A wasp trap that you’d actually want on display in your yard! Found at Badder Homes and Gardens.

Make your own stainproof rug from a tablecloth! Find out how at DIY Life.

Apartment Therapy shares their trick for keeping sand out of the house, and it’s an incredibly simple fix!

Talk about re-use: container gardening in old shoes, at Treehugger.

If the big Summer shift in schedule is messin’ with you, don’t despair — Unclutterer has seven easy steps to create or revise your household routine.

Say Yes To Hoboken has a simple tutorial for a lovely,Parisian-style waist apron.

If Becki’s Neapolitan pops weren’t enough to get you busting out the pop molds, then check out this irresistable roundup of peanut butter ice pops at Serious Eats.

I’ve been obsessed with macrame for a few years now, ever since I lucked into two vintage macrame lawn chairs (FOR FREE!). There is something about macrame that screams 1970’s to me — in a good way — like reruns of “Three’s Company”. Maybe I’ve always wanted to be Mrs. Roper… So now, you’ll find me thrifin’ in a floral caftan (not really), scouring the aisles for little pieces of fiber-woven nostalgia, notably plant hangers. I scored the lovely jute number you see in the photo for 3 dollars, bagged with a larger unfinished hanger. Thinking that it may be a good source, I searched Etsy for more and found quite a few lovely examples, like this and this. But honestly, I had no idea that vintage plant hangers would fetch $20+, so I guess the next step would be learning the craft. This vintage leaflet looks like a good resource: and for the bargain price of $3.25. Have you ever worked with macrame? Any books or tricks of the trade you can share? — Megan B.

Longtime readers of this blog know my love of horror films and campy macabre, so you’ll understand my delight in this new Dirt Devil ad. I know I’m giving away the punchline with this screengrab, but you have to click through to YouTube to see. Enjoy! — Angela M.

P.S. As much as I love this ad, I’m still not giving up my Miele.

I absolutely adore this story I just read in the newsletter of a local Seattle salvage company, Second Use. When the salvage team removed a lintel, they found a note dated 1973 and addressed to “Future Man” from Jack Barbour, the man who originally worked on the space. The website doesn’t share the whole story, which is that Jack was a first-generation American from Belgium who passed away 20 years ago. Before moving west, my husband and I did a major home remodel, and we did in fact leave notes (in our case, written on the boards that were later covered by drywall) detailing how we literally put sweat, tears and blood into the project — a board fell on my husband’s head mid-construction that required stitches! I love the idea that in 20 years’ time, someone might uncover our hello. If you renovate, do you leave notes for your own “Future Man”? — Mary T.

“Is the corn man here yet?” That becomes the common cry of my littlest every time spring comes around. After three straight months of being questioned, I’m happy to say it’s almost time for the “corn man” to show up alongside the road with a truck full of Silver Queen. I have to admit, it’s one of my favorite tastes of summer, too. What summer treat are you looking forward to? — Sarah L.

Vintage crate label available at TheLabelMan.com.

Food trends seem to come and go at lightning speed these days, particularly when it comes to sweet treats. We’ve gone from cupcakes to whoopie pies to pie to Parisian macarons – it’s enough to make a baker throw up her apron in frustration. Fortunately, the latest and greatest in sweet treat trends is as simple as can be: the gourmet ice pop.

Now, believe me when I tell you this is not the Twin Pop you remember (with great fondness) from your youth. The new generation of ice pops are packed with real fruit, exotic flavors, and even, on occasion, a bit of booze…and they are delicious. You can shell out as much as $5 for a single pop at your friendly neighborhood Farmers’ Market. Or you can pick up a copy of Perfect Pops (by Charity Ferreira, Chronicle Books) and a $3 popsicle mold, and you’ll be set for the summer.

I think my favorite thing about this new book is how easy the ice pop thing really is. No mixers, no measuring cups, no oven required. I made a batch using nothing but a cereal bowl and a mini-spatula as my “tools”. These recipes are made for winging it, and they’re all but foolproof – you’ll quickly find yourself making substitutions in your head, and the beauty is that, because it’s not baking, just about anything goes.

I got a wild hair to try the Neo-Neopolitan Pops one night, and rummaged around in my fridge to see if I could make it happen. Fresh strawberries to cook down and puree? Nope, but I had strawberry jam and a sieve…good enough. Chocolate sauce? How about melting down some hot fudge? Turns out, it worked out perfectly. And after about 5 minutes of hands-on time (spread over an hour) and an overnight stay in the freezer, they were delicious.

Next on my list are the Blackberry Iced Tea pops. Of course, I don’t have blackberries, but I have some blueberries in my freezer that are desperate to be used. And I don’t have any Earl Grey tea, but I’m thinking maybe a batch of decaf peach tea might work out perfectly. –Becki S. Click for Neo-Neapolitan Pops! (more…)

This idea is so simple and brilliant (pun intended) that you should just head over to The Art of Doing Stuff right now. All it takes is a couple of orphaned light covers from a thrift store and some leftover Christmas lights to transfer your own backyard or patio into a slightly more elegant space. I can’t wait to try this for myself! — Mary T.

In our new apartment we have almost no counter space and it’s our biggest, small space problem. The only usable corner is right beside the sink, in the area reserved for drying dishes, which leaves us no room for food preparation or really anything else. Add in the massive scale of our clunky wire dish rack and tray and the kitchen becomes a riddle to be solved any time we want to make food of any sort. We’ve discussed the search for the perfect dish rack before, and in my case, the perfect rack isn’t a rack at all, it’s this dish drying mat. With a dishwasher that holds most of our dishes, we only hand wash big-ticket items, and this super absorbent mat gets the job done when needed and can be easily rolled up and stored to reveal usable counter space. The best part? $4.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond. – Sarah C.

I bought my first aluminum soap case on a whim, not knowing what to do with it but liking it all the same. It sat on my desk for a month, maybe more, until I figured out it was the perfect size for my phone earbuds and a flash drive. (Since I take both with me for work, they always ended up floating around in the depths of my purse. Not anymore.) Soap cases are also the perfect size for stashing business cards, corralling coins or any number of small oddities. My latest find? A vintage Girl Scouts soap case. You can find the aluminum dishes for under $10 on Etsy or eBay. Other pressed metal cases start in the $30s, like this one on Ruby Lane. Lastly, there’s silver soap cases. I’ve seen examples starting at $100, but this $500 Gorham case takes the cake. — Sarah L.

Keep those drinks straight at barbeques this weekend with these handy and free printable name tags, via Fresh Home.

Speaking of drinks, all our brandy/whiskey/bourbon fans take note: Serious Eats reminds us that July 4 is the perfect time to celebrate with American spirits.

Wedding season is in full swing and we’re celebrating by day dreaming with a little help from CasaSugar and this slideshow of inspiring barnyard wedding looks. For more inspiration, revisit Angela’s wedding right here!

Keep table safe and festive with Curbly’s summer twist on cute, DIY coasters.

Stocking up on mystery freezer meat? We see taquitos in your future…via The Kitchn.

Remodelista helps us purge fridge plastic with Bowl Over cloth container covers. Genius? We think so.

A very happy Independence Day to all of our readers stateside! We’ll be observing the holiday right along with you and will see you back here on Tuesday. Have a great weekend, everyone!