The Friday Five: Winter Wreaths

I know a lot of us are focused on our trees right now…but how ’bout them wreaths? Do you hang up a wreath (or several) for the holidays? I have one with white wool pompoms (easy DIY) on my front door…it stays up all winter long.

via Dust Jacket

via Sweet Paul

DIY book pages wreath – via See Kate Sew

via Willow Decor

DIY pinecone wreath – via Casa Sugar

Wishing you a wonderful weekend.

Pop Up! – Windows on 5th Avenue

The boys wanted to go to the Central Park Zoo the other day so I thought I’d take the 5th Avenue route and check out some of the Christmas windows. There are so many beautiful things to see – though my poor husband probably doesn’t appreciate the jewelry focus. As always, the Bergdorf windows – my absolute favourites – didn’t fail to impress.

Harry Winston

Van Cleef & Arpels

Harry Winston

Harry Winston

Bergdorf Goodman

Post by Corie.

20 Below: Spotted Dog

I wonder if you’re tired of me singing the praises of Ikea? The Swedish retailer has such wonderful items for less than $20 that it’s hard to resist featuring them in our 20 Below series. Today I’m a fan of this spotted dog – otherwise known as a dalmatian – which is part of Ikea’s soft toy collection.

Gosig Vovven soft toy dog, $7.99, Ikea

Marketplace: Soda Stream

When I was in NYC last month my sister introduced me to the wonderful world of Soda Stream – an at-home soda maker.

Corie’s Soda Stream

Corie and her husband are big-time cola fans and so they decided to invest in a Soda Stream so that they could (a) save money and (b) stop carrying cases of cola on their walks home from the grocery store (along with their 3 boys, remember?). It’s been working out brilliantly for them so I thought I should give it a try myself.

my white Soda Stream, $150

I am happy to report that the Soda Stream has been working out quite well for me too! I set it up in less than 5 minutes (it would have been faster if I didn’t take so many photos), the instruction manual is written in a multitude of languages (which makes this linguist very happy), and the design is sleek and white (although many colours do exist).

snapshots of my Soda Stream

So how does it work? Basically you fill the Soda Stream bottle up with water (I use the tap – woah!) and then you screw it on to the Soda Stream machine, pull the trigger a couple of times, unscrew the bottle, and then add a cupful of your flavoured syrup. That’s it! It’s less than a 1 minute process and the end result is perfect.

So far I’ve only made sparkling water and diet cola but there are many more syrups to try. I’ll be putting it to good use at my next party, that much I know (I think the pink grapefruit will be great for punch)!

A variety of Soda Stream machines are available from retailers around the world. The carbonator cylinder (which is the secret to making the bubbles) can be easily replaced via Soda Stream. Price per bottle works out to anywhere from 30 cents to 88 cents.

Many thanks to Melanie K. and Soda Stream for providing me with the Soda Stream Starter Kit.