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To make, follow these steps: Use a Pumpkin-Shape Cookie Cutter to cut pumpkins from rolled sugar cookie dough that’s prepared according to your favorite recipe. Bake as directed. Spread a layer of orange icing on the main portion of the pumpkin. Add your favorite jack-o’-lantern face shapes to the pumpkin cookies using black icing, and cover the stems with green icing. To make, follow these steps: Place orange-color and yellow-colored candy coating disks in separate microwave-safe bowls....

1. Give Your Snowball Hydrangea Ideal Growing Conditions If you’ve just purchased a snowball hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens), also known as smooth hydrangea, think carefully about where to plant it. This hydrangea will grow between three and five feet tall so make sure to place it where it will have room to reach its full size. This plant will tolerant a variety of soils, but does best in rich, well-drained soil that stays consistently moist....

What to Do if You Have a Sunken Cake If you tested the cake’s doneness with a toothpick that came out with just a few moist crumbs attached, chances are you baked a nice moist cake. If your cake is undercooked and raw in the middle, you can still use the edges that are baked through. Use one of these sunken cake fixes that will still impress everyone with your dessert skills....

1. Using Containers Without Drainage It’s tempting to pair cute succulents with a fun container, but if you plant your new echeveria in a tiny ceramic pot with no way for water to drain, it’s not going to end well for your plant. Most succulents prefer their soil on the dry side anyway, but using a container without drainage holes increases your chances of overwatering, since the moisture will just pool in the bottom of the pot and literally drown your plant’s roots....

1. Choose a Theme An easy way to make your home design unified is to have a common theme throughout. Is it modern or traditional? Earthy or industrial? Do you love nature motifs? Vintage accessories? The look of farmhouse style? What about nautical pieces? This room perfectly captures a nautical sensibility with pale ocean blues, sea glass, and a weathered anchor on the mantel without going (dare we say it) overboard....

Pottery Barn is known for releasing a variety of timeless pieces and more modern ones, too. With ideas for every room in the house (plus the front porch!), we expect to see these trends all over as peak holiday season quickly approaches. This is why we expect to see a move toward faux wreaths and garlands. No cleanup is required, and to make matters even easier, many wreaths, garland, and other greenery from Pottery Barn come pre-lit....

Luckily, there are simple ways to disguise your laundry baskets, allowing you to keep things tidy and avoid visual clutter. Use our best laundry basket storage ideas in your household to get organized between wash days. 1. Conceal in a Cabinet One of the best ways to camouflage baskets is by using cabinets in your laundry room. If you’re designing a laundry room from scratch, consider asking your contractor to include this with the design....

In fact, we covered the trend in the May 1972 issue of Better Homes & Gardens. With its distinctive shape and high-shine finish, the chrome lamp in this retro bedroom is a focal point, even next to a bold coverlet and matching painted mural. Nearly 50 years later, mushroom lamps are back in the spotlight. According to Etsy’s 2021 report on home decor trends, searches for mushroom lamps have ballooned 371% in the past three months, compared to the same time last year....

Plant This Instead: Though its flowers aren’t fragrant, ajuga also can grow in shady spots similar to lily-of-the-valley, but won’t take over the garden. Plant This Instead: For early summer color, plant well-behaved, pollinator favorite penstemon instead of perennial bachelor’s button. Plant This Instead: There are many other well-behaved groundcover plants like creeping thyme, oregano, or barrenwort that won’t give you a decade-long headache like chameleon plant will. Plant This Instead: If you want early color with a more pleasing scent, opt for the delightful perfume of miniature daffodils....

To see how these plants actually do in practice, the Colorado State University’s (CSU) Flower Trial Garden puts them to the test over a two-year period, and each year, it picks out a few outstanding varieties. It named these six perennials as top performers, and you can bet that if these plants can stand up to Colorado’s high altitude, large temperature swings, and even punishing hailstorms with minimal care, they truly are tough beauties worth adding to your garden....

A charming facade doesn’t require a full-out facelift. Utilize the weekend to carry out one or all of the key details featured in this home’s front yard. Stone pillars anchor a winding walkway that leads to an updated front door. Tailored landscaping provides the perfect setting for custom trim and a classic color palette. How to Make a Paver Walkway How to Paint an Exterior Door Get the Cedar Shutter How-to Here...

A recent study from Improve Net asked 2,000 homeowners about DIY home improvement projects that didn’t go quite as planned. Of those polled, 63% said they regretted doing a project and 33% had to hire a professional to fix their work. Below are the top 7 DIY home projects homeowners say they regret doing. See what went wrong for and what you can do to avoid their mistakes. 7. Refinish Cabinetry If you think refinishing your cabinetry is as simple as painting a wall, think again....

So what food choices can help you ward off inflammation and the chronic diseases it may lead to? Here are some of the best anti-inflammatory foods you should consider adding to your diet now. 1. Berries Blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and even the Thanksgiving favorite, cranberries, have been shown to help decrease risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Inflammation and high blood pressures are key risk factors of CVD. Berries also contain hard-to-pronounce but oh-so-good-for-you anti-inflammatory compounds like anthocyanins and ellagitannins....

Throw on your jersey, whip up a batch of buffalo dip, and queue up the pre-game show, because these at-home tailgate ideas are the next best thing to actually being at the stadium.

What is straw? Straw is the dried stems left after wheat or oats (or other grains) have been harvested. Once the grain is removed, the dried stalks are bundled into bales. Ideally there will be very few seeds or weeds in the straw bale. (Pine straw is simply baled pine needles and is a good option for mulching ornamental beds.) Benefits of Mulching with Straw Straw mulch not only suppresses weed growth, but moderates fluctuations in soil temperature and moisture....