Home Made Plastic

One of the best things about Android phones is that they are much more readily customizable when compared to the iPhone, but for newcomers and recent iOS defectors, Android can be a bit overwhelming. Getting familiar with the many widgets, multiple home screens, and tons of o ...more

These days, there is hardly a place in America that doesn't have access to the internet. But with web usage fees and ridiculous cell phone provider contracts, sometimes it's still necessary to go a little DIY when it comes to staying connected. If you have a Windows 7 or 8 co ...more

If you can think of a piece of junk, someone has probably found a way to turn it into a lamp. Granted, sometimes the result is more functional than beautiful, but DIY lighting is probably one of the most versatile projects you can take on. From string to a can of tuna, the li ...more

The lock screen is your friend. It shows you the most basic information (time, date, battery life) and hides your apps and contacts until you wish to access them. But the lock screen is also a great place to open up commonly used apps very quickly. And that's where Shipoopi co ...more

The great thing about Android's customization is that you can either clutter up your home and lock screen with an infinite amount of awesome features and tweaks—or choose more of a stripped down minimalistic look. If you're someone who leans more towards a minimalistic look, a ...more

Most people need their morning pick-me-up to get the day started right. There's a Starbucks on every corner and caffeine "shots" are sold in convenience stores everywhere. Even Mountain Dew is getting in on the action with its new KickStart "breakfast" drink (whatever that mea ...more

You may or may not have heard the term "greebles" or "kit-bashing" before, but if not, they may sound like nonsense. Particularly 'greebles', which sounds more like the name of a small, gremlin-like creature. However, I assure you that they are very important in prop-making, a ...more

As our society and population grows, more developments such as housing and restaurants are built. While this is beneficial for us, it's not so great for the environment and the animals that occupy it. Some of the victims of our prosperity have been the birds, forced from their ...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

I actually have a lot of shoes, and putting them on the floor in my closet just makes for a very large mess, and makes it harder to find a matching pair. So, this simple yet cool DIY shoe storage is actually something I could benefit from doing. This project shouldn't be too d ...more

Tons of people listen to music while going to sleep, but some don't like to leave it playing all night. If you hate waking up in the middle of the night and having to turn off your music, why not make your smartphone do it for you? For Android users, there's a free app called ...more

Thanks for stopping by to view my Apple Lightning to Micro USB adapter review. The unit comes in a low profile cardboard box and some misc documentation -none of which appear to include any instructions but I think I can figure out how to use it. The adapter is small and well ...more

Google is constantly adding new ways to do things quicker on its devices. Everything from multi-screen capabilities to lock-screen widgets has been added to the new updates of the Android OS, making its devices very powerful and efficient. Something that Android hasn't paid mu ...more

If you happen to have a bunch of empty glass jars lying around your home, the gift-giving possibilities are endless. Love to bake? You can bake pies, cupcakes, cakes, and bread directly into the jar. Or you can mix the dry ingredients in the jar and include recipe instruction ...more

There are plenty of ways to speed up your wireless network at home, some as simple as changing the placement of your router. While you can always buy equipment to boost your signal, there are plenty of cheap or free DIY solutions you can try as well. Danilo Larizza shares a n ...more

When money's tight and you're tired of re-watching and re-watching your gigantic DVD collection, there's always live television. Of course, you probably don't have cable, which means you're resorting to a homemade antenna like this to get broadcasted channels in your area. But ...more

As we approach the holiday (i.e. gift-giving) season, don't forget to make sure to include the usual notes in your gifts indicating that they can be returned. Otherwise, you'll just cause the recipients to save your gifts until they can be properly regifted onto some other ung ...more

So, you finally got the Jelly Bean update on your Samsung Galaxy S III, but one little problem—you've got some red glow around the edges of your screen now. Is your phone messed up? No, it's just a tiny glitch that some users have been reporting after updating their Galaxy S3s ...more

Whether it's forgetting your driver's license or misplacing your cell phone, forgetting things at home can be a pain in the butt. Car keys, wallet, purse, papers, sunglasses—the list can go on. Sometimes I even surprise myself at the important things I forget... Oops. One of ...more

The car is arguably one of the worst places to receive a text message. You know you can't resist looking, and when you do, your attention is no longer on driving, it's on reading the latest gossip or whatever. You take your eyes of the road for just a few seconds and you could ...more

Ever since the mid-2000s, there's been a lot of bandying back and forth on the Internet over what exactly Steampunk is. Some people think it's one thing, others another thing, and some think that it shouldn't be defined at all. To hell with all of that! I polled some Steampun ...more

Though silica gel packets clearly instruct you to throw them away (and not eat them), you can actually keep them for a variety of unexpectedly practical uses around the home. Silica gel is a desiccant, a substance that absorbs moisture, which makes these packets perfect for ke ...more

One of the biggest downsides to the iPhone is that it isn't as easy to customize as other smartphones. It's true that this makes Apple products more secure in some ways, but it also means that you have to jailbreak your phone and void your warranty if you want to change certai ...more

There are tons of ways to make a macro lens for your smartphone, but if you need one for a DSLR, it's not quite as simple as using a magnifying glass or a drop of water. If you have an old kit lens, though, you can turn it into a macro lens in no time—all you have to do is rem ...more

A faulty or broken thermostat can be one of the most annoying things to ever happen to your house. It's always too hot or too cold, and you can end up wasting money on your electricity bill. That's where Android Thermostat comes in. It's an open-source project that lets you ...more

There seems to be a renewed interest of late in the great beyond that is space. After the Red Bull Space Jump and the retirement of space shuttle Endeavor, space is kind of cool again. The easiest way to get in on the astronomy action at home is to check out the starry skies ...more

Getting the task done as quickly as possible is usually the goal for most things in life. Well, most things. That's why efficiency is the first and main component of the McDonaldization of our society. When working on your smartphone, having to deal with lag and slow applicat ...more

There are plenty of things you can use at home to make your own rocket, like sugar, matchsticks, or even trash. They may not be as impressive as a real rocket, but they can still be a lot of fun. In this video, How To Lou shows how he made a high-flying water rocket out of som ...more

If you've ever wondered how paper gets recycled, find out for yourself by turning your used, unwanted paperwork into fresh homemade paper that you can use again. Any type of paper can be recycle, whether it's used computer paper, paper grocery bags, or old flyers. Using a ble ...more

If you are like most people, you probably have a lot of used computer paper lying around at your home or in your office. Before you toss them directly into the recycling bin (which you should at least be doing if you're going to be getting rid of them), what are some crafty an ...more

Steampunk scientists, there's a new spectrometer for your workshop, and it's called the iPhotometer 5. Video: . If you don't know already, a spectrometer is an instrument used to identify unknown materials by measuring light properties over a specific portion of the electromag ...more

Dried out markers are the worst. They take up space, and for some reason, even though they're totally useless, most of us have at least a few lying around just for the sake of not throwing them out. Luckily, Julie Finn over at Crafting a Green World has come up with a way to r ...more

A few weeks ago, we saw a simple 128 inch DIY Projector Screen that looked like a pro built it—and it only cost $200. But this one is even cheaper, and looks just as good. It's also simpler because it's painted right onto the wall. In the video below, How To Lou shows us how t ...more

Old newspapers come in handy for many different uses around the house, from birdcage liners to shipping cushioning and even a little fish cooking. But for backyard rocket scientists like Markus Bindhammer, they're more suitable as an ingredient for rocket propellant. Video: . ...more

Admit it—at some point or another, you've wished that you had your own personal hovercraft. Don't worry, we've all been there. Well, a company called Aerofex wants to make a hovercraft that's way more than your standard leaf-blower-powered one, taking a queue from the swoop an ...more

André Broessel of rawlemon has developed a solar energy generator that can use both sun and moonlight to create usable power. Oh... and it's gorgeous. The device is essentially a huge glass sphere filled with water that uses a ball lens to refract light in a way that increases ...more

Believe it or not, it's possible to make your very own lava—if you have a furnace capable of heating up to 1,200 degrees Celsius, that is. Bob Wysocki and Jeff Karson started the Syracuse University Lava Project to study basaltic lava and give students a hands-on way (hypothet ...more

Pyromania is definitely nothing new on WonderHowTo. From flamethrowers and hydrogen fireballs, to flame-making pistons and wine corks, to simply burning steel wool fireworks and DIY smoke mix, we've covered it all. But when pyromaniacal mad scientists feel the need to release ...more

We've all played with bubbles as kids, but I think most would agree that they're not exactly the most functional of objects. An international team of researchers made up of Yoichi Ochiai, Alexis Oyama and Keisuke Toyoshima wants to change that. They've figured out how to proje ...more

Projector screens can be pretty expensive, depending on the size and quality you're looking for. If you're thinking of installing one and want to save some money, you can build a pretty decent one yourself with just a few simple materials. Redditor dodgeboy made this 128" DIY ...more

Hello! Today I would like to share the process of making your own natural marigold cream. The product does not contain any (artificial) chemical elements and therefore can be called natural. Step 1: Ingredients For approximately 5 average sized plastic cups (you can also use ...more

For his thesis at Design Academy Eindhoven, artist/designer Tuomas Markunpoika Tolvanen created this incredible chair using tubular steel cut into thin rings. How did he get them to stay that way? He burned them. His project is called Engineering Temporality, and the inspirati ...more

Back in 2008, media artist Kyle McDonald created a 3D interface that could track movement, which he turned into a virtual Tic-tac-toe game. Video: . In this tutorial, MAKE teaches us how to build one at home using cardboard, aluminum foil, an Arduino, and some basic parts from ...more

Those new Nexus 7's sure are nice. Unfortunately, a number of those shiny new tablets have a manufacturing issue that makes the screen uneven with the bezel. Google's solution is to have you send it back in, but why waste your time considering the problem can be fixed by simpl ...more

In 1958, Patrick Flanagan invented the Neurophone, a device patented in 1962 that allows radio signals to be picked up by the human nervous system. The skin is the organ that receives the signal, converting it into a modulated molecular vibration, which the brain interprets in ...more

If you've ever found yourself wandering about a room, holding your phone up to the sky searching for a signal, this is just the trick for you. Edward from Redmond Pie found a great way to configure the readout with just a simple phone call, making your iPhone display its exact ...more

Want to make your own soda or maybe just bring a dull one back to life? Homemade sodas don't always live up to the store bought ones because they can taste flat by comparison. This quick and easy method makes super fizzy drinks with only four ingredients. Because putting dry i ...more

When it comes to milk, my family consumes anywhere between two and four gallons every two weeks. That's about four to eight gallons every month. That's a lot of milk—and a lot of empty milk jugs! Instead of simply tossing them in the recycling bin, why not get creative and mak ...more

Unless you're living in some weird parallel universe where plug-in light bulbs are the norm for household lighting, chances are you've had to unscrew a light bulb every now and then. Sometimes, replacing those burnt out Edison-based bulbs can be tricky, particularly in high c ...more

Incredible. A company called Berry Plastics (in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) has developed a working bomb proof wallpaper. The technology has the ability to protect against both natural disasters and warfare. From Popsci: "X-Flex...is designed for use a ...more

So, I suppose we're going both redneck and Thanksgiving turkey twice today (Redneck Slingshot Chick + Extreme Thanksgiving Recipes). Something about home for the holidays inspires... and this is pretty darn great. USA Today posts a HowTo from the book Manifold Destiny (by Chr ...more

Remember Grandma-approved eco-friendly mud graffiti? London native Helen Nodding has taken a similar approach: non-destructive moss graffiti. Helen was inspired by the cold hard steel, glass, and concrete of the city: "I’m always cheered up when I see weeds pushing through a ...more

Most DIY freaks do-it-themselves because they love it. Because they're curious, creative, and like to take the long road (or figure out an ingenious short cut). In the case of Chewang Norphel (aka the Ice Man), the need to do-it-himself was a little more dire: the survival of ...more

Anna The Red is the greatest Bento artist I have come across on the web. She's so highly regarded she even did an ad for Google. Check it out: For those of you who don't know, Bento is a "single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine". When bento is arr ...more

Apple's new iOS 16 software update is finally here, and there are over 350 new features and changes for you to enjoy on your iPhone. There are major lock screen and home screen improvements, a pleasant surprise for the Contacts app, and tons of new upgrades to Safari, Mail, Me ...more

Apple doesn't include its Calculator app on the iPad and never did. One almost appeared over 12 years ago but was nothing more than a blown-up version of the iPhone app. Since then, the company still hasn't made an iPad-optimized calculator, and there is no shortage of third-p ...more

There has been drag-and-drop functionality for iPhone since at least iOS 11, but iOS 15 adds a new ability that makes essential emails even easier to find when you need them. I'm not a big fan of flagging emails in Mail because assigning colors is as organized as it gets. You ...more

Back in Android 9, Google took away the expanding mini-menu for Bluetooth connections. The way it used to be, you could long-press the Bluetooth toggle in your Quick Settings, then the panel would turn into a fast-access menu for Bluetooth settings. It was a fairly minor featu ...more

Progressive Web Apps hope to one day bridge the gap between websites and apps by giving the former more access to your phone's features, but they're not very common yet. In the meantime, you can take matters into your own hands with an app that uses your system WebView to rend ...more

They say you're supposed to keep your kids away from screens until they're at least three years old. They say a lot of stuff, but then real life happens and your toddler watches a little TV while you're working from home during a pandemic. Confession time, that happened to me ...more