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Blogger: Adam Marshall
Bio: Adam Marshall, who has more tools than time and more interests than money, is the son of a crafty mom and a DIY dad. He is an anarchist who plans to rule the world one day.
Email: arespassage@gmail.com
I’m always looking for one last thing to finish up a project, something I didn’t even realize I needed when I started. Not having much of a budget to work with can be a hindrance, but there are a bunch of places I go to get cheap stuff. Check out: freecycle, craigslist, police auctions, ebay typos, cheap last minute ebay auctions, goodwill, or government liquidation. I’ve even been known to indulge in a bit of dumpster diving.
If you’re looking for easy ways to save some money, Frugal For Life is an excellent resource. There’s a lot on the website about simple ways to make your own versions of common products, make old things useful again, keep pet costs down, reuse things you’d otherwise throw away, reduce your debt, and save energy while reducing your impact on the environment.
Since 2003 a company called Technical Video Rental (basically Netflix for how-tos) has been renting out instructional videos on everything from painting to knifemaking to swimming to woodworking. Recently they’ve added more functionality to their website, including customer reviews and a personal rental history so you don’t rent the same thing more than once…unless you want to.
I discovered Tara Donovan’s artwork in a magazine a few months ago and immediately fell in love with it. She uses thousands, sometimes millions of everyday objects in unique ways that redefine how we should think about them.
After seeing a similar chess set in a book, Claude Rieth decided to build his own out of parts he purchased at a hardware store. Great project for anyone who’s lost a few pieces, or just wants a more industrial feel for their gambits.
If you’re a bibliophile like me, then you’ve got more books than shelf space. Over at instructables, juliofo’s got a great big set of “hungarian” shelves you can build on the cheap with a minimum of effort.
Related, yet essentially random fact: The name Goulash, the traditional beef stew of Hungary, was derived from the word gulya, or “cowherd”.
