Hot Home & Garden How-Tos
How To: Install a GFCI (ground fault) outlet in your bathroom or kitchen
If you're installing an outlet in a kitchen or bathroom, you're going to want to install a GFCI outlet. This is a safety outlet that will insture no one gets a shock from using an electrical appliance near water. Cool!
HowTo: Build Your Own Anti-Slip Ice Claws
Ever experience a devastatingly embarrassing fall on the ice? Perhaps as a child in front of, say, an entire school bus of your peers? (Let's just say I haven't tread lightly on icy sidewalks since the age of 12.) If you've been battling icy terrain this winter, you may want to avoid such embarrassment and consider building a pair of cheap ice cleats. All you need is a couple screws, two metal plates, and some mesh straps, and you'll be prepared for the slipperiest of situations.
How To: Make your own vacuum space bags for extra storage
Have you seen commercials on TV for vacuum sealed storage bags? They can be expensive, but you can replicate this space age technology in your own home! All you need is a water bottle, some trash bags, a box cutter... and a vacuum!
How To: Make your own cucumber and papaya soap
Papaya soap can be great for reducing the appearance of scars, but it can sometimes be difficult to find. This tutorial shows you how to make your own papaya cucumber soap at home. All you need is a juicer or blender and some glycerin melt and pour soap.
How To: Sand cut and polish Perspex for a high-gloss finish
Need a smooth, polished, and glossy surfaced piece of acrylic for your next project? Then check out this video for a handy guide on how to sand, cut, and polish Perspex, a type of acrylic, for a high-gloss finish. Perspex is thick and difficult to work with, but this video will give you tips for a professional look.
How To: Make your own cinnamon peppermint lip gloss or lip plumper
Lip plumpers can sometimes get expensive, but you can make your own at home! A great handmade gift, or just to use for yourself! This shows you how to create your own lip gloss or lip plumper using cinnamon and peppermint oils.
How To: Install a Falcon waterfree urinal in a commercial restroom
Learn how to install a Falcon waterfree urinal with this nine-minute tutorial! This clip will teach you everything you'll need to know to achieve a quick, successful installation, which means you can get to saving water right away. For complete instructions, take a look!
How To: Install a waterless urinal in a commercial restroom
Looking for a video guide on how to install a waterless urinal in a commercial restroom? You've come to the right place. This video guide offers a detailed, step-by-step guide to the installation process. For complete instructions, and to get installing yourself, take a look!
How To: Change the oil and spark plugs on an MTV snowblower
It's still pretty snowy out there, thanks to winter's desperate need for attention. But thankfully you've ditched the snow shovel and got yourself a snowblower to help you remove all that blizzard snow from your sidewalks. Unfortunately, like all snowblowers, you'll eventually have to perform an oil change. But no worries, if you have an MTV snowblower, then this video will help you change both the oil and the spark plug in your engine. Plus, see how to gap your spark plug. This also is handy...
How To: Select Home Exterior Paints
Find out if there are local restrictions on color Before you fall in love with “Brilliant Blue”, “Gauche Green”, or any other paint color, check to see if any local authority restricts the colors you can use. This is especially important if you live in an historic area, newer subdivision, or townhouse community. It’s not uncommon to find a list of “approved” colors in these types of neighborhoods.
How To: Construct a smooth, sculpted wooden trestle table
If you've been interested in making a unique, smooth sculpted trestle table, look no further and watch this video. The trestle table is one of the oldest table forms known to man and its elegant yet sturdy form lives on to this day.
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!
HowTo: Hack Together a Drain Declogger For Next to Nothing
Calling a plumber can run in the upwards of $100. And the $5 Zip-It is... well, five bucks. But if you dig through your recyclables and kitchen drawer, you can whip up this cheap & easy drain declogger for next to nothing. You Will Need:
How To: Repair Cracks in Your Asphalt Driveway
Weather - there's no escaping it! Mother Nature can be hard on asphalt: if you live in an area where there are extreme weather changes from season to season then your asphalt will eventually become damaged. As the ground freezes and thaws there is movement that flexes the asphalt. Repeated flexing can cause weakness to occur. In many cases the first damage you will see will be cracks forming in your asphalt driveway.
How To: Decalcify your coffee pot and coffee maker at home
You can use the Better Brew crystals to decalcify and clean your home coffee maker. This is a great way to keep your coffee pot clean if you use it frequently, or live in a place with exceptionally hard water.
How To: Replace the charcoal filter for your Krups coffeemaker
It's time to replace the water filter on your Krups coffeemaker - something you should do approximately every two to three months for best results. This quick video shows you how to easily replace the charcoal filter on your Krups coffee machine.
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: Recycle Your Christmas Tree (Disposing Live Conifers After the Holidays)
Christmas is almost over— all of the presents are unwrapped, all of the prime ribs have been eaten, the whole family's drunk off eggnog— and soon it will be time to forget about Christmas until next year.
How To: Create a light bulb terrarium
Want to make the perfect gift for your green thumb gardener? This crafty little light bulb terrarium is the thing to make. It's cost-effective, and perfect even for the non-gardener to make. Watch this video, and create the perfect little green oasis for your friends or family.
How To: Replace the charcoal water filters in your Cuisinart coffeemaker
If you love coffee in the morning, then you probably have your own Cuisinart coffee maker at home. But like anything that gets used everyday, it will wear out, and in the case of the Cuisinart coffeemaker, the filters will need replaced. This video will show you how to replace those charcoal water filters in your Cuisinart coffeemaker with the Cuisinart DCC-RWF replacement filters.
How To: Clean the soleplate on a Rowenta electric iron with the ZD100 kit
We've all used electric irons before to get our clothes crisp and wrinkle-free, but what happens when you use a little too much starch? The bottom hot plate, called the soleplate, accumulates some gunky buildup. Even if you're not over-starching your dress shirts, your Rowenta iron may be getting some gunk on the soleplate, which doesn't produce a perfectly ironed shirt. That's where the Rowenta ZD100 cleaning kit comes in handy. If you get one of these, you could easily clean your iron yours...
How To: Craft a pretty light bulb terrarium
If you're running low on time and short on money this holiday season, there is a way to still give your friends and family presents without having to resort to cliche $5 Russell Stover chocolates from the drugstore.
HowTo: Build an Air-Powered Star Trek Sliding Door
Live in the future (à la Star Trek, circa 1966) with uiproductions' pneumatic air-powered sliding door:
How To: Properly store and care for home dried herbs and spices
If you're into creating your own dried herbs and spices, you will eventually start to have questions about how to store them long-term, rather than just leave them hanging. This tutorial shows you how to properly store and care for home dried herbs.
How To: Grow and take care of poinsettia year round
More likely than not this holiday season you'll either be buying a poinsettia plant or will receive one as a hostess present. Rather than letting yours wither away and die as you forget repeatedly that it may need a little water to survive, check out this gardening tip video to learn how to take care of them year round.
How To: Make amaryllis and hyacinth bulbs bloom during the holidays
The winter months may not seem like the best time to be growing much of anything, but the amaryllis thrives from October to April, which means its bright, cheery petals can adorn your table top during the holiday season.
How To: Stay green this holiday season by reducing your trash
Christmas and the holiday season can generate quite a bit of trash on their own, so what do you do when you want to maintain your green lifestyle over the holidays? This tutorial gives you tips on how to recycle packing material, wrapping paper and even your Christmas tree.
How To: Easily sort your snail mail with wall hooks and binder clips
If you've been letting your snail mail pile up for days on end, there's an easy solution that won't cost you anything. Just rummage around your house and find some wall hooks or binder clips, and start sorting away. You'll be surprised at how much more organized this method is!
How To: Make a natural bird feeder as a Christmas present
This is a super easy project that uses all natural products - starting with a birch log! You will also need a drill to make the holes in the log, as well as some wire to hang it from a tree with.
How To: Wrap your holiday gifts using eco friendly materials
Keep your Christmas green! Don't resort to environmentally unfriendly wrapping paper. You can put your gifts in cloth bags or use catalog and magazine pages as your wrapping paper. Or, just use plain brown paper bags and decorate them as your wrapping paper!
HowTo: Make Your Own Privacy Glass for Dirt Cheap
Privacy glass is pretty pricey, and if you're living in a rental, your landlord likely won't appreciate you painting glaze on the windows. So, if you're a privacy hound, here's a simple, cheap hack that will prevent peeping toms.
How To: Build a small wooden gift box out of scraps
Making gifts for people is one of the best ways to save money and show them your care on Christmas. Why not take it a step further by making the box you put your present in? This video will show you how to make a simple wooden box out of scrap wood using a router.
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....
How To: Tee off sprinkler lines underground
Teeing off sprinkler lines is something you'll probably have to do if you're trenching or pulling that plumbing pipe for your sprinklers underground. It allows you to run your main lines closer to the middle of your yard and then branch off to each individual head.
How To: Attach automatic sprinkler valves
Check out this video tutorial to see how to attach automatic sprinkler valves. These tips on installing your own automatic sprinkler valves from Sprinkler Daddy will help your lawn turn into luxurious green grass, preventing any further landscaping needs. A little bit of water is all it takes.
How To: Adjust the spray distance of a sprinkler spray head
Sprinkler Daddy's Sean Stefan demonstrates how to make minor adjustments to spray distances on your sprinkler spray heads.
How To: Install a sprinkler head
Check out this video tutorial to see how to install and adjust a sprinkler head as explained by Sprinkler Daddy's Sean Stefan. These are quick and easy instructions to installing an underground sprinkler head.
How To: Connect your sprinkler system to the water line
Connecting your sprinklers to the water line is actually fairly easy when you're installing your own sprinkler system. Basically, you just go to your outside tap, screw it off and screw in your house connection.
How To: Install a drip irrigation watering system
Check out this landscaping video tutorial to see how to install a drip irrigation watering system. You'll need this if you want to keep your garden looking great. You will have to poke a hole in the pipe for every shrub. Then, you'll need to install a coupler. This drip irrigation installation is explained in simple English by Sprinkler Daddy's Sean Stefan.
How To: Better install automatic sprinkler systems
Sprinkler Daddy's Sean Stefan explains automatic sprinkler systems in a nutshell. You'll see how to better install automatic sprinkler systems with a little sprinkler knowledge. It's a lot easier to envision yourself installing your own underground sprinkler system if you know basically what's involved. So, to make your landscaping needs less in the future, and your grass beautiful and greener than ever before, just watch this educational piece.