DIY & Decor

Woodworking: How to make a picture frame

First you should decide whether you want to frame your picture/ image as it is or want to add a border. Borders are useful if your artwork is small or if you want to frame an image in order to create a focal point. Use a mount that complements or contrasts the artwork. You can either buy a suitable ready-cut mount or make your own by cutting piece of  mounting card to the required size and cutting out a window to fit your image. Attach the image to the mount with masking tape..

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Paper Crafts: How to make a picture frame

This is an easy paper craft project offering unlimited possibilities. You can use any type of paper - already decorated or ready to be customised. It’s an ideal gift if you want to give someone something that is made by you especially for them..

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To save energy and money on your household bills insulate your hot and cold water cylinder. Both can be done easily.

The easiest way to insulate a cold-water tank is to use a ready-made plastic insulation jacket that has fibre-glass padding. However, you can make your own jacket by using hardboard & roof insulation roll. Cut them to fit the sides & the lid of the tank, then glue the insulating material to the hardboard. Secure the panels around the tank with a piece of string. Alternatively put pieces of insulating material into black dustbin bags to create blankets. Wrap the blankets around the tank and tie them with string.

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Draughtproofing external doors and windows can reduce the amount of cold air entering your home and save you money on your heating bill..

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About 25 per cent of the heat from radiators is lost to the wall behind. So fitting reflective panels behind radiators that are on external walls will almost certainly reduce heat loss and your bill!

Reflective radiator panels are cheap to buy and easy to install. They work by trapping the heat and reflecting it back into the room..

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Insulating a loft

Up to 30% of heat loss occurs as a result of poorly insulated roofs. By properly insulating your loft you could save a lot of energy and a lot of money. Loft insulation is an easy DIY job - but can be time consuming.

Loft insulation materials are made of mineral wool or cellulose fibres. They prevent the heated air moving through the material. There are two main types of insulation for roofs -  blanket insulation & loose fill insulation..

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One of our usual New Year resolutions is about consuming less - be that food, alcohol, cigies and other toxins. Why don’t you try to consume less energy this year? This could save you money and would also help the environment.

There are several simple ways to reduce our energy consumption without compromising on comfort. Here are a few tips on how to achieve this:.
 

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Firstly, on behalf of the DIY Together team, I’d like to wish all our readers a very Happy New Year!

2006 looks like being the year of re-discovering the pleasure of making things. It seems that we’re getting fed up with mass-produced items, global brands, designer labels & so on, and prefer to have unique things around us that not only represent our individuality but are made of sustainable materials and resources. So we’ll be buying more things that are made locally, by hand or by small manufacturers to our specification. Or we’ll be making them ourselves. More and more people are learning wood-working, knitting, embroidery, painting and other crafts. The shortage and high price of good quality craftsmanship have pushed many of us to renovating or remodeling our homes ourselves..

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