MacGyverisms Features
How To: 5 Crafty and Unique Ways to Make Your Own Seed Starters
One thing that's very crucial to gardening is the seed starter. Seed starters are very important for a number of reasons, including the fact that is an excellent way to make sure your seeds survive in their own little environment until you’re ready to transfer them to your garden. Plus, it is very rewarding to grow plants from seeds (versus transplanting).
How To: 10 Holiday Life Hacks You Need to Know for a Merrier Christmas
Holidays can be challenging, especially around Christmastime—but not if you invoke your inner MacGyver spirit. In my latest "life hacks" guide, I show you 10 amazing tips and tricks that'll hopefully make your holiday season a little more merry.
How To: Make a Picture Frame Jewelry Organizer
Frustrated with how to organize your jewelry? Why not make your own jewelry organizer! In this episode, learn how to make a frame to transform an ordinary picture frame into a DIY jewelry organizer, using easy to find materials and simple tools. You will be able to store your jewelry on the wall, out of sight, while at the same time displaying a beautiful photo. Having decorative items like this DIY jewelry holder that also function as storage is perfect for small space decorating.
How To: Make Your Headphones More Comfortable with Caulk Backer Rods
There are quite a few different types of headphones, and they all have their fair share of both pros and cons. Circumaural (full-size) headphones typically have better sound quality, but the in-ear kind are much more convenient to wear on the go.
DIY Hack: Fix Your Stubborn, Hard-to-Close Door with a Couple Toothpicks
Toothpicks can be surprisingly handy when it comes to woodworking and fixing small household problems like stripped screw holes and scratched furniture. They can also be used as a quick fix for a hard-to-close door that has to be forced or slammed shut.
How To: Organize Your Odds and Ends with These Easy DIY Magnetic Bins
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 something in there one rainy day.
News: How to Dry Herbs at Home with Two Fans and Air Filters
Home cooks know firsthand what it takes to make delicious and amazing food for friends and family. One of the most effective ingredients to making foods as delicious as possible is herbs.
How To: Next Time You Fly, Hack Your Barf Bag into a Smartphone Holder and Watch Your Own Movies
There are so many unpleasant things about flying. You have to wait in line after line, take off your shoes, belt, and jewelry, and somehow make sure your luggage stays intact. And then, once you've made it onto the plane, there are the awful movies that most airlines play—if you even get a movie.
How To: Build a Tiny LED Flashlight Out of Nuts, Bolts, and Washers
A flashlight is one of those things you rarely need, but hardly ever have when you do. The normal-sized ones are unwieldy to carry around, and the small ones that you keep in a purse or car are easy to lose.
Shave Smarter: 6 Ways to Save Money on Replacement Razor Blades Cartridges
I've never understood the phrase "smooth as a baby's bottom" to describe a really close shave. I mean, have you ever touched a baby's cheek? It's even smoother and a lot more sanitary. It just doesn't spew off the tongue as nice.
How To: Keep Your Dog Entertained All Day Long with the Fetch-O-Matic Ball Launcher
Dogs make great best friends, but anyone who's had one knows they can be the most high-maintenance friend you've ever had. Bathroom breaks, feeding schedules and walks are only the beginning. Even if you make your dog organic treats and teach it neat tricks, it still needs to play. And after that fifth game of fetch, your arm can get pretty tired.
How To: Turn an Old Gooseneck Lamp into a Flexible Smartphone Stand
Need a good way to hold your iPhone up? There are a ton of smartphone stands out on the market, but they can be pricey or just downright ugly—and potentially phone damaging. But like the Une Bobine above, they do have their perks, like movability at almost any angle. But to alleviate pressure off of the connection port, Sharon Vaknin from CNET developed her own flexible iPhone stand—from an old desk lamp and suction cup.
How To: Mod an Oatmeal Container into a Paper Towel Dispenser
Paper towels are really cool. I like having them around for quickly cleaning up messes and what not. However, I do not have a stand or something similar for my paper towels, so it can sometimes get a bit taxing to pick up the roll and unravel it every time I need a towel.
News: How to Make a Cheap Tripwire Alarm for Paintball Battles
Want to make your paintball wars a whole lot better? Then build this DIY Tripwire Alarm from Kipkay using a mousetrap and some caps from a toy cap gun. This won't harm anyone, and is a cool way to scare the heck out of your friends.
How To: Hassle-Free Shirt Folding in Seconds with This DIY Clothes Folder
Isn't laundry day the worst? You have to pack all your dirty, stinky clothes into a laundry bin. Then, you have to lug the often-times heavy bin all the way to wherever it is you have to do clothes. If you have a big family, like I do, then you might even have more than one bin.
How To: Declutter Your Kitchen Counter with These DIY Magnetic Knife Strips
Magnetic knife strips are really handy. They allow for the removal of that huge knife block on your countertop, freeing up valuable counter space. They allow for easy access to your knives as you can mount them pretty much wherever you want. Plus, they look really cool, too!
How To: Make DIY Decorative Shell Dresser Knobs
A quick way to revamp an old dresser is to change out the knobs for some new decorative ones. Here’s an easy and budget-friendly way to make your very own DIY dresser knobs using shells – perfect if you’re looking to add a little bit of the beach to your decor: What you’ll need: shells (I got mine from the Dollar Store), nuts & washers, bolts (about 1 to 1.5 inches longer than the thickness of the shell), scrap rigid cardboard, rubber bands and epoxy glue.
How To: Recycle Your Kid's Crayon Nubs into Bigger, Cleaner Pushup Crayons
If you have children, then you know firsthand how many crayons parents end up buying. There is no such thing as using a crayon until it disappears. Kids use crayons until they are a nub, and then they toss the crayon aside, never to use it again.
How To: Make a Super Cheap Floating Beer & Soda Pool Cooler
Being in a cool pool on a hot day—it doesn't get much better than that, right? Well, unless you also have some ice-cold drinks to go along.
How To: Organize Your Cable Clutter with Sugru & Mini LEGO People
No matter how organized your workspace is, chances are you still wind up with tangled cords dangling off your desk. Sure, there are a lot of ways to keep your cables separate, from strategically placed binder clips to stretchy socks, but none are as fun as using a LEGO minifigure.
How To: Never Lose the Detachable AC Plug to Your MacBook's Power Adapter Ever Again
Apple's power adapters have had their fair share of criticism. Some users complain that the magnets aren't strong enough, others say the adapters overheat and just stop working, and there was even a class action lawsuit over fraying issues.
How To: Infuse Homemade Cooking Oils in Soda Bottle Containers
Flavored oils are amazing. They add a new flavor and depth to dishes not possible with plain oil. Most unfortunately, however, flavored oils almost always come with a hefty price tag to reflect their deliciousness and to capitalize on the general cluelessness of the public.
How To: Spice Up Your Kitchen with This DIY Magnetic Steel Rule Spice Rack
Spices are a necessary ingredient in any kitchen. It doesn't matter how good of chef you are—without proper spices, your food will always fall flat.
How To: Illuminate a Wheelchair for Safety Using EL Wire & LED Strip
I always found that those safety lights for bicyclists on the market were never good enough when riding in the dark. That got me thinking about people who use wheelchairs and how unsafe the night could be when they want to go out. So here's what I came up with:
How To: Make Neon Children's Umbrella Using EL Wire
Here's a children's umbrella lined with neon green EL wire. It's definitely an easy and fun project for kids to do with their parents, and more importantly, it keeps the little mischiefs safer if they're out and about on rainy days.
How To: Cook a Stoveless Grilled Cheese Sandwich
Everyone loves grilled cheese sandwiches! They're delicious, portable, and evoke images of your childhood. They really are the ultimate comfort food.
How To: Make a Dry Erase Board That'll Fold Up to Fit in Your Pocket
There's so much you can do with packing tape (besides packing). You can use it to seal art designs, turn everyday objects into sculptures, and even transfer photos. Or, if you have some index cards, you can turn them into a DIY dry-erase board that folds up and fits in your pocket like Redditor robertgfthomas did.
How To: Stop Squashing Bananas—Make Your Fruit Indestructible with This DIY Banana Case!
I've had a thing against bananas ever since Mario Kart; not only do I believe it's the worst weapon in the game, but it's also a very funny-looking food. Nevertheless, bananas are a great source of potassium, and I can't overlook that.
How To: Turn a Pair of Pants into a Lightweight Emergency Backpack
If you're an avid camper or hiker, you've probably been in a situation where you've needed a backpack and not had one. Maybe you brought one and it got broken or lost, or maybe your day trip turned into an overnighter. Whatever the reason, if you're in a pinch and have an extra pair of pants, you can turn them into a super lightweight emergency backpack. This trick was thought up by Instructables user Ludvicka and only requires some thick string or cord (besides the pants, of course).
News: How to Make an R2D2 Trash Can
Check out this tutorial that details how to make an ordinary trashcan into an awesome Star Wars one! R2D2 trashcan.
How To: Mod a Pill Organizer into a Camping-Size Spice Shaker
Camping is wonderful isn't it? You get to go out into the wild, build a fire, pitch a tent, and tell ghost stories. My favorite part about camping isn't any of those things, though. No, the best part about camping in my opinion is the food. Whether it be planking freshly caught fish, roasting hot dogs, melting s'mores, or cooking hobo dinners, the food is always the most memorable part of camping to me because you get to eat stuff outside of the norm.
How To: Make Your Own Single-Use Packs of Antibiotic Ointment (Or Any Other Substance)
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...
How To: Fuse a Grater and Used Milk Jug into a DIY Shredded Cheese Catcher
Cheese makes everything better. It's just a fact. Sandwiches, burritos, and even plain bread all get a benefited flavor quotient when cheese is involved.
How To: Make Toast Cooler by Modding a VHS Player into a Working Toaster
Toasters can do so much more than toast bread. A toaster oven can make your Halloween jack-o'-lanterns look pretty creepy, and you can even mod one into a reflow oven. But what about a regular ol' toaster? Well, you can turn one into a working NES console—or you can keep its bread-toasting functionality by just making it look cooler, like Instructables user lemonie did with his VHS player toaster mod.
How To: Fix a Camera's Broken Lens Hood Using Peanut Butter (Sort Of)
One of the most disappointing experiences ever is when you save all your money for a really expensive gadget—and then break it. Whether it happens the day you buy it, or years later, it's always frustrating.
How To: Make a DIY Magnetic Hammer
So simple yet so brilliant: Designer Jung Soo Park found a way to improve a “run of the mill” hammer by incorporating a magnet at the end of the handle. It holds a few nails while you’re working and if you drop a few on the floor, the magnet makes it easier to pick them up.
News: How to Make an Amazing Pac-Man Shower Curtain!
Check out this How-to from Craftnerdy that shows you how to make an amazingly nerdy shower curtain in the likeness of Pac-Man. Get your nerd craft on! Pacman is Watching you Shower O.o.
May the Fourth Be with You: 4 Ways to Celebrate Star Wars
A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, a man by the name of George Lucas wrote an amazing trilogy about a new world and the power of the Force… and then subsequently ruined the franchise 22 years after the original release date.
How To: Make a Yarn Dispensing Display Out of a Cardboard Box and Dowels
Yarn is very useful! If you know how to knit or crochet, you can make everything from clothing to backpacks. But when making large items from yarn, such as a blanket, it can be a bit of a hassle to have to change yarn bundles every time you want a different color or thickness.
News: How to Make a WALL-E Toy from Junk
You have to see this amazing tutorial on how to make a WALL-E toy from junk just lying around your house. Literally. This is ingenious! Filth Wizardry: Home made recycled WALL-E.