My Favorite DIY Kits

 What are some for your favorite DIY projects?

I’ve been working away on my next book and a lot of it entails a fun set of DIY projects. Then it got me to thinking that I have some wonderful DIY Kits in my shop right now that you ought to know about. I love ’em 4-eva.

Now is also the time to tell you that any person who joins my shop, OpenSky, through the link I’ve provided below will automatically qualify for any of the 4 upcoming dream vacations. At the end of August, a winner will be selected at random. That winner will have the opportunity to choose 1 of 4 different trips for themselves and one other. My shop, OpenSky, foots the bill for the trip. Here are the options the winner can choose from:

• For the Foodie – A 4 Day Trip to Tuscany
• For the Fashionista – A trip to New York Fashion Week
• For the Health Nut – A 7 Day yoga retreat in Costa Rica
• For the Design Lover – A 4 Day Trip to Paris

Sign up for the trip HERE. And if you’re thinking, “Hey – I’m already on OpenSky – can I join?” The answer is, “yup – click the link and sign-up for the sweeps on Facebook!” sign up here.

And now for my latest favorite DIY Kits. All of these would make a great activity to do with kids, or at parties. They also make a fun gift for someone else… or yourself of course.

Mozarella & Ricotta Cheese Making Kit

Here’s a pioneering skill to learn (no hunting or gathering required!)—it’s cheese making.

There’s just something about freshly made cheese that tastes better than the pre-packaged stuff you buy at the supermarket… and you can’t get any fresher than homemade.

Just take a gallon of store bought milk and the ingredients in this kit. You’ll have fresh mozzarella or ricotta in about 30 minutes. What I love to do is use the cheeses in savory and sweet pizzas.

Fire up your pizza stone and top your dough with prosciutto, mozzarella, thyme and balsamic for a savory pizza. Or make it a whole wheat dessert pizza and top with ricotta, chocolate spread, fresh fruit and chopped nuts. You’ll taste the difference the homemade cheese makes!

This kit includes enough ingredients to make mozzarella 30 times, approx 1 lb of cheese.

Cheddar Cheese Making Kit

This kit makes eight cheeses: Farmhouse Cheddar, Gouda, Monterey Jack, Feta, Cottage Cheese, Colby, Parmesan and Ricotta.

Amen!

Goat Cheese Making Kit

This kit makes chevre, fresh French-style goat cheese and lactic cheese. Oooh baby.

Grow Your Own Mushroom Kit

This kit makes up to 1.5 pounds of pearl oyster mushrooms in 10-15 days, and makes at least two harvests (though some have had up to 4!) It’s so fun to snip off some delicious mushrooms from your windowsill while you’re cooking. The company was started by 2 wiz kids in Berkeley, California and they use up-cycled coffee grinds as the base for growing these.

DIY Chewing Gum, Gummy Bear, & Chocolate Kit

When I want to go Willa Wonka in the kitchen, I get a little help from these DIY candy kits. Homemade gummy bears, chewing gum or chocolate? Yes, please! Now fair warning, these kits are a wee bit more difficult than whisking together a boxed cake mix but still way simpler than doing it completely from scratch!

Making gummy anything? That involves boiling seaweed. Weird, but trust me. Molding chewing gum? Some slight kneading. Tempering dark chocolate? Sadly melting chocolate chips or shavings does not count as making chocolate from scratch. So be prepared to do some major stirring to get cocoa butter and powder to turn into a chocolate bar. It’ll be worth it when you’re staring at your own mini candy factory.

Homemade Biscotti Kit

There’s nothing like homemade biscotti to dunk into your morning cup of coffee. And NOT the store bought stuff! If you’ve ever had fresh biscotti, you know it can’t compare. This awesome kit makes whipping up a variety of twice-baked biscuits über easy.

Making biscotti itself is easy, but who wants to go out and get 1/4-cup portions of a dozen different ingredients to make a couple different kinds? This kit includes everything you need to make yummy orange-almond, cinnamon-pecan, fig-walnut and cranberry-almond biscotti. No need to scour the baking aisle.

Enjoy my friends. Now if you’ll excuse me, my biscotti is waiting…

What are some for your favorite DIY projects?