Grow and Make DIY Maker Blog

Easter Egg Crafts for Children & Adults

Decorating eggs is a great way to bring the whole family together, and the egg has been celebrated as a symbol of spring in many cultures around the world. Here are a few techniques that inspired us! We have included coloring pages for the young, and some more complicated skills for older individuals.

DIY Video: Making Italian Cheeses at Home

In this video we introduce the process and steps for making mozzarella and ricotta cheeses at home.

Why Use Mineral Based Makeup?

DOES MINERAL MAKEUP REALLY WORK? By Contributing Editor Andrea Fox Mineral make-up is very popular because it is lighter than liquid make-up, and because some brands are free of parabens, silicones, dyes, preservatives, fragrances, and other synthetics, they heavily...

Make a Pannier Bike Bag with a Bucket

By Contributing Editor Kristina Strain Rather than shell out the bucks for a clunky metal bike basket, why not fashion your own out of repurposed materials? A homemade bucket pannier requires only two ingredients and a few basic tools, and it's a far greener option...

Soap Nuts: Do they work for laundry?

By Contributing Editor Kristina Strain I must admit I was skeptical as I extracted four funny-looking, gummy round seedpods from a drawstring cotton bag. These, so-called soap nuts, were supposed to clean my laundry? I poked around in my laundry basket. Blueberry...

Make Your Own Green Cleaning Products – DIY Sustainable Cleaning

By Contributing Editor Kristina Strain Formulas for basic cleaning products have been around for hundreds of years. Before capitalism got involved, people kept clean houses using mostly soap and water. The companies, of course, would have you believe otherwise,...

How to measure your carbon footprint

Calculating your carbon footprint: The first step in understanding your impact on the planet Practically all of our daily activities affect the environment, from the consumption of natural resources to the disposal of our household waste. By now we all...

How to Make Deodorant at Home

DIY Deodorant you can make at home By Contributing Editor Sola Andenekan When I think of my deodorant, I'm constantly reminded of the little 3 oz plastic bottle. I'm always aghast when I throw those empty containers away knowing that I have just contributed to a...

How to roast coffee beans at home

In this article we’ll teach you how to roast coffee at home. It’s a great way to both save money and produce a coffee to your own liking. With some experimentation you can create your own ‘signature roast’. I consider myself a coffee snob and was paying $12 a pound for one of my favorite blend and roasts.

A Foragers Salad

By Contributing Editor Nancy Hulse This past fall, we started a new bed in a shaded area along our driveway. We planted some red-twigged dogwood, ornamental grasses, several types of groundcover and mulched it heavily with compost. But the reality of any newly planted...

PLAN YOUR GARDEN: DRAW A SHADE MAP

If you're starting to plan a new garden, one of the first things to do is to establish where you'll find the maximum sun throughout the growing season. Especially if you're gardening in a small area, existing trees and structures cast shadows that can have a big...