background preloader

MindSnacks - Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and more on your iPhone, iTouch and iPad

MindSnacks - Learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, and more on your iPhone, iTouch and iPad

How to Update a Hand Me Down Dresser I love gift-wrap and I also love anything and everything having to do with typefaces. So it is no surprise to me that I have had my eye on this vintage typographer gift-wrap ever since Emily over at Jones Design Company posted about it as well as many other pretty papers she uses. I wanted to find a way I could use this gift-wrap where I could enjoy the pattern in my daily life instead of only wrapping gifts with it and giving it away. When I started to update my guest room I got an idea on how I could incorporate it into the room. The gift-wrap comes in 20” x 28” sheets that cost $4.00 each. Before This piece of hand me down furniture looks nice in this photo, but the top and left side have cracks in them. supplies needed: My color scheme for the room: white, beige, tan, black, and purple. I painted the dresser white first. I didn’t like the drawer pulls, but it was not in my budget to buy new ones, so I had to come up with a way to make them more interesting. Adhering the Gift wrap: 1.

Netflix Canada - Watch TV Shows Online, Watch Movies Online Legends in Our Own Lunch Times: The Stipa Caproni by Lynette Zuccoli Beauty and the Beast. Falco sleeps with fascist Gee Bee Sitting around our lunch table about six years ago, our usual subjects of discussion, sex, rock 'n roll and anything politically incorrect, was interupted by Guido, who had found a picture of the most bizarre and ugly plane we had ever seen. It was published in a book by Giorgio Evangelisti. The aircraft was the Stipa Caproni, designed by Luigi Stipa and built by the Caproni factory in Italy. No-one we knew wanted to build it. Work was commenced shortly after using the available information at hand, then in January 1997, Guido was lucky enough to personally meet with Count Gianni Caproni. Sadly, Guido left us in March 1997, but his dreams and purpose were strong, and we were motivated to carry on. We purchased the Italian Simonini racing engine, a bit ironic as it was for a very slow aircraft. As time went by, the Stipa took shape and seemed to be an endless source of jokes and mirth for onlookers.

Four Homemade Cleaners This was easier than I thought it would be. One of Betsy’s goals for the year was to ditch some of our standard cleaners that we use around the house and make them! Honestly, I was a bit skeptical about this project mainly because I wasn’t sure that homemade cleaners would really get the job done. And my lovely wife is a bit of a neat freak so there’s no way she would use something that didn’t perform well. So a couple of weekends ago she went out and bought a few staple ingredients and some empty spray bottles and we spent a few minutes mixing up four different homemade cleaners that have since replaced 90% of the cleaners we use around the house. For the last few weeks we’ve been using them now and I’ve been so impressed by how well they are working, I thought I’d share them all with you in case any of you are interested in ditching the chemicals. The Cost of Cleaning. Basic stuff. Really Clean Cleaning. The Basics. - Homemade: How to Make 100′s of Everyday Products Mixing the Solutions.

How to Make a Cushion for a Bench without Sewing a Stitch Phewwwwww… is how I feel right now. The holidays came and went like a flash. I enjoyed them, but I can’t believe we are on the other side already. All that prep and then bam – all over. Life for me is back to normal – except for taking all the boxed up Christmas decorations back up to the attic. The house is looking pretty bare – which is a good thing because it has me looking at it with a new perspective. I love the mirror I added above my piano, but when I took the candles and glittery branches away it looked like it needed something in the way of a color pop. Houzz Now I am not big on following too many trends. Piano Bench – Before Too much brown. As I am wring this, I am watching one of my favorite old movies – Lover Come Back with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. I am going to add… just a touch… of Tangerine Tango to this corner of my family room. After How To Make a No Sew Fabric Covered Cushion Cover for a Bench 1. 2. Foam can be costly. First the white lining. Cut the corners as shown.

Welcome to The Sietch - Projects Build Your Own Solar Thermal Panel After our first attempt at a home built proof of concept solar thermal panel, we were a bit disappointed with the results. It took about 4 hours before the thing started work, and was a bit costly (at over 50 dollars) to make. I knew it could be done better and cheaper. My first mistake with the first one was purchasing everything new. With ample reusable resources at the local town dump I knew it could be done on the cheap. Another flaw from the first panel was using pond liner as our collection medium. We solved this problem by using a ready made collector. The last major flaw in our first panel was using plexiglas for the cover. We solved this problem by using good old fashion window glass. Now onto the project. Our local dump has a coolant removal program that has refrigerators and dehumidifiers that they remove old freon from. Make sure that the freon, or other coolant has been removed, and cut the grill off at the base, near the large coolant holder. Enjoy the hot water.

Wine Bottle Design | Recycled Wine Bottle Torch | Package Design Firm | Sustainable Packaging 08.09.09 | by Erik Anderson Whether it’s product branding, package design or projects for ourselves, we’re pleased when we find a solution that’s very effective and creative, while keeping resources to a minimum. This idea is very inexpensive idea and it’s a great way to recycle a wine bottle. See how this simple idea inspired this brand and wine bottle design. It’s been a record year for mosquitoes here in Indianapolis, Indiana and I’d been wanting to add some Tiki-esque torches to the patio to combat the little buggers, and add a little ambiance. After searching the world over to find a torch that was affordable and atypical I came to the conclusion that unless I wanted wicker or bamboo, I needed to be a bit more resourceful. Here’s what you’ll need. Empty Wine Bottle (Use any bottle as long as it’s glass and the neck is 1” in diameter. Helpful Tools: Channellocks, adjustable wrench, hacksaw, power screwdriver, and a funnel. Safety Note: This is for outdoor use only. The Hanger -Erik

Ball Jar Lights I’ve been wanting to do this for a year. It’s one of those things I’ve just been putting off. I love ball canning jars, especially the blue ones. The first thing you have to do to make the Ball jar lights, is take out the glass seal. So I took the hammer and busted up the seal to get it out. Once the seal was out, I marked the center of the lid. And used the drill bit and a hammer to poke a hole where the mark was. Then we started drilling. It only took a few seconds since the lid is so thin. I bought 2 recessed light converters years ago from Lowe’s (I think). This is what the shade originally looked like. I thought these little round bulbs would look the best with the ball jar lights. Then I just screwed the jar onto the lid. I love how it looks. I made one for over the sink too. I know these have been done all over the place, but it’s something I’ve been wanting to do forever and I’m glad I finally did. And a side note: I’ve always wondered how high lights should be hung over an island.

Climate-Friendly Sunken Pool Converts into Radiant Floor Here’s a truly glamorous idea for a pool. A sinking pool! The apparently permanent stone floor in this room literally slowly drops to reveal the pool underneath. In the raised position, you can walk on the same surface radiantly warmed from beneath. Once it is sunken it looks like any other indoor pool – as permanent as you could possibly want. You could design this so that it remains as just a shallow decorative pool when not in use, one that is only an inch or two deep. But the best thing about this idea is that it would also make keeping the pool warm a cinch. Radiant floors or the use of thermal mass is climate-friendly design because of the slow release of warmth – reducing energy needs for heating. The super-rich with luxury housing do the most harm to the planet with their luxury high energy use architecture. But of course the energy consumption would depend on how much energy is expended to raise and lower the floor.

Watermark Tee by Sweet Verbana Hello U-Create readers! I am so excited to be guest posting here today. It just so happens to be my first guest post and I'm still a little shocked that it's here at Ucreate, one of my favorite blogs! A little bit about me.. I'm from a little town called Keller, Texas. I'm a junior at Texas A&M University (whoop!). I'm working on my education degree and expect to be an elementary school teacher in just two short years. When I'm not busy studying for classes, I love to sew. I just started blogging in May and have already met all kinds of wonderful women, I hope you'll stop by and say hi too! Watermark Tee Tutorial What I love about this project is that it's completely customizable. Materials: Elmer's Blue Gel Glue (it must be the blue gel, white won't work) Fabric Dye (RIT is my tried and true brand) A white cotton Tee, Tank, Dress etc. Tutorial: If you're unfamiliar with Batiking, it's a method of dyeing fabric in which you create a design with a dye- resist. Step 1: Prepare Step 2: Design

Homemade Lip Balm | FIMBY You've stumbled upon one of my most popular posts. You might also enjoy let's talk lip balm. After making my own lip balm I will never buy it again. It's easy, cheap, 100% natural and good for your lips, especially this time of year. Ingredients 1/2 oz. Directions In a small pot over medium low heat melt beeswax, coconut oil, lanolin and vitamin E. This recipe makes enough for 3 - 3/4 oz tins (see photo for size) and one 1 1/2 oz jar. Notes I prefer to measure kitchen cosmetics with a scale but I included the approximate tsp. measurements for those without a scale. All ingredients can be found at a natural food store or ordered from an online store such as Mountain Rose Herbs. Some people are allergic to lanolin. I always use solid honey, that's just the kind of have. This recipe makes enough to last our family of 5 several months, plus I usually give away a tin from each batch I make.

Dessine moi un objet » Blog Archive » Iphone and Itouch paper stand / dock Julien Madérou / Bricolage, Design, Designer, Iphone, Origami, Packaging, Portfolio / L’iPhone paper dock est un support en origami pour iPhone, à imprimer et à monter soi-même. Un format A4 ou US Letter est proposé en téléchargement sur Fiverr.com. Download and print the template PDF to do it yourself ! Original soundtrack by Florent Paris from Hors Sujet >>> [Making Of] iPhone paper dock

Homemade Holidays: Crock Pot Candles Growing up in my house, we always made our own holiday gifts. We were pretty poor, and I suppose it was our only option. But it was never presented to me like that (I didn’t even know what ‘poor’ was, really, and I had a stupendously fabulous childhood full of ‘thing finding’ and ‘government cheese’. But that’s another story.) The first holiday season that Damian and I spent together, I was a starving college student. Last year we made all our gifts together – our attempt at canning. Anyway, there I go reminiscing. How To Make Candles In A Crock Pot All you need is some wax, some wicks + wick bases, and some candle-holders. Optional additions include color (candle dye is available at the craft store) and smell. Once you’ve gathered all your supplies, set aside some time when you’ll be around the house for a couple of hours. 1) Spoon the pieces of wax into your candle holders and arrange them in the bottom of the crock pot. 2) 20-30 minutes later you can check back. 4) Stir it up!

12 Days of Christmas – Make Your Own Adornament | Bower Power What the heck is an Adornament? Well, simply put, it’s an ornament you adore. Or an ornament that you have adorned. Or a dorn you have mented. Whatever floats your boat. What floated my figurative Christmas boat was thinking about making my own ornaments. I started by snagging a box of plain opaque white ornaments at my local Hobby Lobby for half off: And then I gathered some inspirational ornament photos: I loved the Ballard Designs alphabet lettered ornaments – don’t they kinda look like Lotto balls? So now that you have seen my inspiration – let me show you how I DIYed a few ornaments for around the Bower house. First I located my Sharpie paint pens – I love the metallic colors. And then I used a bit of painters tape to give me a guideline for my monogrammed ball: Then using the paint pen against the painters, I just drew two straight lines to give me my stem for the letter “B”. My second ornament was inspired by those ZGallerie votives. Don’t make fun of me. So whattya think?

Related: