How can I prevent my Christmas tree from becoming a fire hazard?

If your Christmas tree catches on fire, it can fill yourhome with deadly gases and quickly burn the gifts underneath it—as well as nearby furniture. Don’t make your home one of the 210 that burn every holiday season because of a problem with the Christmas tree.

Here are some tips for keeping your family safe around the tree:

• If you buy an artificial tree, choose one with a label that says it is fire-resistant. If you prefer a metal tree, do not use electric lights. Faulty lights can charge the tree with electricity and electrocute anyone who touches it.
  
  
• Select the freshest live tree you can find. Here’s how to tell if it’s fresh: Its needles should be green and hard to pull from the branches. Needles shouldn’t break when you bend them between your fingers.
  
  
• Water your tree every day.
  
  
• Place the tree away from heat sources like the fireplace and heating vents.
  
  
• Don’t put the tree up too early. If it dries out, it will ignite more easily.

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5 tips for buying tools for handy folks on your list

Choosing a tool for someone else isn’t as easy as running to the hardware store and picking up the latest thing.

I’m awfully particular about my tools. I’m still using the same putty knife I bought 30 years ago. If you buy me a new one, I’ll still walk around with my old knife that’s served me so well all these years.

Some of the do-it-yourselfers on your holiday gift list might feel the same way about their tried-and-true tools—and probably would have invested in the fanciest, newest products already if they really wanted them.

To someone who’s serious about home remodeling and repairs, tools are personal. So if you want to surprise someone with a shiny new tool on Christmas morning, get to know the working style of the person you’re buying for.

Here are five guidelines for buying tools for the handiest people on your shopping list this season.

1. Know the kinds of projects your loved one likes to work on. If he or she uses tools only occasionally for light jobs like hanging pictures and tightening hinges, choose smaller tools designed for those everyday fixes. But if you’re buying for someone who’s elbow-deep in building an addition or gutting the guest bathroom, you’ll want to choose sturdier, professional-grade tools.
2. Buy the highest quality tool you can afford. In tool world, that’s usually the most expensive tool in its category. Serious handymen and women think of their tools as a long-term investment. They want them to work, and they want them to last.

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What kind of tools are right for women DIYers?

Any woman knows it’s often quicker and easier to do something herself than to wait for, pay for or pray for someone else to help her out.

So more women are becoming do-it-herselfers. If you’re a handywoman—or want to be—consider investing in lighter-weight tools designed to feel comfortable in a woman’s hand.

The new Tomboy Traveler is an eight-piece kit of pink tools: magnetic head hammer, pliers, utility knife, ratcheting screwdriver, tape measure, torpedo level, mini hacksaw, latex-grip gloves, and of course, a pink bag to hold it all. Order it and lots of other right-sized tools from www.tomboytools.com.

Among the lightweight, smaller-grip tools at Barbara K! is a new 12-volt power drill that allows you to sling the battery pack on your hip while using it, substantially lightening the drill’s weight. The Power-Lite Cordless Drill kit also works with the battery pack attached for a true cordless effect. The kit, which has a rubber grip and multiple speeds, sells at www.amazon.com.

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Made in America

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What are some guidelines for a backyard playground?

Here are 18 ways to build or add on to your kids’ at-home playground in a way that will entice them to move from the couch in front of the TV to the great outdoors where they can exercise and socialize.

1. Add the unexpected, like rock walls, rope ladders and tunnels.

2. Go a little high-tech. Trick out a play set with everything from an intercom to solar panels to a telescopes.

3. Give them shelter. A structure with a roof or canvas awning allows kids to play outside even during a light rainfall. Stock the shelter with chalkboards and games so there’s plenty to do. Add solar-powered or low-voltage lighting, and the play house will be usable in the evenings, too.

4. Cover up. Likewise, placing an awning or a shade sail over the swing set and jungle gym will protect your children from sunburn. Even a big umbrella offers kids a place to cool off and get out of the sun for a while.

5. Revise the slide. Look for sliding boards with waves, scoops and spirals for an updated take on the original.

6. Consider the age of the children who will use your homemade playground. Toddlers love slides, while older kids like more challenging equipment, like monkey bars. Avoid equipment with openings that are just big enough for your child to squeeze through but might be difficult to escape, or with moving parts that could catch a child’s little fingers.

7. Mix it up. Including a variety of equipment, from slides to see-saws to ladders to open spaces for ball games, will keep kids engaged as they get older.

8. Don’t skimp on cost. The cheapest playground equipment probably won’t be the most durable or the safest. Play sets made from lightweight materials, smaller bolts and cheap accessories won’t endure constant use or the added weight your kids naturally put on as they get older.

9. Consider chemical-free. Redwood, for example, naturally resists insects and rot.

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What is xeriscaping?

Xeriscaping is water conservation through creative landscaping. It involves combining low-water plants with hard surfaces around your lawn, and encourages water-smart design and maintenance of your property.


Here are Xeriscaping’s seven basic principles:

1. Design your yard with water conservation in mind. Work with a landscaper on a plan that locates a shaded patio, ground cover and even a few higher-water plants close to the house, where they can help cool and shade it. The farther from the house a plant is, the more drought-tolerant it should be.

2. Choose low-water plants. Arizona abounds with native, drought-tolerant plants that are hardy and colorful. A landscaper can help you select the right ones for your yard’s soil condition and exposure.

3. Limit your lawn. Grass needs lots of watering, so plant as little of it as you can stand. Limit it to your children’s play area and a pet run, and use ground covers and hard surfaces over the rest of the yard.

4. Irrigate efficiently. Replace your whirly-bird sprinkler—the one that waters your sidewalks and house as well as your lawn—with an inexpensive drip irrigator, which drips water only on the plant that needs watering. Rig your sprinklers to timers. Invest in an irrigator with a controller that automatically senses when your plants need water and doesn’t turn itself on if they don’t.

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How can I update my concrete patio’s look?

Do-it-yourselfers and contractors are dressing up concrete patios with acid stains in every color, with overlays that mimic the look of flagstone and other more expensive, natural materials, and with stamps that can be as unique as the homeowner who picks them out.

Some of the most popular ways to turn a drab slab into something fancy underfoot include:

• Stamped concrete. Patterns and textures are pressed into newly poured concrete before it’s fully dry. Combined with stains that add realistic color, stamped concrete can imitate the look of brick, cobblestones, flagstone, wood, pebbles or even seashells—at a fraction of the price. Plan to pay around $6 to $8 per square foot for stamped concrete with a single pattern and color, or more for elaborate designs. This is more a job for a contractor than a do-it-yourselfer.

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