Active Home & Garden Posts
How To: Make an All-Natural Insect Repellent with Cacao Leaves
Science investigatory projects suck, or at least seem to at first. But you shouldn't let school drag you down. Instead, use your homework assignment as an opportunity to solve a problem you've always been interested in. And it doesn't hurt if the end result is eco-friendly, either.
How To: Install a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI)
Ron Hazelton shows how to install a ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI). First turn off the power to the electrical outlet at the circuit breaker or fuse box (check to make sure there's no power in the outlet!). Then remove the electric cover plate. Then gently remove the old outlet receptacle. Detach the wires from the old receptacle. Trim and re-strip the wires if necessary. Attach the wires to the GFCI receptacle per the instructions. Gently reassemble the receptacle and plate. Restore...
How To: Quickly fix a skipping DVD with toothpaste
How annoying is a skipping DVD? Picture it: you're in the middle of your favorite flick, and suddenly the characters freeze and seemingly melt away right before your eyes. Sure, you can skip ahead and start watching again at another point in the film, but that's no fun. And it always seems like the disc skips at the best part, doesn't it? Well, this tutorial will show you how to do a quick fix with a tube of toothpaste. It's not just for your pearly whites anymore!
How To: Remove blueberry stains from fabric
Many people love those delicious, low-calorie and nutrient-packed blueberries... until they get them on their clothes. Blueberry stains are a pain to remove but with these tips, your clothes will be as good as new.
How To: Get Rid of Plant-Eating Pests Using 100% Natural Solutions from Your Home and Garden
Navigating through row after row of plants, my tiny fingers would reach into the leaves to pluck all the vile little creatures from their homes and deposit them into a can of gasoline. Potato bug duty, my least favorite gardening chore. Growing up, my family had a small garden every year. And every year, I was recruited to help plant, maintain, and eventually harvest the vegetables from it. There were some tasks I didn't mind, but the ones I hated most usually involved bugs (have you ever see...
How To: Control Running Bamboo
Most bamboo in the United States is running bamboo, because nearly all cold hardy bamboo is the running or invasive type. The tropical bamboos are mostly "clumpers" and stay in a nice, tight clump. Running bamboos spread far and wide and can be very invasive. I grow many kinds of running bamboos and over the past 20 years I've had to learn how to control it's spread.
How To: Repair a Dyson vacuum cleaner
Does your vacuum cleaner suck by not sucking?
How To: Arrange flowers professionally for spring
We know we're dead in the middle of winter and you probably have few thoughts about fields of wildflowers and the birds and bees (the literal ones). But what better way to take yourself out of your winter slumber than by thinking about how you'll adorn your house for spring?
How To: Make a candle centerpiece
The Flowergod designs a candle centerpiece using cedar, pine, some pine cones, roses, and seed pods. The candle is raised up above the container to keep the wicks dry. The rest of the materials are arranged in a low container. Make a candle centerpiece.
How To: Prune a Bramley apple tree
The Bramley is a large, heavy-cropping cooking apple popular for baking, making apple sauce and other apple dishes. In this two-part how-to series, Stephen Hayes of Fruitwise Heritage Apples demonstrates how to properly prune a Bramley apple tree and other apple trees with a similar habit of growth. Watch this instructional video to learn how to prune your own triploid and tip-bearing trees.
How To: Use cut nails to drive through wood and concrete
Tim Carter, of Ask the Builder, demonstrates how to drive a cut nail through a 2x4 piece of wood, and into a concrete wall. This will help save you time and money in your house repair projects.
How To: Make a cutting disc for a Dremel rotary tool
Get a little use out of those empty tin cans you are going to throw away. Recycle them into a cutting disc. So, check out this video tutorial to see how to make a cutting disc for a Dremel rotary tool. These Dremel cutting disks are pretty easy to make. Just get a can opener, take off the lid of one of your junk aluminum cans, and begin to disc away. You'll need a Dremel sanding disc for a stencil reference. These are less dangerous than normal sharp cutting disks, not to mention cheap.
How To: Fix a Dyson DC25 vacuum cleaner that won't suck
If you're trying to vacuum around the house, but realize that nothing is being picked up, you have a big problem on your hand. There are numerous reasons for why your vacuum isn't sucking, and it can be confusing for where to start.
How To: Install a T-Mold Transition Between Laminate & Ceramic Tile
Installing a T Mold Transition Between Laminate and Ceramic Tile There are several different types of laminate transitions that you may need when installing laminate flooring. Each one is used specifically for where the laminate flooring ends, such as where the laminate stops at ceramic tile. Other transitions are used where the laminate ends at carpet, vinyl flooring, a threshold or a step down such as a sunken living room or stairs.
How To: Turbo charge a toilet flush
Some toilets just don't have enough flushing power. As in, when you flush the toilet not all of the, er, stuff, goes down. As a result you have to flush the toilet twice, wasting water and your time.
How to Kill bed bugs: Advice from an exterminator
Paul Bolzoni is one of the best exterminators of New York City. Watch as he talks about some of his experiences as he goes around New York helping people with the bedbug epidemic.
How To: Make a solar food dehydrator
Rick van Man of Container Gardening For Food details his techniques for making a solar-powered food dehydrator out of such household debris as scrap wood and old pint cans. The finished product looks amazingly professional! Truly a must-watch for any DIY-inclined gardening enthusiast.
How To: Plant Sempervivum in a pot
Sempervivum or Houseleeks are extremely hearty breed of succulent plants that can grow in very arid areas. Sempervivum are a great plant to have because they require very little care. In this garden tutorial, Martin Fish from Garden News demonstrates how to create a simple & effective Sempervivum pot that will look good throughout the Winter.
How To: Create a beautiful window treatment by styling a draping waterfall valance
It's easy to create eye-catching window treatments with draping waterfall valances. So easy, in fact, that this home decorating how-to can present a complete overview of the process in two and a half minutes. For all of the details, and to learn how to style a draping waterfall valance yourself, take a look!
How To: Install a new shower head for dummies
In this tutorial, we learn how to install a new shower head and remove an old one. You will need a wrench, toothbrush, rags, replacement shower head, teflon tape, and pliers. First, remove the old shower head with your pliers, wrench and cloth to remove it. Twist this counter clockwise until the shower head comes off. Now, clean the threads with the toothbrush and place the teflon tape over them. Now, screw your new shower head on by hand until it fits snugly onto it. Finish screwing this on ...
How To: Clean a shower screen so it is spotless
Jacqueline Hansen shows how to spotlessly clean a shower screen. Jacqueline shows how to clean, rinse and polish the screen door using the minimal amount of equipment listed in this video. Clean a shower screen so it is spotless.
How To: Patch a hole in a hollow core door
Ron Hazelton shows you how to fix a hole in a hollow core door in less than an hour. 1) Make a bevel around the hole.
How To: Prune tomato plants to increase production
One way to increase production in tomato plants is pruning. Pruning your tomato plants will decrease the amount of energy needed for leaf production and increase the amount of energy that goes into your tomato, which provides a a larger and better tasting tomato. Trimming off branches that are not used and are not in direct sunlight achieves more efficiency by directing sugars into the fruit and not into the other branches. Watch this time lapse how-to video, follow along with the tips, and s...
How To: Clean a Flag
We hang flags to proclaim our patriotic spirit. This is especially true for retired veterans or those who have loved ones serving in the military. Others hang flags representing the seasons, important events, favorite teams or just a cute and whimsical design as decoration. An American flag can be particularly tricky to wash. Red, white and blue all lying together in one inseparable panel can cause the blue or red dye to bleed onto the white. This is not just a problem with an American flag; ...
How To: Kill bed bugs with a dry ice trap
In order to kill bed bugs with a dry ice trap, you will need the following: a dog bowl, a towel, a cooler, a cotton ball, painter's tape, and talc powder.
How To: Lay bricks
Professional bricklayer and instructor Steve shows you how to lay brick properly.
How To: Change the fill valve and stop a leaky toilet
We’ve all had the problem of a toilet that just won’t stop running. You can fix this problem yourself with a few tools from the local hardware store. The part that is causing the excess running is an old fill tube and stopper valve. You will want to shut the water off to your toilet and then flush the toiled to drain out the water. You will have to unscrew the supply line so that you can replace the fill valve. The process only takes a few minutes and it will save you money from wasted water ...
How To: Avoid stripping gears on a Rain Bird sprinkler head
Avoid stripping the gears in your Rain Bird 5000 Series Rotor Sprinkler Heads by never turning the turret against the turn. Sean Stefan from Sprinkler Daddy explains in this video tutorial that if you start turning from the left fixed edge to the right, never go back to the left until you've gone all the way to the right. If you don't follow these guidelines, you run the risk of stripping the gears in your Rain Bird 5000 Series sprinkler heads. Then what are you going to water your lawn with....
News: Stone Workers Play Dominoes with Bricks to Create Perfectly-Aligned Wall Cap
Usually, when I see a video that is captioned "wait for it," I'm quick to dismiss what could possibly come at the end of the clip. In this case, however, I was totally wrong and the final result was definitely worth the wait.
How To: Remove a Shark Bite Fitting Without a Special Tool - Adjustable Wrench Trick
Here's a fast easy way to remove and disconnect your Shark Bite quick connect fitting, without a special tool to do it. We'll show you a awesome little trick using an adjustable wrench. This will work an all different size Shark Bite fittings.
How To: Make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan
Scott Brown teaches us how to make a wind turbine using a ceiling fan in this video. First, place steel banding around the middle of the ceiling fan base. Now, cross all the combinations of the wires and keep them close together so you don't confuse them. Hook these up to DC terminals so you get around 50 volts on both of them. Hook them parallel so you keep the voltage down to around 50 volts together. Then place the wires into a connector that has a pipe connected to the bottom. This will c...
News: This High Voltage Furniture Technique Burns Lightning Designs into Wood
Lightning is scary and powerful, yet when harnessed correctly, it can become a beautiful pattern for hand-crafted wooden furniture. Muchd like Zeus in ancient mythology, Canadian Woodworks is harnessing the power and beauty of lightning, but they're doing it for aesthetic purposes.
News: The Slatted, Morphing 'Wave' Cabinet Opens Up Like a Paper Fan
If you're looking to mix up your home décor with something a little bit outside the traditional cabinet box set, check out the amazing Wave cabinet from NYC-based, Chilean designer Sebastian Errazuriz. This revolutionary design will change the way you think about interior decoration and furniture functionality.
News: These Beautiful Chairs Are Grown, Not Made
For anyone who has spent an entire afternoon attempting to assemble a set of IKEA chairs, these wooden masterpieces probably seem pretty appealing.
News: YouTuber Surprises Biggest Fan with Giant Playhouse Version of 'Rogue One' AT-ACT
The force is strong with this project. Colin Furze is a British YouTuber who is a self-proclaimed "garage inventor and video maker." In a recent collaboration with eBay, Furze created the "ultimate Star Wars project," an 18-feet-tall playhouse version of the AT-ACT from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
How To: Use a table saw to cut long pieces of lumber
The table saw is the most efficient way to cut long pieces of wood. This Home & Garden how to video demonstrates the proper operation and use of a table saw for cutting wood. Use these table saw tips next time you are working on a home project.
How To: Clean Your Dirty Electric Stove Coils with Tinfoil
Learn how to clean the dirty electric coils on your kitchen stove with aluminum foil.
News: Teeny Tiny Winter Terrariums
Design Sponge has posted some very pretty, tiny terrariums and air plants to brighten up these cold winter months. Buy them through Etsy seller Tortoise Loves Donkey or make your own. Scroll down for Design Sponge's terrarium how-to.
How To: Copy a key with a Coke can
This is a how-to video explaining how to copy a key with a can of cola. All you need is an aluminum soda or beer can. To make it come out better, add a additional side to the one piece. This technique works well when you don't have time to get a new key cut. Watch this video tutorial and learn how to duplicate a key with a Coke can.
How To: Clean a furnace filter
One of the biggest and most important appliances in a home is the furnace. It's the one source of heat that can't be unkept. Changing the filters, or cleaning the filters, on a regular basis is key to making sure your furnace is pumping out the heat properly. Keep your furnace working as efficiently as possible by following these simple steps.