Man Made DIY

A part of me retches at the very word 'landscaping', as if the 1/4-acre parcel I inhabit on the vast surface of our billions-of-years-old planet somehow requires a few hours per weekend of my inexpert, indifferent care. Come on; any scaping we do to the land will be obliterated by the pitiless passing of time. We might as well lie under our beds 'scaping' dust into piles.

Still, that's a tough argument to make to your neighbors when they walk past your overgrown garden, over the shin-high weeds in the sidewalk cracks, and through the 'native habitat restoration' area you call your front lawn. They don't have to say much, but even at a distance you can see the raising of eyebrows.

Not that I care that much what they think; horticultural conformism be damned. But seriously, this summer the front of our house was getting to a point that would make even the most hardened iconoclast a little embarassed. 

So, with a shrug of my shoulders and a roll of the eyes, we decided to finally do a little landscaping. It's been at least five years since we've done so much as weeding in the front, so things were a little, um, hairy. Read on to see how we improved it, and watch a video of… read more

Even the humble garden gnome has the potential for a full-on, justice-inducing, evil-butt-kicking alter ego. 

Clever guy Kris came up with a fun and easy way to transform everyday Winklebottoms and Figgleforths into slug-stomping, possum-punishing superheroes!

He used  bit of Sculpey clay, autobody filler, and some clever painting techniques for a very funny, very creative result.

File under "why didn't I think of that?!"

Superhero Garden Gnome Mod

At first, this may seem a little superfluous. But then, one of your buddies gets out the frisbee. And then the neighbor's dog comes to say hello, or someone stumbles in your direction, and your ice cold beverage is all over the ground. Honestly, I think of three times I could/would have used one of these in the last week, even though it's been raining like… read more

Spring keeps hinting it's going to show up around my house: the sun will say hello for a hour or two, the birds will test out their morning songs before disappearing, and I haven't seen one of those awful, gross and gray snow piles in the last few days. I'm looking out the window, and I can almost hear that suite from Peer Gynt that they always played in Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Sounds likes it to drop a… read more