Outdoor entertaining made easy with these top picks
Sitting pretty
Be prepared to host a few more people than you expected, so consider snapping up 2-4 more stackable chairs than you think you'll need.
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HCD Furniture Tolix Stool
I have owned eight of the original, iconic Tolix bar stools since before dupes were even a thing. At this price I wish I'd waited. $79 at HCD Toronto
AddGrace Anti-Slip Bar Stool Cushions
These bistro cushions, designed to fit Tolix as well as its knockoffs, are weather resistant and affix thanks to easy elastic straps. $67.69 on Amazon (was $81.69)
Super-Soft Throw Blanket
Having super soft throw blankets within easy reach for guests of honour? Key. $54 at Obakki
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Veradek Corten Steel Outdoor Privacy Screen Sets
Arriving to you in its un-rusted state, this Linear privacy screen from Canadian brand Veradek ages into the most charmingly cool rusty patina. Extra points for the modern lines. $257.99 on Amazon $321.99 at Veradek
You may also like:
Linen Throw Pillow Covers – $24.99
Waterproof Reversible Mat – $50.99
Rotatable Patio Umbrella – $459
Tablescape
Whether it's mix and match lap blankets or a smattering of terracotta pots – natural touches guarantee to enhance the charm factor.
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Bamboo Chargers
These remind me of being a kid! Kick it old school with cheap and cheerful wicker chargers. $15.99 on Amazon
Strawberry Tablecloth Tongs
If you love a table weight, consider these strawberry shortcake cuties from Zara Home. $35.90 set of 4 at Zara Home
EQ3 Dover Planter
Stuff this cylinder-shaped terracotta pot with a baby basil or mint plant for a fragrant, low sightline tablescape. $12.99 at EQ3
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You may also like:
Glass Cups with Bamboo Lids – $19.99
20-Piece Elegant Silverware Cutlery Set – $23.41
Flickering Flameless Candles – $25.19
Details, details!
Per my giant ice spheres frozen with week-old blooms and formed using some leftover birthday balloons (below), sometimes one extra little detail can go a long way.
Helpcook Ice Ball Molds
Elevate your cocktail game with these silicon ice molds – extra points if you throw in the curl of a lime peel or a lavender sprig. $19.97 on Amazon
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Lifewit Ice Chilled Condiment Caddy
I'm a food safety freak, so these easy serve containers with ice trays below really speak to me. $26.99 on Amazon
Ice Cube Beverage Chiller
Have you ever seen anything prettier? This fabric bottle chiller from Uashmama (pronounced wash-mama) will pop on your picnic table. $44 at Uashmama
Berlinzo Ice Mold
A bottle of bubbles chilled and wrapped in a palm frond? Sign me up. $27.75 on Amazon (was $29.75)
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Geo Trough Planter
This lovely, low modern trough planter can float between your kitchen windowsill and an impromptu dinner table in the garden. No time to plant? Throw in a few bushels of veggies. $40.99 at Veradek
You may also like:
Solar Lights Outdoor -$62.99
Sun Joe Electric Garden Tiller – $199.99
Ninja FrostVault 45qt Wheeled Cooler – $399.99
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Toronto Sun
28 minutes ago
- Toronto Sun
HUNTER: Evil cult leader Charles Manson's chilling Canadian connections
Get the latest from Brad Hunter straight to your inbox Charles Manson is escorted to his arraignment on conspiracy-murder charges in connection with the Sharon Tate murder case in 1969. (AP Photo) It would be difficult to put together a more bizarre triumvirate than evil cult killer Charles Manson's bizarre Canadian connections. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account There's the wide-eyed teenage ingenue whose father was a fire-and-brimstone preacher, later seduced by Manson, the Toronto-born biker gang leader and the elderly gangster who was the last man named Public Enemy Number One. I'm currently writing a book entitled, 'Inside the Mind of Charles Manson.' Research uncovered these nuggets (always use primary sources, kids!). Manson was the California cult leader who, in August 1969, unleashed his followers in a Hollywood bloodbath. Nine people, including actress Sharon Tate and coffee heiress Abigail Folger, were butchered. The tiny terror's Family members had unleashed 'Helter Skelter,' Manson's precursor to the apocalypse. Aside from devout Mansonphiles, few people have likely heard of Straight Satans' biker boss Danny DeCarlo or the Svengali's 15-year-old sexual playmate, Ruth Ann Moorehouse. Alvin Karpis? He's an entirely different matter. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Karpis was born in Montreal in 1909 and was a notorious bank robber. His criminal career propelled him into the stratosphere of Depression-era desperadoes as the brains behind the Barker-Karpis Gang. His partners in crime were the Barker brothers, hillbilly hoodlums from the Ozarks. CANADIAN PUBLIC ENEMY NUMBER ONE ALVIN KARPIS Intelligent with a photographic memory, when he was finally nabbed in New Orleans in 1936, Karpis was sent to Alcatraz. He served 25 years on The Rock, the longest of anyone. In 1962, he was transferred to McNeil Island Penitentiary in Washington, where his cellmate was a kid he called 'Little Charlie.' 'This kid approaches me to request music lessons. He wants to learn the guitar and become a music star,' Karpis said in his posthumous 1980 biography. ''Little Charlie' is so lazy and shiftless, I doubt if he'll put in the time required to learn. The youngster has been in institutions all of his life — first orphanages, then reformatories, and finally federal prison. He has a pleasant voice and a pleasing personality, although he's unusually meek and mild for a convict.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Days after Manson was arrested in December 1969, the late, much-lamented Montreal Star newspaper caught up with Karpis in his hometown, where he'd been deported. He never pegged the cult leader as a killer, just a greasy petty crook. Recommended video 'Manson had a native slyness about him,' Karpis told the Star . 'He was a meek and mild-mannered sort of fella who was easily likable. Music was his whole life. But I saw nothing but a string of penitentiaries in his future.' Ruth Ann Moorehouse was born in Toronto, the daughter of a devout preacher who moved to California in search of a new flock. She was just 16 years old when she met Manson — and had sex with him for the first time, joining The Family at Spahn Ranch. Her preacher dad wanted to kill Manson, but instead became a follower. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ruth Ann Moorehouse is pictured in a mugshot taken in August 1969. Photo by Los Angeles Police Department Ruth Ann did not take part in the grisly slayings but was often seen outside the courthouse with her head shaved and an 'X' carved into her forehead. And then she got the call to ice a Family member who was going to testify against their Svengali. The young woman went to Hawaii in 1970 with Manson girl Barbara Hoyt. Two would make the journey; the plan for Hoyt was a one-way trip. Moorehouse dosed Hoyt's cheeseburger with 10 hits of acid. Hoyt survived and testified. And then Moorehouse was in the wind. Danny DeCarlo, born June 20, 1944, in Toronto, became an American citizen after serving four years in the U.S. Coast Guard. His initial interactions with Manson were strictly monetary as treasurer of a long-defunct outlaw biker gang called the Straight Satans. Manson wanted guns. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. MANSONS BIKER: Danny DeCarlo, originally from Toronto. LAPD The biker later admitted that among the attractions of Manson's company was the steady supply of drugs and pretty girls who were always up for sex. DeCarlo had earlier been arrested attempting to smuggle marijuana across the border with Mexico. For Manson, having the burly bikers as allies would come in handy when Helter Skelter was unleashed. The rest of DeCarlo's gang didn't much like Charles Manson. Once his brother bikers showed up at Spahn Ranch and threatened to rape and kill everyone if Danny didn't return to Venice with them. Manson offered his own life to end the tense standoff. DeCarlo was at the ranch a week after the horror show that was the Tate-Labianca murders. Somewhere along the line, after hearing of the callous murder of ranchhand Shorty Shea at the hands of The Family, DeCarlo took the hint. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He flipped on the cult leader. 'Charlie would sit down there and run this thing down to them about tearing society apart, things like that, and they (DeCarlo's biker brothers) thought he was nuts and figured they was brainwashing me and they came up there to get me and they were going to take him and wad him up in a rubber ball,' the biker said in 1970. In the days before the massacre, DeCarlo revealed that Manson masqueraded as the Devil. 'He said he was the devil, and that the devil was on the loose,' DeCarlo testified. The biker later returned to Canada with fellow Manson follower Sherry Ann Cooper. They married. Had a kid. Divorced. DeCarlo was reportedly alive and well as of 2023. Manson caught the night train to hell in 2017. Remember, kids, primary sources. bhunter@ @HunterTOSun Columnists Wrestling Opinion NHL World
CTV News
17 hours ago
- CTV News
Exchange students from Japan visit Regina's QCX, youth participate in mutton busting
A group of exchange students travelling from Yokohama, Japan to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan stopped in Regina to visit the Queen City Ex (QCX). (Sierra D'Souza Butts/CTV News) A student exchange group from Japan is experiencing Canada for the first time through Regina's Queen City Ex (QCX). Travelling from Yokohama to Moose Jaw, the 11 students made a stop in Regina on Sunday during the exhibition's final day of rides, entertainment and food. 'We were able to take them to host families, take them around the city [of Moose Jaw], bring them here to Regina, experience living with a Canadian family, eating Canadian food and experiencing the culture,' shared Jamie Dupuis, head teacher of Spike and Ai English. The group of students are taking part in a homestay for 10 days in Moose Jaw – home to the owner of Spike and Ai English Arron Dobrescu. During their visit in the area, organizers thought bringing the group to the QCX would benefit them to experience the Canadian culture. 'The kids are having a wonderful time. They can't get enough of the rides and they have enjoyed all the food,' Dupuis said. Other youth also enjoyed this year's exhibition, specifically through a mutton busting activity. QCX 2025 (Sierra D'Souza Butts / CTV News) 'They come out a lot more brave. I find that some of them are leaving the arena crying, but a lot of them leave the arena with a big smile on their face, and it's wonderful to see it,' shared Abbey Harty of Canadian Western Agribition. Harty added the friendly competition aims to connect youth to agriculture in a fun environment. 'We've actually been able to host the rodeo, the Pile O'Bones Rodeo, that has come to Regina every year that QCX has been on,' she explained. 'Unfortunately, this year we didn't get the rodeo so Agribition wanted to bring Ag to QCX. We just wanted to have a little bit fun for the kids and then bring in some horsemanship demonstrations that I'm teaching every day as well.'
Vancouver Sun
a day ago
- Vancouver Sun
Photos: PM Mark Carney at the Vancouver Pride Parade
There was a special guest at the Vancouver Pride Parade on Sunday: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney. Carney walked part of the route and greeted spectators lining streets downtown. See the photos below. We'll update this story with more photos and news from the Vancouver Pride Parade later today. For more about the Vancouver Pride Parade, click here.
