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Archive for January, 2012

Tired of the same old paper ribbon and sticky bows? Want to make your gift wrap special? I’ve put a few of my favorite together for you to try.

For a simple embellishment, use sheer fabric ribbon, tie around gift and make into a four loop bow. Add floral picks of greenery (found in the craft/floral department) using a small piece of thin wire or even a green trash bag tie works to attach the greenery to the bow. Fluff and separate the stems to make it look fuller.

Another great idea is to use the a theme. If you are giving to a fisherman, wrap with white paper decorated with fishing lure stamps or stickers (available in the craft department). Tie with a sheer cloth ribbon and embellish with packaged lures or rubber worms (no hooks) tied on with fishing line. Be sure to use an odd number, like 3 or 5, to add visually to the design. For a cook, wrap the package in cloth napkins (for small gift) or fabric with food designs in it, tie with a kitchen string bow using six to eight loops and attach kitchen utensils like small whisk, wooden spoons or measuring spoons. What recipient wouldn’t love a gift within a gift?

For a simple, elegant embellishment, wrap gift in white, silver or gold paper. Wrap with a coordinating fabric ribbon tied into a simple bow. Attach a few strings of blue or silver beading (found in fabric department). This is especially pretty with glittered paper.

For a knitter or crafter, try using yarn or lace cut into strips. Tie around gift in a knot and cut the ends to dangle loosely. You’ll need to use several lengths of yarn to make it filled out. There are many kinds of yarn available in craft and fabric stores, everything from the simple cotton yarn to loopy yarn to fur like. Attach mini ornaments, wooden letters or knitting needles to the top of the knot.

For a country look, wrap package in brown kraft paper, tie an evergreen printed cloth ribbon on into a four loop bow with tails. On top of the ribbon add a raffia bow using 6 to 10 strands, knot at the top and cut to even lengths for tails (no bow on raffia). Using part of the ends of the raffia tie on evergreen sprigs, pine cones, scented cinnamon sticks and wheat stems (available in craft stores). These are great for a country style holiday.

For a kids gift, wrap in the the Sunday Comics page or old comic books or pages from a coloring book. Wrap with a jump rope tied into a knot. Add small inexpensive toys.

Most of the embellishments can be found a local craft or fabric stores, or dollar stores.

So why not change the same old ribbon and bow routine for a little embellishment? It won’t cost much, you can use your imagination and the receiver will love the extra special touches.

Carol Owens is a writer and craft designer. She welcomes article and ebook writing;visit her at http://carolowens.com

Some of the most creative and unique christmas tree decorating ideas are actually the ones that are the cheapest. Don’t think for a minute that decorating a tree, whether it be an artificial tree, a wall mounted tree or a real tree has to be boring! The key is to use your imagination to come up with ideas that will reflect your interests and personal style. When it comes to christmas tree decorating ideas, necessity really is the mother of some great inventions!

Here is some inexpensive and creative christmas tree decorating ideas for revelers on a budget.

Christmas Card Images – This is one of the simplest of christmas tree decorating ideas. Cut the images that you like from last year’s Christmas cards and color the back with gold or silver magic marker. Then hang it from the tree with a shiny ribbon. This look is especially nice on a wall mounted christmas tree that is placed next to your main entryway.

Colored Glass or Plastic Balls – Embellishing common colored glass balls with glitter paints or aerosol flocking (fake snow) is one of the most tried and true of christmas decorating ideas. You can also glue on glitter or craft store jewels and attach braids or ribbons on a cheap glass ball and turn it into the dime store equivalent of a Faberge egg. Stickers, sequins and ribbons can also be used to make inexpensive decorations look more unique. A bit of glue and some glitter is also a great way to refresh the look of old or scratched xmas ornaments.

Cookies – Decorating your tree with cookies is as old as the tradition itself. Simply make gingerbread or shortbread cookies and decorate them with icing. Make sure to leave a little hole in the confection so you can hang it from fishline or a ribbon from the tree. Gingerbread men or shortbread snowmen look great, especially on a natural green tree.

Glitter Decorations – Just about any tiny object, sphere or disk can be dipped or painted with glue and then rolled in glitter. This is one way to transform “junk” into xmas decorations that can be hung from the tree. Glitter is very inexpensive and it can be used to transform everything from old antique keys to cereal box prizes to golf balls into xmas décor.

Origami – Origami is the fine art of paper folding. You can find instructions for making everything from snowflakes to storks out of Origami on the Internet. There are many sites that specialize in offering origami christmas tree decorating ideas. One idea is to make larger and smaller versions of the same design to create a balanced and minimalist look.

Party Streamers: simply strewing the ends of its branches with party streamers can create a very fashionable and minimalist looking tree. A strand of Chinese lanterns from the dollar store also very nicely compliments this look. This type of look is also very attractive on an upside down xmas tree or a wall mounted christmas tree as a bit of a breeze makes the tree come alive with movement.

Pipe Cleaners – This is one of those christmas tree decorating ideas that is great to do with the kids! Chenille pipe cleaners have to be one of the most versatile craft items ever invented. Simply twist them into the shape of snowflakes, stars, angels or anything that you can imagine. Best of all pipe cleaner xmas decorations can be wired directly onto the tree. This makes them ideal for trees that can’t, for reasons of safety, have too many dangling decorations such as the wall mounted christmas tree or the upside down christmas tree.

Popcorn Christmas Tree – There is nothing cheaper than popcorn and it is a great source of inspiration when it comes to christmas tree decorating ideas. Any type of christmas tree including the real, artificial or wall mounted christmas tree looks great decorated in garlands of popcorn. Popcorn can also be shaped into balls and hung like gigantic snowballs from the branches of a tree. Don’t forget too that you can easily dye or paint popcorn using food coloring.

Ribbons and Lace – One of the simplest christmas tree decorating ideas is to simply tie bows made out of scraps of ribbon and bits of lace and tie them to the boughs of a tree. This is also the safest way of decorating a tree if you have a wall-mounted or upside-down christmas tree. Decorating a christmas tree in ribbons that are securely tied to a tree is also safest for a toddler.

Snowflakes – This is one of those christmas tree decorating ideas that are great to do with the kids. Remember the folded paper snowflakes you made as a child? You can decorate them with any color of glitter. For the best results hang the smaller paper snowflakes at the top of the tree and the larger ones at the bottom.

Toys – If you are on a budget then you can find lots of christmas decoration ideas in the toy section at your local toy store. As long as it is miniature, it will probably look great on a tree. You can wire heavier items to the branches and hang lightweight items with colorful bows. Trains, little dolls and fish look especially nice on an xmas tree. This idea is also good for a small wall mounted tree in a child’s room.

Wired Translucent Bows – This is one of the more minimalist christmas tree decorating ideas but the effect is absolutely beautiful. Buy wired translucent ribbon on in two colors – silver and gold are hot right now – and simply tie them to your tree. The wire keeps the bows big and stiff so they look really attractive. This look is also perfect for a tree that you don’t want people to bump into such as a wall mounted christmas tree or upside down christmas tree.

For more information on Christmas trees, visit http://www.o-christmas-tree.com/christmastrees.htm – a year-round resource for all your christmas tree and decoration needs.

We’ve all seen them. Clusters of big, gourmet cookies, individually wrapped in shiny, colored cellophane, with bows and ribbons. They come in many styles and with different treats, toys or gift items attached to or inside a basket or vase of some sort. They make a terrific and edible gift idea. After all, who doesn’t love cookies? Sadly, they can be very expensive gifts, especially when considering that cookies don’t cost a whole lot to bake.

Here’s how to make your own cookie bouquets at home without spending a fortune!

What You Will Need:

* Chopsticks or Wooden Skewers – Make sure they are heat-proof. If you’re baking smaller cookies, then Popsicle sticks would also work.
* Cookies – Find a delicious cookie recipe that makes larger size cookies, your favorite or your gift recipients favorite will do fine.
* Container – This needs to be a sturdy container that is a bit bottom heavy, especially if you plan to include more than a few big cookies. You can try putting some pebbles in the bottom to make sure the container won’t tip over, if needed. Some ideas for containers include: a coffee mug, a metal or plastic pail, a basket, a vase, a planter, cookie jar or glass jar, glass bottle, a toy or wood box of some sort, teapot, porcelain or pottery serving ware.
* Cellophane – The shiny, colored kind looks best, but the colored plastic wrap you get at your local supermarket would work too.
* Ribbon – The curly kind works well for this. Any colors you like.
* Decorations – Anything goes! What’s appropriate to the occasion and what does the gift recipient like? Some ideas include: stuffed animals, small toys, candy, balloons, fake or real flowers, stickers or whatever you find at the local craft store.
* Block of Styrofoam or florists foam – You know that stereo you bought last December? You probably kept the box, just search your garage for some spare, clean, Styrofoam.
* Something to cover up the Styrofoam or florist’s foam – You can use a big ribbon, some moss, plastic grass, tissue paper crumpled up or whatever else you have handy.

Instructions:

1. When you place the cookie dough on the cookie sheet, press the dough down a bit to flatten it so that it doesn’t spread too much while baking and so that the stick can be inserted properly. Before you bake the cookies, you must insert the chopstick or wooden skewer into one side of each cookie. Push it in almost the length of the cookie without going out the other end. This is an important step, as if your cookie is too big and your stick is not sturdy enough, it simply won’t hold it and the cookie may fall apart when you pick it up. When baking big cookies, you probably won’t be able to fit more than 3 cookies with their sticks to a sheet.

2. After baking the cookies with their sticks, cool the cookies thoroughly, then wrap each one with the colored cellophane. A different color for each cookie would be ok, or all the same color appropriate to the occasion. Tie each one with some curly ribbon at the base where the stick comes out of the cookie. Tie it very tightly so the cookies will stay fresh on the stick. You can adorn each cookie with additional, larger ribbons or bows at this point. When using curly ribbon, don’t forget to curl it!

3. Now cut your Styrofoam or florist’s foam to the size of the top of the container you chose. Then fit the foam in so it is nice and tight and near the top of the container. Remember, you can place something heavier in the bottom of the container so that it does not tip over. Small pebbles work well for this. Remember that the sticks will poke through the foam and into the bottom of the container.

4. Here comes the fun part, let’s assemble the cookie bouquet! Take each of your cookies and stick them through the foam so they go all the way through the foam and further, near to the bottom of the container. You can assemble the cookies in any manner you like, but most cookie bouquets have one cookie at the center that is taller than the other cookies, so keep that in mind. Decorate with additional ribbons, toys, candy, flowers, gifts etc. Each item can be attached with additional ribbon to the container or the sticks of the cookies or even with a glue gun (if appropriate).

5. Give your gift and watch the smiles! Make sure to give the bouquet as soon as possible after you have assembled it, you don’t want the cookies to go stale!

Tips:

Make sure you bake enough cookies for your container, if baking small cookies, you may run out if you are filling a large container. Always bake more than enough. Surely your extras won’t go to waste.

Bake both large and small cookies and use them both in the bouquet for a nice varied look like a more traditional flower bouquet.

More Ideas:

Some cookie bouquets use cutout cookies, these can be fun to make and decorate. Use your favorite sugar cookie cutout recipe and cut into shapes appropriate for the occasion. For cutout cookies to work, you may want to double your sugar cookie recipe as the cookies need to be nice and thick for the stick to go through them. For this type of cookie, wooden skewers will work best, chopsticks may be too thick. Then decorate the cookies with frosting. No need for colored cellophane with these cookies, use regular plastic wrap or clear cellophane so that the beauty of your hand decorated cookies shines through.

Remember, your cookie bouquet doesn’t need to look professional, it’s the homemade touch that makes it a truly special gift.

Ricky Alberta is the editor of Cookie-Recipes.net, the premiere website for cookie recipes of all kinds including chocolate chip, sugar, peanut butter and Christmas cookie recipes, cookie baking tips, a cookie blog and message boards.

Pink ribbon pins and other awareness products have become very popular in recent years. This is due in part to a growing trend of items “for a cause,” with proceeds often donated to research foundations or charitable organizations.

Pink ribbon pins, pink handbags and other breast cancer awareness goods are also popular due to the overwhelming number of lives this life-threatening illness touches. The National Cancer Institute estimates that 1 in 8 women will suffer from breast cancer at some point in their lives, leaving families, friends and communities to come together in support of the women they love.

Not only do breast cancer pins show support for the struggles of women suffering from this illness, they also support research and other programs. This includes the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), a charity devoted to prevention and cure of the disease. The BCRF promotes the famous pink ribbon pin, and other goods that display the pink ribbon logo associated with this cause. Jewelry, clothing, personal care items and a large quantity of other supportive products are also offered by companies that have relationships with BCRF, which pledge donations to the foundation in exchange for purchase.

Pink ribbon pins are also sold and distributed by Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the United States’ largest organization devoted to the fight against this disease. This organization is also responsible for the “Race for the Cure” fundraising events. For this reason, they also sell several types of athletic clothing and sporting goods emblazoned with the pink ribbon. While the pink ribbon pin is perhaps the best-known type of breast cancer pin, there are also several other varieties sold. For example, the Komen Foundation also sells its own lapel pins for breast cancer awareness, including enamel pins especially made with the charity’s name.

Since all these awareness items are generally sold by charitable organizations, much of their purchase price is donated directly to support cancer programs. For example, the BCRF uses 90% of all monies collected by the charity to fund research and awareness programs, with only 10% going to production of goods, printed materials, salaries and other administrative costs. High percentages are also typically donated by companies who have partnerships with these charities, such as Baccarat, Swarovski and Sephora.

Simply put, breast cancer pins and similar items allow more people to make meaningful contributions to support research and awareness, even if they don’t feel like they’re financially able to donate directly.

Sienna Pacific is a manufacturer of custom lapel pins of the highest quality and offers free artwork with your breast cancer pins order. Or if you wish, you can browse their awareness pins in their online store.

Hanging canvas wall art does not have to be confined to hammering a nail into the wall, installing a wire hanging kit behind a canvas and propping up the painting onto the nail on your wall. There are creative ways to hang artwork aside from this standard method. Hanging paintings in unusual ways can add interest to your room’s visual appeal.

The method of hanging your canvas can also make it the focal point of your room or wall. You can hang your art creatively but be sure not to add things that could take away the attention from the artwork itself. Sometimes your hanging method becomes part of the artwork itself. Here are 4 creative ways to hang your paintings:

1. Frame – You can make a painting look more formal with a frame. Frames can be expensive if you have them customized to your artwork. A cheaper way to frame your painting is by getting ready-made frames at home decor outlets or art stores. You can also look for old frames from thrift shops and yard sales, and refurbish them with new varnish or paint. Check out pretty metallic gold spray paints at hardware stores. Take measurement your canvas wall art before hunting for frames.

2. Ribbon – You can use pretty ribbons to hang your canvas on the wall. Instead of wiring the painting from behind, you can attach 2 pieces of ribbons to the top left and right sides of the canvas and tie it into a ribbon with some space between the knotted ribbon and the canvas. The ribbon will be visible above the canvas and used to hang the artwork to the nail on the wall. Get pretty ribbons but avoid too many patterns and printed designs on the ribbon to make the focus remain on the artwork.

3. Grouping – You can group several small pieces of paintings to make up the artwork on your wall or hallway. This is ideal if you have a lot of space to cover but only have small paintings or picture frames. It also makes an interesting wall art that house guests can view one by one. Group together photos or paintings with similar subjects.

4. Hang in rows – You can hang a series of paintings on one side of a wall like in a long office corridor, staircase, or hallway in your home. You can also do this in your living room or dining room. A good way to do this is by getting canvas art sets in 3 to 5 pieces of canvas that go together and make up one painting. These canvas art sets can have several pieces of canvas in the same size or in different sizes to make them an offset canvas.

Canvas wall art are supposed to complement the surroundings and existing home design. Consider your color theme, furniture style and your personal tastes in artwork. Take measurements of your wall to make sure you do not buy canvas art sets that are too large or wide. Match frame and ribbon colors to your room’s color theme but do not get them in the same color as your wall to create contrast.

Find a wide collection of canvas wall art at EverythingWallArt.com and discoverer countless choices of paintings, in different styles.

Having FarmVille dollars is essential to progressing in FarmVille the Facebook game. The game is pretty self-explanatory to a certain degree it is also to some extent instinctive but one thing I have found that many people find difficult is obtaining FarmVille dollars. You will receive coins from harvesting crops and then selling them and the same is done through harvesting fruit and vegetables.

In order to get the infamous Farm dollars you will need access to the following; a computer, Facebook and the Facebook game FarmVille. Below I will tell you four possible ways in order to get FarmVille dollars.

The first way is through moving up levels in FarmVille and for every level up you will receive one free Farm Dollar (FV). These can be gained every time you level up on the game. One way to level up quickly is to plan and harvest a crop that grows really quickly. One such crop could be soy beans. They grow really fast and so can be collected and harvested really quickly. An effective method would be to plant many of these at the same time that way there will be more experience points when it comes round to harvest it all.

The second and simpler way to get Farm dollars would be to check on your FarmVille friends’ farm and help them every day this will also give you experience points. This method is more effective with the more friends you have. Also you should accept and send as many mystery gifts as possible. Again this will give you experience points and help you towards levelling up.

The third way to get Farm dollars is through buying them with your own money (real money). The way to do this would be to click on “Add farm coins and cash” which is located on the top navigation bar of your FarmVille screen. After doing this a pop up will appear and it will allow you to pick the amount of Farm dollars you wish to purchase. The best value in my opinion is 310 Farm dollars. You will pay the money through PayPal or via a Credit Card. In my opinion you should not do it this way as well what is the point in spending real money for something which is essentially useless.

The fourth and final way I will be discussing is through earning ribbons. You will get a Farm dollar for every category you have a ribbon in and NOT I repeat NOT for each ribbon you have earned, many people make this mistake. For example if you have 12 Farm dollars and have received a ribbon in 13 categories and have 21 ribbons in total.

To see all the possible ribbons you can get and what you need to do to earn them click on the bottom right of the FarmVille screen on the ribbon icon. Click the next ribbon icon after clicking on the first blue one. And there you will see all the possible ribbons you can achieve,

I hope this helped!

Let me know what you guys think by heading over to my blog:
http://rashels-dnb.blogspot.com/2011/02/how-to-get-farmville-dollars.html

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To clearly explain about the size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon, you have to understand the core of the printer or the device itself. This is a kind of a computer printer that utilizes the specified size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon. The print head runs back and forth, up and down motions. The pages are printed through the use of impact. The mechanism is actually similar to how a typewriter works.

Any size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon is utilized in the process according to the printer’s requirement. The letters are first drawn on the dot matrix. This is why the fonts and graphics that are printed vary and are not consistent. Mechanical pressure is applied to be able to start printing. The printers that utilize any size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon can come up with copies with or without carbon.

How the Printer Works

Every dot that is created through the size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon is produced through a wire or pin that is actually a small metal rod. The rod is driven forward by the power that the small electromagnet has. There is part that can be made from artificial sapphire or ruby that are perforated with holes or the guide plate, which face the paper and the ribbon of the printer.

The print head is the moving part of the device. When using the printer to print out generic texts, it will only be able to print one line of a text at a time. There are some types of this printer with print heads that have one vertical line of dot making tool. There are also some types that try to improve the density of the dots by having some interleaved rows.

Other Essential Notes

The printer that utilizes the specified size of a dot matrix printer’s ink ribbon is favored by many people, especially those who require heavy printing requirements. Unlike the more advanced tools, this kind of printer is highly durable. More often than not, it will only wear out when ink invades the device that serves as guide on the header. When this happens, dirt may stick on the print head that may cause inaccurate guidance on the wires used by the tool to make it work more efficiently. If this problem won’t be fixed as soon as possible, there may come a time when the printout will become unclear and hard to read.

Please click these links if you want to read standard printer paper size or if you need more information about how to make a printable resume.

One of the ways to dress your Christmas gifts is to wrap it up in a way that speaks uniqueness, simplicity, and creativity. Even before doing your shopping you can already envision the final look of your presents – what style you prefer and wrapping materials to be used. Colored papers, bows, laces, ribbons and shiny cloths can all be utilized in unimaginable ways to spice up your gifts. Likewise, accessories like flowers, ribbons and ribbons, may be used above the wrapping paper, giving your gifts the zing!

GIFT WRAPPING MATERIALS
There are a wide variety of gift wraps available in market. The most sought after among these are the colored papers – perfect for wrapping presents in different sizes and come in all sorts of colors and patterns. If you desire to use odd colors like metallic silver, gold, beige and crimson, then feel free to do so. There are also crushed, velvet papers that look like velvet and crushed tissue fabrics.

You can also use a plastic gift bag. Simply place your present inside and tie it with a lace or ribbon. Alternatively, fabric pieces make good wrapping material. To complete the look, dry flowers or beads may be set on the sides.

CHRISTMAS GIFT WRAPPING IDEAS
• Tip #1: Simply wrap the gift in a wrapping paper (nothing fancy) and write some catchy lines on the tags to enthuse some excitement as people open them up. This is the easiest of all the ideas to be presented.

• Tip #2: Place your present inside a plastic/paper gift bag and tie with a colored lace or ribbon. For a more creative and sophisticated look, include some confetti, spiral ribbons or glitters.

• Tip #3: Grab a piece cloth that is shiny on one side – this will further enhance the final look. Place it on a flat surface with the wrong side facing upwards. Situate the gift on the center of the cloth. Then bring the diagonally opposite corners together and tie into a knot. If desired, you can add some flowers or ribbons over the knot.

• Tip #4: Misuhiki cords make good embellishments on a wrapped present. Suggestively, wrap it using velvet or tissue paper. Then tie a know using the misuhiki cord and position it at the corner of the present for a dramatic effect.

• Tip #5: Recycle your holiday or greeting cards and glue them together to make a bigger card. Use this to wrap your presents. This will not only be friendly to nature but also ingenious and creative.

• Tip #6: Wrap your gift in a conventional way using a thick colored paper. Affix some beads on the edges with glue. You may choose to do a straight line or zigzags. Lastly, place a tag with a curled ribbon at one corner.

• Tip #7: Another easy way to wrap your gifts is the candy style. Put the present on the center and roll the paper around it. Finally, tie a ribbon or colored tape on each side.

Apply these gift wrapping ideas this Christmas and see your creativity flow in front of you! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

For a wide array of gift ideas this holiday, visit Christmas Gift Ideas for 2010.

Christmas Tree

Whatever your style, your Christmas tree will be the main area of focus. How you decorate it will vary depend on the individual but there are some basic tips to follow regardless of your taste:-

1) Always start with the lights. Don’t skimp on them – for every vertical foot of the tree use a strand of 100 lights

2) Don’t use ribbon and garlands of beads on the tree together – use one or the other

3) If you use a ribbon to wrap around the Christmas tree – make sure it is wrapped around at the same angle all the way down with the same space between each row. Just rest it gently on some branches but do not tuck it in

4) Place all your decorative, special baubles on first. Fill the gaps with cheaper, plainer baubles and don’t forget to make sure the weight is distributed evenly around the tree

5) If you want to create more depth, hang some baubles near to the trunk of the tree

6) If you want to go really radical this year, do something bizarre like building a Christmas tree out of hard backed books – simply build it up layer by layer using less number of books each time. Place the books at different angles to create the right effect, and then place an angel on top. It looks fantastic but be warned – you will need quite a few books.

Christmas stockings

If you still like to use the traditional Christmas stocking but have no fireplace to hang them from, no problem. Try one of these alternatives instead:-

1) I found this one on a blog and thought it was a brilliant idea! – Simply attached two long double lengths of wide ribbon securely from your ceiling. Find a slim, solid branch. Paint it white and hang it across your wall with the ribbons holding it in place. Make sure the branch is balanced and secure before attaching your Christmas stockings.

2) Or go really radical and buy some fun, funky wellies and use them instead!

Decorative Ornaments

Tired of using the same old ones? Ready to create some cheap, cheerful alternatives?

1) Create a beautiful centre piece for your table by building an orange pyramid, use six oranges on the bottom row, three on the middle row and one on top. Add some leaves to really set it off

2) If you have some spare or old baubles, why not create a bauble garland? Simply attach the baubles to a long piece of ribbon (thread the ribbon through the baubles hoop and secure it with a knot). Use it to decorate a bare piece of wall – let your imagination run wild to create a really stunning effect

3) Is you room mainly white? Not a problem, hang individual various glass baubles on white ribbon from the ceiling. Use them to hang over sideboards or to create a focal point in a corner. Different effects can be achieved by having the ribbon different lengths. Have a play until you’re happy with the result – stunning!

4) One of my favourites is to use clear glass vases and fill them will an assortment of items. A large church candle surrounded by fresh cranberries looks fantastic, if your home is more minimalist then surround the candle with glass beads or sticks of cinnamon. If you have some small baubles, place them carefully into the vase – you can stick to one colour or mix and match using several different sized vases to achieve a real contemporary look. The great thing about these is that they can be placed anywhere – on mantelpieces, window sills or tables in kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms or bathrooms

For the Children

There are many different things that you can do to make Christmas really special for your children, but these have to be my favourite two:-

1) Attach plastic mugs to the spindles on your staircase using pieces of scrap ribbon. Fill them with their favourite Christmas sweets and munchies. Not only will this keep your kids entertained but it will make your visitors smile!

2) Make the children their very own advent calendar by using plastic cups – make sure they are sturdy enough to stack. Number them from 1 to 25. Line each individual cup with brightly coloured tissue paper, add the treat then stack them up somewhere stable.

Happy times!

Sue Hessom is a renowned lifestyle writer who also has a passion for all things ‘interior’ and has recently launched a homestyling company, Tidy Interiors. Please visit the website http://www.tidyinteriors.co.uk, follow me on facebook or Twitter or follow my blog http://freehomestylingtips.blogspot.com/

Have you ever gone to those craft boutiques and looked at all of the stuff and think to yourself that you could make it and probably make it for a whole lot cheaper. I walk around and wish that I was more talented or that my husband could cut wood for wooden decorations. I did find a couple things that I could make at home for a fraction of the cost. It was really exciting when I found out how cheap making hair clips with the fancy bows really are.

My little girl loves the fancy bows in her hair. We do not always have money in our budget to buy all the ones she wants. I was so excited when I went on to YouTube and found a video that shows you how to make hair clips. I watched this video a couple of times and then went on the hunt for the items I needed.

First you need to decide what type of ribbon and seasonal effects you want. I went online and found the cutest ribbon. The internet has so many businesses that offer the cutest ribbon. I have found, soccer, volleyball, football, cheerleading, holiday decorated etc. The choices are so endless, it is great! So I ordered my ribbon that my daughter and I had picked out. Next off you need to find the hardware. I like to use single prongs. They just fit in my daughter’s hair better. If your daughter has thick hair you might want to go for double prong. The size ribbon that you need to go on these is 3/8″ width. This ribbon covers the alligator clip perfectly. There is no need to cut or have to worry about jagged lines, it lays over nice and neat. Then as long as you have a glue gun at home you can hot glue gun the ribbon to the clip and you have the first part of your hair bow finished. Yes if you want to skip this step all together there are websites where you can buy all ready lined hairclips.

Next you need to decide what kind of bow you are going to glue to the clip. There are korker bows that look like a pom pom and these are my daughter’s favorite. There is just the traditional bow and you can make these a little bit fancier by doubling or tripling the ribbon for a more 3D effect.

This will be a great time bonding and having fun with your little girl. If you are anything like me, it will be a great day just relaxing making hair clips.

Jeena Lugo

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