DIY: Backyard dressups

If you have a backyard, there are some really cool ideas for making it a better place to hangout in this article by Peggy Wang at BuzzFeed. If you don't have a backyard, my apologies.

Of the 41 ideas Peggy (quoted below) presents, I like these.

Save your pinecones for bedding, which will keep pups and cats out of your plants.

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pinecones for bedding, BuzzFeed

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With a few long pieces of wood, you can also use cinder blocks to create an impromptu couch.

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improptu couch, BuzzFeed

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Repurpose an old chandelier as a bird feeder.

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bird feeder, BuzzFeed

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Spray paint pebbles with glow-in-the-dark paint to light a path at night.

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painted pebbles, BuzzFeed

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This insanely simple rope swing will provide hours of fun.
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rope swing, BuzzFeed

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Most of these don't need instructions; however, weeds may be a problem with the pinecone idea. Here are 8 homemade weed killers from Good Housekeeping.

-- Marge

DIY: traveling where the Sun is brutal

It sure is good to have warm, sunny days again after this horrific winter.  Road trip!

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John Cook, I-80 west of Elko, Wikimedia

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Before you venture out, it's best to prepare--especially if your path includes a desert.  If hiking, here are some tips from WikiHow.

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Sydney dust storm, WikiHow

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If you're just traversing desert-like terrain to get somewhere else, here are some survival tips in case your vehicle decides to stop and refuses to go again.

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Desert sun, Discovery News

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To get an idea of how brutal the sun can be, here's an article on sun-poisoning.

If you'd like to get a taste of what it's like to be in the desert in summer, best to join a hiking club.

-- Marge

DIY: glow stick spatter

In honor of these velvety, somewhat mysterious, warm and dark summer nights experienced by those of you closer to the equator than Alaska, here is some do-it-yourself glow stick magic to try.

Here's a glow stick lantern resembling fireflies in a jar.
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The instructions at BuzzFeed DIY are

1. Cut open a glow stick and shake the contents into a jar. Add diamond glitter.
2. Seal the top with a lid.
3. Shake.

Note that this image with and without instructions can be found at many sites on the web; two others are Curbly, "How to: Make Glowing Firefly Jars," and Emma Rae's Halloween, "The Glow of Halloween."  The identity of the original poster is a mystery.

For tips on how to handle glow sticks and their glowy contents, here's a video by Anne Helmenstine:
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If you want more official information on how safe it is to open up a glow stick, take a look at this MSDS (a PDF), found at Glowsticks Ireland.

ActiveDark has some cool ideas for glow crafts.  Here's an image of glow sticks in balloons.
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Ah, summer.

-- Marge