Man Made DIY


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February 02, 2012

How to: Make a Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup Martini

I don't know what it is. Perhaps it's the obvious contrast between a childhood favorite meal and a very adult beverage, or just the pure curiousity of seeing whether a cocktail can not only taste like a savory food, but a complete meal, but I'm gonna do everything I can to make a grilled cheese and tomato soup martini.   … read more

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January 31, 2012

How to: Make DIY Record Crates (from Scratch!)

Physical music media have gone through a curious century. The vinyl album dominated for nearly 75 years, than gave way to a ten-year success of the cassette, which was left behind by the CD, with all the 8-tracks and mini-discs and other less successful technologies mixed in. And now, at least among those who are serious about music - a mix of the two extremes: digital, either as actual files or subscribed up the in cloud somewhere, and the original vinyl LP, still reknowned for its warm fideiity and large cover art.

Of course, modern furniture isn't built to house LP collections. They don't fit in contemporary milk crates, and most of those little flatpack cube-storage units are just a half-inch too small. So, it's time to build your own.   … read more

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January 30, 2012

How to: Make a Peanut Butter Cheeseburger

created at: 01/30/2012

Fifteen years ago, I first heard about peanut butter cheeseburgers, and I assumed it had to be a joke. I was at a sports bar in my hometown in Iowa that had this vile sounding concoction on the menu and my friends were adamant that I would love it.

So I ordered it, and immediately fell in love. And I've been eating them ever since.

Now whenever I tell people about this delicacy, the reactions I get tend towards the intense. But believe mepeanut butter cheeseburgers are amazing. The sweet, gooey peanut butter compliments the savory burger patty perfectly, and believe it or not, the ketchup and mustard mixed in there makes for a perfectly heavenly bite. 

If there is ever a reason to cite the "don't knock it 'til you've tried it" trope, this is the one… read more

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January 30, 2012

How to: Make Hot Chocolate on a Stick!

We've said it before, and we'll say it again: all food is better on sticks. Ice cream? Sticks, of course. Pizza? Put a stick in it. Fried chicken? Why not?

But what's even better than food on sticks? Seemingly-impossible beverages on sticks!    … read more

01601

January 27, 2012

7 Ways to Organize Your Home Office in 2012

A decade ago, office organization looked the same as it had since the advent of the personal computer: inbox/outbox, some filing cabinets, storage boxes on shelfs for extras, and drawer organizers.

Now, in the era of smart phones, tablets, multiple computers, all sorts of input devices, electronic bill pay, Stamps.com, docu-scanners... (should I keep going?), staying organized in your home office is very, very different.

Professional organizer Angela Kantarellis offers her seven roadblocks to an organized workspace in 2012, and what to do about them.   … read more

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January 27, 2012

How to: Make a Stylish Knit Tie

The neck tie can have a big effect on whatever you're wearing. It can dress up a pair of jeans, add punch to a blazer, and generally up whatever shirt you're wearing...provided it has a collar. 

But sometimes, you wanna control the "up." There are lots occassions where your finest silk is a little overkill, or that perfectly balanced double-windsor can actually make you overdressed. In those occassions, when you need just a bit of extra style, give the just-casual-enough knit tie a shot...and while you're at it, make it yourself.    … read more

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January 26, 2012

How to: Add a Refined Touch to a Bachelor Pad

The bachelor pad. That quintessential moment of adulthood. That space inhabited when one truly learns what being a grown up is like, and prepares for the eventual sharing of a home. Or perhaps it actually serves the pinnacle environment, where living alone as an adult man is the best fulfillment of identity.

Either way... it can't look like your college dorm room. Step it up a notch, guy.   … read more

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January 24, 2012

How to: Make DIY Boomerangs from Recycled Boxes

created at: 01/24/2012

 

Cheap styrofoam toy-store boomerangs have given generations of Americans, children or otherwise, the mistaken impression that building and throwing boomerangs is very difficult. This flies in the face of reason: Using less-than-ideal materials, human beings have been building, throwing, and catching boomerangs for more than 11,600 years. Boomerangs are absurdly easy to make--this is an ideal project to keep kids busy in a pinch. Learning to throw one is just a little tricky, but most of the trick is in properly tuning the boomerang.  … read more

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January 17, 2012

How to: Make a Sock Squid (and Cthulu!)

Sock squid basic

I'm warning you: the sock squid is a gateway fiber project. Today you're thinking "I'm just gonna sew this one little fella to give to my buddy, sort of almost as a gag gift," and before you know it you'll be lining laptop sleeves in microfiber and crocheting iPhone jackets.  It is a sickness, and it starts be snipping slits in socks and learning a couple simple hand stitches.

The sock squid was my first sock animal experiment… read more

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January 10, 2012

Make a DIY Modern, Dieter Rams - Inspired CD & iPod Stereo

created at: 01/10/2012

ManMade reader and graphic design student Brandon Rampelt recently created an original DIY magazine for a school project. He got an A (good work, Brandon!), no doubt due in part to this great original how-to project: a Dieter Rams-inspired (with a dose of Jacob Jensen) clock stereo, made out of thrift store junk and a basic box from the craft store. Brandon was kind enough to write and and allow us to share the complete tutorial so you can whip one up yourself on the cheap. That's a lot of design (and rock!) bang for the buck.

Here's how to do it:     … read more

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