www.wikihow.com

This how-to site is created mostly by users. It is a wiki, which basically means people collaborate to write the how-tos. WikiHow.com calls it a writing project to build the “world’s largest, highest quality how-to manual.” The how-tos cover a broad range and seek to offer solutions to the problems of everyday life. For example, you can find out how to properly sterilize baby bottles or how to paint with a compressed air sprayer. The site contains thousands of articles with hundreds more added each week. The major categories include arts and entertainment, food and entertaining, philosophy and religion, careers and education, health, cars and other vehicles, hobbies and crafts, computers and electronics, and home and garden.

www.doityourself.com

A couple of years ago I started seeing the acronym DIY everywhere and finally figured out that it stood for “do it yourself.” Now it seems to be a whole movement that has birthed more than just this website. The term comes up most often in home improvement websites like this one.

DoItYourself.com has been repeatedly honored among the best on the Web, and was named “One of the Top 50 Sites in the World” by Time magazine. Topics include interior and exterior home improvement and remodeling, decorating and painting, electrical and electronics, gardening and outdoor, going green, plumbing, heating, air conditioning and ventilating, cars, trucks and boats, hardware, tools and woodworking, household and cleaning, and much more.

The Top Queries of the Day list is interesting because you can see what other people are doing. When I visited, some of the queries were how to build a breakfast bar, and how to remove wallpaper.

www.instructables.com

Instructables calls itself “the world’s biggest show and tell.” It’s similar to wikiHow except it has a bit more flair and color. I also found some unique projects here. When I visited, I found the easy way to cut your ferret’s toenails, how to make a robot paper LED flashlight, and how to edit your myspace background, among the featured topics. On this site people learn from and collaborate with each other. Instructables has an introductory guided tour if you want to see how this works.

Instructables occasionally sponsors contests. At the time of this writing, they had a “pocket-sized contest” to see who could make the most interesting pocket-sized item. My favorite projects were the Altoids tin survival kits and the pocket plant.

www.makezine.com

If you want a more professional take on the do-it-yourself theme, this is Make magazine’s website. It combines some of the fun sharing of instructables with professional input on how to make things. There is a Makezine blog, videos/podcasts, projects area, forum, and more.

The best place to start exploring is the blog area. Once you go to the blog page, a full page of categories appears down the right-hand side. Topics included are: DIY projects, furniture, ipods, and more. This is a particularly good site for people who love fixing and adapting electronic gadgets. Think less gardening, more taking apart your mini radio and putting it back together.

diykids.org

It’s raining and your kids are inside and bored—what do you do? Check out this site to get some inspiration. Projects include stuffies (pillow-stuffed animals), notebooks, box buildings, circle skirts, and popsicle magnets. This site is based on the book called D.I.Y. Kids by Ellen and Julia Lupton.

bkids.typepad.com

Similar to diykids, the bkids blog has some fun projects, and it looks like it will just keep growing. The blog first caught my attention because it is so well designed, then I realized that it had some good craft projects too. Look under categories on the left side, then choose craft projects. One of my favorites was called Project Plaster Relief. Press clay into a juice box with one side cut out. Then your kids can push a favorite toy into the clay. After removing the toy, fill the juice box with a plaster mixture. When it dries, peel away the juice box and the clay, and out comes a wall hanging that both looks great and is homemade by your kids.

www.diynetwork.com

This site is from the producers of HGTV and the Food Network. The DIY Network is both rip-up, knock-out home improvement television and an award-winning website. The video clips add to the DIY articles. This site covers topics like home improvement, crafts, automotive, gardening, and woodworking along with step-by-step instructions totaling more than 20,000 projects online. Highlights from the front page at the time of my visit included a place to share photos and videos of your projects, and DIY basics, which are more than 400 short video tips with simple, printable instructions. Sample tips include waterproofing a basement, installing a closet organizer, and selecting kitchen cabinets. There is also a message board where you can discuss your own work and trade ideas. ❏