GUIDE

PHOTOS: (GNOME) JEFF HARRIS, (UMBRELLA, MATCHSTICKS) BLAINE MOATS, (TATTOOS) ADAM ALBRIGHT, (SUNGLASSES, LOTIONS) MARTY BALDWIN; CUMULUS CUTIE UMBRELLA, $14.99, MODCLOTH.COM

an Earth-friendly gesture (or a few). Share your act of green at earthday.org. order, even custom address labels. paperculture .com Garden variety We’re digging 66 Square Feet, Marie Viljoen’s horti-blog, seeded liberally with earthy recipes and cheeky observations. Novice or vicarious gardeners will enjoy her beginner tips (spring pot crop: greens). Experts will appreciate her brainy IDs—like Eriocephalus afticanus (wild rosemary). Tattoo you

All the fun, none of the ouch. Celebrate short-sleeve weather with a temporary tattoo, like these Rifl e-designed blossoms, left. $15 for eight; tattly.com Frame yourself

Fresh eyeglasses, fresh outlook. Not sure about the perfect shape? BonLook’s virtual try-on tool allows friends (or a truth-telling consultant) to weigh in. From $69; bonlook.com Go wild

Bring a little outdoors in with the Wildfl ower and Fern Field Kit from Library of Flowers, which smells as pretty as it looks. Bonus: It makes a great girlfriend or hostess gift, too. $27; libraryoffl owers.com New order

Love it: A genius bar for spring organizing. Beth Penn and her team of clutter-busters at bneatobar.com will craft a just-for-you cleanup plan for $40. Log on, fi ll out a survey, and pick your problem: stuff , paper, or e-mail.

Sow simple: Just tear off a seed-infused “matchstick” and plant. $3 each; giantrobot .com

now trending Rain booties Go shorty, it’s a rain day! Grab a pair to pep up springtime puddle hopping.

Mel by Melissa Goji Betty Boots, $75; amazon.com Sakroots Rhyme Ankle Rainboot in Slate Flower Power, $39; sakroots.com Joules Ankle Rain Boot in Lively Pink, $67; joulesusa.com Hunter Original Two-Tone Chelsea Boots in Bright Peacock, $125; zappos.com

Debut novels

Dive into these enveloping new reads by fi rst-time novelists— you won’t come up until the last page.

The Turner House by Angela Flournoy ($23; Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) A family and its Detroit home mirror the city’s struggles over a half-century.

the happy moviegoer Desert Dancer

A real-life Footloose—in Iran. Afshin Ghaff arian teaches himself to dance by watching illicit Michael Jackson videos. Together with friends, he forms an underground company despite the regime’s ban on dancing. Reece Ritchie and Freida Pinto star. In theaters April 10.

connect + enjoy Solar power

with a little bit of sun, the

light for up to 150 hours. $79; waka-waka.com

Etta and Otto and Russell and James by Emma Hooper ($26; Simon & Schuster) Etta, 83, sets out on foot to get her fi rst glimpse of the ocean, and leaves passion in her wake. For every unit purchased, one is donated to the International Rescue Committee.

Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm ($27.95; Viking) Art heists, love triangles, and an all-American girl in Paris who isn’t quite what she seems.

EGGS OH-SO EASY

No need to scramble for whimsical Easter ideas. We hatched up this beautiful batch of patterned eggs using food dye and everyday household materials—kitchen string, electrical tape, and rubber cement. The technique is simple: Apply, dye, remove, and dry. Repeat the steps using a different color dye for a variation of hues.

String

Electrical tape

Start with brown eggs for darker, moodier hues.

Rubber cement

WATCH HOW IT’S DONE

We demo these dyeing techniques. BHG.com/EggIdeas