Archives for November 2012

5 Fun Craft Activities To Do With Your Kids This Christmas

Christmas is really a special time, especially for many children. They are always in awe of the magic of Christmas, with the sparkly tinsel decorations, the brightly decorated shops at Christmas time and all the celebrations that are part of the Christmas festivities. Involving your children in Christmas craft activities will bring them absolute delight, especially when they see their handmade decorations hung on the Christmas tree or see someone special unwrapping a gift that they have made.

Beaded Ornaments

All you will need is craft wire and beads. Bend the wire into a simple shape like a circle or heart and thread beads onto the shape. Twist the ends together and then form a loop at the top so the ornament can be hung on the Christmas tree. This lovely ornament will last for years and will be a special keepsake. You can even attach a small tag with the year it was made and the name of the child. Make several and they can be kept and given away as well.

Candle Holders

Recycle glass jars of all sizes. Wrap craft wire several times around the neck of the jar and then make a loop over the top for a handle. A small jar can be decorated with glass paint. Choose a colour theme or stick to a Christmas theme of silver, red and green and decorate with small dots. Place a tea light candle in the base. For the next jar, thread beads randomly onto craft wire and wrap around the body of the jar, finishing by winding the wire several times around the neck of the jar and then looping a handle. Another idea is to attach tracing paper to a larger jar with double sided tape. Use metallic pens to draw designs on the paper. When a candle is lit inside the jar, it will glow through the tracing paper.

Christmas Crackers

Fill a small cardboard tube with a sweet wrapped treat and a novelty. You could also print out some jokes from the internet to make it more authentic. If preferred, a cracker snap can be purchased from craft stores and added. Use double sided tape to stick a large piece of plain coloured tissue or wrapping paper around the tube. Twist the ends of the paper and tie in place. Decorate the paper with Christmas stickers and you have a traditional Christmas cracker. Make sure you have enough for everyone!

Christmas Baking

Children will be delighted to see their baking efforts served up. Use a basic cookie dough mixture and cut out traditional shapes like Christmas trees or stars. Decorate with icing or cachous. You can buy fruit cake mixture ready to bake. Combine ingredients according to directions and bake in baking paper lined small terracotta pots. When cool, adorn with a small Christmas decoration, wrap in clear cellophane with a twist of tinsel, and you have a lovely gift.

Photo Christmas Gifts

Children love having their photo taken, so take some snaps of your child or let them take the photos! They can then add their photo to a Christmas card that they make or a calendar can be printed using several shots. Make sure to use the photo of them with Santa!

Christmas is a joyous time and the excitement of a child is what Christmas is all about. These crafts will encourage them to develop skills and keep them actively involved in the holiday season.

Written by Tara Blair

It was almost as good as dream comes true for Tara when she got an offer as a full-time writer three years ago. Tara loves to share her passion on anything to do with DIY art and craft. This year she is going to hand make some photo Christmas gifts for her family. When Tara is not writing you will most probably find her at her local yoga studio coaching fellow yogis.

Tips to Create an Awesome Photo Book

by Trish

Photo books are one of the best ways to both display and store your digital photographs. Just like an old-fashioned photo album, though, there are many different ways to utilize the photo book format. If you want your memories to be displayed in a unique and memorable way, then you should pull inspiration from at least a couple of the tips listed below.

Cohesiveness is Key

One of the worst things that you can do is create a photo book that contains a random mixture of photos. Although this will allow you to have printed access to your photos, it will make it difficult for you to find whichever image you are looking for. By selecting photos that make sense when they go together, you will not only make things easier on yourself, but you will also provide future generations with a better look into exactly who your family was.

Representative Themes are Best

You will have the option to pick from several different themes when you are creating a photo book, but choosing one that is actually representative of the events that are captured in the book is the best route to take. For example, if your photo book depicts your daughter’s high school graduation, then you should look for a graduation theme. You can also tie someone’s specific interests into the theme. If your book contains images from the third year of your son’s life, consider using a photo book theme of his favorite cartoon character. Not only will that give the book some added personality, but it will also help him reflect upon his childhood when he is older.

Utilize the Captions

Most photo book templates provide space for captions, and it is definitely a good idea to take advantage of them. You can use them to simply input people’s names and the date, but your book will be much more lively if you write something humorous that captures the occasion instead. If you do not have the natural tendency to be a funny writer, though, you can still use the captions to help tell the story behind each of the photos.

Go in Order

Although it might be tempting to place favorite images next to each other, it is always best to showcase an event in order. After all, it makes no sense to show the bride and groom cutting the cake before they exchange rings. Keep in mind that the photo book will bring the event to life for future generations. If the order of the photos makes no sense, then it will be difficult for others to get a true understanding of exactly what happened.

Keep this in Mind

As you can see, a lot of consideration should go into the construction of your photo book. Although it will take longer to follow the advice listed above than it would to simply throw a bunch of photos together, you and your family will be much happier with the end result. Therefore, it is always best to put the proper time and care into building each of your photo books.

Attached Images:

License: Image author owned

Harriet McDonnell is a mother of 2 sweet angels and full time blogger. She writes for various photo book companies including Elephoto, a Canadian owned photo book company that allows people to design their books, cards, calendars and canvas prints online.

Tips for Buying Carpets

by The Shopping Maniac

They’re soft and they instantly transform any space into something luxurious and elegant. It’s no wonder why carpets have become very popular among homeowners who are thinking of decorating their new house or reinventing their not-so-new space. But before you head out to any of the shops selling carpet New Zealand has to offer, here are some things that you ought to know:

1. Buy from a reputable source.

These days, you can buy carpets from just about any home improvement or hardware store. You can even find carpets being sold at department stores and even online. But before you start shopping your best bet is always to buy from a known carpet store. Not only will they carry a wide assortment of carpet styles in their inventory but their staffers are also more likely to be able to answer your carpet-related questions efficiently. And especially when you’re decorating without the aid of an interior designer, you need all the carpet-related expertise that you can get.

2. Think about the maintenance requirements before buying.

Since you’ll be stuck with the carpet you buy for a very long time and changing carpets every year won’t be such a practical solution, you need to know before buying a carpet its maintenance requirements. If you’re a busy person, then you ought to look for a carpet which requires minimal cleaning. You should also look for stain-resistant carpets if you have little kids or pets around the house. Also go for dirt-resistant carpets for high-traffic areas.

3. Find out about the warranties.

Every shop will have their definition of what a warranty is and what it covers. “Wear” is one of the terms which you will doubtless encounter but while you may relate this term as to when your carpet loses its original and “new” appearance, your seller may only think that your carpet is worn out once it exhibits bald spots. The crushing warranty also specifies that there is no problem with your carpet for as long as its pile can still be restored to its original fashion. And since hot water extractions and pile raking can always restore almost every carpet’s pile into its original state then your seller may yet again be able to dodge having to honor the warranty.

4. Choose special carpeting for your stairs.

Because your stairs is a high-traffic area, you need to find a carpet which can resist all that foot traffic. Woven wool carpets are suitable for stairs because not only are they thick but they are also very durable. Thick carpets are crucial for stairs because the backing becomes very visible at the curved regions of the stairs if the carpet is too thin. Unfortunately, you’ll have to shell out a considerable amount of money for woven wool carpets.

Phil Farell shares great home improvement ideas on his blog. He especially loves to write tips about Carpet New Zealand

Burnt out – I need a vacation!

by The Shopping Maniac

All I’ve been doing since the beginning of September is studying studying studying. Well that and renovating my house and keeping up with all my websites etc .. I basically don’t sleep. Really – I think I get about 5 hours a night and that’s it. It’s not enough.

Anyway, once I’m done with my two college courses in December and well I suppose maybe I’ll wait until after Christmas is over .. I think I might treat myself to a vacation. It will be well deserved. I’ve been working very hard these last few months and by the time I’m done my courses and hopefully about to start my job again I’ll need a holiday. Of course if I’m about to go back to work I probably won’t be able to go, but maybe since I’ll be working shift work with up to five days off at a time I might be able to take a winter vacation. Perhaps one of those south padre island beach house rentals. I could do something like that as a five day vacation and be back to work all relaxed … yeah … that sounds good doesn’t it?

Do you ever feel like you just need to get away for a vacation? Even a short one, a weekend a long weekend?

Travelling With A Child? Then Carry These Necessary Car Accessories

by Trish

Kids are curious by nature. They experience and learn with the use of their senses. They like to touch objects and feel them. How many times have you had to keep your kid from stuffing all sorts of things in his or her mouth? But that’s who they are. Till they have satisfied their curiosity, they are going to touch, feel and taste almost everything they can lay their hands on!

As a parent it is your responsibility to watch over your child. You are responsible for his or her safety and well-being. It is because of this sense of responsibility that a parent feels the need to apply thought in anything which involves their child. This includes customizing your car with a whole range of car accessories which will convert the long hours spent in a car a joy ride for your child. Buying a car seat is just the beginning.

A car seat is an absolute must especially if you have a toddler or an infant on board. Even if your child has grown up beyond the use of a car seat, make sure he or she is always seated on the rear seat. Where children are concerned, safety always comes first. However you can accessorize the back of your car with fun things which can keep your toddler entertained for hours!

Backseat Organizers: They are not just efficient to keep the baby’s feeding bottles, wipes and other paraphernalia handy, but if you sneak in a couple of small toys into one of the backseat organizer pockets, your child is going to never need anything else
Padded Seat straps: Especially the ones which come with a teddy bear face or stuffed animal face attached to it. They make for a great toy and provide comfort and safety
Sun Shades: You get all sorts of stick on sun shades with various cartoon pictures on them! You can shield your kid from the sun while having some fun
Car Window Toys: Keys, Rattles, Zoos, there are a variety of window toys that you can stick on to the glass of your window to keep your child entertained

There are a whole lot of other accessories from you to choose from to turn your car into an entertaining space for your kid. It would help to keep the following things in mind before you make your purchase

Buy for the Kid and not for yourself

This is the biggest mistake parents make. Just because you like something, does not mean your child will love it too. Give special attention to the kinds of colors and sounds he or she prefers. The more you buy things in tune with your kid’s likes and dislikes, the more fun it is going to be.

Mobility

All kids travel accessories must be easy to dismantle and easy to carry. Kids tend to get bored easily and hence you might need to keep changing the accessories you use quite often.

Carry Enough

Depending on how long a journey you plan to undertake, make sure you are stacked with enough accessories to ensure the child’s comfort. Things like neck pillows, sipper holders, padded straps and additional toys should never be forgotten on a long journey.

This post is authored by Andiee Landsberg.