How do you celebrate the life of a departed loved one?
The Offbeat Empire has been there for many of my life stages, I hope the community can be here for me now as well. I’d love any advice and guidance from those who have lost a loved one and have chosen to do an event to celebrate their life.
Magnets and deep claw marks: how we made our own industrial noticeboard
We made this Rusted-up, industrial, post-apocalyptic notice board out of a scavenged steel plate. It’s the first step in our post-apocalyptic adventurer home. And it’s pretty easy to do yourself!
From mod to modern: ’60s-era dresser makeover
Offbeat Homie Jessica — aka “Not Exactly Martha,” aka the mastermind behind that bishop chair makeover — uploaded her newest makeover to our Flickr pool. This photo is just a little teaser for the impressive bright and mod dresser update. Seriously, it’s impressive how a little paint can create such a drastic change such as this…
How to deal with Evil Property Management companies
Housing in our home town is notoriously shitty (truly affordable housing is actually non-existent) because it’s a college town and the property management companies think that college kids are young, don’t know their rights, and are too busy and too poor to do anything about the way they’re treated anyway. Mostly the management companies are right. But through hellish personal experience, I have learned tips and tricks in dealing with Evil Property Management companies (EPMs), especially as a young person. All of my experience comes from renting in California, so things might be different where you are.
Productivity hack: The internet kill switch
As a writer, I’m at my laptop pretty much all the time. Sadly, that means the siren call of the internet is loud and constant. The urge to stop what I’m doing “just for a second” to check Facebook or news headlines or “research” something on Wikipedia for the next several hours is substantial. I figured the best way to combat this — other than developing a stronger will to not goof off — was to get rid of the internet when I didn’t need it. Thus, the internet kill switch was born.
Collect and display postcards from your travels over your bed
We recently featured Wendy and Drew’s gorgeous modernized Brownstone home tour. The thing that really resonated with a lot of the Homies was their great postcard “headboard” display. Or as Wendy explained it…
Laundry tips and tricks for pitted out shirts
I’ve been wearing some of my favorite basic cotton tops regularly for a few seasons. Overall they’re in great shape, no holes or stains, but they’re starting to get a little funky, and not in the Disco Stu kind of way. The problem is that they fit so close under my arm pits that they’re becoming discolored and musky. I’ve tried cleaning the area with vinegar and stain removers, but it hasn’t taken away the smell. Do my fellow Homies have any laundry tips and tricks dedicated to the pits?
How “nerdy DIYers” style their Delaware split level home
Check out Homie Heather’s split level in Wilmington, Delaware. This place has some awesome space-saving furniture hacks, as well as a craft room so colorful that it might hurt your teeth!