The latest buzz in Calgary? We'll give you a hint: you'll need a veil.

Founded in 1960, The Calgary Beekeepers Association holds events and workshops (like the upcoming Bee-ginners Bee Keeping course) to teach amateur enthusiasts how to create a happy and healthy colony and even how to harvest honey.

Sounds bee-licious. —Kait Kucy

www.calgarybeekeepers.com

There is just something about sparkling water that makes it easy to sip eight glasses a day.

The SodaStream system ($179.99) is our new H20 addiction with an eco-friendly side (it helps curb our use of plastic water bottles). The stylish and unobtrusive machine transforms regular tap water into carbonated water, and comes with various flavours for DIY soda creations.

Now the only thing to decide is, flat or sparkling?

For retailers visit www.sodastream.ca

—Kait Kucy

The most sought-after batch craft beer? Yours, of course.

Brooklyn Brew Shop, a DIY start-up out of New York, has us bubbling over with excitement for its awesome home beer making kits. Perfectly sized for the condo hobbyist, the kits ($13.99 - $44) coming with a 1 gallon jug and all of the supplies to take you through all the steps of starting a home brewery.

We're already planning our first tasting party. —Kait Kucy

Brooklyn Brew Shop at Luke's Drug Mart, 112 4 St. Northeast, Calgary, www.lukesdrugmart.com

We're feeling nostalgic for the days when Mom would bring home a stash of fun new art supplies.

We may have outgrown the safety scissors, but there's hope for our inner child yet. Whimsey Box is a subscription based craft & DIY-inspired box that gets delivered to your door each month stacked to the brim with a brand-new project for you to create. You can order up 3, 6 or 12 month subscriptions for only $15 per month; enough to keep you crafting all year long.

https://whimseybox.com

This editor was totally against sandboxes until her son’s daycare mentioned that he was content playing in it for an hour straight. What they didn’t mention, was that a water table would keep him entertained for 90 minutes. It was a done deal.

The water table is safer than a kiddie pool, less dirty than a sandbox (albeit wetter, but water dries fast in the heat) and can be set up in a yard or on a patio or balcony. Pick one up from Toys "R" Us (pictured, $25), or make your own. A large under-the-bed-storage plastic box works great balanced on two cement blocks. Stick a few bath toys in there, and let the fun begin.

Just be careful if you do have a sandbox, too. This inevitably turns the water table and sandbox into two mud pits. Great for the production of tasty mud pies, less great when it comes to cleaning up. —Alexandra Sunher Isenberg

$25 at www.toysrus.ca

Nothing is more fitting of an at-home spa day then an old fashioned mud mask. Gather your healthy snacks, fluff up your bathrobe and bring on the Kiehl’s Rare Earth Pore Cleansing Masque ($26).

The thin grey mud made from aluminum silicate clay found in Canada spreads on in a thin layer and dries within ten minutes. Wash it off and behold smooth skin, disappearing black heads and shrinking pours.

Mud madness just became part of our weekly routine. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Chinook Centre, 6455 Macleod Tr. S.W., 403-252-4456, www.kiehls.ca

Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but there is no rule against putting stones in a glass house.

Put pebbles along with succulents or air plants in the Teardrop Terrarium ($39.50) from Chapters to create homey glass bulbs of greenery. The drops can drip alone or hang from twine in clusters in your window.

The low maintenance indoor garden earns two brown thumbs up from wannabe horticulturists. —Jaelyn Molyneux

$39.50 at Chapters, 9631 Macleod Tr. S.W., Calgary, 403-212-1442, www.chapters.ca

I’m no Elizabeth Taylor, but I have enough jewellery to warrant special storage concerns that can’t be solved with those woefully small trees meant to dangle baubles on.

To keep my necklaces visible, easily accessible and never tangled, I created my own display case using a picture ledge from Ikea and cup hooks from Home Depot.

Here’s how to do it:

1. Mark dots on the bottom of the picture ledge where you will place your hooks. Create two rows the length of the ledge with each dot three centimeters apart.

2. Use a nail and hammer to tap a small hole in the place where the hook will be.

3. Use that hole as a guide when you hand twist the cup hook into place. This takes a little muscle, but keep going until all hooks are in place. You’ll be able to fit 50 hooks.

4. Mount the picture ledge. Hang your necklaces from the hooks and place bracelets and rings on the ledge above.

Mine is on the wall beside my vanity, making accessorizing so much easier. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Make what’s old new again by refinishing it to look, er, old.

Lauren Lane Décor will teach you how to take worn out furniture and refinish it with that hand-rubbed velvety lustre of your grandmother’s heirloom items. The studio offers weekend classes that teach distressing techniques using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Classes are $250 and include lunch and all materials.

Upcycle your way to furniture even your grandkids will love. —Jaelyn Molyneux

Lauren Lane Décor, 4020 15A St. S.E., Calgary, 403-265-7751, www.lldecor.ca

We have making soups and sauces from scratch down, or at least we’re on our way. It’s time to move on to cheese.

Ella Kinloch makes it easy with her mozzarella cheese making kit ($29.95). The box comes with enough citric acid, vegetable rennet tablets, salt cloth, cheesecloth and instructions to create 30 batches of mozzarella. With a little practice you’ll have cheese in 30 minutes with leftover whey to make ricotta. A poutine kit including gravy mix is also available and kits for blue cheese, Brie and Gouda are on their way.

If you prefer to start your cheese making surrounded by your friends book a cheese night with a hands on lesson for up to 10 people ($40 per person).

The things we’ll do for fresh ingredients. —Jaelyn Molyneux

www.makecheese.ca