A practical and attractive handbook with more than 850 essential life skills to get anything done faster and easier The editors and scientists at Good Housekeeping and its lab, the Good Housekeeping Institute, share genius solutions and trusted, expert advice in this how-to guide to making life simpler. With chapters on the kitchen, organizing and cleaning, decorating, home maintenance, outdoor living, and entertaining and celebrating, this go-to resource offers step-by-step illustrated instructions, inspiring photos and sometimes surprising but always practical guidance to get things done. Plus, you'll save time and money and even have fun along the way. The 850+ skills include how to: Store and make your own spice mixes Clean your house in 15 minutes Seal a drafty window Remove water rings from your tables Perk up a grocery-store bouquet Sew a button Plant an outdoor herb garden (and keep herbs fresh after they are picked!) Make the perfect boiled egg Uncork champagne Cure a hangover and so much more! QR codes throughout the pages offer additional lessons and video instruction. Whatever home means to you, this book is brimming with invaluable know-how to keep your home in tip-top shape and to help you inject more fun and flair into your every day.

A step-by-step guide that gives any gardener all the information needed to make garden furnishings that are both simple and beautiful. This book includes 50 complete plans for trellises, raised beds, planters, window boxes, and just about any imaginable project you can make to train and display plants in your garden and around your home. Featured projects are created using a host of easily found materials, including wood, metal, hypertufa, upcycled barrels, clay pots, sticks, latticework, copper tubing, re-rod, wire, landscape timbers, retaining wall block, and natural stone. Each plan includes photographs, a scaled plan drawing, cutting and shopping lists, and thorough step-by-step instructions.

Inside this book you ll find ingenious plans for making wildly inspired mechanical marvels from wood. These working wooden wonders might just be the most enjoyable projects you ever build in your shop! Well-illustrated step-by-step projects are arranged by skill level from beginner to advanced, with full-sized patterns attached to the book in a handy pouch. Projects range from a Rapid-Fire Rubber Band Gun and a Kicker Treat Gumball Machine, to whirligigs and classic automatons for cowboys, ballerinas, cats, ships, and more. Create fun games and toys for the whole family, and discover the secrets of kinetic sculpture to build your own interactive wooden gear machine. Learn from woodworking experts like: Clayton Boyer Bob Gilsdorf Dug North Richard Packer David Wakefield ...and many more!"

From hand-forged axes of the Viking conquests to the American homesteader's felling axe, this is a tool that has shaped human history like few others. American Axe pays tribute to this iconic instrument of settlement and industry, with rich history, stunning photography, and profiles of the most collectible vintage axes such as The Woodslasher, Keen Cutter, and True Temper Perfect. Combining his experiences as a forester, axe collector, and former competitive lumberjack, author Brett McLeod conveys the allure of this deceptively simple woodcutting implement and celebrates the resurging interest in its story and use.

Find Success in the Real Estate Market "Tracy has nailed all the critical check-offs for successful buying or selling. It's a game changer for our industry." -Mauricio Umansky, founder/CEO of The Agency #1 Bestseller in Moving & Relocation Top residential real estate agent Tracy McLaughlin reveals how buyers and sellers can get the best price possible-by understanding how the real estate market really works. Buying and selling houses. Because most people only enter the real estate market once a decade or less, few really know how it works. The housing market elicits a lot of emotions, from excitement to anxiety. Oftentimes, this blinds us to the realities of how the market actually works. Tracy McLaughlin is here to help. From those buying their first home to sellers with some experience, this book is packed with essential advice. A roadmap for buyers and sellers. In nearly all real estate sales, buyers and sellers leave behind thousands or even hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars on the table. As frightening as this reality is, it continually happens because one simple decision, among the countless made during the entire process, can greatly impact the outcome of the transaction. Bridging the gap between information and expertise. Buyers and sellers have greater access to information and even the ability to direct the sales process, but most people still lack a key aspect: expertise. By presenting an inside view on sales, McLaughlin provides a guide for optimizing the sale and purchase of homes. Inside find: Detailed guidelines for how to save money and make money Advice for finding the right real estate agent The real estate for dummies book every home buyer or seller needs If you've looked for guidance in books such as Dream Home, Nolo's Essential Guide to Buying Your First Home, or Home Buying Kit For Dummies, then you'll find more of what you're looking for in Real Estate Rescue by Tracy McLaughlin.

Lee, a well-known tool manufacturer, covers the practical and technical information to sharpen tools quickly, efficiently and safely. Descriptive photos, clear line drawings and step-by-step instructions show exactly how to improve the performance and safety of any cutting tool. 255 photos.

Mice make wonderful carving subjects. Their high-speed antics and busy, scampering ways always attract attention and are the stuff of countless stories. The carving project presented here features an industrious mouse who, having gathered up a plump strawberry for dinner, has paused to enjoy the cooling shade of a strawberry leaf before heading home. The mouse, strawberry, and strawberry leaf are carved separately from unseasoned (or green) white pine. Over 230 color photographs and clear, concise instructions guide the reader through each and every step, making the process both enjoyable and rewarding. Techniques for soldering brass, placing glass eyes, and applying color stains to the finished mouse accompany the wood carving instructions. Twenty-one patterns and a color gallery of additional storybook mice caught in the midst of their busy lives are provided to fire the imagination. Carvers with basic skills will enjoy the challenges and advanced carvers will find David's detail work fascinating.

Projects made easy is a guide for making metal items and furniture. It has easy to follow step-by-step instructions that will help you tackle welding techniques, even if you have never welded before. Profusely illustrated with more than 350 colour photographs, the title introduces you to different types of metalworking techniques and the best tools and equipment that you can use. There are also helpful hints for cutting and bending metal, and you will see exactly how to make a variety of jigs. The most common finishing techniques and paint finishes that you can use on metal are well illustrated. These include popular contemporary techniques like faux verdigris and fake rust finishes. There are more than 17 different items of varying complexity that you can make just by following the step-by-step projects that are illustrated. All materials and the tools required for each project are listed and explained. Suitable finishes are suggested. If you enjoy making your own designs, you can adapt the different projects to create your very own furniture and stylish accessories. The range of projects includes a table and a chair, candlesticks, lamps, a garden bench, burglar bars and security gates, as well as a handy wine rack, a mirror and an attractive plant stand. The items range from very simple, ideal for the beginner, to relatively difficult.

The updated and highly illustrated guide to understanding how just about everything in your house works! The revised and updated third edition of How Your House Works is a hands-on guide that gives you the low-down on why your faucet is leaking, your dishwasher is overflowing, or your furnace is on the fritz. This comprehensive book is your reference to virtually everything in your house with richly illustrated explanations of electrical systems, heating and air conditioning, plumbing, major household appliances, foundation, framing, doors, and windows. This must-have book answers most questions homeowners face when repairs are needed or when a new house or addition is in your future. How Your House Works is filled with easy-to-understand illustrations that show how things should be put together and how they function. The book also highlights issues outside the house as well as clock thermostats, ventless gas heaters, moisture and mold, and passive solar heating. Using the illustrations and the author's clear explanations might save you the expense of calling a professional. This invaluable guide: Offers a colorful resource to home electrical systems, HVAC, plumbing, major household appliances, foundation, framing, doors and windows, sustainability, and much more Includes easy-to-follow information for troubleshooting problems Contains dozens of new full-color illustrations Presents new chapters on solar power and smart home technologies Helps homeowners save money on many common household repairs Written for homeowners with little or no knowledge of home maintenance or repair, How Your House Works is your illustrated and updated guide to understanding how appliances, electrical, plumbing, heating, air conditioning, and more work!

Everything that readers could want to know about decorative paint techniques, with a wonderful collection of gorgeous color pictures for added inspiration This vibrant and exciting guide will open up whole new worlds of painting techniques and styles for readers who want to add a bit of color to their walls, floors, ceilings...and lives

An informative book designed for beginning and intermediate turners. Bill Bowers leads this step-by-step workshop for constructing the classic cylinder box, cylinder box variants with embellishments, the classic capsule box, and capsule box variants with chatter tool work. With over 300 color photos, each step is clearly described and illustrated, from mounting the blank on the lathe to finishing. Projects include a Raffan box, a pagoda box, the clam shell box, the gourd box, and small hollow form boxes with bottle top and finial top lids. A photo gallery helps give more ideas for new turned box styles.

This book presents a variety of box making techniques, illustrating every step taken in over 260 color photographs. The projects range from the simple to the complex. The techniques necessary for creating simple band saw boxes are discussed first. The projects become more complex as the book continues, exploring several different joints available to box makers, including mitered corners, rabbet, spline, and false spline joints. Instructions for successfully cutting loose lids and hinging them are also provided. Following the discussion of box assembly, Dale guides the reader through several different finishes available to make your own boxes stand out among the rest. Finally, a gallery with many different box types is provided to fire the imagination of every wood worker. The novice will find this book challenging, but rewarding, and the seasoned wood worker will enjoy the details.

All of the techniques necessary for capturing the sleek beauty and strength of dolphins and whales in wood are presented here. In direct and basic language and color photographs Dale Power takes the carver through each step in the process of creating a dolphin from basswood with a combination of hand and power tools. Once the dolphin is carved, woodburning and painting techniques are explored in detail to add life to the work. Helpful hints for mounting the finished work are included as well. Patterns for three dolphins and two whales are provided as well as a color gallery showing a variety of dolphins and whales in groupings which are sure to inspire. With full color illustrations and explicit directions, this book is invaluable to both the novice and the experienced carver.

Wood is one of the oldest known natural resources, and its universal appeal remains timeless. As every woodworker will testify, to work with this material is to appreciate its amazing versatility. This practical book demonstrates the basic techniques of woodworking, providing the foundation on which to build your skills. It begins with an introduction to timber and a guide to tools. Advice on getting started is given, as well as in-depth guides to fixings and fastening, joints, and advanced techniques. There are 20 step-by-step projects, from basic tasks such as a wine rack and picture frame, to complex ventures for experts such as a bedside cabinet and dining table.

E-Myth \ 'e-,'mith\ n 1: the entrepreneurial myth: the myth that most people who start small businesses are entrepreneurs 2: the fatal assumption that an individual who understands the technical work of a business can successfully run a business that does that technical work

In The E-Myth Contractor, bestselling author Michael Gerber reveals a radical mind-set that will free contractors from the tyranny of the unprofitable, unproductive, and perpetual routine -- doing everything that needs to get done, themselves.

The E-Myth Contractor will teach you how to:

• implement the ingenious turn-key system, a means of creating a business model that produces consistent, predictable results
• recognize, understand, and manage the four factors of money -- income, profit, flow, and equity -- and understand the impact of each in your business
• transform your company and your people while enabling the firm to grow exponentially without your having to be there all the time.

Drawing on thirty years of experience working with tens of thousands of small-business owners, Gerber provides revolutionary, practical, and enlightening insights on how to produce the best real-world results on the job, in the field, and in a contractor's life.

Wiring repairs, replacements, and upgrades are among the most popular projects for home DIYers--and, potentially, the most fraught with risk. With an unerring emphasis on safety, wiring expert Steve Cory prepares homeowners for the most common situations they are likely to encounter and gives them the confidence to tackle their own home wiring projects. After introductory sections on understanding the residential electrical system and basic wiring techniques, projects include: replacing switches and receptacles installing lights and fans retrofitting under-cabinet lighting running cable and installing electrical boxes and more With quick tips throughout, this handy reference provides all you need to know to tackle any home wiring repair project.

A stylish, practical guide to making your home beautiful and keeping it in tip-top condition, aimed at young urban professionals. A stylish, practical guide to making your home beautiful and keeping it in tip-top condition. Fix Your Home is an illustrated little guide to decorating and maintaining your home, aimed at young urban professionals who have just moved into their first flat. With no-nonsense writing and straightforward step-by-step instructions, it gives you all the basic home maintenance information you'll ever need, including putting up shelves, hanging pictures, wallpapering a room, saving energy and when to admit defeat and get the professionals in. On top of that, it contains a wealth of inspiration for decorating your abode on a shoestring, from window treatments to flooring to stylish home offices. Read this book and you'll be able to get all your home's little eccentricities under control, leaving you to get on with living your busy and exciting life Word count: 15,000

This title offers professional techniques to bring your furniture back to life. It features clear step-by-step instructions for everyday restoration tasks, such as polishing, staining, waxing, graining, gilding, veneering, and marquetry and parquetry repairs. It contains expert advice on essential tools, equipment and materials, from saws, hammers, screwdrivers, clamps and chisels to veneers, polishes, gilts, leather and locks. Projects include removing a blister, raising a dent, disguising a scratch, cleaning marble, reviving leather, laying veneer sheets, and restoring a damaged edge. This book is an essential guide to basic and advanced restoration techniques for antique surfaces. A section on tools and equipment includes directories of all the materials you need for successful home furniture repair. Projects include removing a watermark, releathering a top, reviving a polished surface, cleaning metal, French polishing, waxing a carved surface, replacing bandings, and repairing rosewood pole screens. With its detailed overview and professional guidance illustrated by more than 400 photographs, this book will enable any budding restorer to develop a true understanding of a range of furniture surfaces and how to repair them.

A retro-fit offers many benefits: cutting electricity and heating bills, increasing the resale value of homes, slashing carbon emissions and creating a healthier place to live. This book is the guide to making it happen. It looks at: - draught-proofing, insulation and damp - ventilation, heating and cooling - electrical efficiency and renewable energy - water use and re-use - materials' life cycles and incorporating nature - protection from climate change impacts - modelling energy flows and embodied energy - how we can meet the need to cut carbon emissions from dwellings by 80% by 2050. Projects can apply to apartment blocks, recent builds and older, solid-walled properties. Enlivened with helpful diagrams and photographs, plus plenty of pointers for further information, it provides a comprehensive resource handbook for any building professional and contractor, students - or any homeowner serious about efficiency (cash and carbon) savings.

Woodworkers interested in woodburning will build their skill level through these three step-by-step projects for beginner, intermediate, and advanced burners. They will learn how to prepare wood surfaces before burning, how to transfer a design or pattern, and how to select materials for burning, coloring, and finishing a project. Methods for burning onto wood, leather, paper, bark, and antlers are detailed alongside ample pictures of pyrography on the various materials that will inspire novice woodburners. Numerous techniques are also discussed, including solar, negative, relief, engraving, torch, and hot wire. The most difficult area for burners--how to realistically create animal fur, feathers, and eyes--is addressed.

UK author Derek Jones shows readers how to make the projects featured in this book using pieces of wood from the scrap pile. Ranging from a simple serving platter to a beautiful bird box, projects are explained in a clear and straightforward way, with step-by-step photos. The projects in this book can be tackled by woodworkers of all skill levels. Every workshop has a collection of offcuts that have been saved because they will come in handy one day. When you see the enticing projects presented in this book you will know that that day has come! All the projects in this book can be made using pieces of wood from the scrap pile and can be tackled by woodworkers with a range of skill levels. Ranging from a simple serving platter to a beautiful bird box there is a project to suit every level of expertise. All projects are explained, in a clear and straightforward way, with clear step-by-step photos. There is also a guide to the tools and materials you will need, plus the basic techniques.

A guide to green woodworking, with detailed patterns to create beautiful projects. Discover hundreds of projects for working with unseasoned wood in this essential book. Ray Tabor, an unparalleled expert in green woodworking guides you through this old, traditional craft. Whether you are new to the craft and are looking for a simple project like a spoon or a bowl or want something challenging, you will find it here. The 300 patterns for the home and garden range from wattle gates to lemon juicers, from chairs, benches and stools to baskets, whistles and door wedges. Green woodworking involves the use of freshly felled timber (unseasoned wood), and embraces a number of traditional woodland crafts, including turning and carving. All patterns come with detailed dimensions in both metric and imperial. Each item has annotated black-and-white patterns, a brief description, historical information and details of the materials that should be used. Includes the simplest of woodland designs to more advanced, with something to suit every skill level. Both a historical record and a sourcebook for those looking to use their green woodworking skills to make traditional items of beauty, this is the perfect book for anyone interested in whittling, woodland crafts and woodworking.

Following in the footsteps of the successful Beginner's Guide series, The Beginner's Guide to Upholstery takes readers gently by the hand and shows them the simple techniques they need to bring their love of fabric to upholstered items for the home. This is not a dry, highly technical professional upholstery manual, but a bright and accessible book that presents 10 simple projects using modern methods that are quick and easy to achieve. Readers are taken step-by-step through the process of how to upholster desirable pieces of furniture - using items found at antique markets, street sales and thrift stores that are designed-up and given a modern twist. Readers will learn about fabric choice and other materials, discover essential upholstery techniques and then embark on the projects. which include a simple stool, a vintage sewing box, a blanket box or ottoman, a fluted headboard, a Danish dining chair, a bedroom/nursing chair, a patchwork armchair and a mid-century design two-seater sofa, all guided by the author's expert instruction.

'Heartwarming, magical and uplifting' In today's throwaway culture, there's a counter movement growing that urges us to 'make do and mend'. The BBC's The Repair Shop has brought this waste-conscious message to an even wider audience, with its regular viewing figures of 7 million in the UK alone, cementing itself as a classic series in the vein of Antiques Roadshow. This new book concentrates on the show's much-loved experts, including woodworker and furniture restorer Will Kirk, clock restorer Steve Fletcher, metalworker Dominic Chinea, silversmith Brenton West, leatherworker Suzie Fletcher, upholsterer Sonnaz Nooranvary, and seamstresses Julie Tatchell & Amanda Middleditch - aka The Teddy Bear Ladies. Each of the experts shares their own stories and their repairs, capturing in the process the magic and ethos of the barn. Includes quotations and Q & As from the experts as well as Jay Blades on some unique restoration collaborations. With the focus on the experts themselves, readers will feel as though they're stepping straight into the 'workshop of dreams' and experiencing first hand the magic of the barn.

Pens and pencils made at the wood lathe are becoming increasingly popular. These unique writing instruments are fantastic sellers at art and craft shows, cherished treasures for family, and fabulous gifts. Kits to make a variety of styles are widely available, but the techniques to make a pen which works well and looks spectacular are harder to find. This book fills the need with 273 step-by-step color photos and helpful text. Skilled wood turner Dick Sing provides detailed instructions and a wealth of tips and techniques for twelve different styles of pens. Advice on selection of materials, set-up, turning, and finishing techniques, and tips for final assembly of the pens make this book the ultimate reference for the field.