Being scared of the dark is no longer an excuse for putting off bedtime.

Meet the Glo Nightlight, a bedside lamp with removable glowing balls that act as portable nightlights. The phosphorescent balls aren’t electronic and don’t get hot, so they are safe to snuggle with when the room goes dark.

The balls’ light will fade 30 minutes after they’ve been removed from the base, and you can select one tone, or have a rotating array of colours. We suggest you choose the colour that will best ward off any monsters lurking in the closet.

Boon Glo Nightlight, $84.99 from Saf & Benjamin, 1081 Marinaside Cres., Vancouver, 778-328-8194 and online at www.safandbenjamin.com  —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Word on the street is that Scrabble is cool again. Not that it was ever uncool.

Now we can show off our love of the letter with Scrabble mugs by Wild & Wolf. The ceramic mug in simple cream has a black letter on the front and the complete letter distribution chart on the back. Treat it like a monogram and gift a mug to a friend or yourself. Or, if you have open shelving in your kitchen like I do, buy a collection and put your favourite word on display.

High score! —Jaelyn Molyneux

$14 at Steeling Home, 1010 17 Ave. S.W., Calgary, 403-245-0777, www.steelinghomestore.com

British company Spineless Classics found a way to our bookish hearts through art.

They publish entire novels onto a single poster to tack to your wall. The book is displayed in four-point font making it legible if you get really close or use a magnifying glass. Choose from an already designed selection of books including Pride and Prejudice, The Origin of Man and The Secret Garden, or, the company accepts commissions letting you give homage to a book that made you laugh, cry or changed the way you thought about life.

Now where to start? —Jaelyn Molyneux

From $63, www.spinelessclassics.com

Tired of the bright colours, weird characters, and hideous graphics on most children’s homewear? We are, and that’s why we love this wooden alphabet by Toronto-based husband-and-wife design duo Bookhou.

The A to Z birch wall hanging is in Courier New, which is the font they used for their logo. It wasn’t intended for children’s rooms, but has proven popular with some design-savvy parents.

So when our kids grow up and want Justin Bieber posters on their walls, we can move this piece in our home office. —Alexandra Suhner Isenberg

Wood alphabet, $50 from Bookhou, www.bookhou.com

Every time the design your own fabric challenge rolls around on Project Runway, it stirs the creative juices.

I waffle between thinking I’d plaster my name all over a lovely silk blend or go geometric on linen. The dream fizzles when I realize I am not on a reality show and I have no idea how to turn a pretty pattern into a tangible textile. Until now. Spoonflower.com is an online fabric design company that lets you upload your image, edit it, before it goes through a digital textile printer that spits out your custom fabric for as little as $16.20 per yard.

Now to decide whether to stitch together curtains or a cocktail dress, or design two patterns and make both. —Jaelyn Molyneux

www.spoonflower.com

Sharpen your tools and get ready to turn pumpkins into precious works of art. These five free downloadable templates challenge the traditional horrors of Halloween and lead the way for more creative carving.

Kermit the Frog
It’s easy being the green Muppet when your likeness is carved into an orange squash. This traceable template from Disney Family uses simple lines. The biggest challenge is working your carving tools around the curves.

Steve Jobs
This template isn’t for the novice, but the founder of Apple wouldn’t want you to underestimate your potential when it comes to pumpkins. If you can pull this off, you’ll almost certainly win the office carving competition.

Faux Bois
Martha Stewart takes the Renaissance art technique of imitating the grain of wood and applies it to squash. The uber crafter’s pumpkin beautification involves scraping to create light orange areas and cutting to let the light shine through.

Canadiana Deer
Better Homes and Gardens buck the scary creature tradition and go for the classic Canadiana silhouette with this deer. Your knife skills will be tested when carving the antlers.

Monogram
Stick to your own initials, carve your house numbers into the squash or spell out an ominous message in the easiest to find template of all. Use any word processing program to print the letters you want to use in your favourite font and size. —Jaelyn Molyneux

We reserve the right to choose a décor scheme and live with it for a little before changing our minds and doing it all over again.

Tempaper is self-adhesive wallpaper that peels off just as easily as it is put up with no scraping or chunky glue marks standing in the way of a fresh start. Geometric, botanical, damask and whimsical prints come in bold and beautiful hues such as turquoise and fuchsia or more romantic metallic and pastels.

Renters and chronic redecorators rejoice. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Rolls start at $74.95, www.tempaperdesigns.com

Creamy, classic and made from materials you already have, ceramic dipped silk flowers are an easy art project with big impact.

The project is the brainchild of uber crafter Danny Seo whose book, Upcycling, digs into your junk drawers and storage closets for dozens of projects that take what you already have and turn it into something you want to put on display.

Supplies
Plaster of Paris, silk flowers, a basket and a chunk of Styrofoam, all of which can be purchased at Michael’s.

Method
1. First, mix plaster of Paris according to the instructions making sure there are no lumps.
2. Next, dip silk flowers one at a time into the plaster, shaking it off to remove excess plaster.
3. Place the plaster-covered flowers in a Styrofoam block to dry.
4. Dip the flowers in the plaster again until there is no colour peeking through and let them dry again.
5. Use the excess plaster to paint a basket or bowl.
6. Arrange the plaster-covered flowers in that plaster-covered basket.

Voila. Like magic, or old-fashioned craftiness, you have created a centrepiece your friends will covet.

—Jaelyn Molyneux

One, two, three four, mix and match your dresser drawers.

Stash Stacking Drawers are study in deconstructed furniture. Purchase the drawers individually and pile them according to your needs and creative whims. Mix-and-match colours include maple, white, navy and green. Be exact and line them up to be perfectly straight or twist them into a slightly askew stack. A couple can sit on a desk; a few more can be a side table or double that to create a full-sized dresser.

It’s some-assembly-required furniture that doesn’t come with that pesky Allen key. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$139 each at Nood Furniture & Design, 240, 8180 11 St. S.E., Calgary, 403-252-9929, www.nood.ca

Get cozy with throws that bring fall fashion trends to your living room.

Designers let the fur fly down fall runways as the ultimate statement in luxury. Skip the coat and go for a throw in faux mink, coyote or lynx. $119 at Restoration Hardware Southcentre Mall, 302, 100 Anderson Rd. S.E., Calgary, 403-271-2122, www.restorationhardware.com

Cable knit sweaters go with fall like frost on the grass. Pottery Barn’s chunky hand-knit throw with the braided pattern comes in muted greens, blues, browns and ivory. $105 at Pottery Barn, Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Tr. S., Calgary, 403-259-2100, www.potterybarn.com 

Ikea’s Birgit throw taps into the tradition of embroidery with bright stitching against grey wool that looks just as good wrapped around you as strewn casually on the edge of your sofa. $49.99 at Ikea, 8000 11 St. S.E., Calgary, 1-866-866-4532, www.ikea.ca —Jaelyn Molyneux