We’ve cleaned our hands with dainty seashells and bas-relief roses in guest baths near and far. Most of us have become accustomed to translucent bars of soap that have toys, swirls of color, or other tiny objects embedded in them. Well, we haven’t seen anything until we’ve been to Skinsations, where the soaps not only are handmade and decorative, but are amazing works of art available for a few dollars each. Your visitors will think you’ve left a valuable heirloom in the loo when they see a molded masterpiece like Mother With Children, a four-ounce circle for washing up that contains the level of exquisite detail found in a fine cameo. This one shows a woman, her children, their dog, and an English country backdrop ($4.25). Or consider The Swan, a clear bar of fragrant soap upon which swirling white calla lilies dance with a cluster of white curls ($4.25). Your guests might just mistake it for marble. Equally impressive are the Celtic Cross soaps, which take floral motifs and build them into bi-colored disks pretty enough to wear. At Soapylove’s Glycerin Soap Gallery, the offerings look so delicious you’ll want to eat them. Check out the Petite Soap Favors, which look like petits fours (75 cents each at Soapylove’s Etsy site). Drool over the Neapolitan Soapsicle, which is scented with vanilla, chocoate, and strawberry, just like its real-life counterpart ($8 at Pink Olive Boutique). A great-smelling, handcrafted soap treat waiting for our hands is as good a reason as any to freshen up.

For years, Britcoms were tucked away in late-night time slots on PBS or end-of-the-dial cable. Now you can have the best of the Brits in your DVD rack. Start out with the cult classic Father Ted, chronicling the antics of a band of wayward Irish Catholic priests who live in their own personal purgatory called Craggy Island (pictured). Father Ted: The Holy Trilogy ($60.99), the definitive five-disc DVD set, was just released on Feb. 19. The world’s longest-running sitcom is Last of the Summer Wine, which follows a pack of lovable old-timers spending their golden years living out their second childhoods. Look for Last of the Summer Wine: Vintage 1976, the DVD release of the 1976 season, this March ($18.69). In As Time Goes By ($153.98), Dame Judi Dench and Geoffrey Palmer play two lovers who reconnect late in life after a 38-year separation. By the time you get through all six seasons, the characters will feel like old friends. If your tastes are more Sid Vicious than Dame Judi, revel in The Young Ones ($53.99), in which a quartet of college-age losers unleash hilariously destructive chaos in their filthy London flat (it’s the comedy equivalent of a safety pin through the cheek). But even that may not prepare you for the self-centered, boozy, and drugged-up divas Edina and Patsy of the side-splitting Absolutely Fabulous ($106.98). Relative newcomer Ricky Gervais paints a wildly funny, sometimes bittersweet picture of office life in The Office ($39.99), the inspiration for the hit American series. Gervais’ latest is HBO’s Extras ($49.99), in which he plays a neurotic dreamer working his way up from two-bit extra to TV star; the show’s sly humor benefits from the unflattering cameos from big-time stars like David Bowie, Sir Ian McKellen, Daniel Radcliffe, and Orlando Bloom.

With housing markets slowing to a crawl and mortgages harder to obtain, houses are staying on the market longer and longer across America. In such a complex market, both buyers and sellers need to educate themselves as much as possible. If you’re a prospective buyer trying to figure out how much you can afford, Mortgage-calc.com has a range of handy calculators and online worksheets. You can even figure out if it’s better to rent or buy and how much you could qualify for in a home loan. To find out the estimated value of your home, check out Zillow.com’s free Zestimate function or Eppraisal.com. Both sites can help you do a lot of research before calling a Realtor, and neither requires you to enter any personal information. At either site, you can enter ZIP Codes and neighborhoods and find home listings in those areas and their prices. In addition to online resources, many books can educate you on the most advantageous ways to buy or sell a home. Real estate columnist Ilyce R. Glink frequently appears on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show, giving real estate advice. Her books include 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask ($13.57), 50 Simple Steps You Can Take to Sell Your Home Faster and for More Money in Any Market ($4.24) and 10 Steps to Homeownership: A Workbook for First-Time Home Buyers ($10.20.) See a selection of her books on Amazon here. You can read Ilyce’s blog and learn many sound essentials of personal finance at ThinkGlink.com. A house is the biggest item most people will ever buy or sell, so it makes sense to know as much as possible before you start.

There’s nothing quite like a swimsuit preview to get you through the dregs of winter. Underneath all those clothes, you know you’re yearning for the sun’s warmth and a cool dip in the pool, lake or ocean. You might as well start dreaming (and preordering), because the season is just around the corner and some of the hottest new styles are already out of stock or available in limited sizes only. Metallic fabric is in for 2008, and Asha DeMarco’s got it going on with the Gold Luster Sublime Halter Bikini  ($250). This one features 14K gold rings and genuine pearl clusters. More modest in every way is her Gold Leaf Radiant Halter Maillot ($206), which features gold mesh straps and trim on a white suit with gentle leaf print. Are you ready for the Monokini? Also known as a Cut-Out One Piece, this sizzling innovation in swimwear got its inspiration from the worlds of lingerie and evening wear. Sauvage has adorned theirs with Swarovski crystals ($158) and Aqua di Lara’s Monokini Borelle ($325) features gold metal accents. For something a bit different, check out the Ratt Monokini ($154), part of TapWater’s Metal line. They feature a guitar pick on a chain hanging just below the bandeau top. Think the monokini looks more like a complicated bondage device than a swimsuit? You might prefer Vitamin A’s Black Metallic One Piece ($172). It has a halter top, deeply plunging neck and metal link detail beneath the bust. Very sexy but gives more coverage than a monokini. For even more coverage, consider a Tankini. Xhilaration’s Hibiscus Print model at Target ($17.99) says playful rather than playmate and Seafolly’s Goddess Maillot ($175) from Australia says it all, with classically beautiful lines, a high back and full seat coverage. But wait! What about the basic bikini? It’s still going strong, thanks to great new styles, like Brazilian maker, Salinas’s Arco Bandeau Top and Scoop Bottom (sold separately but made for each other: $130 for both), Aqua di Lara’s Bandeau Bikini Antonella ($350), and TapWater’s Ketama Bikini ($98), from its Flamenco line (pictured). Now that was fun, wasn’t it? OK, back to work — and to working out. There’s still plenty of time to whip your body into bathing-suit shape.

Movie lovers who’ve been itching to dive into high-def home video but didn’t want to do it until the format war was settled can now buy with confidence. While owners of HD-DVD players are scrambling to score bargain discs in their imminently defunct format (see, for example, Amazon’s half-off bonanza), the rest of us can settle in to the Blu-ray world. What are the best movies available already in Blu-ray? Families will be happy to know that Pixar’s Ratatouille and the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy are already in stores, while grown-up comedy fans can look for Monty Python’s Life of Brian, the Eddie Murphy/Dan Ackroyd classic Trading Places and the goofy charm of Talladega Nights. Plenty of great dramas are out already, from recent hits like The Departed to classics like Unforgiven and Goodfellas. There’s a slew of Stanley Kubrick films on Blu-ray already, and even a handful of foreign gems — like Volver, The Lives of Others and Pan’s Labyrinth — have made it to the format. But everybody knows that, for high-tech home theater enthusiasts, action is the big seller, so it’s no surprise that trilogies like Mission: Impossible and Terminator are already out in Blu-ray high-def glory, alongside action titans The Fugitive, Speed and Bullitt.

Perhaps Lent isn’t the perfect time to tell you all about ordering sinfully delicious treats online. If you’re one of the faithful millions who have given up sweets or other delicious fare, file these suggestions in the “do not open until Easter” folder. That said, we may have found a spiritual loophole. Wouldn’t it be OK to treat yourself to delectables made by monks and nuns? Shopperati thinks ordering from these religious orders would be a good deed? Monasteries and nunneries around the world depend on mail-order business to keep afloat. The quality of monastic products is high, because monks and nuns strive for perfection in their labors. Start out with these giant truffles ($10.95) made by Brigittine Monks in Oregon (scroll down on the page). But hurry, as these delights are only available from Oct. 1 to March 31 each year. For cheesecake lovers, look no further than the nuns of New Skete, an Eastern Orthodox cloister. They offer all flavors, plus a beautiful cheesecake sampler featuring four of their most popular cakes: The Deluxe, Kahlua, Raspberry Ripple and Chocolate ($42.75). For simple and sweet fruit tarts and jams, check out Monkegifts.com. In addition to a variety of food products, they also offer bath and body care items and even organic free trade products from a variety of monasteries and nunneries. From the Sisters of Our Lady of the Redwoods Monastery in Whitethorn, Calif., try their versatile creamed honey ($9) which is perfect for scones. And what can you wash all this down with? The delicious coffee ($9.95, 12 oz.) from Mystic Monk Coffee, an operation run by Carmelite Monks. When you’re in the mood for a treat made with love and devotion, remember the brothers and sisters who create wonderful indulgences.