I found instructions for these beautiful folded paper stars in an old magazine called The Workbasket. Not only were the directions indecipherable, the picture illustrations were misidentified. Although your first attempt might be a challenge, it’ll be worth it as the final product will impress your friends and family. Use them to decorate your trees […]
Standing by in frustration to watch the water in a clogged bathroom sink drain will not make it go any faster. There is a clog, and it needs to be dealt with. But before you make that call to enrich your local plumber, try replacing the p-trap under the sink yourself. Most likely the clog is there, and when you […]
It all started when I decided to get my mother a herb garden for Christmas. I had a vague memory of a countertop greenhouse I saw at an Ikea store about 5 years ago. It was made of thin wood and thin plastic. I decided that a plain old herb garden starter kit […]
See: http://www.curbly.com/martha/posts/259-bookshelves-with-cable It got me to thinking about how to build a bookshelf with my poor carpentry skills. Mostly this consists of hardware store parts. Total $42-45 Just measure out your studs (or borrow a stud finder) mine ended up about 4ft apart, or 3 stud spaces. just right for my 5ft shelves. […]
So you’ve got the old tank out and it’s time to put in a new one. If you need help taking out the old one, see the first part of this guide. The fact of the matter is, if you can remove an old electric water heater, you can replace one without a step-by-step. But […]
Art Deco and the Arts and Crafts movement were quite popular during the early part of the 20th century, with the Arts and Crafts movement lasting from approximately 1890 to 1915, and the Art Deco movement taking the stage from 1910 to 1939. Both aesthetics are quite relevant to today’s design sensiblity, but you don’t […]
Hot water is the kind of thing most people don’t think a bit about until it’s gone. Just like anything else that carries water, a hot water heater will rust and leak if left alone long enough. If your water heater is more than ten years old, or just looks rusty, replace it. If you […]
This innovative coat hanging system caught my attention: totally organic and self-assembled, and looks way better than those bras-plated things you get at the hardware store. It’s for sale at the Cooper Hewitt Museum Shop (although apparently not yet on their online store).
Although we don’t see it often up in the northland–probably because of the snowstorms and such–I’ve heard down south it’s quite popular to gift wrap your front door for the holidays. A novice at door-wrapping, I consulted the experts. Here’s a blow by blow to get the job done. Supplies Needed The same stuff you’d use to […]
This idea comes straight out of the 1960’s. It’s an easy and creative way to make art from your costume or junk jewelry (any outdated & cheap stuff – nothing valuable of course) – or any other small items that are appealing to you (marbles, small toys, misc. doodads found in your junk drawer?) […]
What You Need Plastic bucket or empty-ice cream pail Small plastic jar or storage container Stones, marbles, etc for weight Votives or tea lights Cold weather, or a freezer if you live in warmer climes What You Need to Do 1. Place smaller container in center of pail 2. Place rocks, marbles, etc. in smaller […]
It’s easy to spend the day setting new baseboards, making sure each mitered and coped joint is tight and clean, the whole time eyeing nervously that closet doorway with no door casing to butt the baseboard up against. Here’s what I’m talking about: You could take the easy way out and leave the baseboards with […]
This was this past weekend’s project… though obviously it’s not quite finished yet (no photos in the frames). But it’s been on the to-do list for a while, so it’s nice to finally see it up. We’ve always liked the Picture Wall system, but at $350 for a 3′ x 5′ section (when we knew […]
Alicia found these great magnetic flower vases that amaze your dinner guests by balancing implausibly on the table-top. Unfortunately, the price tag was also implausible ($42 dollars!). So, in true Curbly fashion, we decided to do it ourselves. Here’s the video, details and links are below. For those of you who want to try this […]
Now that cassettes, LPs, and even CDs have become obsolete, what are we to do with them? DIY Maven came up with a very creative solution for making use of old LPs. So, here’s a suggestion of what to do with some of those old CDs: make a mobile out of them! What You Need […]
My dilemma is this: As of yesterday, I will be living with two of my friends in a lovely apartment in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco (if you’ve never been I highly advise you to…). Through the luck of drawing straws, I go stuck with the faux bedroom. My room was actually a living […]
A couple years ago I attended a play at The Theater in the Round in Minneapolis (really bad site) and in the lobby they had this cool system for hanging cast bios and other info that consisted of wire, pulled taut across a span, in this case from floor to ceiling, with small hardware holding […]
McMansions all over the country are quaking on their foundations. Gigantic houses are quickly falling out of favor for a more diminutive abode. Enter the 400 square foot mini home. McHurricanes, McBoomers, and McMansions In response to FEMA trailers hauled out an masse after hurricane Katrina, New York based designer Marianne Cusato drew up plans for […]
Are your dining room chairs on their last legs? Mine were. They were already looking bad three years ago when I bought them for $40 at a thrift store. Well, this weekend, Alicia and I decided we’d had enough. Thanks for watching our first-ever installment of ‘The Fix Its’ (that’s me and Alicia); we plan […]
Our dining ‘set’ is a thrift-store rescue; it was on its last legs and probably would have been put down (sent to the landfill) if I hadn’t come along to save it ($40). I think it was actually once a nice piece of furniture, built by the White Furniture Co. of Mebane, North Carolina. But […]
