D.Z. Mars Creative

If you're short, or you like long pants, and you're not into high heels, you might find yourself with your pants dragging under your heels and getting wet when walking through grass.  Or, maybe you're into buying too-big pants for your kids so they can grow into them, but you don't want them tripping over their pants legs... whatever works... Here's a quick tutorial for how to make magnetic strips that keep your pants rolled up.  They're cheap and quick to make, and if you color-coordinate them with whatever you're wearing, you'll look super-awesome as well ( I made that last part up ). You will need: -A piece of felt in whatever color you want -Coordinating thread (and a needle if not using a machine) -Four super strong round magnets Cut a strip of felt about an inch to an inch and a half wide.  Make sure your magnet can sit on it and have a border around it.  The strip should be as long as you want it, plus about 2"-3" extra.  ...

That pile of "stuff" in the corner                                  If you live in a tiny place or just don't have enough storage in your home, you may end up with a pile of "stuff" in a corner. OK, it's neatly stacked up and it's in storage bins, but when it's in a room you frequent every day, it might ruin the visual appeal of the room. Here's how to make a quick fabric storage panel / curtain (also works as a freestanding headboard for a bed!), with no tools, little time, and if you plan it right, for under $45. You can probably put the whole thing together in under 20 minutes, which is great for the "instant gratification" DIY set (of which I am part). What you'll need: -A fabric shower curtain (72"x72" is standard) -Shower curtain hooks (will not be visible, so buy the cheap kind) -A rolling garment rack that stands at least 72" high and extends to about that wide (less is ok on...

I've been a good and prolific little writer as of late.  Today, I wrote an article on my Hubpages about how I built a free-standing pet gate with no tools and under $25.  I actually came up with the idea just by wandering around and around in Home Depot until the moment came to me. Click here to read the article. Here's what the finished product looks like:                                                    I'm rather proud of it.  My cats have not found a way to jump over it or move it in the week and a half  I've had it up. The best part about all this is that I can now have my bedroom door open again... haven't been able to do this since M-the-bed-peeing-cat moved in 5 years ago.  Now, in winter, my bedroom won't be 20* below zero at night!  The humidity level from the shower won't make the room turn into a mini-Juma...

                                     I was sitting here at home minding my own business when my cats began dashing back and forth across the patio slider door, slamming themselves in to the luckily cat-proof pet gate I had created for it ( click here for directions ).  On the other side of the gate, this crazy chipmunk baby was not only eating my green beans but also slamming into my screen door as the cats slammed on it from the inside..  So they were pretty much slamming noses across the screen, which, had the screen not been there, would have been bad news for the chipmunk.  There was a whole lot of slammin' going on over here, if you can't tell. Total wildlife trying to get in through my patio:  many worms (who manage to slide under  the closed glass patio door;  one bullfrog who also liked to slam repeatedly into the door to try to get in (my Prince C...

Several years back, I wrote an article on Hubpages about how to make your own no-pull dog harness.  I had actually forgotten much about it until I happened to log in to Hubpages and noticed quite a few comments and views on it.                                  Click here or on the picture to get to the article. It's not ok, according to Hubpages, for me to repost the post here, but if you're interested, the information is in the link above.  From all the comments I just noticed (today), it seems that it has helped a lot of people.  Hopefully it works for you, too!