February 1999

Between friends

STYLE IN THE MAKING Style from a Can

Add a stripe here or a square there, and plain walls become big decorating assets. Look to these inspiring paint designs for a fresh look that's anything but canned.

Wall Art

Frame up some style with art, collectibles, and color displayed directly on the wall and surrounded with purchased or homemade frames. Just think of your wall as one large mat board and let your imagination run wild.

House Dressings

Maybe you can't judge a book by its cover, but many of us judge a house by its covering. That's why siding style plays such a large part in defining a home's curb appeal.

Space-savvy Baths

They're not called "the smallest rooms in the house" for nothing. Most baths are embarrassingly shy on space. But look what can happen when the square footage soars or is just put to smarter use.

Making a Mudroom

You don't have to live in snow country to benefit from a mudroom. Your house is your castle, so let its drawbridge be the place where you greet weather-weary visitors, provide for platoons of little soldiers, and keep puddle-drenched hounds at bay (at least temporarily).

Vent-free clothes dryer

Wind in Your Windows

Reading for Life

During class, when Anna Burgess and other students were supposed to be quietly reading, she would talk. If the children were to stay out of a particular area, Anna would purposely cross that line. She found any way she could to get out of the lesson. Anna remembers spending a lot of time in elementary school sitting in the corner, being punished away from the class.

Is Your Child Safe at Home?

Seven-year-old Kenny Lane poked his tongue in a pop bottle-- and got it stuck. Happily sucking on soda one minute, he was miserably tugging to free his tongue the next. At the emergency room, a grandfatherly doctor wrapped the bottle in a towel, broke its bottom with a hammer, and released Kenny from the suction's grip (and his parents from their mortification). Luckily, the episode left no permanent damage-- unless you consider the years of razzing Kenny will endure from his brothers.

Cute Unless They Crash

Only one of 10 small sport/utilities gets a good rating from the insurance industry's crash testers.

Byte-Size Drug Guide

EDITOR'S CHOICE

Circles and spires

Hearts and flowers

Bats hate tree houses

SMART GARDENING

For love of ivy

The instant garden

Anna Davis hated to leave her established garden behind when she and her husband, Verne, moved to a new house. She wasted no time in creating a landscape that, almost from the start, looked full and mature. Anna has discovered that impatience can also be a virtue.

Daydream believer

Martha Foss lives with her family in Northern California, but has long dreamed of the classic cottage style she enjoyed during a stay on the East Coast. So she decided to stop dreaming and start decorating-- creating her own freshened up version of New England style.

Weekend decorating

These simple ideas won't break your budget. And they're so easy, they'll leave you plenty of time to play.

Family rooms ... where memories are made

Creating a family room is like filling an album with family pictures. What begins as blank space becomes a rich repository of treasured keepsakes and fond memories. A room that close to your heart needn't be made of mere boards and bricks; it can also take shape from things that already have strong family connections, or things that simply say "home" the way your family likes to express it.

Better Homes and Gardens new baking book

Better Homes and Gardens New Baking Book features more than 600 delicious recipes for cakes, pies, tarts, yeast breads, quick breads, and cookies. Each recipe has been thoroughly tested in the Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen and features preparation times and complete nutritional information.

Enter the Better Homes and Gardens Win $10,000 in Prizes Century Standouts Recipe Contest

Now that we've inspired you with some of our top picks, here's your chance to send us your favorites of the century and win up to $10,000. Whether it's a must-have birthday cake, Grandma's casserole, or your father's trick for grilled steak, everyone has a fabulous recipe that's been in the family forever-- a combination of tastes so wonderful that friends beg for the secret.

Love Bugs And Other Heartfelt Crafts

It's February! Time for Love Bugs (who can be such shy bugs) to come out from hiding. We'll show you how to make these cute creatures for your parents, teachers, and friends. And we'll also show you how to craft a trio of Valentine card holders, sweet jewelry, bead bracelets with meaning, and pom-pom creatures that are out of this world.

These Snowmen Won't Melt

The man next door