From the category archives:

Kids

Accessories

An alarm clock to chirp about

I often look at design*sponge for inspi­ra­tion (it’s on my blog roll, just a wee bit down this page on the right, FYI). Yes­ter­day I saw the cutest thing there, and it’s right up our cot­tage ally. UK com­pany Lucky Bite has designed an alarm clock that will have you think­ing spring even on winter’s darkest […]

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Accessories

How to make a pennant garland

Here’s one rea­son why my boyfriend is a killer catch—his charm­ing lit­tle col­lec­tion of old pen­nants.
Pen­nants are a fan­tas­tic cot­tage acces­sory; they add so much his­tory and char­ac­ter. And although I love these ones, I’d love to be able to dis­play them in a less clunky way. Sure those push pins stuck through the dry­wall do the trick, but […]

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Accessories

What to do with old candles

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the best can­dles to use at your cot­tage. In response, I received an inge­nious idea from reader Jo-​​​​Ann:
“I use the left­over wax from those burnt down can­dles to cover pinecones to use as fire starters. I save those “bits,” melt them down in a pot on the stove, and then dip pinecones […]

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Building and Architecture

Tricked-​​out treehouses

When I left the house this morn­ing, I heard birds chirp­ing. Not a com­mon sound to hear in Toronto in Jan­u­ary, espe­cially this year when it seems as thought the tem­per­a­ture has only rarely risen above –10 degrees. Was it ever soul pol­ish­ing to hear that squeaky reminder of spring.
Ah, yes, spring.
It also reminded me of some­thing I’ve […]

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Artwork

Charles Pachter: Artist, Author, and Cottager

Last night I attended the launch of artist Charles Pachter’s sec­ond children’s book, Canada Counts (Cor­morant Books). The fol­lowup to his alpha­bet book M is for Moose (which you’ll recall we fea­tured in our June 2009 moose decor story), this count­ing book is full of  cot­tage coun­try imagery such as canoes, loons, and corn on the cob. […]

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Accessories

Ikea Faves

It’s like Christ­mas when the new Ikea cat­a­logue arrives. I start imag­in­ing what I’m going to buy—how a cer­tain chair is exactly what I need for the cor­ner of one room, or how a new tray will help cor­ral the messy condi­ments in the kitchen. Easy-​​​​to-​​​​swallow price points have made Ikea the go-​​​​to source for cot­tage dec­o­rat­ing, sim­ply because […]

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Entertaining

Spotlight: Hosting Cottage Guests

In Cot­tage Life’s Sum­mer 2009 issue, you’ll find “Be Our Guest,” a story filled with tips to help you plan for vis­i­tors. Here, for the month of July, I’ll share even more host­ing ideas and use­ful prod­ucts.
When I was plan­ning for the story, I asked around the office to find out how every­one here pre­pares for cot­tage guests. […]

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