Any preschooler’s mom knows that the collection of arts and crafts to display on the fridge is seemingly never-ending. Create some fun acorn magnets to show off the fall collection. Make & Takes has this quick and easy project:
Acorn Magnets from Make & Takes
The directions say to use a hot glue gun, but you can also use QuickHOLD (no heat and instant grab) – it’s part of our Designer’s Collection Series of craft adhesives.
When I was in college, I decided to make all my friends’ Christmas presents. I chose candles. If you haven’t made candles before, the supplies you need are without a doubt more expensive than buying everyone a pre-made candle. But we still tell stories about that Christmas – laugh about the candle that caught on fire because it was full of potpourri (I swear the directions said to do it that way!). Or the one that was so fragrant – thanks to some extra scent sticks – it could only be burned in a large room with a good deal of ventilation.
Handmade holidays don’t have to be a fire hazard. In fact, making or buying handmade is an escape from the mass produced gifts that tend to dominate the holiday season. And we’re all a bit more conscious about how we’re spending our holiday budgets this year.
You can create gifts with just a few basic supplies and some creativity. We’ve posted quite a few projects on this blog over the last six months that you could try:
Some other fun projects to try:
If you don’t make, you can also buy. Etsy is a wonderful resource for finding handmade items of all types. Some of our favorites (click on the picture to link to their Etsy shop):
Owl Ornament from EvelynX in Redwood City, California
Holiday Hoop earrings by karitwiggdesigns
Red Bird Scrabble Tile Pendant by HomeStudio
Custom Initial Clip or Bookmark by nhubs
Choosing a contractor for a remodel or addition can be stressful. We’ve all heard horror stories about contractors that do shoddy work, overcharge and abandon projects before completed.
How can you avoid such fate? Short answer is do your homework.
You can get customer reviews on Angie’s List. Worth checking to see what kind of grade your contractor gets from previous customers who might not show up on the reference list.
From Eugene, Ore. to St. Petersburg, Fla., friends and neighbors are joining together in do-it-yourself and home improvement project clubs. Sort of like a modern Amish barn raising, small communities gather at the homes of the club members to take on projects big and small.
The Monthly Improvement Collective of Eugene meets 10 times per year, twice at the home of each of the five couples who belong to the group. The host family ensures that tools and supplies are available and provides breakfast and lunch and everyone pitches in on projects like building a retaining wall, installing a fence and replacing flooring.
When everyone chips in on labor, the obvious tangible benefit is a cost savings. The intangible could be just as important – neighbors and friends feel supported and part of a unique community that can come together to accomplish projects for each other.
Want to start a home improvement club of your own? Some things to think about:
Of course, most importantly, have fun!
A recent article on home improvement clubs can be found via the Hartford Courant.
Photo by tiswango via Flickr
Drawers by Penmachine via Flickr
Wooden drawers in cabinets, dressers and closets can often wear, resulting and less than smooth opening and closing. This is pretty simple fix; replacing the nylon glide on the underneath of the drawer, swap old or missing screws for new ones or using a wood glue, like EcoGlue Premium Wood, for loose dovetail joints.
Need help? Some resources for getting your drawers moving smoothly.
Haven Homes
An unsteady housing market doesn’t keep your family from growing and needing more space, but it could keep you from buying a new home. Adding onto your house instead could have a unique advantage over navigating real estate in your city.
Technology and materials have also changed your options for creating custom home additions more quickly and easily than ever before.
Enter the modular home addition.
We’re not talking double-wide trailers, here, modular additions are factory built to about 80 or 90 percent completion and then shipped to the home site where the addition is finished by a qualified builder.
A recent article in Money Magazine explains it this way:
Unlike a contractor who builds your addition on your property, a factory assembles it to your exact specifications, then transports it to your home on the back of a flatbed truck. While the addition is being built, a local contractor prepares your house by pouring footings and opening up walls or removing the roof. The next day, your addition arrives and a crane sets it in place. Because the module comes with the roof, siding, windows, insulation, wallboard, wiring and plumbing all in place, the contractor can make it weather-tight within a day or two and complete the connections and final details two to four weeks after the job begins (that’s a quarter of the time an on-site builder needs).
Modular additions can cost 20% less and the quality will beat the average contractor’s results. The finish work is done at the home site. Many of these additions (and even complete homes) are eco-friendly. Combine the manufacturing process with eco-friendly finishing work like using EcoGlue Extreme to for sealing and adhesives (extremely low VOCs and no solvents!).
To learn more, visit these manufacturers:
As it turns out, you can create storage boxes and display boxes out of seemingly random things and they’re pretty cute.
From the Big Ass Book of Crafts, our craft-of-the-month for October is a domino box. You can get the instructions here.
Daily Danny offers a similar (but slightly more retro cool) project made with cassette tapes. Of course, rather than a glue gun as his directions suggest, you can use QuickHOLD or EcoGlue Craft for a “green” option.
Hmm… I wonder what else we could glue together like this? Any ideas or projects you’ve done? We’d love to hear about it.
The new Nike SB shoe, nicknamed the “Shoe Goo,” dropped in September and apparently has sold out at most locations. I didn’t get the connection to our Shoe Goo at first.
Sort of a retro high top and with a duct-tape-like design on the side. Pretty cool shoe… but why the “shoe goo”?
Here’s the photo:
Then I saw this photo:
I get it! That looks familiar, huh?
Thanks for the shout-out, Nike SB. We’re glad skaters love us and we’re part of skate culture. Need Shoe Goo? Check your local skateshop or go online.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zG-LZwoaW4]
Home Depot is sponsoring a video contest where you can show your best tips for saving energy. See the Home Depot YouTube channel for more details!
Our favorite energy saver is sealing and caulking leaky doors, windows and walls with EcoGlue Extreme.
Mark Montano is a big fan of GOOP in all its forms. So we’re thrilled to feature his work from the Big Ass Book of Crafts as part of the Eclectic Products Craft of the Month. This month we create the Domino Lidded Box. Click here for the step-by-step instructions.
Anna: Thanks for the tip. And no sew too, which is awesome....
Mackenzie: Thanks for reposting this guys :) I use my purse all the time!...
Ariane: Excellent post once again. Thank you ;)...
Zakkalife: Thanks for sharing a link to my eyeglass case tutorial:)...
Brianna Olds: I love these items! Thank you so much for sharing them! Very helpful!
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