By Becky Striepe •
July 28, 2009
Last week, Craftzine linked to an awesome tutorial for deconstructing cans over at Adaptive ReUse. Since then, I’ve been sort of obsessing with ways to reuse the metal that would normally hit our recycling bin.
Some of these projects involve taking the tins apart, while others use the entire thing to create something fun and new. There are project ideas for a bunch of different skill levels, so don’t fret if you’ve never done any metal crafting before!
Ready to get reusing? Me, too!
By Becky Striepe •
July 23, 2009
[Image Credit: Creative Commons photo by wowcool]
We love a good mix tape remix around here. Heck, some of us even knit with used cassettes. Seamstresses, don’t you fret! You can get in on the recycled cassette action, too…
By Becky Striepe •
July 22, 2009
Since moving within blocks of a train station a few years ago, I sort of fell out of the cycling habit. I used to ride bikes all over town, and it’s time to get back onto two wheels and back into shape! The thing about riding bikes, especially during summer in the South, is the heat. There’s no way to get around it: by the time you reach your destination, you’re going to be a little sweaty. Maybe a lot sweaty. Here are some projects to help you beat the heat!
By Becky Striepe •
July 14, 2009
17-year-old Andrew Loader from Lindsborg, Kansas has amazed his parents by building his very own electric car (Video) from nothing more than a clapped-out Ford Escort, some batteries and an old forklift motor.
Tired of paying last summer’s high gas prices, Andrew decided to take matters into his own hands and build the street-legal vehicle after researching the idea on the internet.
To begin with, Mom and Dad were less than impressed with the scheme. “Mom told me not to, and dad did too. I had to write a letter to Mom and her friend convinced her not to ground me or kill me,” said the industrious teenager.
Want to put solar panels on the house? Start saving… solar power is a great investment, but it is an investment… often a hefty one. If you’d like to get started with something a little less ambitious (but more affordable), you’ll find a number of good sources out there for a whole range of solar DIY projects. Voltaic, best known for its solar backpack, has joined more well-known sites such as Gary Reysa’s Build It Solar and Mother Earth News with its own collection of do-it-yourself projects.
So far, the collection is small… but there are already some really cool projects available:
By Becky Striepe •
June 30, 2009
We use billions of plastic bottles every year, at a huge environmental expense. Sure, you can recycle them and feel a bit better knowing that they’ll be turned into products like Ecospun felt, but recycling requires energy and raw materials and not all plastics can even be recycled.
Why not divert all that plastic from the waste stream entirely by turning those old bottles into something new? Here are ten plastic bottle craft ideas to get you going!
By Julie Finn •
June 27, 2009
This place is not your grandma’s pottery painting studio, I’ll tell you that much.
In Wisconsin for Matt’s grandma’s garage sale, the family and I took a couple of days to recover up in Door County. Along with cheese curds, beaches, and dairy farms, we spent half a day at the Hands on Art Studio in Fish Creek.
Holy cow.
For a lady who loves to dabble in anything DIY, who hates cookie cutter crafting, and who plans to move everyone out to a farm before the eldest baby is more than a decade old (I’m speaking of myself, here), the Hands On Art Studio? Was awesome.
By Becky Striepe •
June 24, 2009
We’re normally into all-ages sorts of crafts, but once in a while a crafty gal has got to cut loose! How about fancying up your next cocktail party with a home-made vodka infusion?
Many store bought “infused” vodkas are full of mystery sweeteners and artificial flavors. Keep all those unwanted chemicals out of your cocktail and get creative at the same time! You can even go for an organic vodka.
This infusion recipe only take a few days, so if you get started today, you’ll be all set for any shindigs this weekend! Here are a basic recipe and a couple of flavor suggestions to get you going:
By Becky Striepe •
June 23, 2009
[Photo by Becky Striepe]
So your garden’s all planted, and your rows are marked. Maybe you’ve got some upside-down tomatoes going, and your compost bin is chugging right along. You’ve probably got quite a few thirsty plants to take care of!
Rainwater collection is controversial in certain parts of the U.S.. If rainwater harvesting is allowed in your area, though, it’s a great way to water your garden without drawing from the municipal water supply!
Store bought rain barrels can run you upwards of $100. Instead of dropping a ton of cash at the garden center, though, you can make your very own! Some restaurants will even give you their used 55 gallon food grade containers for free, which are perfect for making a rain barrel. Ask around…you might just be surprised!
Here’s a great video from HGTV on how to build your own rain barrel, complete with a spigot:
Robert Riley’s XR3 kit car is an amazing three-wheeled plug-in diesel hybrid. The trike gets a jaw dropping 225mpg on combined diesel-electric power and 125mpg when using only the 23hp diesel engine.
And hey, it kinda looks like that Back to the Future car!
Introduced back in June of 2008, the two-passenger car was designed so it can be assembled using readily available parts. Fully constructed, the car weighs in at 1480 pounds and has top speed of 80mph. And while you can only get 40 miles out of its li-ion battery pack, it can be plugged into any standard wall socket.
