10 things you probably didn’t know about applying nail polish at home. (VIDEO)
EXPERT ADVICE | “Shellac is whack,” says my friend Joanna, channeling Whitney Huston. Joanna has the most beautifully groomed fingernails of any woman I know, so I pay attention when she tells me that shellac nail polish manicures, with their impossibly glossy chip-free allure, are a money pit because you need to have the polish professionally reapplied every two or three weeks. “The acetone used to soak off the polish is a problem, too,” she says, “When you use it regularly, even the strongest nails are going to rip or peel.” Read more
How To Remove Oil Stains From Clothes
/0 Comments/in Cleaning & Maintenance, HOME, Home & Garden, Styling Tips, View All Fashion Stories, View All Home Stories /by EditorHere is a dead easy way to remove any cooking oil stain from clothing.
THIS STUFF WORKS | Quick, which home cleaning product has grease-cutting properties as a big part of its raison d’être? Anyone who has ever watched daytime television even once knows the answer is dishwashing liquid. What I didn’t know until this past weekend is that the grease-cutting effectiveness of liquid detergent on pots and pans can also be applied to clothing. I learned this the hard way, of course, when I dropped a big glob of salad dressing containing olive oil on my A&F Bermuda shorts. Read more
Yes, You Can Get Your Kids To Pick Up Their Dirty Towels
/0 Comments/in Cleaning & Maintenance, HOME, Home & Garden, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, SAVE EFFORT, SAVE ENERGY, View All Home Stories, View All How-To Stories /by EditorHow to get your messy kids to stop leaving soggy bath towels in a pile in their room.
NAG LESS| Have you ever experienced Disappearing Towel Phenomenon? This occurrence is not to be confused with Disappearing Object Phenomenon, a documented paranormal event where random objects mysteriously disappear and then inexplicably turn up later. In the case of Disappearing Towel Phenomenon, the objects are neither random nor their whereabouts unknown. Parents of teenagers know precisely where to look for their vanished bath towels: in multiple, soggy piles on the floor in their offspring’s bedrooms. Read more
Tips To Make Tiny Bathrooms Feel Larger
/3 Comments/in DECOR & DESIGN, HOME, Home & Garden, View All Home Stories /by EditorTips and tricks to make even the tiniest bathroom feel much larger.
GAINING SPACE | How do you make a dinky five-foot-square powder room feel larger? Mirror is one obvious solution, which is why I installed a giant, counter-to-ceiling sheet of it in my recently renovated loo. Another is to replace a traditional, space-hogging vanity with shallow cabinets. I gained a valuable nine inches on the floor across the width of my tiny room by replacing the boxy 21-inch-deep vanity with five linear feet of plain-Jane IKEA kitchen wall cabinets that are a mere 12 inches deep. Not only did I maximize the amount of open floor area, but I gained infinitely more—and more useful—storage as well. Read more
Great Sources For Perfect Paper Lanterns
/0 Comments/in DECOR & DESIGN, Entertaining, FOOD, HOME, Home & Garden, View All Food Stories, View All Home Stories /by EditorLight up your summer party with paper lanterns. Here’s where to find the best ones.
SIMPLE & PERFECT | Yes, they’re only paper moons sailing over a concrete sea (my patio), but summer parties automatically feel more fun when I hang a few of these. Read more
See Canada’s Wonders On FlyOver Canada
/0 Comments/in CANADIAN CONTENT, Culture & Leisure, Go Here Now, TRAVEL, View All Travel Stories /by EditorSee all of Canada’s natural wonders on FlyOver Canada’s spectacular virtual flight ride.
TRAVEL ADVISORY | I flew across Canada the other day. It took a total of 30 minutes to travel from coast to coast. For $20 dollars I dipped, dove and soared in an aerial dance that began in Newfoundland’s surreal Iceberg Alley and ended in the Northwest Territories, where glowing, auroral streamers swirled in the northern light. Along the way, I flew into the misty middle of Niagara Falls, over the top of the astounding cirque glaciers found along ridge crests in the Rockies, and through a procession of other breathtaking Canadian landscapes. Read more
Backyard Chickens Need A Moveable Coop
/19 Comments/in Design, GARDEN, Home & Garden, Tools & Shortcuts, View All Garden Stories /by EditorIf you’re planning to raise backyard chickens, it makes sense to have a moveable coop.
CREATIVE SOLUTION | The 100 Mile Diet is becoming the 100 Foot Diet as increasing numbers of urbanites turn to growing and raising food in their backyards. Many of them will discover, however, that there’s a reason for leaving food production to farmers—it’s a serious amount of work. Read more
The Best Way to Apply Nail Polish At Home
/69 Comments/in Beauty How-To, Fashion & Beauty, Hair & Nails, HOW-TO KNOW-HOW, View All Beauty Stories, View All How-To Stories /by Editor10 things you probably didn’t know about applying nail polish at home. (VIDEO)
EXPERT ADVICE | “Shellac is whack,” says my friend Joanna, channeling Whitney Huston. Joanna has the most beautifully groomed fingernails of any woman I know, so I pay attention when she tells me that shellac nail polish manicures, with their impossibly glossy chip-free allure, are a money pit because you need to have the polish professionally reapplied every two or three weeks. “The acetone used to soak off the polish is a problem, too,” she says, “When you use it regularly, even the strongest nails are going to rip or peel.” Read more
Why You Need To Use Cloth Napkins Daily
/12 Comments/in BUY THIS. MAKE THAT., DECOR & DESIGN, FOOD, HOME, Home & Garden, View All Food Stories, View All Home Stories /by EditorHere’s why you should use cloth napkins every day—and how (and where) to sew beautiful mitered-corner ones for yourself. (VIDEO)
MONEY WELL SPENT | You should be using cloth napkins every day not only because doing so will save you money by cutting down on paper waste but also because you deserve nice things, and cloth napkins are nice all around: better next to the skin than paper ones, generally larger and more absorbent. Read more
Make The Berry Best Dessert In Under 5
/0 Comments/in Easy + Quick = Delicious, FOOD, Food & Drink, View All Food Stories /by EditorClafoutis is unquestionably the most delicious and fruity dessert you can make in less than five minutes.
EASY & DELISH | Some people call French clafoutis (pronounced cla-FOU-tee) a pancake-like dessert, while others say it’s more flanlike. No matter how you describe it, if it’s made with any fruit besides black cherries, it’s technically not a clafoutis but a flaugnarde—though no one we know, including superstar cookbook author Donna Hay, whose recipe we’ve adapted here, uses that term. So we’ll continue to call our favourite summer dessert—the easiest/sweetest thing you’ll ever make—a mixed berry clafoutis too. Read more
Finally, Attractive Microfiber Dishtowels
/3 Comments/in Cleaning & Maintenance, FOOD, HOME, Home & Garden, Tools & Techniques, View All Food Stories, View All Home Stories /by EditorThese microfiber dishtowels look stylish in the way that linen ones do—and function superbly, too.
GET THIS | I can’t help but think that if for some mysterious reason Fog Linen Work, a Japanese company that produces an exquisite line of linen products coveted by design devotees everywhere, were to suddenly go rogue and use microfiber rather than Lithuanian linen to make their kitchen towels, they might make a waffle-weave product like the one pictured here from the American company Eurow & O’Reilly. “Yes, aren’t these towels awesome,” my designer friend Margo concurred when I enthused about how attractive and effective hers were as we stood hand-drying dishes after dinner at her place awhile back. Read more