I’m an avid birder — I find our feathered friends absolutely mesmerizing. And as any birder knows, the fastest way to attract local species to your yard is to fill your feeders with their favorite seed mixes. Here’s a pretty way to keep a supply on hand in an attractive container — an easy project […]
How To
Useful stuff from 75 years of Yankee. Edith Hunter of Waitsfield, Vermont, submitted this in January 1991. One of the most vivid pictures of my father that I have in my mind is of his making newspaper knots in the living room before laying a fire in the fireplace. He called them “Cape Cod kindling” […]
How To
How to Build an Igloo
Have you ever wondered how to build an igloo? Dr. Norbert Yankielun shares the importance of “the appropriate snow for the appropriate shelter,” tips on technique, a small village of surprisingly elegant igloos, block shelters, slab shelters, and snow caves rises in gleaming white around us. It’s a perfect winter day in the Upper Valley–clear, […]
Five crafts make your home completely boo-tiful. Make eight Halloween treats with no tricks. Which Halloween collectibles should you keep?Get Our FREE Yankee Best New England Vacations Guide! Email(Required) Find a haunted place in New England, if you dare!
Antiques add richness to any home decor. Here are some of Matthew Mead’s favorite places to shop for vintage housewares. ANTIQUES USA, Route 1, Arundel/Kennebunk, ME 800-872-1114, 207-985-7766; antiquesusamaine.com YORK ANTIQUES GALLERY, Route 1, York, ME 207-363-5002; yorkantiquesgallery.comGet Our FREE Yankee Best New England Vacations Guide! Email(Required) WHITE HOME COLLECTIONS, 9 Greenville Road, Wilton, NH […]
I love old metal tins, and hunting for them at thrift and antiques shops is an easy and inexpensive way to get into the spirit of the season. Here’s how you can turn a serendipitous find into the perfect setting for your favorite baked goods, to give or to keep. 1. Line the tin with […]
Learn more about home heat efficiency. Home-improvement expert Tom Silva shares 6 tips for making an old house more efficient.
How To
Holiday Gift Basket Foods
A holiday basket of New England foods brings glad tidings to friends and family. More suggestions: New England food gifts 1. Molasses-and-clove cookies. Dancing Deer Baking Company, Roxbury, MA. 888-699-3337, dancingdeer.com 2. Mix a batch of fresh scones, as good as Nana’s. Bristol Harbor Homemade, Bristol, RI (bristolharborhomemade.com), marketed by The New England Cupboard, Bangor, […]
How To
Basic Canning Tips
1. Use only clean, perfect canning jars (no nicks or cracks). You may reuse jars, but always use new seals and rings. 2. Start with cold water when you boil the jars, seals, and rings to sterilize them. Use a rack or trivet to keep jars off the bottom of the pot. Heat to the […]
Award-winning pastry chef Ciril Hitz, a department chairman and instructor at Johnson and Wales University, always carried with him a fond recollection of the aroma of fresh bread baking to perfection in the wood-fired ovens so common in his native Switzerland. PROJECT Wood-Fired Oven Today, he and his wife, Kylee, live in Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in […]
PROJECT: Sea-Glass Mirror Surround Beachlovers Holly Rader and Carol Smith-Sloan are longtime friends who share a passion for beach glass. Recently they’ve started transforming their collections of those ocean-tumbled fragments into art. They’ve adorned mirrors, picture frames, and mantels with colorful shards — but these days they’re concentrating on larger installations, such as the mirror […]
How To
Home Project: Outdoor Shower
Project: OUTDOOR SHOWER Guests who get a chance to use the outdoor shower at the Block Island home of Larry Breakstone and his wife, Karen Levey, come away impressed. And for good reason: For starters, it’s got hot water, but the 4×8-foot structure is also spacious, offers a pleasant view of Block Island Sound, and […]