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Spending lots of time at home these days means getting lost in the occasional TikTok vortex. Most recently, we were intrigued by the video we saw from Farah Merhi showing a neat way to do DIY flower arrangements that look like a pro waved their magic wand over to create. The secret? A little tape. Called a tape grid, this simple technique can help you make stunning flower arrangements on your own that look like they were designed by a professional florist....

A trip to the pumpkin patch is one of our favorite fall traditions, and you can bet we’re coming home with the perfect pumpkin to carve up. We love decorating our porches with grinning, glowing jack-o’-lanterns and marveling at our neighbors’ displays. Our approach to pumpkin carving is seasonally-inspired: While there’s certainly a place for ghoulish grins and spooky smiles, our favorite pumpkins take a cue form the season, with elegant leaf carvings that will stun all fall long....

In the cold months of winter, there’s nothing we crave more than a bite of juicy fresh fruit. That’s why we’re planning ahead and freezing our extra farmers’ market produce now. Plums are in season from May through October. Once ripe, they’ll only last a day or two on the counter or in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. If you have an abundance of ripe, juicy plums, your best bet is to freeze them to enjoy later....

Whether you’ve been wearing the same white T-shirt for many years, or just wore it during one too many work presentations, there’s no denying that ever-dreaded deodorant stains in the armpits of your clothing can be particularly pesky to clean. But before you turn that faithful white T-shirt into a rag or relegate it to your pajama pile for good, what if we told you there was a better way to get built-up deodorant stains out of your clothing?...

When it comes to perfect mashed potatoes, the best defense is a good offense, so let’s review the basics. Use the right kind of starchy potato that turns soft and fluffy when cooked, such as russet or Yukon gold, instead of waxy varieties, such as red-skinned new potatoes.Cook the potatoes only until tender when pierced with a fork instead of over-cooking them until they begin to fall apart and turn soggy....

Recently, country star Thomas Rhett caught up with his record label, Big Machine Label Group, to share some valuable wisdom he’s learned from living amid the pandemic. “You know, 2020 has definitely been hard in many ways, especially for a lot of different families who have either lost work or people that have been on the front lines working in hospitals, or teachers trying to teach three-year olds how to learn their letters and their numbers,” Rhett reflected....

With the traditional pomp and circumstance halted amid the coronavirus pandemic, staff at one Chick-fil-A store in Texas came up with a socially distanced way to celebrate their graduating high school seniors. The chicken chain’s Babcock Road location in San Antonio surprised its 2020 grads with a small, parking lot ceremony featuring speeches from teachers and Chick-fil-A employees on Friday. Wearing gloves and face masks, each senior student walked down a red carpet, received a stole and gift basket, and posed for a photo with the chain’s beloved bovine mascot....

It’s not every day that Smithey Ironware puts its high-quality cast iron cookware on sale, but right now, you can shop select items from the Charleston, South Carolina-based brand at discounted prices. For the uninitiated, Smithey makes vintage-inspired cast iron cookware, including skillets, Dutch ovens, and griddles. Made right in Charleston, all of the beautiful pans feature polished interiors and a pre-seasoned finish, which gives them a truly nonstick surface....

Thanks to a mild winter and warming weather, ticks are out in force this year. Grist points to reporting from tick-data crowdsourcing site, TickEncounter, that shows “American dog tick submissions were up 30 percent in April compared to March, that’s 10 to 15 percent higher than usual.” Like we said: Ticks are having a very good year. In the South, tick season generally lasts from early April to late October or when temperatures dip below 45 degrees, according to the pros at Pests....

In addition to popular home and food brands like Samsung and Cuisinart, this year’s Prime Day will feature many small and mid-sized businesses. In fact, Prime members can even enter the retailer’s sweepstakes and earn one entry for every dollar spent on eligible small business products, up to $1,500. You can shop all the Prime Day Deals here, where you’ll find massive discounts on home, kitchen, and outdoor products—including everything you need for summertime entertaining....

Brunch is a long-standing Southern tradition, whether you’re celebrating on Mother’s Day, using the meal as an excuse to catch up with your girlfriends, or have made pancakes at noon a post-church family tradition. But where did the meal come from? A clever wordsmith first pushed the words “breakfast” and “lunch” together to create the word “brunch” way back in 1895. In Hunter’s Weekly, British author Guy Beringer made the case that post-church Sunday meals shouldn’t be long, multi-course meals of heavy meats and cheeses, but instead lighter fare served late in the morning....

Regarding Americana, apple pie is right up there with Mickey Mouse, Coca-Cola, and Ford trucks. Arguably the country’s most iconic dish, it’s been showing up at Fourth of July barbecues and Thanksgiving feasts for generations. But don’t let that fool you. Apple pie isn’t nearly as American as most people believe. In fact, apples aren’t even native to North America and didn’t grow here until the arrival of European settlers. And cinnamon and nutmeg?...

There is no corner in my house that I haven’t painstakingly vacuumed nearly every day since moving in last summer—don’t be fooled, it was the same situation at our last house too. My kids, husband, and even the dog know to steer clear when Mama gets out the vacuum’s crevice tool. I’m prone to allergies but, in truth, it’s really because I just like cleaning—truly. My husband describes it as “having no chill....

Even if you’re an old pro at grocery shopping, buying food for Thanksgiving dinner can be a challenge—there’s just so much to remember! So think of this as your holiday cheat sheet: We’ve put together a Thanksgiving food list for the most commonly used (but sometimes forgotten!) groceries you’ll need for your feast. Turkey We know—you’re probably not going to forget the turkey. But make sure you buy the right-sized bird for your gathering....

Back in the early 1900s, Thomasville, Georgia, was the last stop on the railroad heading south, and this little town in the Red Hills region of the state was the ultimate destination for multitudes of wealthy Northerners looking to escape the cold winters, restore themselves with breaths of pine-scented air, and indulge in some quality quail hunting. Thomasville is still a hunting mecca (and still surrounded by pine), but over the course of the last decade, it has emerged as a different sort of hot spot—thanks not to its woods but instead to its walkable, quaint, brick-paved downtown....

It’s winter. And while the weather outside may be frightful, that firepit is so delightful. While some people may want a sizable firepit like a combined coffee table and outdoor firepit, others might be looking for something a little more compact and affordable than some of the more deluxe firepits on the market. That’s why we were so glad to read this piece on Apartment Therapy praising this Wave Table Top Fire Bowl available on Target for $47....

On the list of celeb hair rankings, Connie Britton is right up there with Joanna Gaines as far as we’re concerned. Full, voluminous, effortless (by all appearances, at least)—they’ve got it all. While we wait for Joanna’s stylist to share the secrets to her silky smooth locks, we’re pleased to report we’ve finally received the scoop on Mrs. Taylor’s (er, we mean, Connie’s) perfectly undone beachy waves, and it starts with a little insight into just what the Dirty John star is working with before her stylist Creighton Bowman starts blowing, brushing, and curling to perfection....

Sometimes bad things happen to good cakes, little flaws and uh-ohs that we hope to avoid next time. Here are three common cake mishaps and suggestions on how to avoid them. Baking is creative, but it’s precise. The best advice for having cakes turn out perfectly is to follow the recipe. It’s tempting to skip or rush certain steps when time is tight, or make substitutions on the fly, but each step, ingredient, and measurement in a well-written cake recipe has a purpose....

Preparing for the holiday season goes beyond putting up decorations and assigning out casseroles. Between all the festivities and quality time spent with loved ones, the days get busy, and so it’s even more important to set yourself up for success ahead of time. You never know when the need will strike for a homemade pie or batch of cookies, and time is too precious to make countless runs to the grocery store....

If we could describe our journey with antiaging, it would look a whole lot like a game of “Hungry Hungry Hippos.” In a not-so exciting turn of fate, we’re the hippo-feeding marbles. The hippos, like time, are picking us off, chomp by chomp. Skin, hair, nails—nothing is safe. Goodbye, collagen. Hello, gravity. That’s why Southern women aren’t too proud to accept a little help, in the form of wrinkle-busting retinols and skin-blurring foundations and breakage-bandaging hair masks....