Month: October 2013
Christmas Garlands, Swags – Brilliant Decorating Tips to Create a Masterpiece
Decorating your home and the tree for Christmas is definitely one of the most fun things you do every year, more so because the entire family comes together to share a part of it. Whatever the theme you choose for decorating your home and tree, garlands and swags are always used. This Christmas, plan a garland theme for Christmas decorations and deck up your entire space with garlands. Here are some brilliant decorating tips that use garlands and swags in unique ways.
Identify strategic locations
Every home has strategic locations that form excellent niches for garlands and swags. It could be an ornamental railing on a staircase, a fireplace, a wooden room partition or something else. Begin with creating a floor plan and identify places that offer maximum potential for decorating with garlands and swags.
Choose unique garlands
Go shopping and choose some great garlands. Make sure that they suit your existing home décor and color theme. For instance, if you have a red wall highlight, choose a garland that has red flowers or crimson embellishments.
If you want a more dramatic look, get yourself some layered garlands. These are garlands that come with multiple layers and each layer is made up of different materials. For example, you can buy a garland that has magnolia as the base layer and overlays of lavender, cedar and some other material. Some garlands come with built-in lights as well. If you are on a limited budget, you can create a low cost layered garland on your own. All you have to do is walk around a park in your city and collect natural things you can find. Get some dried flowers, ornamental leaves and dried fruits to add more variety to your garland. The more textured and deep your garland is, more is the dramatic effect.
Wreaths and swags
To bring in more variety in decoration, weave in swags with wreaths. You could hang up your unique wreath-swag assembly on stairs, fireplace, your front door and so many other places. Bring in wreaths of different sizes and arrange according to the space available. For instance, your front door could have the biggest wreath while the staircase railings can have smaller ones.
Add fabrics to swags
Buy green swags and accentuate them with sheer and netted fabrics. You could put up this assembly along the staircase railing. Sheers and netted fabrics can be used innovatively all over your home. Weave netted fabrics into loose braids and use them for decorations. Wrap them on your furniture, doors, windows and curtain rods to give your entire home a very festive look. Use colorful ribbons to embellish them further. Since it is Christmas, do not forget to infuse a good dose of red color because nothing underlines the spirit of the festival better than this bright shade.
Ribbons, fruits and flowers
Use real flowers, artificial fruits and ribbons to make clusters. You can use these clusters to add more drama to swags and garlands. Tie up small clusters on potted plants in your space. Your Christmas tree also offers loads of opportunities for these clusters.
Christmas is fast approaching. Put on your thinking caps and star planning decorations with garlands and swags.
How You Can Make Eid Ul-Fitr Cards
The presentation of greeting cards has become a major part of the tradition of Eid Ul-Fitr and with a few supplies and simple techniques, you can actually create them on your own. Read on to discover how you can create wonderful Eid Ul-Fitr cards.
If you want to create pastel painted cards, you should take a piece of white card stock and cut it before folding it into half to create a card. You can then draw some shapes and lines with a white crayon on the cover of the card. Elaborate patterns can be made with the use of stencils and you can draw a crescent moon or stars on the cover. Also, greetings like “Happy Eid Ul-Fitr” or “Eid Mubarak” can be written on the card.
In order to see how your design is coming along, you should hold the card up to the light occasionally. Since wax is white on white paper, it may be hard to see but if light catches it, you will be able to see the waxed lines and images properly. Two or three layers of waxed paper should then be placed inside the card so that the paint will be prevented from bleeding through.
Thereafter, a paint brush should be dipped in a cup of water and swirled to the watercolor paint color of your choice until the water is tinted with the color. The cover of the card should be painted over, right over the crayon marks. The white crayon marks will stop the paint from soaking into the areas so that they will stay white for a perfect design. You can make use of one color or blend different colors to cover the whole front of the card. The card should be allowed to dry while the waxed paper should then be removed. Thereafter, your message can then be written inside.
On the other hand, if you want to create a mosque in the twilight sky scene, you should take a piece of rainbow-colored card stock with deep colors that remind of you of a sunset. The card should then be folded into half and cut to the size of your choice. You should then get a template of a mosque from a magazine or coloring books and place the template on a black, dark colored or gold card stock. You should trace the shape around with a pencil and glue it to the cover of the card.
6 Tips for Storing Away Christmas Decorations
Everyone’s excited to decorate but when it comes to storing away the decors, it could be a mess without the right knowledge and storage tips. If you want to know how you can store away your Christmas decors after this year’s festivities, read on and this article will discuss different ways to store different decorations.
Recruit the whole family to help you with un-trimming the tree and taking down the wreaths, balls and garlands. You can now orderly pack your holiday trimmings so you can use them again next year. Storing away your decors need not be a chore but a family activity you can enjoy!
Like with like
Store together items which are roughly the same size and shape. Balls and tree hangings may go together in a box. You can use old liquor boxes with dividers then line them with felt or paper to protect your items. Store balls together as well as danglers on the tree. Put together balls of the same color so it would be easier to find them next year.
Keep original packaging
To make it easier to pack, try to keep the original packaging of your decors. When opening new decors, be careful as possible. Usually, Christmas balls come in boxes made of hard, clear plastic so keep those boxes for storage. Wreaths are usually covered in thin plastic so you might need to look for a box or bag for storing them.
Salvaging storage containers
Check your kitchen for possible storage containers. You can use egg trays to store small Christmas ornaments or use paper towel tubes to wrap garlands or lights. Plastic microwaveable containers can also be used for storing your Christmas decors.
Grouping decors
Organize your decorations into broad categories: outdoors, indoors, tree ornaments, linens, cards and wall hangings. This way you will be able to find things easily next year and you don’t have to look through several boxes to put together your outdoor decorations. Also, you should not pack what you do not want. If they are too old or damaged, throw them away or you’ll be wasting storage space.
Labels, names and numbers
The ultimate secret to organizing your stuff would be to add labels, names and numbers to your boxes. Labeling your boxes according to their group, contents and colors or themes would be a great way of putting away your Christmas decorations.
Christmas tree storage
Your tree must have come with a box and you might thing that putting it back there would be the best way to store it. However, cardboard boxes will deteriorate over time and your tree could eaily be damaged by moisture and insect infestation. Try looking for large plastic bags or specialized boxes and packaging for Christmas trees.
Halloween Wholesale Ensures The Best Holiday Ever
October 31st will be upon us before you know it. Halloween is such a fun time of year for kids and adults alike. Almost everybody has happy memories of going to the pumpkin patch, attending Halloween parties, and getting dressed up in the perfect costume to go trick-or-treating. As we get older, our costumes usually become more elaborate and trick-or-treating means that we will be passing out candy or trailing behind our kids as they get their fill of goodies in their plastic orange jack-o-lanterns. Unfortunately, it is also the time of year when our wallets go thin and we shell out quite a bit of money for the festivities. If you want to enjoy all of the fun that the season has to offer, but not spend all of your hard earned money, then you might want to consider checking out Halloween wholesale merchandise.
One of the easiest ways to save money is to purchase Halloween wholesale costumes. If you or your children plan on dressing up, then this option is an essential one. Most of the costumes that you see in a retail store have been bought from a wholesaler for a very low price, giving the store the opportunity to mark up the item considerably and to make a profit off of you. Why not save yourself their profit and order a Halloween wholesale costume online? There are plenty of suppliers who offer a wide variety of premium outfits for amazingly low prices, helping you and your family stick to your budget.
Another great money saving idea is ordering Halloween wholesale party supplies. Almost every family does a little something for this special day. Whether you host a costume ball, invite all of your child’s friends over for a bash, or just get together with a few other family members, there will always be a need for some type of party supplies. They can be as simple as orange plastic silverware and paper napkins or as elaborate as a Transylvanian Castle cutout and fog machines. This is the time of year to celebrate, and with wholesale merchandise, you can still host the event you desire while being frugal at the same time.
Ordering Halloween wholesale merchandise really is a great way to enjoy the season’s festivities without breaking the bank. Not only does it save you a lot of money, but it is convenient as well. If you take the time to browse online, you can find quite a selection of wholesalers who offer their products to the general public. Once you find a supplier that has what you are looking for, you can simply place your order and wait for your premium products to be delivered to your door. Being able to find what you need at a great price, all while shopping from the comfort of your own home, really is an opportunity that you don’t want to pass up. So plan your party, pick out your costume, order your Halloween wholesale merchandise, and get ready for the best holiday ever!
Be The Best Dressed With Wholesale Halloween Costumes
Halloween will soon be here. Along with it comes the fun of getting dressed up to be anything you choose. Your outfit can be sweet, funny or scary. It doesn’t matter. All Hallows Eve is the one day each year when dressing up in bizarre attire is totally appropriate. You can set the mood and be anything you want to be. Years ago, there wasn’t much choice when it came to costumes. Most of them were homemade, and classics like ghosts and vampires were about all there was to choose from. If you were lucky enough to get a store bought outfit, then chances are several others would have the same one. In today’s world, there’s an endless array of costumes that you can browse. Along with all of these great choices, though, comes a little bit of expense. There is no reason, however, to spend all of your hard earned money making your outfit come together. If you want to look your best for the holiday, and still have some cash to spare, consider looking for wholesale Halloween costumes.
There are a number of websites and suppliers online that specialize in offering wholesale Halloween costumes. For those of you who might feel a little uncomfortable ordering a costume without trying it on, don’t be. Feel free to visit some of your local shops and try something on there. Doing so will help you get a pretty good idea of what you want to be and will help you to know what size you will need to order. You can also see how good certain garments can make you look. Consider trying on a style that usually isn’t yours. You just might be surprised by the outcome. Once you get home, you will want to take the time to check out several online suppliers so that you can find out what costumes each wholesaler is offering, along with their prices. Once you have made your choice, you can order from whoever can offer you the greatest savings. Many retailers nationwide are ordering their Halloween merchandise from a wholesaler and cashing in on the savings, so why shouldn’t you?
Whether you will be attending a costume party, a family gathering or you’re just going trick-or-treating, you can surely make this your best Halloween ever by dressing up with one of the perfect wholesale Halloween costumes. Not only will you look great, but you will save yourself quite a bit of money. Do you want to turn heads when you walk by because you look so sexy? How about sending the neighborhood kids running and screaming because you look so scary? Maybe you want to attend a Halloween celebration and win the grand prize for your getup. All of this is possible. You can do anything you want to as long as you have your premium wholesale Halloween costume on. So, what are you waiting for? Find a reputable supplier and order yours today!
Christmas Gifts and Its History
History of Christmas Gifts Throughout the World and Times
The practice of exchanging gifts with friends and relatives on a very special wintry day, called Christmas, began in ancient northern Europe and Rome. These customs were started by people giving each other small presents as a part of the celebrations at the end of each year. And, as we learn more about Christmas gifts and its history, later versions tell of the nature of gifts and gift giving changing during the ages. More current versions have it that the celebrations of Christmas began during 1860s and Victorian ruling era when members of a family would get together and exchange gifts. And, although those gifts were very modest for those days, it was the bonding and love that it fostered that were the most important goals.
Christmas Gifts History
Even in the earliest times, these gifts for Christmas were placed under the Christmas tree. Totally separate and distinct from the enjoyment of receiving gifts, the tastefully and gaily wrapped packages were, even then, a thrill and joy for the eyes. Reading about the history of Christmas gifts ensures we are mindful that there are particular times for offering and exchanging gifts. Typically, these presents are given on the Christmas Eve, Christmas day, or on St. Nicholas Day.
Gifts for Christmas from Around the World
Since Christmas is strictly a religious occasions in many places around the world, like Holland, the giving of gifts to friends and family is done on St. Nicholas day. Other countries like Poland, German, and others, the kids are fortunate since they have two gifts giving occasions. The 1st being on December 5th, when smaller gifts are usually given. However, on the 2nd occasion, Christmas Eve, these countries like Hungary use the same criteria as the U.S., except the gifts are ‘given by Jesus’ and not Santa Claus. Spain, for example, has its tradition of gifts giving on January 6th, which is consider the Epiphany. New Years Eve is the big day for the Russian.
Scandinavian Shoe Gift Giving Tales
In Scandinavia, kids leave their shoes at the hearth, and this custom that can be traced to he long told legends about St. Nicholas. One version of the legend has three poor sisters who had no money for a dowry; therefore they could not marry. So, legend has it that to save them from being sold by their father, Saint Nicholas left gold coins for each of the sisters. It is said that one sister went down the chimney, landing in a pair of shoes left on the hearth, while another sister proceed through a window, landing in a pair of stockings that had been left to dry hanging by the fire.
Saturnalia Roman Ceremonies for Gifts
The festivities of solstice in the Roman ceremonies of Saturnalia were the origin of our Christmas celebrations and where they exchanged gifts. This theory of exchanging of gifts comes from the three magi written about in the Bible, when Christmas was a very solemn event during the previous centuries. The Christians were reminded by religious puritans that the Magi gave gifts to Jesus only and not to family members or to each other. All this has become a commercial phenomenon, primarily because Christmas really became widely popular during the last century and the celebration of Christ’s birth was incorporated with the solstice festivities outside the official church.
Modern Day Christmas Gifts Shopping
For current day Christmas shopping, it has become quite hectic and always a rush for most people. Here’s some interesting facts about Christmas shopping, gift giving, and gift receiving:
* 86% of Christmas shoppers do not begin shipping until December;
* 70% of all shoppers do not save for Christmas giving at all;
* 87% make up their minds only at the point of purchase – only 13% plan ahead for their gifts;
* 30% purchase with some sort of credit card for buying Christmas goodies which is one of the leading causes for non-business bankruptcy; and
* Records reveal that those with low, medium, and high-income groups spend about the same amount on Christmas gifts.
The Benefits of Diving Holidays
Diving is fun and it will make your holiday memorable. They include all other activities that you enjoy while you are on a normal holiday. In addition to this, this type of holiday offers great experiences like water exploration. If you do not know how to dive, then you should not be worried because diving is easy and fun even for a beginner.
The good thing about a diving holiday is that you do not have to worry so much about the weather nor the destination of your holiday.
A diving holiday will enable you to work your entire body with ease even without realizing it. Carrying the heavy diving equipment underwater will strengthen your muscles. Additionally, diving and swimming against the water currents will also build your strength. As tiring as this may sound, that is not the case. While you are scuba diving, you will be enjoying yourself to an extent you will not notice that you are having a great workout. It also benefits your body as you also burn calories just like in swimming.
Moreover, it enables you to develop your breathing skill. While under water, you breathe deeply and this improves your cardiovascular performance. As a result, this technique benefits your body and enables it to handle stress, depression and anxiety easily. Enhancing your breathing technique also helps your body to remove toxin waste.
Scuba diving while watching fishes swim by and viewing the coral reefs in an amazing experience. Exploring the water is so relaxing and it contributes to your mental composure. A diving holiday enables you to relieve stress and calm your mind as well as body. Scuba diving very often will help you to get used to the water environment and with time, you will learn how to breathe more gently and feel relaxed more. Looking at beautiful water creatures and the surrounding environment also brings a sense of happiness. This helps to draw your mind away from stressful matters.
A diving holiday will make you meet new people and make new friends. A beginner will get someone to teach them how to dive and to explore the water. This will open the door to meet new people that result to friendships. Additionally, even for experienced divers, a diving holiday will provide for you a bonding platform for you and your family. Otherwise, you can also meet other divers and explore the water environment together as you show each other some of the best sceneries. This makes diving even more exciting.
A holiday in water is educational to some extent. While exploring the water environment, you will get to see different kinds of fish and other sea creatures that you probably never knew before. This creates awareness and you will realize the need and importance of conserving the environment.
A diving holiday is far much enjoyable. With hardly noticeable benefits, diving is an experience that you will definitely remember for quite a while.
5 Craziest Festivals in Europe
Joining festivals is a great way to immerse yourself in different cultures and traditions, and it gets even better when you decide to join not just any festival, but those that locals and tourists consider to be the craziest of them all. If you’re interested in taking part of Europe’s craziest festivals, you need not tour the entire continent. In fact, you only have to set your eyes on one country – Spain – which is where the most insane celebrations are held.
1. La Tomatina
La Tomatina is held in the small town of Buñol in Valencia. The festival takes place on the last Wednesday of August every year, and about a hundred metric tonnes of overly ripe tomatoes are squished and thrown to crowds until the entire place is red and soaked in tomato sauce. In 2012, there were over 50,000 people who joined the event, mostly tourists. The “battle” lasts for 60 minutes, after which revellers will be sprayed with water to wash away the tomato sauce.
2. Las Fallas
Europe’s wildest spring party, Las Fallas is held every year from March 13-19 in Valencia and the entire city is taken over by the fallas, which refer to huge papier mache sculptures that can be as high as 15 metres. During the Las Fallas, you’re likely to see around 350 – 400 fallas. There are lots of fireworks display and Valencia being the pyrotechnic capital of the entire world will host a mascleta, which is a series of deafening sounds and explosions that literally shakes the entire city. The grand finale happens at midnight of the 19th where all the fallas will be burned in a fiery explosion. Talk about crazy.
3. Batalla del Vino
On the 29th of June every year, locals and tourists climb a mountain in Spain’s La Rioja and then start throwing wine at each other. Thousands more take to the streets of Haro where they load water pistols and spray cans loaded with wine in a 3-hour wine drenching celebration to mark the feast of San Pedro. If you want to join in the fun, make sure you come armed with your supermarket ammo, plenty of wine, and don’t forget to wear white t-shirt.
4. Running of the Bulls
When it comes to bull running and bull fights, only one place comes to mind: Pamplona. The Fiesta San Fermin is marked by the running of the bulls and every year from July 6 to 14, thousands of people flock to Pamplona to witness the event and join in the revelry. It’s one of the craziest and most dangerous event you can take part of. There’ve been fatalities reported through he years so you need to be extra careful!
5. Oktoberfest
This one’s the only festival on our list that’s not held in Spain. Munich’s beer festival ranks up there as one of the craziest and wildest parties in the world. The 16-day celebration attracts tens of thousands of people who come to drink beer from humongous mugs the size of your head. You get free-flowing beer at a very low price, and people are dressed up in traditional Bavarian attire.
Keep Carving With These Great Ski Apps
Cooking, banking, exercising and even parenting, you’ve guessed it: there’s an app for that. But what you might not know is that there are a whole host of useful and, at times, even lifesaving apps available for iPhone and Android. Here is a guide to the best out there right now so you can be ‘appy’ skiing in no time, or just pretend you’re there already with the snow simulator app on Google Play.
Now, as fun as skiing can be, it can throw up a multitude of issues, even in this day and age with the numerous snow-focused gadgets and gizmos on the market. Anything from taking a picture on your phone to the weather can prove difficult on the slopes, and whilst conditions can’t be helped, these ski apps can tackle some of the most annoying of ski problems.
The SkiPhone app, which is free for Android, takes away the oh-so-aggravating task of fumbling with your phone in gloves to take a call. After downloading this app, all you have to do is shake your device and you can answer calls and take photos.
Snow reports are a must daily, and the Ski Club Snow Reports app gives you the most respected snow reports from over 250 resorts around the world for free. At £3.99 for iOS, the Ski:Europe app does cost you, but it also provides you with the best ski maps for European resorts on the market.
Finally, we have the Vapp app – the voice-activated camera app that turns the problems of clumsy glove-handed photo taking into a thing of the past and, even better, it’s free on iOS.
Now, it is common knowledge that skiing may not be the safest of outdoor pursuits, so anything that can make your holiday safer is a worthy investment. The Ullr Labs Mobile Avalanche Safety Tools app is top of the range and, while coming with the relatively hefty price tag of £6.99, available on both android and iOS, it guarantees to keep you in the know of avalanche forecasts, snowpack information and much more.
Then, on a lighter note, there are the ski apps that are just there for good, old fashioned fun.
The free iOS Action Shot app allows you to capture your amazing snow skills by taking photos in intervals and bursts, where you can decide how many are taken and how often, to create the ultimate action shots to bring home to your friends.
SnowEdge, meanwhile, is the free iOS app that allows you to track your performance by monitoring your turn acceleration speed and even the time you spend in the air, which will perfect for those looking to improve – or brag about – their skills.
These are just a handful of the helpful and fun ski apps available on the market so, if you are busy preparing for your annual ski holiday, put down the suitcase and pick up your phone to start downloading. Ski preparation now starts in your pocket, not at the airport.
When Is the Best Time to Buy Travel Insurance?
Without a doubt getting travel insurance is one of the most crucial aspects of your vacation plan. It is your back-up plan when everything goes wrong. Comprehensive insurance is the most complete policy since it covers everything from hospital bills to ambulance transfers and even the costs for missed flights and lost luggage.
Common Travel Insurance Dilemma
Here’s a common question a lot of people ask when it comes to buying travel insurance: when should they buy it? Some believe that your insurance policy begins on the day you buy it (even if it is before your day of travel) or that it only begins on your day of travel. Because of this confusion a lot of people wonder whether they should buy insurance before their departure date or on the day itself. So what’s the real deal and when is the best time to buy travel insurance?
To answer this issue you have to look at two different aspects: what your insurance policy covers and when it takes effect. The best insurance is comprehensive travel insurance because it covers every aspect of your travel, as discussed above. It will cover both medical issues and monetary issues (lost luggage, cancelled flights, and missed flights). When you get these types of insurance policies they usually take effect on the day of travel.
This means it is always best to buy insurance before your travel date and on the same day you book your flights. It is always best to book your flight and then immediately buy policy. You will want to do this so that you are covered in case you missed your first flight or if you get hurt during your travel. However, while this solves the immediate question, you still might be asking: how about the circumstances wherein something happens to you the day before your travel?
Coverage Prior to Your Travel Date
So what if you bought your tickets and insurance two weeks before your flight and now you got into an accident? How are you going to cover this incident and who’s paying for the expenses? The thing is, it won’t be your travel insurance. Instead, it will be your regular medical health insurance, life insurance, and other personal insurance policies that you already have.
Your travel insurance coverage begins and ends during your time of travel which goes from the day of your departure to the day of your arrival back home. Any other incident that occurs outside of that time frame will have to be covered by other insurance policies that you may have.
So going back, the right time to buy travel insurance is on the same day you book your flights because this is more convenient and also because it protects you in case of missed flights or lost luggage. But your travel insurance does not cover you before or after your travel period, which also underscores the need to have other insurance coverage to ensure you and your loved ones are protected any time, any day.
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