Easy Steps to Scrapbooking with Young Kids
June 14, 2007
Kids grow up so fast and if you don’t try to capture some of these wonderful memories through some means, they’ll all slip through the fingers just in a snap. And scrapbooking is a fabulous way to preserving those memories, by combining the photos and journaling of your kids.
As parents, scrapbook pages of your adorable boy or girl probably fill up many pages. But these are stories told from your perspective. How about including your child’s perspective into those pages as well?
Children have many stories to tell and share and through the shared scrapbooking experiences, he or she will have a mean of documenting those wonderful stories that impacted his or her life.
Try scrapbooking not only about your kid, but together with your kid. As in combined forces and powers of mommy and kid. Your child’s views will certainly add a heart-rending air of innocence and specialness to those pages.
Not forgetting that scrapping together with your kid is an excellent hobby to bring the two of your even closer. And you’ll become a tirelessly cheerleader and supporter, to encourage your child to grow his or her art and language skills. Scrapbooking also enhances the worth and sense of uniqueness in your kid.
Digital Cameras and Digital Photography
June 13, 2007
Before you rush into buying your digital camera this holiday season make sure your properly informed. Many consumers during the holiday season rush into purchasing electronic equipment in a mad panic to get that high end gift for their loved one or spouse.
Take the time to resource all the models out their from some of the most reputable manufacturers. Its easy in this day and age to spend too much for a camera since you can easily expect to pay up to $400 US for a mid range digital camera. This might sound expensive but these camera’s are become much more affordable considering you can get a 6 mega-pixel for this price today and 4 years ago a 2 mega-pixel might of cost that alone.
Times are changing and your best bet when shopping today is to be armed with knowledge about the specific camera you have selected. I have always recommended eBay because I myself have found deeply discounted items from only the most respected powersellers.
If purchasing from eBay this holiday season make sure to select from auctions that are of the most trusted variety. I have found sites like www.bargainfindsonebay.com do a great job in filtering these auctions and only providing you great deal from the most trusted powersellers.
A Brief History of Candles
June 12, 2007
For centuries man’s progress has been lighted by candles. However, people know only very few things about the origin of candles. It has been written that the first candles were made by the Ancient Egyptians. They used rushlights, or torches, made by soaking the pithy core of reeds in molten tallow. Unlike the candles, the rushlights had no wick. The Romans were the ones who it is said to have developed the wick candle. They used it to help travellers at dark, and to light homes and places of worship during the night.
America’s first contribution to candle-making was made by colonial women who discovered that if they boiled the grayish green berries of bayberry bushes they got a sweet-smelling wax that burned clean. But it was extremely tedious to extract the wax from the bayberries so their popularity soon diminished. The first important change in candle making since the Middle Ages was bought by the growth of the whaling industry in the late 18th century. Spermaceti, a wax obtained by crystallizing sperm whale oil, was available in large quantities. The spermaceti wax, as well as beeswax, did not smell unpleasantly when burned. Even more importantly, spermaceti wax was harder than tallow and beeswax and it did not soften or bend because of the summer heat. Historians write that the first candles as we know them were made from spermaceti wax.
Glorious Holiday Decorating (Without Breaking the Bank or Losing Your Sanity)
June 11, 2007
Decorating for the holidays can be both expensive and emotionally draining. But you can decorate your home beautifully–on a budget–by following just a few simple suggestions.
First, you can create a happy holiday impression on your guests by simply concentrating your decorating efforts on your front door. Surrounding the entrance to your home with colorful lights, interwoven with garlands of greenery, offers a cheery “Welcome Home” atmosphere, without the need for ladders and endless strings of lights.
If putting up all of your decorations has become more of a chore than a delight during the holiday season, consider dividing your collection in half and alternating them every other year. That will require only half the amount of work, and the decorations will have more meaning, since you’ll be putting up different ones every year.
If you spend extra money on costly additives for keeping your Christmas tree from turning brown, you can take heart from the National Christmas Tree Association, which says that plain tap water is the best source of moisture for your tree. In fact, some commercial additives and home concoctions can actually be detrimental to a tree’s moisture retention and increase needle loss, according to the NCTA.
Gift Baskets - Create Simple Easy Gifts For the Person Who Has Everything!
June 10, 2007
Have you ever thought about giving a personalized Gift Basket?
Is it just me or do you also get excited when you give a gift to your friends and family and you know they love it!
The downside you give a gift and you just know they hate it! Unfortunately you can’t always get it right because what seems right and the appropriate gift for you isn’t always right and appropriate for the person you are buying for.
Take my mother for instance, if you don’t buy her a gift say for Mothers Day you will be in the bad books for weeks. Now before you agree with her, let me ask you this "What do you give someone who has everything"? If you could walk around this ladies house you would understand my problem!
Well over the years I have learnt how to stay in her good books by creating something different and unique every year. I also like to make it a gift that I make, so its personal and comes from the heart. Yes you guessed it a personalized "gift basket".
Ocean Heal Me
June 9, 2007
Ocean Heal Me
Ocean heal my wounds Let your waves curl and foam on my body Wash away blood, heal scars
Ocean renew me with your power As unceasingly you roll Giving strength that’s been drained
Ocean keep me warm Wrap me in your brine Caress me with your tides
Ocean disperse my tears As they flow in you I cleanse my soul
Ocean let me grow in your depths Color me vibrant blue, coral, green Clear = revitalized
Ocean your spray anoints me Cool and refreshed My spiritual renewal
Ocean be my friend Hold me flowing in your currents Ever moving, ever changing
Ocean, heal me.
© 1983 Susan Bacon
Susan Bacon is a researcher, author and teacher. You can contact her through http://www.ecoentrepreneur.org
How Can I Preserve My Lifetime of Memories in Photographs?
June 9, 2007
Like most folks you have probably have organized and sorted your photos atleast once. The problem is they never seem to stay organized no matter how hard you try, and even if they do they seem to lack that original impact that they had shortly after you took them or if they do, you never drag them out until sadly, someone passes on.
Now you can not only organize them for good, but ensure they maintain that original sentiment felt when you first took them and are readably available for that sentimental journey at a moments notice. How would you like to be able to share your most cherished memories “with” your loved ones and preserve them for future generations as well?
There is a a technique known as “video scrapbooks” that can transform your static photographs into a true cinematic experience. Much like a paper scrapbook this media places your photos into a digital format and “turns the pages” automatically for you. Once placed in this format your memories are preserved forever and can reproduced easily for sharing.
But beware!!
The Easy Way to Make a Special Present
June 8, 2007
We all know someone who is difficult to buy a present for. Someone who has everything they need and would not appreciate ‘normal’ gifts. Often this will be your parent or an older relative or neighbor, and they can be a problem to buy something for.
Well, this is a simple way to make a unique gift that they will be happy to accept. When you take the time to produce something that relates only to them and their interests it will always be happily received.
The idea is to make a picture that includes something that they are especially interested in. This could be a hobby or any other interest they have.
This is a quick and easy technique. You simply choose your theme (their hobby or interest), paint a silhouette of it onto a colored background and frame it.
You could paint a colored background onto a canvas panel or use already colored paper. I noticed my local art store had colored card that had a range of colors merging into each other, this would be ideal for this technique.
The theme of your silhouette is really the creative part. The easiest thing would be to use their hobby as the theme.
Strategies for Surviving Holiday Dinners, Family Events and Other War Zones
June 7, 2007
No matter how well we may have weathered our basic training, nothing can fully prepare us for the front lines of family gatherings. We’re in the thick of it, dodging live ammunition, and fighting the urge to return to our old, reliable patterns that helped us to survive while we were growing up. We may have mastered our relationship skills in one-on-one relationships. We may have improved our romantic relationships, our professional relationships and our friendships. And we may have even improved our family relationships-one family member at a time. But when we’re sitting around the holiday dinner table or socializing at a wedding reception with our entire family, it’s an entirely different experience.
For one thing, when we’re with our entire family, we have to juggle a number of different relationships at the same time. Our attention is divided at best, and for many of us, our awareness deserts us completely after the first major skirmish. We feel like we’re surrounded and have to defend ourselves from sneak attacks. We often feel that retreat is not an option. When we are cornered, we often believe that the only way that we can survive is to fight our way out, new relationship skills be damned.
Soap Making For Beginners ? Melt And Pour Process
June 6, 2007
As you will learn, soap making can be simple or complex. Some people enjoy the challenge of going all out professionally, which is fine. However, other people simply want to make soap for personal use or to give as an occasional gift.
Keep in mind that safety precautions should still be followed because soap becomes dangerously hot when melted, regardless of the skill level involved. Here, we will discuss easy melt and pour techniques, perfect for the novice or skilled soap maker!
First, keep in mind that most handmade soap is made from glycerin. When you purchase store-bought soap, the majority of the glycerin has been processed out. Therefore, when you make your own soap, you have a great opportunity to create something that is glycerin rich and soft.
Although "glycerin" is usually clear, with today’s colors and fragrances, you can create beautiful soaps that not only make your skin soft but also look great. With glycerin, because it is a humectant, moisture is drawn out of itself. That means when you use glycerin soap while bathing, a very fine layer will stay on the skin, adding moisture.
BUYING SOAP
