How-To Guides from WonderHowTo: Page 52

The drinking straw isn't just there to help you make annoying noises when you get to the bottom of your soda. That little tube of plastic is extremely versatile and can make your life a lot easier with a little know-how. Curious? Read on to find out more.

The noodle is a noble thing. And while I love ramen and pasta, I have a real soft spot in my heart for macaroni salad (especially the kind that comes with Hawaiian plate lunch) and the type of pasta salad that's dished up during picnics and barbecues.

Naps provide some serious mental and physical benefits, but not if they last too long or occur too late in the day. Ideally, you want to awake from a nap feeling alert and refreshed enough to attack the rest of your tasks with renewed zeal, but not energized to the point where you can't get to sleep at night. Alas, most of us don't know these tricks and end up messing with our sleep cycle (guilty).

How to make a rustic coffee table from reclaimed pallet wood. My coffee table is a combination of pallet wood for the legs and frame, and an old painters plank for the top. The coffee table has a drawer which is perfect for the remote controls or the TV Guide. You could even use this coffee table as a TV Stand. I tried it and it looks really good.

Fruit flies are nasty little pests, and an infestation—large or small—is an unwelcome sight in the kitchen. Aïda Mollenkamp demonstrates a quick, easy way to lure fruit flies away from your food in this home and garden how-to video.

After years of making do with a cheap knife, I finally bought a really good 8" chef's knife—a Henckels, although I was also eyeing a Global santoku. It quietly but literally changed my life.

There are a lot of people out there who don't like vegetables, but I would contend that that's because they haven't eaten any really good vegetables. I thought I hated tomatoes (okay, technically a fruit, but used mostly as a vegetable) until I ate some fresh from a garden. One bite of a juicy, ripe heirloom tomato made me realize that I love tomatoes—it's those bland, mealy supermarket tomatoes that I hate.

Every now and then, you'll bite into the end piece of a perfectly good cucumber only to get an unwelcome bitter and acrid taste. This happened to me for years, no matter how carefully I selected my cukes, although I generally had better luck with ones I got from local growers and the farmer's market.

There comes a time in relationships when two people decide to move in together, and when this happens, you learn two things:

If you wake up in the middle of the night, avoid reaching for your laptop to check emails, or your TV remote to catch a few late-night shows. Instead, keep the light in your bedroom dim and do something relaxing like de-stressing breathing exercises, meditation, light yoga, or going to another room and solving a jigsaw puzzle or listening to relaxing music.

While breathing is a simple and automatic physical act we take for granted every moment of our lives, consciously breathing in a particular way for five to ten minutes can greatly reduce your stress, clear your head, and bring more energy to your body. Think of it as meditation through breathing.

A work acquaintance you don't know very well invites you to his backyard barbecue and you don't really want to go. Do you politely decline or do you feel paranoid about hurting his feelings and say "yes"?

We've all been there; waking up in the morning with a stiff, achy back. Maybe you overdid the yard work this weekend. Perhaps you were a bit too enthusiastic on the Nautilus circuit. Could be the long hours spent hunched over your computer are catching up with you. Perhaps your back pain is indicative of something more serious. Unfortunately, unless you've really injured your spine, your doctor isn't going to be much help; the best he can do is offer you pain medications and tell you to rest...

In addition to unclogging your toilet using common household items, you can also clean and disinfect your toilet for cheap without ever having to use expensive and chemically-toxic toilet cleaners ever again.

Today we show you how to use twist and roll tweezers to remove hair. Using twist and roll tweezers is So Easy a Guy Could Do It!

If you've read any health news in the past year or so, you've probably been bombarded with headlines announcing that frequent sittersface certain death, even when you're just relaxing and watching TV at home.

How to Make Easy Macrame Owl - Wall Hanger Tutorial. You can use this Owl as a Wall Hanger or a Necklace. Changing the string sizes, you can make a bigger or a smaller owl.

It's universally known that broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and all cruciferous vegetables (also known as brassicas) are good for you—but you probably don't know exactly how good they really are.

Listen, I'm not disparaging using really good knives—they can literally change your life, or at the very least, the way you work in the kitchen. However, there are many cutting and slicing tasks where you're better off using a sturdy pair of kitchen shears rather than a chef's or even a paring knife.