Customers can be picky — who wants to buy something that you only kinda sorta like — so it only seems logical that companies are coming up with ways to let the consumer custom-order things like men’s dress shirts, all with a few clicks of the mouse. Enter Blank Label, a site that lets you co-create a dress shirt down to every last epaulet and cuff detail. [More]
diy
Make Your Own Pop Tarts!
By 4.30.10
Here’s a cool recipe for making your own Pop Tarts at home from SmittenKitchen. Sturdy crust, not soggy filling – the secret is a lil’ thickener – and, according to the author, “the buttery, flaky, no-toaster-required-to-soften-it transcendence the grocery store aisle version can only dream about.” It’s fun, it’s tasty, it’s HFCS-free. [More]
Make Your Own Snickers Bars!
By 4.25.10
If you’re doing something that is not as awesome as making your own Snickers bars, then we suggest you reconsider. [More]
The Sharky Tea Infuser
By 4.22.10
Me wanty this tea device, the Sharky tea infuser. You put your tea in the bottom compartment, attach the dorsal fin top, and set it afloat in your (preferably glass) cup. The effect of the tea infusing into the water from the shark appears both beautiful and exciting. In the words of the Argentinian designer Pablo Matteodo: [More]
How To Find A Good Local Bank
By 4.12.10
So you’re tired of banking at one of the big, faceless national chains and want to keep your money local? You can try one of the recent sites devoted to the local bank movement, like anewwayforward.org or moveyourmoney.info, or you can follow this Kiplinger columnist’s lead and do it yourself with a little online research. [More]
Want To Design It Before You Buy It? Try These Retailers
By 4.5.10
Mass customization isn’t really that hard to pull off anymore, if a retailer is willing to invest the time building a good interface for customers. BusinessWeek has a slideshow of 10 retailers that let you customize the product before purchasing it. You can buy sneakers, purses, shirts, and even jewelry this way, or if you’re feeling really DIY you can go to a site like Ponoko or Shapeways and have product parts made to order. [More]
Do Frozen Pantyhose Really Last Longer?
By 3.19.10
In a recent item on how you can save some cash by putting certain items in the freezer, The Daily Green’s Jeff Yeager says that his wife keeps the runs out of her pantyhose by keeping them in the icebox. [More]
How To Polish A Scratched iPhone
By 3.9.10
Replacing an iPhone is expensive, which is why this guy decided to buy a heavily used and damaged one and clean it up himself. You might find the screen replacement side too daunting, but the procedure for turning a dull, scratched case into a glossy smooth one is something pretty much anyone can do. [More]
Save Money And Energy By Insulating Your Hot Water Pipes
By 2.11.10
Are you looking something exciting to do this weekend? Why not roll up your sleeves and insulate your hot water pipes? It might not be as entertaining as throwing your cat in the snow, but it does provide more energy savings and significantly fewer wet, angry cats. [Consumer Reports Home] [More]
Mount A Laptop To An Exercise Bike So You Can Sweat While You Work
By 2.8.10
If you’re stuck to a computer all day and are getting fat because of it, you might consider making yourself a laptop shelf for your exercise bike. Apparently it’s not that difficult. Whether or not it’ll make you lose weight – that remains to be seen. [More]
Tips For Making Brownbagging More Interesting
By 1.13.10
Here’s my tip: change the definition of “brownbagging” to something dirty. But if that’s not going to catch on, and you want to continue to think of it as “bringing my lunch to school/work,” then here are a couple of tips from Wise Bread on how to avoid lunchtime boredom. [More]
Use This Hack To Refill Your Swiffer Bottle
By 1.4.10
This Instructable suggests that you drill a 5/16″ hole in the top of a Swiffer bottle, hot glue a nut over the hole and then insert a 5″16″ bolt. [More]
Self-Described Toy Tester Will Go Through Your Stuff If You Pay Her
By 12.29.09
Every time there’s a warning or recall over lead-tainted toys–and it hasn’t happened much this past year, but check out our archives from a couple of years ago–lots of people get up in arms about not being able to trust the government or big business. Well, one woman has bought herself an X-ray flourescence (XRF) analyzer and now hires her services out to worried families, reports the Washington Post. For a fee, she’ll come to your house, point her gun at your kids’ toys, your heirlooms, the fishtank, whatever you ask her to test, and then tell you whether you should throw it out. [More]
Make Your Own Zhu Zhu The Fad Robot Hamster Toy
By 12.16.09
If you have kids, you’re probably biting your nails down to the quick worrying how you’re going to find–much less pay for–this year’s super hot fad toy, Zhu Zhu the Robot Hamster. But don’t be so stupid! The thing about fad toys like Zhu Zhu is that they’re about 30% fun, 30% marketing, and 40% media hype. You can bypass all that nonsense and make your own in less than 20 minutes, and for a fraction of the cost. [More]
How To Ruin Your Jeans On The Cheap
By 10.16.09
If there’s one thing my grandmother and I agree on, aside from the fact that Marlena being possessed was a dumb storyline on Days of Our Lives, it’s that it makes no sense to pay top dollar for deliberately weakened/damaged denim. The ConsumerReports blog ShopSmart has found a website that offers tips on how to distress your jeans at home, like using a pumice stone to cut holes, or a cheese grater to create patterns.
99-Cent Cardboard iPhone Case Won't Make You Awesome
By 9.17.09
If you think 99 cents is a fair price to pay for the latest fart-simulator or “Are You a Moron?” quiz in Apple’s App Store, Case-Mate has a deal for you. The company’s Recession iPhone case is made from 100% cardboard, and sells for 99 cents — with free shipping included. Case-Mate doesn’t claim that the case is actually useful in any traditional sense of that word; the FAQ for the product makes it clear that there’s no warranty, it doesn’t include any kind of screen protector, and that it’s flammable “if you light it on fire.”
Make It Yourself
By 8.28.09
If you really want to claim the title of the most do-it-yourself Consumerist reader, you will grab this book (free PDF) and learn from it. Just don’t come back here and post about it in the comments.
Now You Can Crochet Your Own Snuggies At Home
If a Snuggie is just a blanket with sleeves, doesn’t it follow that as the crazed hybrid of a blanket and a sweater, it makes an ideal crochet project? One yarn manufacturer thinks so, and has released a free pattern which, coincidentally, requires at least $21 worth of their cheap acrylic yarn.