What to Do During Down Times Instead of Staring at Your Phone

Downtime. Or, in same cases, dead times: waiting rooms, lines, traffic, the moments in between appointments. Those places where you get nowhere quickly, but live in effective purgatory, embracing neither productivity or relaxation. To the overly ambitious (or those suffering from some form of adult ADHD), these are the times that try your soul in that special kind of slow-drip water torture way.

Sure, you could kill your dead time by scrolling through Instagram. You may even decide to do something useful with your phone, like one-liner email replies or clearing out your old voicemail. But what if you want to occasionally limit your exposure to the little blue screen that wasn’t a crucial part of human existence before 2007?

In lieu of time-killers, here are four suggestions for time-fillers that you can perform with absolutely no equipment other than your mind and your body (as well as one that requires a simple piece of string). These are especially helpful if you’re stuck in a situation where you really shouldn’t be using your phone, like stop-and-go traffic.

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How to: Easy Wooden Mountain Wall Art

Several months ago, I moved offices at my job. I threw up a couple pictures of the family and brought all my documents into my new space. And that's how it's been since. Fast forward six month,s and my walls are still barren.  I travel a little bit for work and I spend a lot of time at my client’s offices, so I don’t always notice how empty the walls look.  Finally, my office administrator walked into my office and told me that it was time to hang something up to make my office look a little more personable. 

Most of the people in my office have artwork that was bought online or a stock photo of a beautiful scenery, but that’s not really my style. I wasn’t sure what I wanted, but I knew I wanted to build it myself and make it unique.  So, I searched Pinterest and finally found something that I thought had a nice professional but masculine look that fit my style. 

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How to: Hack an Old Cigar Box Into a Vintage-Inspired DIY Charging Station

I got this idea soon after some friends visited and forgot their charger cords for their phones. Since I had my own to use overnight, we had to fish around for other solutions. One day, in my shop I was reflecting on this dilemma when I remembered there were these new USB wall sockets that would be perfect to turn into a portable DIY charging station whenever I need it. 

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How to: Make a Leather Sleeve for Your Whiskey Flask

I guess you could put something else other whiskey in a pocket flask. Maybe some nice sipping tequila in summertime, or perhaps a bit of brandy around the holidays. Whatever you fancy.

But whatever goes inside, our vote is: you should own certainly own one. Not because you should be sneaking spirits in places you shouldn't have them (although...) But because its summertime, and you should be headed out on adventures. And once you've achieved whatever goal you set, it's good to celebrate a little.      

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How to Transform Your Photos into Rustic Wooden Ornaments

This holiday season, I wanted to come up with rustic, outdoor-themed ornaments. I love combining real, organic materials with modern tools and technology, and this project marries those perfectly: a natural wood slice ornament is printed with a photograph that's been digitally edited and enhanced for just the right look. To pull it off, I teamed up with Adobe to use their new Photoshop Elements 12 application to process the image and get it ready to live in the physical world. It's super easy to use, but still full of all kinds of features that are perfect for doing art and craft projects. 

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How to: Make DIY Rustic Masculine Candles

Can't get into the floral smells and garish artwork of storebought candles? Nope, us either. So  we came up with our very own DIY version to make a reusable rustic candle that any guy can be proud to burn in his home. (Or log cabin?)

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Father's Day Idea: DIY Leather Coaster Gift Kit

Giving a handmade gift is always better than a mass manufactured one. Whether you make it yourself or support a local artisan, craftsman or favorite Etsy shop, giving something that can't be found in a big box store not only shares an element of care, but of legit surprise.

But do you know what we love even more than giving something handmade? Empowering the recipient to make something themselves. So, this Father's Day, give the gift of DIY with this simple and stylish leather coaster gift kit.    

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Make This: A DIY Sophisticated Leather Mouse Pad for Your Office

If you’re looking to make your leather work look a little classier, one of the easiest ways to do it is by adding padding.

Think of the watches you own or have seen that have a leather strap. Those straps will either be flat and made up of two pieces of leather glued together, or padded made up of two pieces of leather stitched around a thinner piece of leather, creating a raised looked in the middle. Almost always, the padded strap will look more refined.

This leather mouse pad is an excellent way to figure out how to add padding for the first time. And, what’s more, you’ll end up with a classy leather mouse pad to keep or give

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The Masculine Home: 5 Ideas to Create Simple Vignettes

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A vignette is a visual focus point that identifies the character of a room. These intentional areas are often the shots you'll see published in magazines, and you can achieve 'em at home, using mostly items you already have. Here are 5 ideas to get you started.

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How to: Make DIY Industrial Mason Jar Pendant Lights

I find lighting to be one of the more difficult parts of creating a masculine or industrial interior, especially when it comes to DIY projects. While you can

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How to: Make Your Own DIY Leather Belt from Scratch

Mr. Lentz - the "modern cowboy of the creative revolution" - has created a very cool DIY project with very detailed steps to make a customized leather belt.

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Weekend Project: How to Build a Rustic Headboard with Built-In Hidden Storage

Weekend project? On a Thursday? Yep, and for two reasons: one, I'll be out of town tomorrow, doing a weekend intensive course and dive program to get my SCUBA certification. But two, and most importantly, this storage headboard project is exactly the sort of thing you could put together in a weekend. 

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Masculine Bedroom Design Inspiration: Shades of Gray

Sometimes we forget that our bedroom is one of the key areas of our living space - if not the most important. If you're still sporting an 1998 edition IKEA duvet and mismatched pillows that were hand-me-downs from your previous roommates, then it's time to upgrade. 

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Restoring a Classic Desk Fan with New Leather Blades

When Sean came across this model 94646-E “Northwind” oscillating electric fan by Emerson Electric, dated to about 1955, he knew it'd be a stylish, character-filled replacement to his recently busted cheap plastic box fan. So, he got it home, plugged it in, and it whirred "like a cheetah." 

And within ten minutes, he totally cut himself on the sharp, spinning metal blades. Yikes.    

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Upgrade Your Headboard with Peel-and-Stick Wood Boards

It's always a great deal when you not only stumble on a great project to tackle, you learn about new products at the same time. I recently found this amazing IKEA hack that featured a new product called Stikwood. I simply cannot wait to get my hand on some boxes of this product.

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Father's Day Done Right: How to Make Your Own "Manly" Gift Crate

Skip that wrapping paper and put together a memorable gift crate for Father's Day. Here's a hot sauce filled wooden crate that will make you his favorite kid for yet another year.  

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Awesome Photo Tour of an Eclectic + Masculine British Apartment

A little loft can go a long way. Just ask Richard Dewhurst, the interior architect who designed this unique British apartment.   

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Weekend Project: Make a DIY Army Canvas Headboard

This DIY headboard project makes a very fine way to add a little rustic texture to your sleep space. It uses a 5x7' canvas tarp (twenty bucks!) and, the best part, no sewing. Just some 2x4s, a bit of plywood, and some staples and screws to hold it all together.   

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Tiny House Tour: Evan's Rustic, Timber-Filled Shelter

The tiny house movement has been gaining so much steam in the last decade that it's easy to parody, but I'm continually blown away by the innovative and stylish decor people come up with.   

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How to: Make a DIY Typographic Advent Calendar

As a kid, I loved making those paper ring garlands to help count down the days to Christmas. They weren't much, just strips of red and green construction paper, one looped inside another and held together with a swipe of glue stick, but, buddy, I loved the ritual of ripping those suckers off as soon as I woke up every morning.

So, for this holiday season, I wanted to embrace the idea of a countdown craft, but update it to something a bit more adult, a bit more masculine, and reusable season after season.  

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