathon weeding session once a month. Your gardens will look better too.
• Weed with a partner. If you can pull and a partner cleans up, it makes the job go faster, and you can gab with your companion.
• Use gardening gloves to protect your hands... unless, of course, your partner is a three-year-old who hides them from you.

There are not many tasks that provide the instantaneous results of weeding, so dig in!

What looks like a flat shovel but doesn't scoop? What resembles a rounded hoe? What reminds you of an ineffective ice chopper? If you said the edging tool, you'd be right!

Yes, it looks a bit odd, but the edging tool does one handy job: it makes the edges of your garden look nice and neat, it keeps the grass from encroaching into your garden, and it keeps the bark mulch from going onto your lawn.

It doesn't have to be hard work; in fact, quite the opposite. Peruse the gallery to see how simple it can be, then join me after the break for the steps involved in edging your garden using this tool.

Don't have anything lined up for Mother's Day yet? Feel bad 'cause your tight budget won't stretch to that mega-bunch of roses? Well, here's a suggestion: if your mom's into gardening, run out this weekend and pick up a yard-related gift. Wrap it up nice and pretty and give her that, alone, or pair it with a nice little box of chocolates or a few fresh flowers. She'll love it...and it won't break the bank!

Here are my top ten budget Mother's Day gift ideas for gardening moms. All of my suggestions are $20 or less--making them perfect for kids, grandkids, or big kids on a budget! Although it may be too late to have these items shipped, your local stores carry variations of nearly all of these items. Oh, and if you're open to slightly pricier ideas, check out last week's gift ideas post!

1. LL Bean Go-Anywhere Flexible Tote, $16.50
This soft, yet very sturdy, LLBean tote comes in a range of fabulous colors, including perfect-for-Mother's-Day bright pink. Also available in more practical hues, like dark green. Use it for anything outdoors-related: mix soil in it, haul tools or clippings in it, etc. This 11-gallon tote is built to last: it is UV-resistant and has reinforced handles.

This old flathead screwdriver has the words "PATENT APLD FOR" on it. The flathead, or slotted tip screwdriver has been around for a very long time. According to Mahalo, the screwdriver was invented in the late Middle Ages, and was the only mechanical device not from China. About.com says the flat-bladed tip for the carpenter's brace was invented in 1744, and handheld screwdrivers didn't appear until after 1800. We're not really sure what year this particular screwdriver is from, but something must have been an innovation for a patent-- perhaps the handle? Check out our gallery for more close-ups of the tool, and let us know in the comments if you have any history on this.

I recently unearthed an old book of mine: '666 Science Tricks & Experiments' by Bob Brown. Dated from the 70's, it is a compilation of Bob's 'Science for You' series in the LA Times and syndicated elsewhere. Well some of the gems in here aren't just tricks, but fully functional objects you might find useful for DIY projects. For example, one of those wheels for measuring distances in a field.

The trick is to just make a wheel of the proper diameter so that one full revolution will equal whatever unit you wish to measure. In Bob's article, he uses a wheel of 11.46 inches in diameter. One full revolution works out to a yard. This particular measuring device is perfect for marking football fields.

Now take the 11.46" diameter wheel, put it at the end of a stick so it can rotate, and mark a big spot somewhere so you can easily see and count the revolutions. You can get fancy with this basic premise, adding a clicker to hear the revs, or even an optical encoder to count it all digitally. Getting really fancy would involve gears and math so you could measure other distances with one wheel. But It's really just easier to calculate the circumference using our old friend Pi*d.

Just seven more days in the Toolstravaganza giveaway! Today's prize is a cordless glue gun, complete with glue sticks and extra batteries. This glue gun heats quickly, cools quickly, includes a built-in project light and quick-charger with status indicator. Just the thing for crafting, and especially handy when you don't want to be tied to an electrical outlet.

To enter for today's giveaway prize, leave a comment on this post and validate it. Entry period is 5AM-11:30PM EST on August 8. Full rules after the jump and on our Toolstravaganza page. Good luck and happy crafting!

One last "gripping" prize as we count down to day 30 of our Toolstravaganza contest: a Leatherman Crunch Multi-tool. This is not your ordinary Leatherman, but one with a pair of locking pliers, capable of gripping a pipe one inch in diameter. Plus, this is a multi-tool, which means it isn't just a pair of pliers, but includes a serrated knife, a file, three slotted screwdrivers and a Phillips, wire cutters, a wire stripper, a 1/4-inch hex bit driver and the ubiquitous bottle opener. This is one serious tool you can carry anywhere.

To enter to win today's prize, simply leave a comment on this post (but be sure to validate it so it appears in the comments section). Entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EST on August 7. Full rules after the jump and on our Toolstravaganza page.

This week's mystery tool is a rather large, clunky item. As you can probably tell, it is not a hand tool, and requires more rigging (not shown) to function properly. This one's pretty rusty, but the functional ropes are still attached. It is used to lift and drop items that would normally require some heavy lifting. Can you guess what it is? Leave it in the comments! For more pics, check out our gallery with more pictures.

They've been doing it since the 60's. People are trying to "find themselves." If they would have just asked me, I could have saved them a lot of time and trouble because I know one of the absolute fastest ways there is to find yourself.

All the seekers of self need to do is to make a Google search of their phone number. Just type your phone number into the little box this way: 555 555 1212 . In most cases, Google will then tell you exactly where you are, if you're at home that is.

What is even better is that with one additional click, most people can get a map right to their house, or to somebody else's house as far as that goes. I'm told that Google was even kind enough to provide an opt out link for this service. As of yet, I haven't found that link.

I just couldn't resist providing this handy information to you. It's the quickest way I know of to find yourself. While this process may leave the hippies and existentialists with some unanswered questions, it's still a darn good way to get a map to Aunt Tillie's house!

We're winding down Toolstravaganza in July with some big-ticket items. Stay tuned in August when we start with more hobby and craft items. Today we're giving away a compressor! Compressors have a lot of uses, and the handy thing about this one is the low amp needs; it'll draw 13 amps, which means you can use it on 15 amp circuits with an extension cord. It also features a slow-turning motor and dirt deflector to increase lifespan. Despite all this it still delivers 4.6 cfm at 100 psi, and has 135 psi tank pressure so you can work with hard materials or extend the hose substantially. What's not to like?

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and be sure to validate the comment so it appears. Entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EST on July 31. For complete rules visit our Toolstravaganza page or read after the jump. Good luck!

To celebrate the second week of Toolstravaganza, we're giving away our biggest prize yet: a 10-inch table saw from Grizzly. This table saw is sturdy and feature-filled. Having a 30-inch ripping capacy doesn't hurt either. Features include a dust hood underneath with a 4-inch connector port, regular and dado blade inserts, 1 1/2 HP motor, heavy-duty miter gauge with adjustable bar, easily adjustable fence. This is the table saw for the DIYer.

To enter, leave a comment on this post and validate it. Entry period is 5AM-11:59PM EST on July 30. Full rules available after the jump and on our Toolstravaganza page. Good luck and thanks for reading!

It is day ten of the DIY Life Toolstravaganza giveaway, and today's prize is useful and a little bit too much fun. A reciprocating saw, or "saw's all" is useful for cutting jobs of all kinds, although it isn't always going to leave an elegant or clean cut. During my brief stint in the construction biz, we used these babies to cut off almost anything in our way, extra bits of drywall, small pieces of wood or metal flashing, and like all great construction workers we probably bit off more than the saw could chew at times.

Here's hoping the winner will treat this nice Porter-Cable quick-change Tiger Saw a little better. It features variable speeds at 0-2,000 strokes per minute, a 10-amp motor and a 1-1/8 inch stroke length. And of course, Porter-Cable makes some durable stuff (this is rated professional grade but it does lack the counterbalance sometimes seen on the higher end models). It does have a quick-change blade clamp so you don't need a tool to swap out saw blades.

To enter, leave a comment on this post and make sure to validate the comment (so it appears in the comments section). Read the full rules on our Toolstravaganza page or after the jump.

Day nine of thirty in our Toolstravaganza giveaway, where you can win a different tool or craft item every day. Today's prize is an industrial-strength router from Makita.

Routers are awesome, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a better one than this Makita. After all, it's got the word industrial in it! Seriously, this is just the thing for cutting everything from wood to plastic. With variable speeds from 8,000 to 24,000 RPM, a 2-1/4 hp motor, and included fixed and plunge bases, there's little you won't be able to do with this thing.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post and be sure to validate it. Full rules on our Toolstravaganza page, or after the jump. Good luck!