This flat-pack modern home in Aspen, CO spotted at CasaSugar is what we’d like to call Pre-fab-ulous!

We’ve been helping folks learn to love their pink bathrooms since waaay back in 2007, but it’s great to see one of our favorite blogs, Save the Pink Bathrooms and their readers get some serious coverage in this New York TImes article about the resurgence of pink bathrooms in home decor.

Over at BoingBoing, learn about an innovative concept for portable hotels on tracks designed to roll out to the Fjords for optimum viewing season, and slink back to town center for community use in the off season.

Going gaga for this gorgeous two-tone wooden crib by structured green spotted over at Design Milk.

And since most everyone tonight will be celebrating in our own special ways, how about a little last minute help for a fabulous & festive soiree? ReadyMade has got a comprehensive roundup of bites and booze for New Years parties.

The Kitchn is another treasure trove of information for excellent entertaining. Check out their great post about a DIY champagne cocktail bar for more effervescent inspiration.

Or ring in the new year in a Dickensian fashion, with a vintage punch recipe that is way more sophisticated than the jungle juice of your college days…

Happy New Year from all of us here at Shelterrific! See you in 2011!!

There was only one thing I had my heart set on during our recent trip to Hawaii (other than beach lounging and pineapple inhaling): a trip out to the North Shore of Oahu, to Waialua. You see, in Waialua, they grow something pretty special — TWO somethings special to be exact, coffee and cacao. Today we’ll mostly be talking about the cacao, because there’s just too much deliciousness for just one post!

The Waialua Estate Plantation is 150 acres total, half dedicated to coffee, and half to the production of the cacao bean. The plantation, owned by Dole Hawaii, is a relatively new operation, planted in repurposed sugar cane fields in 1996 as an agricultural diversification project after Hawaii’s sugar industry collapsed. Coffee was a known flourisher in Hawaii’s sub-tropical climate, but the success of cacao was unknown, a risky endeavor. The risk has paid off — and how — producing small batch, single-origin cacao that ranks amongst the world’s finest. And it’s also some of the only chocolate grown on US soil!

photo above: looking out onto the cacao orchard, Waialua, HI
more chocolaty goodness, after the jump!

Save up to 40% at the Crate and Barrel furniture clearance sale. We love the Nines Apartment sofa, pictured, on sale until Jan. 3 for $699.

CB2 is also offering up to 50% off their regular prices on select items, like Sarah’s coveted cup, the spoon mug, now just $1.95 each. Or stock up on a new set of organic percale sheets, just $39.95 for a full set.

If linens are what you’re looking for, stop on over to Macy’s for their biggest white sale of the year, with prices slashed between 20-60% off. Between now through Jan 4, save an additional 10% off, AND you can receive free shipping with your $150 bath and bedding purchase if you use code WHITEHOT at checkout.

Save 25% on seasonal scented soy candles at Mrs Meyer’s Clean Day, a steal at $5.24 each. And with scents like snickerdoodle and cranberry, your house will be smelling delicious!

Shop the sales at West Elm, and save an extra 20% in stores + online with code 20MORE at checkout. We’re looking at you, Starling Rug…

Happy New Year! Here’s a look back at what we were discussing in 2010. Our giveaways took the lead, of course — we promise more of those in 2011. A few favorites that didn’t quite make the top ten include discussions about whether you judge others on the cleanliness of their homes (yes), traveling to Oahu, shoes on or off in the house, Megan’s audition for Masterchef, Sarah’s antique frame (and its original inhabitant, “Fred,” who found a new home with one of our readers), the return of brass, bizarre potato chip flavors, and Chad’s say on whether you should pay $250 for an axe (no).

And now for our top ten. The bottom four are actually tied with the same amount of comments, so we include them in no particular order, then the rest in order according to numbers of comments received:

10. My pin-tuck problem (This remains our favorite post title!)
9. Help! i need big book suggestions
8. What food do you like that you used to hate?
7. How many square feet do you really need?
6. Would you sleep with a guy whose kitchen looked like this? (Oh, sure — THAT you commented on!)
5. Liquid or bar soap. which one are you?
4. Would you (or do you) use a bidet? (Potty humor, always in style!)
3. Do you wear an apron? (Who knew this would be so popular!)
2. What’s your restaurant pet peeve? (Everybody has one.)
1. This litter box is out of sight. (We don’t think this was a briliant post by any means, but someone posted it at Stumbleupon. The rest is history!)

Hope to hear even more in 2011!

One of the things I like to treat myself to once a year is a new set of linens: bed sheets, kitchen towels, etc… They seem to need replacing about that often, and the new year is the best time for me to do the deed. That being said, I’ll be making the switch to some of these fab silkscreened linens from Etsy seller mengsel design, also known as South African-born Luzelle van der Westhuizen. Bialetti enthusiasts should delight at this set of two moka express tea towels, $24. These i heart robot pillowcases would be the perfect corny-romantic punch for our bedroom, $44 for the pair. Look for more fun prints, totes, towels and pillowcases in her shop, all printed with natural inks. Even better, in celebration of a great year, she’s offering 20% off all orders between now and January 10 — just enter the code mengsel20 at checkout. –Megan B.

It’s almost too good to believe: one appliance that can do everything. But it’s true! The Vorwerk Thermomix measures, chops, grinds, kneads AND cooks your food for you, while you relax. This German-made multitasker is all the rage in Europe, with many top chefs using them in their kitchens and writing cookbooks specifically for it. I was skeptical when I first heard about it, but after looking online and reading reviews, I’ve come to covet the Thermomix, or at least see it in action myself. Problem is, it’s not readily available here in the US (as mentioned in this Wall Street Journal article and this one in the New York Times), and it’s not available online or in stores, only through licensed Thermomix representatives. Bummer. Guess I’ll be making a trip to Canada soon, since you can get one much more easily there. Can any readers with experience chime in? I’m dying to know! –Megan B.

Keep your candy canes and fruitcake. For me, cinnamon rolls are the official food of the holidays. Every year, as Christmas approached, I would head out to the grocery store with my mom to procure the obscene amount of ingredients she needed to make her annual holiday gift of cinnamon rolls. I watched as she pulled the tattered recipe from her file, year after year, the same one — a sour cream coffee cake recipe, actually. I remember her mixing the enormous batches in a rubber tub on the kitchen floor, and how my dad eventually bought her a big sheet of plexiglass so that she could roll out her dough down there too. But what has stayed with me the most all these years, is the scent — a perfect commingling of yeast, butter, cinnamon and caramelizing sugar that makes my mouth water and my heart warm just thinking about it.
Click for more, and the recipe, after the jump!

FiveGoMad is a shop with the tagline “Quintessentially British” and all I can say is – love! Shelterrific friend Marissa alerted me to it with a Facebook post on these Anne Boleyn underpants (Anne. Boleyn. Underpants.) and then a photo of this gold glitter hand-printed skull-and-crossbones wallpaper, and I was hooked. There are humorous housewares like the Ice Cream Woman Fridge Magnet, lots of fabulous wallpapers, and a selection of food and drinks including, of course, tea. Go mad! – Mary T.

“Tradition!” (sung in my heartiest Tevye voice). Sure, just about everyone stays up until midnight to ring in the new year, and I’ve mentioned before about the tradition of eating blackeyed peas on New Year’s Day, but there are tons of different New Years traditions celebrated all over the globe. In Japan, it’s customary to eat buckwheat soba before the end of the year to sever any possibility of hardship carrying over into the new year, and in Spain people celebrate by eating churros and hot chocolate (note to self: celebrate new year’s 2012 in Spain). My personal favorite is the Danish custom of smashing old dishes against friends doors to celebrate the new year — a raucous stress reliever, and an excuse to get rid of all the chipped, mismatched dishes in the cupboards. What about you, dear readers? How will you be trumpeting the arrival of 2011? –Megan B.

This year, our holiday cocktails held a chic and pretty surprise: wild hibiscus flowers! Anton, the member of our motley Christmas crew, arrived with his usual beautifully appointed basket of hand towels and wine, and a new cocktail garnish. Simply pour a glass of sparkling wine, fish out a flower from a jar of Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup, drop it into the glass and add a dash of syrup and watch as the bubbles gently unfurl the petals on the gorgeous edible treat. Snag a jar on Amazon, $11 for 8.8 ounces, or pick one up at Whole Foods and enjoy a Jingle Bell Bellini. This simple cocktail would also be an easy way to add a touch of pizzazz to a baby or bridal shower! Sample more recipes at the Wild Hibiscus Company website. –Sarah C.