<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?><rss version="2.0"><channel><title>washingtonpost.com - 15 Min.</title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/columns/15min?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><description>15 Min.</description><language>en-us</language><ttl>15</ttl><image><title>washingtonpost.com</title><width>140</width><height>20</height><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com</link><url>http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/hp/image/wp_web.gif</url></image><item><title><![CDATA[Slate Picture Frame]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7933-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7933-2005Apr21.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[The proliferation of digital cameras and photo-quality printers  --  not to mention cheapie disposable cameras  --  means that images of adorable newborns, family reunions and winsome puppies are always being added to the Great Snapshot Pile. Picking which precious pics to put on display can be a tough call. But the decision is decidedly easier with this slate photo frame project that lets you share more than one snap at a time.]]></description><author> Diyhome</author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Faux Coral]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30229-2004Dec2.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A30229-2004Dec2.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[No matter how full the vase of flowers, how artfully arranged the fruit basket, same-old  centerpieces can be a little . . . boring. Looking for an elegant yet eccentric conversation starter? Make your own faux coral branches. You may not be headed to St. Barts, but the boughs' woody-yet-high-gloss glamour will add a splash of resort chic to any room. They also make a great gift.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make a Motherboard Lamp]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27504-2004Sep16.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27504-2004Sep16.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[It's happened to everyone. At first, you and your  digital companion are inseparable: making dates, writing love letters, planning exotic vacations.  But a couple of years later, your eye begins to roam. Maybe it's the new Mac G5 -- so sleek, so super-speedy. Or maybe it's not you at all: Your microprocessing buddy, once so quick to respond to your keystrokes, is sluggish, temperamental -- dare we say it? Outmoded. It's time to say goodbye.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Fashion a Rustic Wine Rack]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59750-2004Aug12.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59750-2004Aug12.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I like to think of my almost daily wine consumption as terribly Continental. You know, a carafe of Bordeaux enjoyed with a Seine-side meal, a nice Chianti sipped under the Tuscan sun. What my quotidian quaffing really means, though, is that I'm a by-the-book American imbiber: Experts say most of the wine bought in this country is consumed within 24 hours of its purchase (and Mad Dog 20/20 even sooner).]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jazz Up a Lamp With Glass Paint]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50875-2004Jun17.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50875-2004Jun17.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Remember how, when you were a kid, there was always one cool mom in the neighborhood? Her freezer was always full of ice pops, she always had excellent craft supplies and she let you watch cartoons to your heart's content. My friend Roseanne is Silver Spring's Cool Mom 2004. Her kids are well supplied with awesome books -- from pop-ups to Huck Finn -- and she makes a habit of loading up on imagination-enhancing arts supplies, such as Popsicle sticks (for constructing skyscrapers), pipe cleaners and paints. (Plus, she makes delectable, retro fluffernutters on white bread -- for lucky adults and kids alike.)]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Turn a Board Game Into a Serving Tray]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33078-2004Jun10.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33078-2004Jun10.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[When I was growing up, board games were always a source of angst.   My dad bought into the Milton Bradley fantasy that a nuclear clan that played together -- gathered around a brightly hued board -- stayed together. So as one of his  family-building traditions, he often brought my brother and me dull "family" games from our local toy emporium. These rarely, if ever, got played -- and when they did, temper tantrums and Monopoly money flew. The fun would end with my dad pronouncing us a sorry lot: What kind of family can't even manage a board game?]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Turn a Wine Crate Into a Potting Table]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14200-2004Jun3.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A14200-2004Jun3.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[To me, wine aficionados have  little to recommend them. There's the swirling, the slurping, the spitting -- and the inability to allow anyone else at the table to peruse the wine list without butting in. Then there's all the empty evidence -- the clanking  soldiers lined up for recycling, an echo of the throbbing in one's morning-after brain. One positive bit of wine-snob detritus, though, is the old-fashioned wooden wine crate. As liquor stores generally reserve these for people who buy full cases -- and only the finer vintages are still packaged this way -- they provide the perfect excuse to splurge on a bunch of the good stuff. Their design is also one of the most classic consumer packages ever created; it can be retrofitted in any number of ways. This project takes a nifty French crate (block your eyes, Francophobes) and turns it into a rustic and handy garden-supply box-cum-potting table.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make a Revolutionary Doormat]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61929-2004May27.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61929-2004May27.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[There is a dearth of sassy, charming doormats out there. I ought to know -- I live in a building without the luxury of an elevator. Multiple times a day, I have the opportunity to review my neighbors' mats. To a one, they are dirty, ratty and wholly uninteresting (To be fair, Apartment No. 18 has made an attempt at wit: Theirs is printed with a cartoon frog in a hammock under the phrase "Welcome to Our Pad").]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make a Magnetic Spice Rack]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43894-2004May20.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43894-2004May20.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Back in college, I had a winsome poet-boyfriend who once wrote me a multicolored, stream-of-consciousness letter that included the pronouncement, "Spice is the spice of life." In his faux-naif, hippie way, he was right, of course. Our existence would, without a doubt, be quite gray without the ground nuts, bark, flowers and seeds that add nuance to our cuisine.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make an Eye-Catching Room Divider]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6977-2004May6.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6977-2004May6.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Self-delusion through real estate is the story of my life. Think a 500-square-foot studio  is roomy because it boasts south-facing windows that expand my "psychic horizons"? Check. Truly believe I can have an office, bedroom and living room all in one space? Check! Through the wonders of interior decorating, I've learned that space can be nipped and tucked to within an inch of its life. One helpful tool:  This room divider, which effortlessly  separates  spreadsheets from bedsheets. It does require more than our usual quarter-hour, but the time's worth it: Though it was inspired by a  European number with a price tag over $2,000, ours comes in around $50.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Colorful Food Cans Liven Up a Set of Shelves]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16244-2004Apr15.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A16244-2004Apr15.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[My friend Ted Lee leads something of a dual life. He's one-half New York city slicker -- the writer of toothsome food articles for publications such as Travel & Leisure and the New York Times -- and one-half Southern gentleman. He and his brother-writing partner, Matt, are the proprietors of the Charleston, S.C.-based Lee Bros. Boiled Peanuts Catalogue (<a href="http://www.boiledpeanuts.com">www.boiledpeanuts.com</a>), a homegrown source for the treat, as well as other hard-to-source Southern specialties, such as canned hominy, Cheerwine soda and watermelon-rind pickles.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Jazz Up Your Curtain Rods With Disco Balls]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43505-2004Apr1.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43505-2004Apr1.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Back in the day, I had a thing about disco. I slavishly idealized the heady, star-studded nights of Studio 54 -- where  stunning creatures like Liza, Halston, Bianca and Andy were constantly photographed looking au courant and sexy. Of course, I was 8 years old then, so the closest I personally got to that glittering world was about a decade later, learning the steps to the hustle from a musty old record -- footprint-map foldout included -- I bought in college.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Create a Flower Frame]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25380-2004Mar25.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25380-2004Mar25.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I had a friend in high school whose mom was an unabashed cocktail aficionado. Her inimitable catchphrase -- when a day was rough enough to warrant a frosty one early in the afternoon -- was, "Well, it's happy hour somewhere!" Even though the winter has been cruelly endless this year, judging from the abundant, gorgeous blooms in flower-shop windows, it's already spring somewhere, as well.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make Your Own 'Batterie de Cuisine' Tiles]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6486-2004Mar18.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6486-2004Mar18.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[If you'd like to re-tile your kitchen but are short of cash, this is the cheapest imaginable way of achieving the effect: simple photocopies, pasted to the wall and varnished.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Build an Electronics Hutch]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10772-2004Feb26.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10772-2004Feb26.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Looking back, I think it was the iPod that did it. The slim gizmo   seemed innocent enough at first, but it soon sent me over the edge. I live (with husband and dog) in a diminutive studio apartment. Juicing up my digital-music player would require one more electrical outlet than I had, and  portables like laptops, Palms, cell phones and all their ancillary accoutrements already littered every horizontal surface.  Clearly, I needed to exert some dominance over these microchipped babies.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make a Clutter-Keeper Collage]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38078-2004Feb12.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38078-2004Feb12.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[I have an abiding affinity for old-school, functional objects, and I find classic office furniture and desk accoutrements especially appealing. There's nothing like an unpretentious, workaday steel desk, a rugged wooden chair, and a battered pencil cup labeled, well, "Pencils,"  to put me in a down-to-business mood. (Indeed, I harbor a fantasy in which my Post editors -- cigar-chomping, in rolled-up shirtsleeves and fedoras -- are still sitting at just such desks hollering "Rewrite!")]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Iron-On Pillowcase Slogans]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17445-2004Feb5.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17445-2004Feb5.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Imitation, as all cliche fans know, is the sincerest form of flattery. My friends Jonathan  and Rob, an endlessly inspiring couple, have generously provided me with more than their fair share of ideas. I adored Jonathan's recent art piece "Pillow Talk." It entailed  taking a pair of black pillowcases and silk-screening the name of half a notorious, passionate couple, in white ink, on each one. (Sample faves: "Morticia"  matched with "Gomez," "Jekyll" and "Hyde," "Liza" and "David.") Now, thanks to the wonder of mass-marketed iron-on printer paper, anyone with an inkjet printer can adapt the idea and become a pillowcase-slogan artist.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Force a Batch of Flowering Bulbs]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61918-2004Jan29.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61918-2004Jan29.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[There is nothing in the deep, dark doldrums of winter like a vivid flash of green or a colorful burst of petals. The hope of warmer days evinced by a vibrant, just-bloomed plant is so heartening that, these days, a mere glimpse is enough to stop me in my snow-weary tracks.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make Marble Refrigerator Magnets]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40362-2004Jan22.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40362-2004Jan22.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[There are two types of people in this world:  those with tidy, well-ordered refrigerator fronts, and people like me, who can't help keeping decades of photos, shopping lists and found art pinned on that gleaming door. When I visit friends whose minimalist appliances are either sleekly bare or adorned with just a few tasteful, Lucite-mounted photos, I resolve to clean up my act. But fact is, I can't resist the siren song of fridge magnets, and any well-intentioned effort at neatening only lasts a short while.]]></description><author></author></item><item><title><![CDATA[Make a Doggy Place Mat]]></title><link>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19806-2004Jan15.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19806-2004Jan15.html?nav=rss_style/columns/15min</guid><pubDate>Sun, 24 Apr 2005 7:50:55 GMT</pubDate><description><![CDATA[Who's your best friend? With apologies to my human amigos, I'd have to name my charismatic mutt, Daisy. Yes, she's "alert" (my mother-in-law's diplomatic term for "hyperactive and obsessive"), but she's always ready with a leap-into-the-sky greeting, and she really does kiss -- well, lick -- away my tears. Plus, she doesn't talk back, doesn't ask to borrow money and will never, ever drink all the beer.]]></description><author></author></item></channel></rss>