I always have several sheets of puff pastry in my freezer. It's unlike any other pastry dough: the layers of butter let out steam when the dough bakes (hence, the "puff" in puff pastry). The dough's flakiness perfectly compliments sweet and savory dishes, which makes it a tota ...more
Looking to give your party a more decorative atmosphere? In this video, Judy of A-BnC Parties and More, Inc. shows how easy it is to make a decorative bow with ribbon, a sharp pair of scissors, some curling ribbon or a twist tie, and the knowledge held in this how-to. One can ...more
Wow, forget treehouse-lust, I want my own Patrick Dougherty human-sized twig-nest. According to Dougherty's site, he has built over 200 sculptures all over the world to date, beginning in 1982. Dougherty uses primitive building techniques to create his tree sapling structures ...more
How to keep your pansies healthy year round To keep pansies healthy you have to regularly be taking off dead and dying flowers. When you take the dead flowers off you can leave the stems or you can take them off at the plant base if you want them to look better. The tradition ...more
Apartment Therapy posts this neat, space-saving idea for bookshelf rafters. No explicit HowTo, but pretty self-evident. "These are just planks of painted plywood nailed to the supports for the loft above. They create perfect cubby spaces to store books, baskets and even small ...more
Jenniesbarn has created a video tutorial about how to make hand-dyed crinkle seam binding. She says that crinkle seam binding is popular because it has a vintage look. To begin, she uses a mister to spray water on a ribbon strip in order to allow the strip to crinkle easily an ...more
This is a tutorial on how to crochet a pen holder. This is a project that beginners should be able to follow. You will need a tin can, two colors of yarn, and a crochet needle. Follow the visual guidelines, accompanied by written instructions.This method works with all kinds o ...more
Another Home Hack for you, courtesy of Apartment Therapy. Get this: we know you dig the speed-folding, so how about speed-hanging? It goes a little something like this: You Will Need: 10 T-Shirts 10 Hangers 1 Arm Assemble your materials. "Gather 10 t-shirts and 10 hanger ...more
You never know when one of your friends is going to get knocked up and need a baby shower to celebrate the impending arrival of her little one! Baby showers, unfortunately, generally get too common and predictable, with most of the soon to be mom's friends hitting up the same ...more
Martha Stewart and kids editorial director Jodi Levine shares ideas for decorating Easter eggs with crepe paper. Crepe paper is one of my favorite materials. It's actually tissue paper that has been reinforced with sizing and "creped," a crinkling method that yields a medium t ...more
Judy, of A-BnC Parties and More, Inc., shows you how easy it is to make a decorative bow from #9 ribbon. All you need is the ribbon, a sharp scissors, some curling ribbon or a twist tie, and the know-how. Use these bows to decorate your wedding, placing them on chairs, canopie ...more
Tired of boring, run of the mill Easter baskets? Well, then its time to get crafty! Make an Easter basket bouquet out of candy. Your little ones will be delighted to receive this edible bouquet and adults will be impressed with how beautiful it is! So, this year skip the drug ...more
If you have a shady yard, you can still have a colorful garden. You just need to pick the right plants that do well in the shade. Caladium is a leafy plant with bright colored red, pink and green leaves. They do not tolerate cold weather and should be brought in over winter. I ...more
The Force was awakened in many a household on Christmas morning this year, as evidenced by numerous recipients of newly unwrapped Star Wars: Jedi Challenges systems sharing their first lightsaber battles in augmented reality on social media. In case you've been exiled on Dago ...more
If you ever need extra storage space in your small living area, adhesive hooks are great for pretty much everything. Need more storage for kitchen equipment? Attach two adhesive hooks on the inside of a cabinet door to hang one pot lid. You can also place adhesive hooks on th ...more
Learn how to organize your kitchen. You might cook more if your kitchen weren’t so cluttered. Okay, maybe not. But, still—wouldn’t it be nice to have an organized cooking space? You Will Need * An ability to part with things you don’t need * Baskets * Compartmentalized draw ...more
Winter and the winter holidays in general are a time of joy, laughter, and love… but not for everyone. For some, the stress of preparing for parties, hosting family, traveling long distances in bad weather, and just keeping up with your daily routine can start to bring you dow ...more
In this series, you'll see how to make many different kinds of shadow boxes. You can build the shadow box frame yourself, or buy one, or use objects like silverware trays and baskets. Follow along as Jenny explains what a shadow box is and how many different things you can do ...more
Judy of A-BnC Parties and More, Inc. demonstrates two methods to show you how to shred ribbons. For the first, she uses a wide curling ribbon, scissors, and a shredding tool. This how-to video is helpful in decorating, bow making, finishing gift baskets, putting final touches ...more
In this video, Tom tells us how to position your feet when shooting a ball. Momentum when you are shooting has to be controlled. You will have to plan how you are going to use your feet and what your lead and stop foot will be. You want to make sure the foot that is closest to ...more
Frank, with Home Depot's Trend and Design Department, and Chatelaine demonstrate how to organize and renovate your closet. If you want to make your closet as functional as possible without a lot of wasted space, introduce a fun wallpaper as an accent and install a basic Rubber ...more
Elizabeth Chamberlain with Space Lift demonstrates how to lift your spirits with feng shui in your home. First, find your focus room with your energy map. Lay the energy map on top of your home floor plan and see that the self knowledge area is in the lower left section of you ...more
Just because it's a party doesn't mean that you shouldn't still care what your kids eat. This video shows you how to make a fun, tasty and nutritious appetizer for a kid's party - fill little pastry baskets with dyed mashed potatoes and other good food!
Have you seen all the adorable miniature garden ideas? Containers of some sort (wood boxes, planters, drawers, wheel barrows, bird baths…) hold a little scene full of tiny living plants along with little adornments like garden benches, hardscapes and paths. They are absolutely ...more
Unless you like boxed wine, your wine bottles are going to either be sealed with a cork or a screw cap, the latter of which should not be frowned upon, especially if it's white wine. However, most wineries still prefer corks over screw caps, and that means you'll need a corksc ...more
If you're a fan of Thai food, I'm sure you're familiar with sticky rice. There is something so special about its chewy texture and sweet flavor. If you have a desire to make it in your own kitchen but don't have the proper tools such as a traditional bamboo basket or stackable ...more
Even though I often end the workday exhausted and just want to wrap rotisserie chicken parts in a store-bought tortilla and shove it in my eating hole, I generally try and take a couple of minutes to warm up said tortillas before I begin my meal. But if you're starving, do you ...more
Sometimes you've got a head of lettuce that you want to eat but it lacks a certain youth. In other words, it's wilted and browning at the edges. Other times, you get to the grocery store near the end of day and the only lettuce or greens available look a little on the sad side ...more
A perfectly cooked roast potato is a study in contrasts: the outside should be crisp, crunchy, and salty, while the inside is tender and fluffy. Too often, however, roast potatoes come out overcooked, greasy, and tough. But never fear! With this handy guide, you'll be able to ...more
Back in 2007, YouTube user HouseholdHacker posted a parody video on how to make a high-def speaker for under a buck. MythBusters took on the challenge and busted it. Although that particular method doesn't seem to work, that doesn't mean you can't make your own speaker for le ...more
Are you stranded in a hotel room with no kitchen, but craving the comfort of a home-cooked meal? Fear not, I have found some interesting ways to cook food without the luxury of an oven, stove, microwave, or even a toaster!—also known as "hotel room cooking." This information ...more
You're alone in the wilderness. Stranded. Hungry. Cold. What do you do? Naivety could be your downfall, but you don't need to be an Army Ranger to survive. The five most basic survival skills are fire, shelter, signaling, first aid, and food and water. Learn them. Know them. ...more
When a headache strikes, I reach for the nearest painkiller. Forget closing my eyes, laying down, or even applying an ice pack—I seek the quickest and most immediate relief possible, and normally that comes in the form of pills. However, fast relief can be found from another, ...more
Let’s be honest: you’ve thrown a few delicate, "hand wash only" clothes into the wash with your jeans. Maybe you’ve even ruined a sweater or two. There are so many things to look out for when doing laundry, and they’re easily ignored or forgotten, especially when it comes to d ...more
If you have some photos, videos, and documents that you want to keep completely hidden and encrypted on your Android device, Andrognito is the app you need. We showcased this app in the past, but since then, CODEX has rebuilt it from the ground up with new and improved feature ...more
Starting towards the end of January, all you see is pink and red hearts for a few weeks every year, and food is no exception. Heart-shaped cookies, candies, and cupcakes are everywhere, but it doesn't stop there—you can find heart-shaped food for every meal of the day. If you ...more
There's no reason to wait for Halloween to play with dry ice. It definitely creates a creepy fog-like effect when you add a little water to it, but there are some other really cool things you can do wit dry ice. Here are just 5 non-Halloween ways to use dry ice for tricks or p ...more
My bathroom is like my own private arcade room. Whenever I'm seated comfortably on the toilet, no one is going to disturb me, so I can play anything I want on my smartphone. You probably do it, too — and your parents, kids, friends, colleagues, and boss — so don't be afraid to ...more
The next time you come across a basket of fruit, don't just eat it—have fun with it. In this guide, I'll be showing you how to turn ordinary apples into exquisite-looking edible animals. More specifically, I'll be showing you how to cut an apple into a tasty, decorative swan, ...more
A little cooking mistake can lead to tough meat, spoiled food, and even a bacterial explosion in your kitchen if you're not careful. These five simple, easy-to-fix kitchen mistakes are some of the most commonly made in households around the world. Luckily, you can correct thes ...more
For me, the smoky brilliance of a good barbecue can't be beat. The way the smoke flavor seems to permeate every part of the meat is, in my opinion, the closest thing we have to food magic. Throw a piece of meat in a smoker with some select wood choices, wait a few hours, and s ...more
Okay, so you've read our guide on how to make the perfect poached egg. Maybe you've also read our tutorials on making great hard-boiled eggs and even scrambled hard-boiled eggs. Now comes the question: what's next? Well, it's time to look at what accompanies the egg. You can' ...more
There are a million (okay, slight exaggeration) ways to peel an egg, and countless numbers of tips, tricks, and hacks that are supposed to make that deviled egg appetizer you agreed to make for the party an absolute snap. More often than not, though, experiences vary... and po ...more
I am a man who enjoys a good cup of crap. Not just any crap, but the kind that makes the Seattle coffee-snob inside of me feel all warm and happy as if the sun were out (which of course it isn't.) It's the kind of crap that has traveled through the intestinal tracts of a noctu ...more
Bikes are a great form of transportation. They use human energy more efficiently than any other machine. You can keep it in your closet or hallway. You can even take it on the train in a pinch. However, this portability is also the bike's biggest draw back. If you own a bike i ...more
Single sign-on (SSO) lets users login across different sites without having to manage multiple accounts. I'm sure most of us appreciate the convenience of seeing "Sign in with …" buttons that let us login with a single username. Hackers, however, see a possible avenue for expl ...more
Paper is something we use everyday. Whenever we think about paper, mostly nothing comes to our minds more than reading and writing on paper! However, that's not all. There are lots of things that may come out of papers. Hundreds of ideas and uses that paper can MAGICALLY provi ...more
There comes a time in relationships when two people decide to move in together, and when this happens, you learn two things: Your perfect, wonderful, adorable significant other is a disgusting, messy pig. Your significant other thinks the same about you. So how do you make s ...more
Recycling things isn't nearly as efficient a means of conserving resources as reusing your waste material in it's current form. Enter this video. It will teach you how to make an awesome little trash can / waste paper basket out of perhaps the most appropriate material of all: ...more
Party centerpieces are something of a lost art, but this video will show you how to make a really original one quickly and easily. It looks like a hot air balloon, and requires only a basket, a balloon, some ribbon, and flowers.
A perfectly-roasted artichoke is a thing of beauty, but not everyone has the time (or patience) to deal with the extra fuss. So if you want an artichoke and you want it now, look no further than your ever-convenient microwave, which lets you steam one in only 10 minutes—no ste ...more
Ah, your mom’s wedding gown. You know – that 1980’s polyester monstrosity with poofy shoulders so large they’d darned near swallow your whole face that’s lurking in your folks’ basement? Yeah, that one. Well, kiddo, she kept that for you to wear on your big day. That’s right. ...more
Origami is one of the oldest art forms. The uniqueness of this art is that it is made with only a single substance, which is paper. Paper is very common and cheap material. This video describes how to make a slice of 3D origami watermelon using paper of green, white and red co ...more
If you save scraps of yarn, and have a dog, this is an easy project for you. The Mobius scarf has the advantage of not having any ends to come untied, or dangle down for your dog to trip over, or get tangled in branches and stuff. I made this one for Pepper, my 16lb rat terrie ...more
This is a great guessing game you can play at any party. You Will Need * A clear container with lid * Candy * Small toys * Nickels * Pencils * Paper * A small basket or box * Small objects or trinkets (optional) Step 1 Fill a clear container with a known amount of candy. Add ...more
Check out this DIY video tutorial from Curbly, the best place to share pictures of your home, find design ideas, and get expert home-improvement advice. Danish woven hearts are part of every kid's childhood (or they should be). When weaving, your hearts ripped as you wove or ...more
In 2018, augmented reality went from the vague promise of interesting things in the near future to tangible developments in software and hardware, proving that immersive computing is indeed the future. Traditional mobile apps on smartphones continued to maintain user attentio ...more
If you want to get to the rim more consistently in basketball, you couldn't ask for a better teacher than Manu Ginobli, an absolute king of getting to the rim off the pick & roll. Watch this video to learn how his eurostep move can get you past three defenders to the basket. ...more
Autumn is a time of year when everything looks, smells, and tastes good. The scents of cinnamon and spices are everywhere you go, and even the dead leaves that fall off the trees are pretty. In particular, the fruits and vegetables of the season are gorgeous. But let's get se ...more
As government officials scramble to contain the new coronavirus outbreak with bans on large gatherings, travel restrictions, and school closures, the rest of us have to worry about how we're going to safely purchase water, toilet paper, groceries, and other household goods dur ...more