How-To Guides from WonderHowTo: Page 9

Celebrate America's birthday the way the Founding Fathers might have, by whipping up a batch of Plantation Punch. Howcast presents this video recipe guide to mixing the alcoholic drink: The Founding Father's Plantation Punch. Perfect for the 4th of July.

If you won't be near any real fireworks for the 4th of July holiday, do the next best thing and origami yourself some! For this origami fireworks project, you'll need square sheets of paper of different colors.

What happens when you find your ball deflated and there's no pump or needle in sight? You could always cancel your plans of kicking around the soccer ball or starting that pickup football game in the park. Better yet, you could be terribly clever and find another way to get air into the ball. From a pen to a balloon to a gas station, there are ways to inflate it.

Got a flat ball that can't be inflated because your pump is broken? This video tutorial shows a simple technique for how to make your own pump. It's fun and easy to do, and it's a great time- and money-saver. All you need is a pump needle, a balloon, scissors, and a rubber band.

If all things go well, you'll only have to take your road test once. That's the goal: to ace your test on the first try and then start driving on your own. Granted, it's a nerve-racking experience, but keep in mind that the California Department of Motor Vehicles wants you to pass. So much so, they give you the examination answers ahead of time! All you have to do is study.

With Adobe Photoshop on your computer, it's super easy to change or adjust the skin tone of somebody in a digital photo. The process uses some basic selection and color adjustment tools, and it's a fun way to make a friend's face nauseously green or lessen the effects of overly strong, sometimes even orange, makeup.

Wet shoes are uncomfortable, no one can deny that. Just think about walking around with soaking wet footwear ... and each squishy step you take. Makes you cringe, doesn't it? It can happen in heavy rain, at the beach, or from an unforeseen puddle on the street. And while you can't always avoid soggy shoes, you can rest easy knowing that the next time this happens to you, you know the secret trick to drying your shoes faster without damaging them with excessive heat.

For anyone who lives in a space that may frown upon making holes in the walls, or for anyone who may not want to take on such a task, there's a simple alternative to hanging curtains or drapes. And the answer is brilliantly simple.

Being a city dweller does not mean you cannot save the planet — or your food scraps.

While it is easy to create and maintain your compost pile, you can enjoy it more knowing a few basic tips.

Ever wonder why Jupiter has those colored bands across its surface? Jupiter's enormous mass is made from an array of different liquids, and those fluids do not play well together because of their different makeup. All of the hydrogen- and helium-based fluids are thought not to be miscible, which means that they aren't homogeneous in nature, resulting in strikingly beautiful bands across the planet's surface.

Every day we pass bridges, whether it's a foot bridge, a highway overpass, a span over water, or a viaduct over a valley. We pass on these structures without even thinking of the engineering genius that went into their design and construction, let alone the science behind their strength.

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that "the seed of science" was "wonder," and taking a look at this nine-layer liquid tower from Steve Spangler's Sick Science! channel, one can't help but do just that — wonder. How is this possible? Is this magic or what?

Is it possible to cut or chop onions in the kitchen without stinging eyes and looking as if you just watched the saddest movie ever? Before we get to that answer, it's important to know why we tear up when cutting raw onions in the first place. What is this irritant? Are you reacting to the odor? The answer to the latter question is "no," and the irritant responsible is amino acid sulfoxides.

Poison ivy, poison oak, and the lesser known skin irritator, poison sumac, can all cause a conundrum in the search of itch relief: to scratch or not to scratch. Fortunately, there are a number of home remedies one can try to help alleviate the itch(ing), with many like coffee, a banana, baking soda, or mouthwash likely already in-house for most.

If you're one who enjoys a good DIY project, or if you're just tired of paying exorbitant labor fees to have your vehicle serviced every 5,000 miles, changing your own oil can be a rewarding endeavor. Even though cars and trucks are becoming increasingly over-engineered these days, manufacturers generally see to it that the basic maintenance items can still be taken care of in your driveway with a few common tools.

Ask ten different people how they feel about boxed cake mixes, and you'll likely get ten different answers. Some baking purists will berate them and throw them in the same category as garlic presses and knife sets sold on infomercials. Many people will say that they prefer not to use mixes, but keep one in the pantry just in case. And I dare you to find a college student that doesn't sing their praises.

Coach pitch is an important part of any child's progression up the baseball and softball ladder. After tee ball, the next step for most young players is participating in a league where the coach pitches to them. This video teaches youth baseball and softball coaches how to pitch to their young players properly to maximize their learning, improve their baseball skills, and foster their love of the game.

If you're all out of prank ideas for April Fool's Day, we've got a few that your Apple-loving friends will enjoy (or hate?). You can have a little bit of fun if you don't have access to their iOS device or Mac, but for the best pranks, you will need access to their devices, even if it's just for a few seconds.

Okay, you've beaten everything from the 2x2 Rubik's cube all the way up to the 6x6. Now it's time to try something different. This video shows how to solve the Rubik's Mirror Blocks puzzle cube. It's tricky at first, but follow the video and figure it out!

If you've ever dinged your car—or worse, a friend's or parent's car—and caused a dent, you know how expensive it can be to fix. A two-second mistake can end up costing hundreds of dollars, but you can save yourself repairs costs and a headache with just a couple of household items.

Putting music on your iPod using Windows normally require having to use iTunes, which can be a real pain in the but if you hate using extra software for something that should be as easy and dragging and dropping.

Whether you're shopping for deals, need help with a little math, or any number of other occasions, it's a valuable skill to know how to quickly figure out a percentage given two numbers.

If you're a teacher in any type of school, whether it's high school, college, or middle school, it's imperative that you keep an attendance sheet. The paper and pen route can get pretty messy, and very disorganized, and that's where Microsoft Excel comes in. With this software, you can create a simple yet functional attendance sheet to keep track of your students.

Have the sniffles? Yes. Does your head hurt? Yes. Coughing? Yes. Could you have influenza? Yes. How do you know the difference? With these symptoms, you could also have a cold.

There are so many cutesy pink, red, and heart-shaped desserts and drinks put out on Valentine's Day, but none of those really get you into a low-light mood. Instead, turn up the heat with one of these aphrodisiac cocktails for grown-ups.

Starting towards the end of January, all you see is pink and red hearts for a few weeks every year, and food is no exception. Heart-shaped cookies, candies, and cupcakes are everywhere, but it doesn't stop there—you can find heart-shaped food for every meal of the day.

To play off Gertrude Stein's famous quote, a rose is a rose is a magic paper cube. And with this paper folder's guide, you'll learn how to make your very own magic rose cube from paper using the Japanese art of origami. This design by Valerie Vann, and folded by YouTuber German Fernandez, is great for Valentine's Day or any other day where a paper puzzle rose is needed. Just be prepared... it's a not just a puzzle origami rose, it's a puzzle folding it.

You know that moment when you finally figure out something, but you figured it out years after you really needed it? Don't you freaking hate that?!

Slope is the change in Y over the change in X. Written out, the formula looks is as follows:

If people are constantly asking you why you look so tired, then maybe it's time to get rid of the puffy dark circles under your eyes.

If you have any doubt about how secure that strong password you created really is, there's an easy way to check online. Just visit HowSecureIsMyPassword.net, which uses a combination of math and statistics to determine how long it would take for a PC to crack your password. It's sponsored by Dashlane, one of the top password managers available, and also gives you tips on how to make your password or passphrase stronger. The site claims the password submitted is not sent over the web, and its...

You can easily lock any folder on your Windows computer with a simple Notepad hack. By creating a batch file, you can hide a folder and require a password be entered before it becomes visible and accessible. This is a great tool for locking sensitive information, like pictures, financial statements, and a lot more.

Given a function, you can easily find the slope of a tangent line using Microsoft Excel to do the dirty work. That is to say, you can input your x-value, create a couple of formulas, and have Excel calculate the secant value of the tangent slope. This is a fantastic tool for Stewart Calculus sections 2.1 and 2.2.

While there are countless ways to welcome in the new year, many of them involve imbibing copious amounts of delightfully spirited libations. If you're anything like me, I know you're fearing the monster hangover on New Year's Day.

Unfortunately, many of us will be celebrating New Year's morning with a post-New Year's Eve party hangover. Avoid this common misfortune by taking some basic hangover-prevention precautions: eat a full meal before drinking, stay hydrated, and limit yourself to 1 to 2 drinks for every hour.

For as long as I can remember, I've always sucked at wrapping presents. No matter how careful I am, my gift-wrapping usually ends up looking like a toddler did it, so I'm always looking for easy ways to spruce up my packages.

Ayurvedic medicine is a 5,000-year-old system of Hindu traditional medicine of Vedic tradition and is now a widespread form of alternative medicine and natural holistic healing.

If you want to avoid the hassle of going out on New Year's Eve, you can always host your own New Year's Eve celebration at home—and it doesn't have to cost a lot, either.

If you want to succeed at your New Year's resolution, stop thinking of it as a resolution. Instead, frame your resolution as a daily, manageable habit you want to develop into you day-to-day life.