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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Megan Cooley

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News >  Features

‘Birthday bunting’ can add to the party

Only a craft nerd like me would try to uncover the history of what people today call "birthday bunting." Alas, I can't seem to find a book or Web site that follows the history of these festive triangle-shaped flags on a string. Nor did I discover a doctoral candidate who has written a dissertation on them.
News >  Features

MAC’s sacks (Flour bag exhibit)

Before "going green" was trendy, generations of Americans lived like conservationists. If something broke, it was fixed, not merely replaced. When a vegetable was in season, there were a dozen ways to prepare it for dinner.
A&E >  Food

Cupcake courtship

Over the last several years, weddings seem to have gotten bigger. Bigger guest lists, bigger expectations and bigger budgets. But there's one wedding trend that's on the small side: More and more couples are opting to serve cupcakes instead of traditional multitiered wedding cakes.
News >  Spokane

Plastic anxieties: Seeking BPA-free alternatives

It's supposed to be the "safe" cupboard. You know, the one in the kitchen where your toddler rummages while you cook dinner. Instead of glass jars or knives or other potential dangers for little hands, it contains food-storage containers, sippy cups and old baby bottles.
News >  Features

Patriotic blooms

It's red, white and blue season in America. First came Memorial Day, then Flag Day and now – the granddaddy of them all – the Fourth of July is right around the corner. Sure, most people think of fireworks as the ultimate Independence Day display, but that doesn't mean you can't make a red, white and blue creation that's more down to earth – like a floral arrangement.
News >  Features

Chick treasures

They're baaaaack. After a yearlong hiatus, Teri Edwards and Serena Thompson – a.k.a., The Farm Chicks – are set again to host their popular antique show Saturday and Sunday.
News >  Features

Homemade gift ideas for children

Buying birthday and other gifts for young children isn't always as easy as it should be. If you want to give something really special, it often costs an arm and a leg. And lots of parents today are trying to cut back on the amount of plastic in their homes, which eliminates roughly 104.9 percent of the toys on the market.
News >  Features

Fun forts

Trevor Childears is the king of the world. At least, that's the image that comes to mind when the 6-year-old from Mead climbs atop a wooden pirate ship in his backyard, perches himself on the bow and stretches his arms out wide. "It's best that Mom doesn't know everything," Trevor's mother, Amy Love says, as she watches her youngest son dangle his feet at least 10 feet above the ground.
A&E >  Food

Imagination is key ingredient for Dutch ovens

If campfire cooking is part of your Memorial Day weekend plans, don't assume you'll have to settle for hotdogs and baked potatoes. How does French toast "lasagna" sound? Or beef ribs? What about pineapple-upside-down cake?
News >  Features

Parsons’ project

Dave Parsons has been building homes for clients for 28 years through his business, Parsons Construction Inc. So, when it came time to construct a new house for him and his wife, Karen, Parsons could have designed it and erected it himself.
News >  Features

Give Bloomsday shirt a useful purpose

Some people do it for the health benefits. Some like the camaraderie of participating in a major community event. But a lot of us — c'mon, admit it — run Bloomsday because we want the T-shirt.
A&E >  Food

Food as fuel

Ben Greenfield eats the same thing for breakfast almost every morning: Oatmeal mixed with a raw egg, almond butter, yogurt, cinnamon, berries and a scoop of whey protein powder. It might not taste as savory as a sausage omelet or as sweet as pancakes, but it tastes good to Greenfield.
News >  Features

MAC unveils historic photo collection

The nondescript box sat in what's called the photo room at the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture for more than 20 years. Three words written on the outside of the box drew Jane Davey to it: "Libby albums" and "unprocessed."
A&E >  Food

Kitchen collections

If you're going to begin an antique collection, you might as well get your start at a flea market in Paris. That's how it went for Spokane resident Donna Lee 34 years ago, when she was traveling through Europe after college. A family friend who'd moved to France brought her to a market, where a heavy, metal kitchen scale caught the young woman's eye. It came with a set of small, well-worn weights ranging from a pea-sized 1-gram piece to one weighing 200 grams, or "grammes" since the weights are labeled in French.
News >  Features

Old cans, mason jars find new lives as flower vases

One of Spokane artist Nona Hengen's best-known paintings is of a bouquet of lilacs overflowing a well-worn coffee can. Lilacs are still weeks away from blooming, but you can recreate Hengen's still life in real life by filling old cans, Mason jars or other lowly household items with spring blooms. The makeshift vases are especially useful on May Day, a holiday when neighbors are supposed to leave small bundles of flowers on each other's doorsteps, ring the bell and run. If Next-Door Nell takes several months to return this vessel – perhaps it got stashed next to the weed whacker you lent her last summer? – you won't miss it like you'd miss an heirloom crystal vase.
News >  Features

Super fun dress up

Members of my extended family generally get along great. We're a close-knit crew and we love each other dearly. But there's an issue about which we don't see eye to eye: Princesses. Despite being the parents of two little girls, my husband and I are doing our best to keep Cinderella, Ariel, Belle and friends out of our house. A few princessy products have infiltrated, but for the most part we're winning the battle.
News >  Features

Earth-friendly fashions

"Green" is the new black. That seems to be the sentiment among fashion designers, who lately have been injecting their products with earth-friendly messages and materials. It's hard to open a magazine or turn on the television these days without seeing celebrities touting eco-conscious statements on their T-shirts, and several conventional clothing and accessories lines now offer green collections.
News >  Features

Sewing fanatics unite in Stitch Cafe on North Side

Nyla Pipes runs a sewing business out of her home during the week, doing upholstery and making home décor accessories for clients. But on weekends lately, she's been sewing at The Top Stitch, a new fabric store on Spokane's near North Side that allows customers to rent sewing machines, use cutting tables and press seams during its Stitch Cafe hours.
A&E >  Food

Making homemade chocolate bunnies

On Valentine's Day, lovers create handmade cards and write poetry. For Halloween, some parents forgo store-bought costumes for ones made with love on the sewing machine. Christmas offers endless opportunities for self-expression. So, for Easter, why not fill the baskets of loved ones with homemade chocolate bunnies?
News >  Features

Cd’A’ chef Angelo blends warmth, style in home kitchen

A charming whir of activity filled the Brunson family's kitchen in Coeur d'Alene on a recent Saturday afternoon. Eight-year-old Philomena stirred fresh tomato sauce simmering on the stove as her sister, 6-year-old Anna, chopped herbs. "Do I put the broccoli in now?" Anthony, 5, asked his father, standing on a chair over a slab of unbaked focaccia dough.
News >  Features

Let color set stage for Easter

When Peter Cottontail brings the children baskets of goodies this Easter, be sure to ask him for something for the grownups, too. This centerpiece combines softly colored Easter eggs with pastel flowers and might look nice on a buffet table during breakfast or brunch.
News >  Features

Romancing the home

The seven-year renovation of David Wolf and Mindi Swanson Wolf's North Spokane ranch-style house has been a labor of love. In more ways than one.
News >  Features

MAC offers rent-to-own masterpieces

From an early age, Tammy Gabbert promoted art and artists. Her parents helped start Art on the Green, an annual arts and crafts festival in Coeur d'Alene. "When I was a tiny kid, I remember wearing sandwich boards yelling, 'Art on the Green! Art on the Green! Go to Art on the Green!' " she says.
News >  Features

Quilt preserves memory of little baby

There are plenty of household chores I despise. Scrubbing toilets and snaking clogged drains rank high on the list. But there are some duties I don't mind, including laundering my daughters' clothes.