Man Made DIY

Interested in adding some color to your home, but your landlords won't let you paint? Me too...(except I usually just paint, and ask for forgiveness later.)

Instead of grabbing a gallon at the hardware store,… read more

ManMade reader Lizzie has a "manly husband," Ryan, that she often sends here to trick him into doing DIY and decor projects. It's even worked several times, she says. "In fact, he 'allowed' me to take his fingerprint the other day so that I can make some fingerprint art which is the coolest thing ever.  They're all Illustrator'd up and ready to print!"

As apartment dwellers, Lizzie and Ryan were facing the standard the rental-agreement-says-you-can't-do-anything-awesome-to-where-you-live woes. Unless, of couse, it's temporary. So they came up with this awesome copper penny wall treatment that gives tons of color, texture, and detail to the space. And when they're ready to move? They can just take out a few nails and it's like they were never there.

Lizzie was gracious enough to share the process here, so read on to see how they completed this awesome project.  … read more

Designer Brendan Ravenhill's last creation, The Wall Clamp, is one of those brilliantly-obvious ideas that I wish I would have come up with: A C-clamp that screws onto the wall, turning any flat object into a shelf.   … read more

Recently, Elsie thrifted an awesome vintage paint-by-numbers landscape. Which is pretty awesome in itself, though maybe just a tad too kitschy. So, she transformed it into a text-based stunner featuring a song lyric from one her favorite bands with barely any effort.   … read more

Recently, ReadyMade hosted the RM100, a "contest to celebrate 100 ingenious and beautiful DIY projects submitted to their host of savvy judges." My favorite of the bunch is this clever, easy, and big-impact oversized cross stitch art. I love the colors, and the 3D effect created with two layers of stitches.