The bubbles give ordinary water an extra sparkle, and if you drink flavored seltzer, you may even be able to trick your brain into thinking it's soda. As the ice melts you can sip on an ice-cold bottle of water all day. Slicing up citrus, berries, or even cucumbers into your water will give it a zesty, fresh taste that will keep you coming back for more. You can freeze just about any juice, mashed up fruit, or even coffee or flavored tea in an ice cube tray. When they're ready, pop out a few cubes and add them to your water bottle.

Summary: Drink carbonated water. Freeze your water the night before. Add fruit. Make flavored ice cubes.


The easiest way to create a base for the wishing well is to use an existing, wooden container. A barrel or wooden planter roughly 2–4 feet (0.6 – 1.2 meters) tall will make a small garden ornament, while larger containers can be used to make something closer in size to an actual well. If you do decide to use one of these options, skip ahead to the next section, on attaching a roof. If you'd like to make your own circular well base, use the instructions below. If you prefer a square container, build a planter box, then skip ahead to attaching the roof. If you have access to a table saw, you can make your own wooden ring out of lumber. Here are some guidelines for the raw materials:  Sixteen pieces of 1 x 4 (25 x 100 millimeter) lumber will make a wishing well that looks quite circular, and measures about 2 feet (0.6 meters) across.  Use eight pieces of 2 x 4 (50 x 100 millimeter) instead to save time and money, making an octagonal well. Cut all pieces to the same length, which will be the height of your wishing well. If you want the well to be portable, or usable by children, choose a height of 4 ft (1.2 m) or less. If you plan to build a roof, cut two of the pieces at least 2.5 ft (0.75 m) longer than the others to serve as roof supports. Cut one end of these pieces to a fencepost-like point, using 45º angles. . Bevel each long edge of each piece of lumber, to ensure that they fit together tightly when arranged in a circle. For a sixteen-sided barrel, cut each edge to an 11.25º angle. For an eight-sided barrel, use a 22.5º angle instead. Use a protractor, rafter square, or angle gauge to set the angle of your saw.  For a barrel with n sides, use an angle equal to 360 ÷ (n x 2). See the tips section for an alternate method of finishing you barrel, that does not require beveling. Lay out the lumber flat on the ground, touching each other along the long edges. Push them against a straight edge to make sure the bases line up. If you are using extra-long roof supports, place exactly half of the short pieces in between them, to make sure the roof supports end up opposite each other.  For example, if you are using sixteen pieces, lay out a long roof support, seven short pieces, then a long roof support, then the other seven short pieces. If you are using eight pieces, lay out a long roof support, three short pieces, a long roof support, then the other three short pieces. Once you have beveled the lumber and laid it out, rotate one slat of lumber onto the next, so the angled edges fit perfectly. Repeat until the barrel shape is formed, with the help of an assistant if possible. If you cannot roll the barrel together, use wood glue to fasten each slat to the next in turn. If you would like the barrel to have a bottom, trace out the dimensions of the bottom piece while the barrel is rolled together. Cut out the bottom from a single piece of lumber and wedge it into the barrel, then continue on to the next step.  If you leave your wishing well without a base, you can use it as a decoration around existing features, such as fountain pipes or flower planters. Clamp the barrel together. Whether or not you used glue, clamp the final barrel shape together by tightening two hose clamps around it, one near each end. Use a third clamp near the middle if the barrel seems loose.

Summary: Consider using a barrel or box as the base. Gather lumber. Use a table saw to angle the edges of the lumber Lay out the lumber. Roll the lumber into a barrel shape. Add a bottom (optional).


Transposition codes take your normal message and rearrange the letters according to a simple, agreed upon rule. This type of cipher can be harder to crack than a substitution cipher, because there will be no frequently used words to be found: they’ll all be scrambled.  Write your message normally. Because you’re going to be scrambling the message, you’ll need the normal message as a starting place. Choose something simple to start with like, “How are you today” Decide how to rearrange the letters. A simple transposition cipher, for example, might take each letter and place them in reverse order within the word, but not the sentence. “How are you today” would become “woh era uoy yadot”. Let your friends know the rearranging order. They’ll need to know how you scrambled the words so that they can read your messages. Pick something a little more difficult than just reversing the letters, as the example of “woh era uoy yadot” can be easily cracked. Try using a matrix. Draw large box on a piece of paper and divide it evenly into rows and columns. Write your normal message with one letter written in each smaller box. Your new message will be made by making the vertical columns into sentences instead of the horizontal ones. To decode, your friends will have to make their own grid, write the sentences vertically, then read left to right as normal. This method is a type of transposition cipher, in that the letters are written and arranged up and down a paper instead of straight across, creating a block of text. Be aware that this may be easy to crack, because none of the words are scrambled.  Write your message starting in one of the corners of the paper. Make a column up or down from where you started. Write in a straight line all the way to the next edge of the paper. Write the next column when you reach the edge. Once you reach the edge of the first column, start writing the next line in the opposite direction. If you started writing upwards from the bottom left corner, you’ll now write in a line going down to the next edge of the page. Repeat for each column. Continue writing your message up and down the paper, like a snake. When looked at by anyone else, they’ll only see a block of text that makes no sense when read from left to right. Sign your message with a small snake. Your friends will know how you’ve written the message and how to read it. Meanwhile, no one else will know what it means.
Summary: Use a simple transposition cipher. Use the snake method.