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To help us (and you!) with summer party planning, we sat down with HGTV star Jasmine Roth to get her best tips for maximizing your outdoor space on a budget. Roth, who has starred on HGTV’s Hidden Potential, Help! I Wrecked My House, and Rock the Block recently refreshed her backyard space and is spilling all her best entertaining secrets to help you do the same. Roth shared seven expert tips to help you make your space entertaining-ready, no matter how much room you have....

But for the most part, people who retire in their 30s or 40s-usually those involved in the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement-get there because they’ve super-hustled and managed to become millionaires. Lauren and Brian, on the other hand, were “not rich,” Lauren explains. Because of this, they knew they couldn’t stop working forever." So, as a dream realized but also as a compromise, they decided to take two years off to have an adventure....

Homemade Cranberry Sauce How long does homemade cranberry sauce last in the fridge? It depends on how you stored it. When properly stored in the fridge—in a covered glass or plastic container—homemade cranberry sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 10 to 14 days. When properly stored in the freezer—in a covered, airtight container or freezer-safe bag—it will stay fresh-tasting for about one month. And it will still be safe to eat (though less fresh-tasting) for up to a year beyond that....

1. Keep Safety in Mind “If we are attracting birds with food resources, it is important that we protect them when they show up,” says Becca Rodomsky-Bish, project leader of the Great Backyard Bird Count for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Because snow can make windows even more reflective, she suggests making sure your windows have screens, decals, or other forms of protection to break up reflections so birds don’t collide with them....

Before you can begin building a paver patio set in sand, be sure to take your site measurements with you when you’re ready to order the paving. Your dealer will help you convert those measurements to gravel, sand, and paving quantities. Remember to buy extra pavers to cover breakage and mistakes, and to store in case a paver or two needs replacing in the future. Take your site measurements when you’re ready to order the paving....

It’s not just hotels where bed bugs now lurk. Summer camps, college dorms, apartment complexes, theaters, and secondhand furnishings are just a few other hideouts. So with all this news, it’s no wonder you want to know how to avoid bed bugs. The best place to start is to learn how to identify bed bugs and where to look for them. How to Identify Bed Bugs IDs, please! Adult bed bugs look similar in size and appearance to an apple seed but are rusty red in color....

Best Banana Varieties to Grow Indoors You’re probably most familiar with the Cavendish variety, which is the type of banana sold in supermarkets across America. Its classic yellow fruit is what we use as a staple snack or smoothie mix-in. However, not all bananas have yellow skin. Blue Java bananas have a turquoise peel while red bananas have a deep burgundy colored peel. In the wild, a banana tree can easily reach anywhere from 20-40 feet high....

What Is a Bird of Paradise Plant? Bird of paradise is a common name that’s attributed to several plants in the Strelitzia genus. Of the 5 recognized species (S. reginae, S. juncea, S. nicolai, S. caudata, and S. alba), the first two are the most “easily grown as houseplants,” says Dan Pogust, co-founder of the Portland Botanical Gardens. All bird of paradise plants are native to tropical and subtropical areas of southeastern Africa....

How to Make 3-Layer Magic Cake The magic happens when the cake batter separates into three distinct layers in the oven. Thanks to a low oven temperature (325 F), the liquid-y batter settles into a thick, fudgy bottom layer and a custard center. The whipped egg whites, folded into the batter just before baking, rise to the top to form a layer of delicate sponge cake. Because the order and preparation of ingredients are crucial to success, be sure to separate your eggs cleanly—that means no yolk bits in your egg whites—and beat the whites in a clean, dry bowl (metal or copper is best)....

Cake is great. You are allowed to eat cake and truly enjoy it. But your body does require variety—a reasonable balance of disparate, nutrient-loaded, energy-packed foods—in order to feel good and function well. If you’re reaching for goodies like cake every single time your stomach growls, you’re missing out on opportunities to feed your body with other valuable goodies, too (like fiber, protein, probiotics, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals). The Secret to Making Balanced Food Choices How can you make it easier to choose something like fresh fruit over cake (again)?...

Editor’s Tip: Consider using a sanding pole to avoid sanding on your hands and knees. A sanding pole tool looks like a floor duster, but it has sandpaper on the end of the pole and is easy to use. Apply a good amount of pressure to buff your linoleum floors until smooth. Once the primer is dry, brush on one or two coats of your paint. You might find it easier to use a hand brush for painting the edges of the room for better control)....

Aside from giving you pistachio nuts, the trees themselves are also attractive and fit well in the home landscape. With their wide, somewhat shiny leaves and ripening fruit taking on a pink tone, pistachios have a distinctive, almost tropical look to them. Unlike many fruit and nut trees, pistachio trees are either male or female, so you’ll need to plant both for proper pollination. Fortunately, only one male is necessary for upwards of eight female trees....

It’s a blessing if you need to research a fascinating subject—it’s an overwhelming, head-spinning, and sometimes depressing curse if you’re just trying to keep up with the times. How We Consume News “There’s an even bigger link [between the state of the news and our psychological well-being] than ever before,” says Sanam Hafeez, Ph.D., a neuropsychologist in New York City and the director of Comprehend the Mind. “Pre-internet, smartphones, and social media, we could simply click the TV remote or turn the dial on the radio when we wanted to tune out....

For this project, we stripped a wood dresser of a dull coat of paint, so its lustrous graining and elegant lines could shine. Next, we added painted hardware to lend the heirloom a contemporary twist. A coat of polyurethane will keep the newly refinished dresser looking gorgeous for years to come. Follow our instructions to learn how to work this magic. If a second coat of polyurethane is desired, or imperfections appear, lightly sand with very fine grit sandpaper, then wipe with a tack or cheesecloth....

“The most common causes of heat damage include chemical processes such as color and chemical relaxers, as well as heat damage from using hot tools daily. Environmental factors, such as hard water, UV rays, and even extreme cold, can also cause damage,” explains Susan Ford, master stylist and creative director at Asha Salon Spa in Chicago. The good news: There are plenty of ways to bring locks back to life....

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Why is milkweed important to monarchs? Milkweed is a perennial flower native to North America that thrive in a wide array of ecosystems. This plant is essential to the life cycle of monarch butterflies because the insects need milkweed to lay their eggs. When the eggs hatch, milkweed is the only plant the white, black, and yellow striped caterpillars will eat. This makes it an essential element for helping the next generation of monarchs grow and hatch each season....

What Is Cleaning Vinegar? All kinds of vinegar contain acid that brings brightness to foods or helps in food preservation. Distilled white vinegar is often used for cleaning because it is colorless and contains about 5 percent acetic acid. Cleaning vinegar and distilled white vinegar are made in the same way—by fermenting alcohols distilled from corn or grains. Microorganisms (bacteria) process the alcohol into acetic acid and water, or vinegar. Cleaning vinegar contains around 6 percent acid, which actually makes it 20 percent stronger than distilled white vinegar....

And there are plenty of other reasons to wear a helmet—not least of all to model good behavior to younger bikers who may also be resistant to wearing one. Depending on where you live, you may even have a legal obligation: According to the Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute website helmets.org, 22 states and the District of Columbia have state-wide laws mandating bike helmets for young riders, and some states and localities have laws for older riders, too....