I’m a firm believer that one can never have enough throw blankets. Not only do they keep your toes toasty while lounging on the couch, but they’re also an inexpensive way to inject some new color into a room. So now that fall has rolled back around, I’ve been scouring the web for that perfect cozy throw (and trying to resist the siren song of the hideous Snuggie). So here are seven of my favorite finds, in order from lowest to highest price — from around $40 for cotton to $110 for cashmere. Pick one up, grab a book and a hot cup of tea, and get comfy! –Megan B. Click for all the cozy! (more…)

Our very first entry, and the competition is already a scream! Tracy of Yorba Linda, CA has quite an entryway, too — nothing like a wall full of crypts to get you into the Halloween spirit. Tracy shares how she did it. Read on…if you dare! And don’t forget — enter today for your chance to win Halloween goodies from Target!

Tracy says: “Here are my homemade Halloweenie decorations! Yes, I made everything you see here.”

“Mausoleum: I printed out the inscriptions, traced them onto cardboard, then painted them in by hand. Same with the ‘Foolish Mortals’ sign. The columns are altered cardboard boxes with fruit baskets on top. You can’t see it, but I drilled holed in the skulls’ eyes and put a glow stick inside.

“Portraits: I printed the faces out and mounted them on cardboard, then cut out the eye shapes from the cardboard. Tape a glow stick on the back and…instant creepy glowing eyes! The frames were cheap home décor from Tuesday Morning –- I cut out the centers and just used the outside. The Moaning Lisa was from a Halloween store –- I gave her the same treatment for her eyes and tongue.” Click for more horror! (more…)

We’ve featured a good deal of tea towels on Shelterrific over the years, everything from organic beauties to retro prints. But we’ve never posted anything like the Niccole tea towel by Flowie. The Niccole is hand-dyed, making each one totally unique. I think they’re almost too pretty to be used for just drying dishes; I’d love to get a set and use them as over-sized cloth napkins. Pick them up for $18 apiece at FlowieStyle.com. –Erica P.

Call me old school, but I’m really loving these bold throwback bandages from Perpetual Kid and The Spoon Sisters. Sometimes, you just need a break from everyday beige, and I’m pretty sure I would have been the coolest kid at the Girl Scout pool party if I had had a T-bone steak covering those forehead stitches back in the day. The Black Cat and Monster varieties would be the perfect disguise for all those costume-creating snafus, but I’m most fond of the Comic Strips and Art School varieties. All of them are great for kids, or simply the kid in you. –Sarah C.

Earlier this year, I resolved that 2009 would to be the year I aspire to more than cooking the old standbys all the time. But sometimes the old standbys are just what the doctor ordered. As fall comes into focus, I’ve been nostalgic for this holiday family favorite, which I’ve adapted from a community cookbook compiled by the women of my hometown before I was born. Though it won’t be winning awards for heart health anytime soon, this simple twist on classic cheese and crackers is a crowd-pleaser in my house, and because it freezes easily, it’s the gift that keeps on giving, right in time for the holiday season. –Sarah C. Click for the recipe. (more…)

The cooler temperatures and grey skies of autumn have arrived, and I have shifted into hardcore baking mode. My trusty ol’ stand mixer has been whipping batter and creaming sugar like crazy, and I never thought it could get any easier until a fellow foodie hipped me to the SideSwipe Spatula Mixer Blade. It’s designed to replace the “k paddle” attachment on your stand mixer (and not just for KitchenAid mixers) scraping the bowl as it mixes, thus allowing your batters to be smooth and perfect in a fraction of the time. I was a bit skeptical at first, but after reading a few of the positive reviews on the SideSwipe site (from Cook’s Illustrated, for one) and watching a pretty nifty video of the blade in action, I’m convinced. Find the blade for your mixer at the SideSwipe site, or swipe your own from Amazon, where they run about $25. –Megan B.

This is a great rainy-day fun project that’s thrifty as well. At Light Refreshments Served, Lisa took a piece of mass-produced, store-bought art, flipped the canvas, and revived it with a coat of bright green paint and a modern mural of birds and trees that she cut out from wallpaper. This would be a great save with thrift store “art” where the frame looks better than what it’s framing. You could use magazines or wrapping paper to play around with, too. See Lisa’s directions for making a modern mural here.

Online programs are great, but they aren’t the same as point, shoot, and watch the photo develop in your hand. At least, that’s what the folks at Polaroid must have decided — they’re bringing back the classic One Step camera and instant film in 2010. Read all about it! (Via Gizmodo.)

More Polaroid love: PoGo, Poladroid

Have you decked out your door stoop for Halloween? We have been admiring the makeshift graveyards, faux cobwebs, and jack-o-lanterns dotting our neighborhoods. Now we want to see YOURS! To entice you to share, we’re offering up this fun Halloween booty from Target as a prize to the best decor. Whether it’s a stoop, an entry hall, or even just a cubicle, email jpgs of your Halloween decorations to letters (at) shelterrific dotcom. We’ll post our favorites and let you decide the winner next week. Send your entries to us by next Wednesday, October 21st.

What’s in that prize? It includes a goth black metal candelabra, two “bleeding candles (one is shaped like a skull!), felted Halloween throw, scary kitty candy basket, and a pumpkin wreath. And if you don’t feel like entering but want the gear, visit target.com.

As I wrote last year, we thought the Penofin Aquafin we used on our deck railings was great — easy to apply, easy to clean up, non-flammable, and much more environmentally friendly than regular stain. After a Seattle winter, however, parts of our project weren’t holding up like we’d hoped. The stain looked pretty good on anything that was vertical, but the horizonal portions of the railings did not fare well — there was some peeling and a lot of spots that weathered as if they hadn’t been stained at all. Two weeks ago, we went ahead and ordered several more gallons to reapply. We were staining newbies last year, so what do you think — was the weathering normal, is the stain not up to par, or did we do something wrong? My theories and more photos after the jump. –Mary T. (more…)