Hot Home & Garden How-Tos
How To: Put together a Zen garden
Zen gardens and gardening are serene places and activities. If you want to make your own Zen garden and add some harmony to your life, watch this video to learn some general guidelines for going about it. These tips are for full-size Zen gardens, not the desktop models.
How To: Use a color wheel to pick the right paint for walls
Color wheels are fantastic little tools that tell you whether colors are complementary or not. If you're designing a room and want to make sure your walls and other decorations work together, check this video out and learn how a color wheel can help you design a harmonious room.
How To: Apply fresh paint to a stone statue or fireplace
Stone statues and fireplaces are distinguished and classical. Are yours old, chipped, and dirty? Check this video out. It will show you how to paint stone so that it comes out smooth and beautiful, giving a colorful new look to your stone antiques.
How To: Organize your closet by retail folding your clothes
Are your clothes messy and bulging out of your closet space? Then it's time to get organized, and step one to getting organized in the closet is knowing how to fold your clothes. Retail folding is the way to go, if you want to make room and keep up the neat appearance. Plus, it makes things easier to find!
How To: Create a cute DIY purse wall hanger on a budget
If you have an endless supply of purses and a limitless supply of wall empty wall space, it's about time you made some DIY purse racks. In this video, you'll see a very easy (and cheap) way to hang all of your purses (and please your boyfriend). For this DIY purse rack, you'll need some coat and hat hangers (hooks), feather boas, screwdriver and a tape measure.
How To: Wash men's dress shirts safely and without fading them
Men's dress shirts are arguably the most important part of their wardrobe, and washing them without shrinking, fading, or fraying is tough. This video will show you just how to do it, ensuring that you look sharp at work and formal events.
How To: Remove the anti-slip bathroom stickers in an old shower
Non-slip bathroom stickers in the images of flowers and other kitschy images were big in the 1970's. If you've moved into an old place that still has them and want to remove them, watch this video to learn how to do it.
How To: Figure out what's broken about your doorbell and fix it
Doorbells are pretty simple machines, but somehow they still break all the time. They are pretty easy to fix usually, and this video will teach you how to figure out what part of your doorbell is broken and then repair it yourself.
How To: Use basic Ikebana flower arranging techniques
Ikebana flower arranging might be the most sophisticated of the surprisingly diverse and deep flower-arranging arts, and takes a lifetime to master. If you want to use some of the basic principles to make your own flower arrangements look distinguished though, watch this video. It will show you the basics of beginners Ikebana
How To: Make a seashell craft beach-in-a-bottle and a clay pot decorated with shells
Seashells are beautiful and free, which makes them great for using in your craft projects. This video will teach you two quick, easy ones: making a beach in a bottle and a clay pot decorated with paint and seashells.
How To: Relight the pilot light on your water heater when it goes out
The most common thing that goes wrong with water heaters is the pilot light going out. If your hot water has stopped working, watch this video to learn how to check your pilot light and light it if it has gone out.
How To: Determine whether an antique is real when shopping for antique furniture
Buying authentic antique furniture requires a lot of furniture knowledge and keen eyes. If you need a little help in this department you've come to the right place. THis video will give you tips for authenticating the antique status of all kinds of antique furniture.
How To: Strip wood off of furniture or other wooden objects to restore their finish
Wood is a great construction material, but after time and weather it does become worn and old-looking. Restore it's original sheen by stripping it, or removing the outside of the wood to reveal new wood beneath, after watching this video.
How To: Build a legal DIY air conditioner / swamper for your dorm room
A swamp fan is an air conditioning substitute that blows air over cool water to cool a room. If you live in an AC-free dorm room, house, or apartment, it's not too hard to build one yourself, and this video will show you how to do it.
How To: Plant and care for a Dwarf Palm Tree
Dwarf palm trees allow people from all over the world to give their homes tropical flare without moving to the tropics. This video will teach you some tips for maintaining and taking care of your dwarf palm tree so it grows happy and healthy
How To: Use a rear attachment dethatcher for a lawnmower to dethatch a lawn
Thatch is the material that is left over after your mow your lawn, and this old dead material can build up and ruin your lawn's health. This video will show you how to use a rear-attachment dethatcher for a riding lawnmower to dethatch your lawn, leaving it the picture of health that you want in front of your home.
How To: Use a cordless drill and taper tap to cut a threaded hole in steel
Trapping a hole is the process by which you give them threads so that they can accommodate a screw, and doing it to a lot of holes quickly can be a major pain. Fortunately, you can actually do it with a cordless power drill much more quickly and easily than manually. This video will show you how to do it.
How To: Cut hardened steel with an angle grinder
Hardened steel is a very useful material, but working with it is tough because it is nearly impossible to cut with simple tools. What you really need is an angle grinder, and this video will show you how to use one of the powerful power tools to cut a hardened steel ring.
How To: Make a wooden toothpick holder with a clown that pops out
Toothpicks are an almost essential part of proper oral hygiene, and toothpick holders are a great way to make them available to your houseguest without sacrificing style. This video will show you how to make your own very cool wooden toothpick holder that features a jack-in-the-box-like clown that your grab to lift the toothpicks. It's not too hard, practical, and good-looking, and thus a great woodworking project for you to look into.
How To: Replace a broken belt on your vacuum cleaner
One of the most common problems that vacuum cleaners can have is the belt that drives their brush. They are actually pretty cheap and easy to fix yourself, and this video will show you everything you need to know to remove the old belt and install the new one quickly and easily.
How To: Paint straight accent lines on a wall with a wide-angle level and other tips
Painting straight, even accent lines on a wall (or racing stripes on a car for that matter) can be infuriating, but there are some tools and tricks that can make it much easier. This video will show you how to use a wide-angle level and one simple trick with paint tape to make sure your accent lines come out perfectly straight and without any smearing.
How To: Preform a continuity on an electrical circuit using a multi-meter
The continuity test is one of the least well-known but useful functions on a multi-meter. It allow you to determine whether a fuse works by touching the contacts to it, which allows you to diagnose all sorts of electrical problems. This video will show you how continuity tests work and give you some examples of using them to find problems in household devices like a lawnmower.
How To: Use stacked stones to reface an old fireplace
Are you tired of your fireplace? It's actually not too hard to give it a fresh new look by refacing it with stack stones. This video will show you exactly how to do it, whether you're starting from brick (easy) or not (harder). If you have brick, you don't even need to modify or remove the existing face!
How To: Clean baby stains like formula from their clothes the safe and natural way
Babies are pretty adorable, but the many disgusting fluids they intake and excrete make cleaning up after them a nightmare. If you're a new parent, watch this video. It will show you how to use all sorts of cleaning products to clean up different kinds of baby stains, from drool to baby formula to "mystery stains".
How To: Measure the DC voltage of a circuit with a multimeter
Measuring the voltage of a piece of electrical equipment is a somewhat dangerous and complicated but necessary process if you want to do any sort of DIY electrical projects. This video will show you how to use a multi-meter to read the DC voltage of a power drill battery, with an emphasis on what you need to do to complete this process safely.
How To: Install a beadboard wood ceiling in your home
Beadboard is a good-looking, tough, rustic material for ceilings, but it's actually pretty easy to install as far as ceilings go. This video will show you how to install a beadboard ceiling in a smallish room, giving it a whole new look that should last for many years.
How To: Measure, mark, and paint a diamond pattern on a hardwood floor
Painting a pattern on your hardwood floor can be a great way to give it some flair without ripping up the floor. This video will show you everything you need to know to measure out, mark, and paint a pretty diamond pattern on your hardwood floor yourself
How To: Measure the amps of an electrical circuit with a multi-meter
Measuring the amperage, or number of amps, in an electrical circuit requires a tool called a multi-meter. They are somewhat difficult to use, but fortunately for you this video explains in great detail how multi-meters work and what you need to do to ensure that they work. The creator tests the amperage of a power drill batter as an example.
How To: Choose the right type of wallpaper to install in your home
Wallpaper is a big investment. It's one of the most visible pars of your home decor, and you're probably going to be stuck looking at whatever you get for a long time. This video will give you some tips of choosing the right sort of wallpaper (vinyl, paper, prepasted, etc.) and how much you should pay for decent quality product.
How To: Clean wretched vomit smells from carpet with baking soda, water and a vacuum
No sane person likes the smell of vomit. Vomit is especially annoying when the smell lingers and wont leave your carpet. Fortunately, there is a way to get rid of disgusting carpet aromas. It involves the use of baking soda, a vacuum, and a flat tool.
How To: Properly care for an indoor saintpaulia flowering plant (African violet)
Taking care of houseplants is a tough job, especially if you have more than one kind, because the proper, healthy growing conditions can become muddled. If one of your houseplants is a African violet, which is a saintpaulia flowering plant, then this video will help you take care of it for a thriving plant that will surely brighten up any room. Learn about picking the right environment, watering, fertilizing and keeping pests away.
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...
How To: Use microgeneration to generate power
In this video, we learn how to use microgeneration to generate power. You can start by placing solar panels on your roof which is very easy to get installed. It's not a huge job, it just takes some workers and a meter that is in the house. This will tell you how much power you are getting through the solar panels. Another edition you can have is a panel that will give you hot water, which can save you money on your monthly bills. This will give you confidence in your energy because you are pr...
How To: Build your own hydroponics system
In this tutorial, we learn how to build your own hydroponics system. To do this, you will need: square line rain gutter, 6x end caps, 3x gutter running outlet, 1x small pond pump, 2 meters pond pump tubing, timber for framework, large plastic container, and gutter leaf guard. When you start, you will need to measure out how tall your pump will need to be, then build the framework to surround it. Then, grab all your gutter parts and put them together. Once you do this, start to set up all the ...
How To: Drywall partition with Fermacell
In this tutorial, we learn how to drywall partition with Fermacell. This is a great alternative to plasterboard and is environmentally friendly with no plastering required. First, measure out the floor and mark it using chalk. After this, make sure the walls are level, then measure them out. Mark out doorways and any other special requirements after this. Now, layer a resilient layer between the slats. Then, these are placed into the floors using drills and nails. The rest of the studs will b...
How To: Prepare the concrete floor of your garage for staining
If you're tired of the cement-and-motor-oil coloring you're currently rocking on the floor of your garage, you've come to the right place. This video will show you how to prepare the concrete floor in a garage for staining by etching and degreasing it, ensuring that it is clean and ready to hold the stain.
How To: Do color washing when you paint your room
Walls looking a little drab and dreary? Try color washing your walls, a two-step process that'll give your walls a vibrant look. Pick out your color, prep your walls, do a base coat of the walls, and then apply glaze. It's very simple, and at the end of it, you'll have amazing looking walls that look vibrant and cheerful.
How To: Install wood decking and lay deck boards
If you've been thinking about installing a new deck on your house, but aren't sure where to begin, you've come to the right place. This video will show you how to install decking and lay deck boards. It doesn't go into too great of detail, but the tips they provide are invaluable as far as tools and techniques.
How To: Lay / install custom, cheap, durable bamboo flooring
Bamboo flooring is cheap, durable, pretty, and much more renewable then most other hardwood floor options. If you've been thinking about getting rid of your carpet or your current hardwood is worn out, try bamboo! This video will give you tips on installing it yourself and revitalizing your home.
How To: Build DIY custom open upper shelving for storage in your home
Open upper shelving is an efficient and esthetically pleasing way to add storage to your home, and isn't to hard to build yourself. This video will show you how to make custom DIY wooden upper shelves that can fit in any space and improve nearly any room.