Forget a message in a bottle, how about your own water vortex!? This simple, step-by-step video shows you how to 'weld' two plastic bottle caps together so you have a tight, dry seal for your very own home water vortex. You'll need a heating element, a non-stick pan, some 2 li ...more
Plastic water bottle caps are more than just a massive strain on the environment. They can also be used to perform this cool party trick! All you do is hold the cap in your fist and then pound said fist from the bottom with your other hand. If you do it right, the cap should l ...more
If you like the idea of building rockets that will soar through the air like angels but don't want to bother with operating high explosive, it's possible to build pretty darn powerful rockets out of water. This video will show you how to do so very easily out of junk that you ...more
The best way to recycle is to reuse trash items as new, useful ones in your own home. If you enjoy gardening, watch this video to learn how to turn an old plastic milk or juice bottle into a cute plastic watering can for your plants.
Greg Swanson and Joe Kelley demonstrate their superb skills at creating bottle rockets on rooftops. To make a plastic bottle fly into the air, you will need a cork, a inflation needle, a bicycle tire pump, and of course... a 2-liter plastic bottle filled with a little bit of ...more
You can buy special utensils to do just about anything these days, and separating eggs is no exception. If you don't have (or want to buy) a fancy tool to do it, the classic method is simple—just crack the egg and transfer the yolk back and forth between the two halves. But ev ...more
By now we all know the slogan "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle." And many of us do just that every Sunday, visiting the recyling center to dump our latest fill of glass and plastic bottles. But did you know you can recycle your old plastic bottles without actually taking them to the r ...more
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to make a box out of used plastic bottles. This task is very simple, fast and easy to do. The materials required for this task are 2 plastic bottles and a zipper. Begin by cutting off the bottom of both plastic bottles. Now glue the zi ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to recycle plastic bottles and make decorative flower art. Start out by cutting around the cap of the bottle until the body is cut off. Then, cut small slits in the bottle until it's completely cut up. From here, you will spread these out so they ...more
In this tutorial we learn how to recycle plastic bottles to make a toy windmill. First, cut the bottle in half so you just have the cap end of it. Then, use the scissors to cut strips in the plastic, all running next to each other. Once you have all of these cut, pull the stri ...more
In this video, we learn how to recycle plastic bottles to make hanging art. First, cut the bottom off of the bottle and then cut it in half. Then, cut the other end off of the bottle as well. After this, you can grab the bottle and start to paint your choice of color all over ...more
In this video we learn how to recycle plastic bottles and make a decorative mobile. Start off by cutting the strips off of the water bottle then pinning them down to a table. After this, you will start to cross each of these with another piece to make a checkered effect. Nail ...more
We'd never tell you not to recycle plastic water bottles, but there are other ways to reduce and reuse these commonly consumed products. And when we say "other ways," we mean ways that you've never even thought about. For instance, you can fill up a plastic water bottle, inse ...more
Teach your children art at the same time you teach them conservation! This video shows you how to take an old pair of jeans and an empty plastic bottle, then add a little lace and other decorations to make a cute denim bracelet.
Don't you hate it when the ice cream in your freezer loses its soft, smooth textures and has ice crystals all over its surface? Prevent this from happening by covering the ice cream in the carton with a sheet of plastic wrap before closing the lid tightly. Other than wrapping ...more
Do you have two dollars and a water bottle? Then you can put together this simple but awesome solar-powered lantern that will provide more than enough light to read by at night. To begin, you'll need a water bottle, of course, some string, and optionally, a little bleach. You ...more
I love cheap, nutritious food: lentils, rice, toor dal, and other beans and grains. Even popcorn. The only problem is that they usually come in floppy plastic bags that make measuring ingredients more difficult. I usually open up one corner of the bag only to have everything c ...more
Here are three different methods you can use to make a stink bomb prank from things you can find around the house—just a pack of matches, an empty plastic soda bottle, and some household ammonia. Mix the tips of the matches with the ammonia and let it sit for three or four day ...more
Have you ever wanted to make your own lava lamp? If so, all you need are a few things from around the house: a plastic bottle; cooking oil; water; Alka-Seltzer; and food coloring. For detailed, step-by-step instructions on making your own lava lamp, take a look at this DIY s ...more
Watch this video tutorial to see how to make a colorful density bottle. To do this science lab experiment, you'll need food coloring, a plastic bottle, clear baby oil and extra things to put into the bottle, like glitter or sparkles. Now, keep in mind, you can't drink this... ...more
In this tutorial, we learn how to put together a cooking kit and canteen on a budget. To make a cheap pouch, you can take a pair of pants and cut the leg off. Then, sew one end completely and sew the other as a drawstring. To pack your kit, make sure you have an absorbent towe ...more
Decorating your Christmas tree does not have to be an expensive ordeal. You can easily make personalized, unique ornaments for your tree by using things lying around your home, like toilet paper tubes, paper towels, wine corks, old newspapers, CDs (remember those?), plastic wa ...more
While it is common sense to toss empty water bottles into the recycle bin, most people do not know that it is also important to remove the plastic bottle cap before recycling. Plastic bottle caps and plastic bottles are made up of different plastics, and the plastic found in b ...more
In this how-to video, you will learn how to survive in the wilderness. First, practice all of these skills before you go out on a trip of some sort. Skill and common sense preparation is important. Make sure you have duct tape, a flash light, and fishing line and hook. Foil is ...more
Small containers are useful for many things. They're good for storing snacks if you have children, as well as holding coins or odds and ends. But those regular store-bought containers are lame—who wants to keep their stuff in a Tupperware dish or old butter container? If you' ...more
Do not point this gun to other! Kids SHOULD NOT use the darts in this tutorial as the ammunition, you should only use soft things like the cotton head of the ear-cleaner stick! Step 1: Materials Preparing 1 empty dishwater bottle with the cap like this 1 empty glass cleaner ...more
Convenience is a big deal these days. You can buy single-serving or single-use sizes of just about anything, from fruits and vegetables to sanitizing wipes, and, apparently, even bananas. Uhh, it already has a wrapper... Admittedly, we do have one of those espresso machines h ...more
What’s better in the summer than playing around in the water? Lounging in the pool, water balloon fights, and playing in the sprinklers helps us forget how much it sucks to be outside in 100+ degree weather. Sprinklers are especially fun to play around in, particularly if you ...more
Pranks are fun, but finding a way to maximize the affect of a prank can be tricky. Toilet papering the whole campus or repainting all of the parking spaces slightly smaller can take a long time and a lot of resources. A better plan of attack is to booby trap the choke points w ...more
Everyone has a junk drawer in their kitchen. It's like an unspoken rule. The junk drawer is full of all the strange bits of what not that accumulates in your home over time. Everything in there is useful, and you never want to throw any of it away for fear that you might need ...more
If there's one thing that gets used far too frequently in the modern kitchen, it's the trash can. Home cooks everywhere waste enormous amounts of food by throwing it away before it's actually ready to be tossed. So much waste... so depressing.. One way to lessen the amount of ...more
Bottled water is a rip-off. Not only is it pretty much the same stuff that comes out of your tap for free, but plastic bottles are rarely recycled and thus account for a huge amount of the waste that's overflowing our landfills. Next Up: Water Bottles You Can Eat Fortunately, ...more
While most people build collections of things with intrinsic value such as coins, stamps, or rare post cards, I collect wine corks—the natural ones, not the plastic kind. Corks are a natural product harvested from the cork oak tree. It takes the better part of 10 to 12 years b ...more
Bad news, guys. The shelf life for liquor leftovers does not apply to your two-buck chuck. While an opened bottle of your favorite whiskey will stay respectable for ages thanks to its high ABV (which makes it inhospitable to outside elements), an opened bottle of merlot will s ...more
Just because a problem is small or superficial doesn't mean it can't annoy the living crap out of you. Others may think you're overreacting, or even have the audacity to roll their eyes, but you're in your own personal hell. First-world problems, white whines—call it whatever ...more
Gatorade: its popular red flavor can stain the whitest fabric, and its sweet taste is oddly refreshing after breaking a sweat. If you've ever participated in a sport, you probably spent halftime at games and practice breaks chugging the stuff. Though it made its name as a spor ...more
Ironing is a serious chore: hot, unpleasant, and frustrating all in one, but necessary if you don't want to look like you crawled out of bed just before work. While you might only turn to your flatiron when faced with wrinkled clothing, this little appliance packs the power to ...more
I have an absolutely wonderful time making projects and writing articles for all of you mad scientists! Today, I will bring you behind the scenes for a look at the workbench, tools, and software that make the Mad Science World possible. Above is my beautiful workbench! My who ...more
Silence spreads over these mountains like nothing I've ever felt. If I didn't have Moby blasting in my earphones, there'd probably be no other sounds around. Well, except for someone, Phil probably, murmuring in a nearby tent just low enough to make his words indiscernible. W ...more
In this video, learn how to make beautiful and unique jewelry out of old plastic bottles. This process is surprisingly simple and will make really cool gifts or accessories for any outfit. Follow along with Elizabeth Gleeson as she shows you how to spruce up any outfit and be ...more
Tim Carter demonstrates how to use recycled cobblestones. Cobblestone can be used to edge gardens, driveways and walkways. These paving stones make a great border. People recycle cans, paper and plastic bottles, but how about recycling building materials. Cobblestones that we ...more
You've got the basic recipe. Now learn all the different ways you can decorate those holiday sugar cookies like a pro. You will need: specialty decorating items sugar cookie dough cookie cutters cookie sheets currants, chopped nuts, assorted candy eggs food coloring liquid an ...more
Outdoor furniture is made of a lot of different things: Wood, iron, aluminum, even plastic. Dust, dirt, mold, mildew and moss on your outdoor furniture can be cleaned off almost immediately with a pressure washer. Watch this how-to video and learn to use a pressure washer to c ...more
While the holiday season offers a lot of festive joy in putting up holiday decor, shopping for Christmas presents, and baking cookies, it also offers up a lot of opportunites to spend money. So that means that by the time you've purchased the presents, wrapped them in tissue p ...more
Need to remove a bumper sticker and don't have any goo gone? No problem! Just break out the ol' olive oil and you're good to go! Things you'll need Olive oil Paper towels Scraper that won't hurt your car window (plastic spatula, etc.) Clean the area around the bumper sticke ...more
If you're trying to save some cash, as well as help the environment, there are many things that you can do around your home that will help. One thing you can do is use plastic. There are many different uses for plastic and it comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. They are mo ...more
Sure, you could hit the gym, eat your veggies, and get plastic surgery—but what can you do that does not suck? Lots of things, actually. Just check out this video to find out.
Kipkay from Make Magazine shows us how to create a photographic illusion, making things look smaller than they really are with tilt-shift photography. Materials needed include rubber plunger, an oversized lens, a plastic body cap, a single lens (or digital single lens) camera, ...more
MAKE zine aims to bring the DIY aesthetic and mindset to all the technology in your life. They want you to break open things and put them back together in a better way. In this video, MAKE and KipKay show you how to build a lost screw finder attachment. It'll help you find any ...more
This SUPER cool video shows how to make some fantastic percussion instruments out of items you can easily find around your house, or for cheap around your neighborhood. From plastic pails, PVC pipes, tin cans, buckets, 45 gallon drums and more. This video is short, but very in ...more
In this video tutorial from thinklikeahorse you will learn how to Sack out and desensitize a horse. It is about removing fear from the horse and not creating fear. By this the horse learns not to react instinctively to its fear. This also enables you to read your horse. You fi ...more
Plastic milk bottles are a fixture of most American trash cans, but they need not be. With a little effort and some simple tools you can covert an old milk bottle into a DIY bird feeder! Watch this video to learn how.
A (harmless) explosion a day keeps the police away. Indulge your rambunctious little boy in some scientific fun by helping him build an overhead water rocket launcher, which shoots recycled plastic bottles. This project is fun but does require help and parental supervision, s ...more
Clear plastic bottles may have more uses than just holding soda. Whether you bring one on a picnic or find one in a trash can, you can use it to make fire on a sunny day. Watch and groove.
There is no greater, simpler pleasure than having a picnic with your boyfriend or girlfriend at night in a deserted park while gazing at the night sky. Unfortunately, you probably can't see much of the night sky anymore because of all the light pollution in the city. View the ...more
Concoct soda at home—over time, you'll save a bundle by not using the store-bought stuff. Plus, it's fizzy fun! You Will Need * 1/8 tsp. brewer’s or bread yeast * 1/2 c. lukewarm water * 1 gal. water * 2 1/4 c. sugar * 1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon of soda extract in the fla ...more
Digsart demonstrates how to make a wallet from a pair of blue jeans. First, with a pair of scissors he cuts out the back pocket of the jeans. You can paint the pocket with acrylic paint to give it a more sturdy feel. Once they are painted, he dries them out by placing them on ...more
Finding room in the kitchen to store the various bins needed for recycling can take up a lot of valuable cabinet space. Here Danny comes up with an innovative solution to the problem by installing chutes made from standard 4” dryer vent pipe that send cans and plastic bottles ...more
Sick of spending your hard earned money on the bourgeois bubbly water? Why spend extra money on bottled seltzer when you can make it at home? Plus, by using fewer plastic bottles, you can reduce your carbon footprint. You Will Need: • Water • A seltzer bottle • And a soda ...more
The challenge of creating garments with unconventional materials has become an all too familiar gimmick for most first year students at fashion schools. The end result is more often than not a catwalk of garbage bags, zip ties, plastic bottles and cans, assembled into a menage ...more