For a while, I have to admit, I got really sick of scented candles; there seems to be an endless stream of cleverly designed, badly smelling soy candles. But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by both the packaging and scents of Linnea’s Lights. The hand-poured candles come in lovely recycled containers that hold a perfectly matched matchbox in their inner lid. After getting a whiff of their signature scents — my favorite is Fir, which smells like a Christmas tree farm after sudden downpour — you’ll want to strike one and light up immediately. With 60 hours of burn time, there’s no need to save it for a special occasion. I’d be thrilled to get one as a gift, which means I’ll be giving them myself! $26 each. — Angela M.

Head over to YLighting.com between now and December 31, and you can register to win a Raimond Suspension Light by Moooi. The Raimond was designed by a math professor, and it was a hit in Milan last April at i Saloni. Not only is it a Ylighting exclusive, you’ll no doubt be the first among anyone you know to have one. (You may have to wrestle us for it.) Enter here.

More giveaways: Win a Christmas tree, and of course enter to win our Crypton William Wegman apron giveaway.

Mirrormirror proprietor and occasional Shelterrific contributor Paola Thomas is sharing the holiday spirit: purchase any of the fine wares at mirrormirror, and you can get free shipping to anywhere in the world. Simply choose the “FREE shipping with offer code” option at checkout and write code word “terrific” in the “How did you hear about us?” field. Thank you, Paola and mirrormirror! And just a nudge: The last day for Christmas shipping from the UK to the US is December 10, so you better get shopping. (Let’s see, we’d like the Atelier LZC Garland, this plaited leather tote bag by Angel Jackson, the rose lucite bracelets, perhaps a ceramic mobile…)

I’ve been on the search for the perfect coat rack for almost an entire year — something modern, sturdy, high capacity, and most importantly, affordable. Well, I finally found one that fits the bill at IKEA, but not where you’d expect. I spotted the Rationell Variera pot lid rack (designed for countertop use) for the bargain price of $4.99, and knew it would be my ideal solution.

But getting my pot-turned-coat rack on the wall took more work. After seeking guidance at the local mom-and-pop hardware store, I came home with a bag full of various brackets, bolts, screws and clamps, still not sure how it would come together. And after putting six huge anchor holes in the wall, I wasn’t sure it would even work at all.

But it was at that moment of despair when I had my “a-ha moment” — I took the galvanized pipe hanger strap I had purchased, unscrewed the posts on the rack, threaded the tape, cut it to fit, and re-attached the posts. Then it was as simple as drilling a few screws into the wall in a few spots to make sure it was well anchored. I love the result, and it cost a mere $7! — Megan B.

I stumbled upon these Pull-on SnowShorts via Incredible Things and immediately said to myself (out loud), “WOW!” As a kid, I always wanted sledding to be more fun than I found it to be — lugging a heavy sled up a hill for 10 minutes for 30 seconds of fun just never really did it for me. But imagine if you could take a seat and slide away any time a hill rolled on ahead of you? According to the Orvis site, they do in fact come in my size (there is one large size that fits adults with hip measurements up to 42″), but they’re not currently available. You can buy the smallest size (kids up to the age of 6) for $35. I wish I had a youngster on my holiday gift list. — Erica P.

One of our favorite stationers, Sesame Letterpress, just put the finishing touches on their new website and store, so now we can keep tabs on the dynamic duo of Breck Hostetter and Matt Heindl. The wedded graphic design team are always stamping out new prints that are worth checking out. For the holiday season, we love these mini silhouette gift tags. The set of eight tags contains one each of a man, woman, boy, girl, bear, rabbit, dog, and cat tag. They’re so lovely, they’re frame-worthy.

We love aprons, we love dogs, and we love eco-friendly, so of course we adore the Crypton Doodle Dog Apron, featuring artist William Wegman’s signature dog doodle on Crypton fabric. So we are super excited that Crypton has donated FIVE Gipsy Doodle Dog Aprons in pink to Shelterrific to give away to our readers!

More to love about the Doodle Dog Apron:
* Made of Crypton fabric, which is odor and bacteria resistant plus includes a built-in moisture barrier
* Made from 100 percent post consumer clear plastic bottles
* Machine washable
* Disinfectable (when used in conjunction with Crypton’s EPA approved Disinfectant & Deodorizer)
* Made in the USA

Here’s how to register to win:
Take a peek at the Crypton Fabric site, then leave a comment at Shelterrific on this post telling us about your favorite Crypton product — or which one you think would make a great gift. Leave your comment by this Thursday, December 10 at 5 p.m. EST. Once comments close, we’ll use a random number generator to select our five winners, and the Doodle Dog aprons will be on their way!

Be sure to leave a working email address in comments (we’re the only ones who will see it) so we can contact you if you win! One comment per person, please.

Now, get entering — and many thanks to Crypton for making this giveaway possible!

Oh, baby, is it ever cold out today in New York. When I swung my feet out of bed this morning and stepped down onto the cold, bare wood floor, I knew it was time to break out the extra blankets. I love having cozy quilts and afghans around the apartment to curl up in when it’s blustery out. I think this fleece Tomato Blanket from Little Factory is next on my list. I love the bold graphics and the warm red and orange color scheme. You can pick one up for $25 here. — Erica P.

1) We even like to save food we don’t like. Cat Sitter in the City says of the digital day counters: “Now this is a great idea. I wish I had had one last night when I pulled some marinara sauce out of the fridge and couldn’t remember exactly how long it was in there… I hate it anyway.”

2) As of this writing, a little over 70% of our readers eat some kind of meat. The poll’s not scientific, but the results and comments are interesting. Chookooloonks says: “I’ve gone back and forth from being a full-on meat-eater to eating-only-seafood for years, until last year when I gave up eating meat entirely…. I just figured that I’m lucky enough to live in a part of the world where food is abundant, and I can stay healthy without something having to die for me to do so.” See more food for thought here.

3) Erica needs to post a pot rack how-to. Riye says: “That looks awesome Erica!! Please do post some instructions and more pics. The idea of using shower hooks is inspired. ” See the pot rack here — we’ll ask Erica to share more soon!

4) Cool knob sources abound. Leslie says: Try Lee Valley Tools! TONS of choice, and some pretty neat stuff all ’round. Their knobs are at http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=1&cat=3&p=46742 and their main site is http://www.leevalley.com.” Click for more places to find cute knobs.

5) Those tin can lids need to be produced pronto. We think they’re still a prototype, but Valentina summed up reader opinion of the tin can lids: “LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!” Here’s hoping they get produced soon!

Photo by porah

The Little House in the City confesses: “I paid $200 for a stump.”

Saveur just alerted us to their collection of the best classic cookie recipes. What do you think — does it stack up to our chocolate chip cookie recipe?

Black Friday, Cyber Monday — tired of the holiday gimmicks? Jezebel is too.

ZOMG, IKEA iPhone app! At swissmiss.

This might come as a relief: AT on living happily with less.

Pretty much the coolest tape dispenser ever at 2Modern.

Homemade ginger-ale at 30 Bucks a Week — looks great!

If you’ve never had quilt envy, you probably will after seeing these baby quilts at Simple Things.

And just ’cause we love ‘em: fake and fabulous holiday trees at Casa Sugar.