Garden Party Baby ShowerWant to see our fabulous take on a garden style baby shower? Complete with REAL preserved butterflies? I mean come on......does it get better than this? Take a look at how we took Leslie's idea and turned it into reality for her. Let's start with the cake table. We did a balloon arch, a custom gold acrylic name sign and added some greenery and REAL preserved butterflies. It really added that garden ambience we were looking for! Here's a few closeups of the table and a few different angles (once the table was set with food) to give you a better idea of what the finished product looked like. WOW!!! Just by adding these 3 elements, it really made the table come to life, don't you think? Just gives it that something extra (cue Elle Woods here). Next, we made a unique arrangement for each table that focused on a wild and free, natural garden vibe, and added in some more REAL preserved butterflies. I gotta tell ya, it had me swooning at this point!
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How to use Anointing Oils in Spellwork First let's talk about why you would want to use anointing oils. Anointing oils are used to give intention and to heighten and strengthen the working of the spell. In our shop you can find anointing oils for prosperity, money, banishing and more. (We are working on a Dream Job Oil and we are really excited about it!). Anointing a Candle To use the anointing oil in a candle spell, simply carve your candle with your intention, Simple words or symbols will do. You could put your name or whatever else you'd like to add for the intention and purpose of this spell. After you have carved your candle and set your intention use your anointing oil by using the dropper to drop one or two drops onto the candle and rubbing it in. You can then choose to add herbs corresponding to your spell if you like. You would simply roll your oil anointed candle in a plate of the herbs and they should stick because of the oil you put on. Now you will write your petition paper, setting your intention for this spell. You will place it under the candle and light the candle letting it burn all the way out. If you cannot let it burn all the way out and have to put it out before it goes out on its own, do not blow it out make sure you use a snuffer.
Try Here at VP, we have our own in-house signature blend of anointing oils. We carefully and mindfully craft them from high quality, organic, all-natural ingredients that are eco-friendly. We are working on several more varieties, but currently we have three oils available; Money, Prosperity and Banishing. The Banishing Oil is totally amazing for work in banishing bad habits, addictions, things that no longer serve you and so on. The Money Oil is great for, well....drawing money, of course. Whether you are looking to manifest actual cash in your pocket, or money made from and influx of sales (business owners), or a pay raise, this works for all of the various ways of drawing money to you. Just set your own, very specific intention when using this oil. The Prosperity Oil is honestly my favorite! It covers prosperity on every level, physical, mental emotional and spiritual. The whole package, the whole enchilada, like....ALL of it! Money, Career, Love, Family, Spirituality, Health, EVERYTHING! That's why it's my favorite. Try it out and see how you like it! We're sure you will absolutely love it, but if you're concerned about it, we do offer a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Just return the product to us within 15 days and we will issue a full refund. AuthorVirgo Phoenix Stay Healthy while Traveling for Business
There is no reason why your business trip cannot be fun as well as productive. The time you spend doing business in other locations expands your business reach and scope and broadens you as a person as well. Getting skilled at business travel is a solid business goal because there are skills related to business travel and being productive on the road that are impossible to learn if you don’t get out there and travel. Many of the skills associated with business travel have to do with how to live productively on the road. This is especially important if you find yourself on a lengthy business trip. The life of moving in and out of hotels, traveling by car or airplane and the stresses of the work can wear down even the most robust and experienced business traveler. Maintaining a healthy diet while traveling for business is a serious challenge and one that really can only be accomplished with some serious planning. You will inevitably find yourself eating in a lot of restaurants on the road and that kind of food does not lend itself to a diet that is designed for weight loss or for a diet you must maintain for health reasons. The first but biggest step forward to achieving diet goals while traveling is to communicate your desires to your traveling companions. In a business setting, there is often a lot of encouragement to eat and drink well. Everybody is on the expense account so it is easy to overdo it. But if you let your coworkers and clients know you have compelling reasons to maintain a disciplined diet, most of the time they will respect that and find ways to help you be successful. Another trick of business travel is not to depend on restaurants for your meals entirely. If you can get out to a market early in the trip and purchase some fresh fruit and vegetables, you can prepare some healthy food in your room to fill you up and keep you on track. Then if you find that you must eat in a restaurant to discuss business with coworkers or build relationships with the client, your appetite will be low so you can get by on much less. You can also be a voice for moderation in the selection of eating establishments for your meals. Obviously, fast food is not going to be a good choice for you. So if there is discussion about where to stop, you can vote for a place that serves a good variety of meal choices including some healthy choice menu options. In that way if you must eat in a restaurant, you can find items to order that can be prepared in accord with your diet needs. You will be surprised how many allies you will find both in your travel associates and with those you are doing business with at your destination who have diet goals but have not been successful because of the temptations of the life on the road. Your open statement of intent to stick to your diet in spite of the rigors of business travel can be a tremendous inspiration to them. Moreover, by building partnerships in your intent to live healthy, it is entirely possible to take your business to a healthy restaurant or deli and allow the rest of the party to go to a place of their liking. As long as this is done without animosity, everybody wins. Avoiding alcohol and snacks can be a huge challenge on the road as well. Very often in a seminar setting or during a long day of discussions, the host company or office will provide cookies or other snacks to help the meeting go well by keeping everybody’s blood sugar up. These snacks are going to be hard to resist. One way to help yourself in that situation is to be prepared with your own snacks in your brief case to bring out to substitute for the unhealthy food being provided. By thinking ahead about your diet needs and how you will provide for yourself while traveling, it is possible to sustain a healthy lifestyle even during business trips. Also get a good night’s sleep and you will be more effective and productive for your company. Being on the Road Constantly can Wear you Down
There is a big difference between traveling for business for a couple of day s compared to being on the road for a few months continuously. But it is a necessity of some areas of business that professionals representing that business do stay out on the road for a very long time. These road warriors are examples of people who understand the wear and tear the road can cause on the body, mind and spirit after months of continuous travel. As humans, we are designed to have homes and nest. So the life on the road runs against that natural instinct to settle in one place and rest there. So the first challenge of traveling continuously is finding ways to replicate a “normal life” despite the constant travel. The one factor that can help with combating road weariness is the psychological factor of familiarity. Because business persons who travel for many weeks may not see the same people for very long and often move from city to city, the hotels and restaurants eventually begin to blur into one place and the desire for the familiar and “home” starts to make itself known. So one way to provide that sense of sameness is routine. Even on the road, one can establish a routine that you can look forward to each evening. Whether that means watching the same television shows, scheduling your calls home at the same time each day or week or establishing hotel room rituals, by maintaining a “sameness” no matter where you are living at any given time gives the traveler that sense of normalcy that is missing in a life of nonstop travel. Oddly enough, role models for living successfully on the road are some rock and roll bands who have been living such a life for years if not decades. If you examine their approach to touring, the ones that live that life for very long learn quickly to avoid substance abuse and live a healthy lifestyle. While the typical businessperson doesn’t have to get up and perform on stage for thousands, it is important to sleep well and see your digestive systems and regularity remain stable during the constant change of travel. That may mean establishing an exercise regime that you simply do not break. A morning run followed by a sauna and a light but healthy breakfast not only can get your day off on the right foot, it can confirm your routine and that you are in charge of your lifestyle on the road, not the hotel or the circumstances around you. Another lesson we can witness from professional musicians who travel a great deal is an intense devotion to professionalism. For the musician, they are on the road for one and only one thing, to put on great shows for their fans. That focus can keep them centered for long periods of time. We can translate that focus to what we are about as we set out on a long business journey. By focusing on what we are on the road to achieve and give that 100% of our best efforts, that will give us validation when we find success at every stop along the way. Musicians who learn to survive the road learn to take care of each other and use a sense of family and mutual support to get through a tough tour schedule. If you are traveling with others from your business, that same mutual support can go a long way to toward helping each you survive the experience. Talk openly about the challenges of traveling for such lengthy periods of time. Form an accountability structure to your professional friendships so each of you is looking out for the other. If you can get everybody out for that morning jog, soon your ability to work as a team goes beyond just how you function during meetings but you become a mutually supportive team in getting through the rigors of an aggressive business travel schedule. By looking at the challenge of surviving the wear and tear of the road as one of life’s great adventures, you can gain an energy and a resolve to win each and every day of your business journey. And that positive energy will radiate from you and affect the people you are traveling with to make you all feel good. Stay in Touch while Traveling for Business
When you travel for business you communicating with the people at the office can sometimes be difficult. If you are a manager or a project leader, your need to stay in touch with your team and what is going on at all times is crucial. It would seem that this need is at cross-purposes with the idea of business travel. But with modern technology and a bit of coordination on your part, you can maintain a reasonable level of connectivity to your important projects and team activities even while driving in the rental car or waiting out a flight at the airport. The actual technology you use to stay connected may change over time. Whereas in the past we could only use pay phones at airports, we have evolved technologically so you can travel and access your network via your cell phone, wireless PC or an assortment of other devices. So the first step is to identify the type of technology that satisfies your need for connectivity as well as enabling you to work productively in diverse locations such as the airport, your airplane seat or your hotel room. As you conduct a technical review of the available technology, be careful to research the durability of the equipment you are taking on the road. You may be able to afford the most sophisticated equipment on the market today. But if that equipment cannot survive the rigors of travel including being banged around in your luggage, exposure to heat, cold and moisture or just about any other harsh condition you might throw it into, it isn’t going to be the kind of equipment you want by your side on a long business trip. Once you settle on the equipment, you should configure it or have it configured for internet access as well as the ability to tap into your corporate intranet and network. It is crucial that you can communicate with your team and access corporate files so you can stay on top of what is going on with your projects at home. For example, if you have your project team file status reports each Friday morning, you must be able to review those and give directions for action items to take that come from those reports quickly and efficiently, even if you are on a ten hour flight from Europe. To manage your phone contacts, the idea of just putting the “out of office” auto-answer on your office message service is so last decade. Instead, you can forward your office phone to your cell phone and receive your phone calls in remote so you can conduct your business as though you were on site throughout your trip. There is adequate technology available currently for you to be able to access and operate your desktop computer back on your desk at the office even while traveling. One such service is gotomypc.com. But there are many such services or your IT department may have a methodology to enable that access that you can use if you get them involved in your trip planning. By accessing your PC daily or several times daily, you can activate your instance of Microsoft Outlook or whatever your email software is and read and respond to important business emails as you relax in your hotel room after your business meetings out of town. These are just a few of the technologies that make it possible to perform virtually any function from remote that you could have done only in the office in the past. So don’t accept the limitations of the road. Make sure you can stay in touch with what is happening in the office so you can stay in control while you are on the road. Being Comfortable when Traveling Matters
There are a lot of decisions when booking a business trip. Obviously, the important issue is your business objectives and that everything you need so the business you will do when you arrive comes off well. So you will spend the majority of your efforts on those preparations or so you are well equipped for the trip. But to use the old phrase, it’s the little things that mean a lot especially when you are enduring the inconvenience of business travel. You put up with a lot of inconvenience and having to accommodate the needs of others in airports where everybody wants to be comfortable. Little things mean a lot on a long business flight from how well you eat to the kind of car you rent on the other end. Just a small surprise or accommodation along the way can set put you in a good mood on the trip and that mood could even influence the outcome of the meetings you will conduct when you make your business contacts at your destination. Some people do not have a preference where they sit during the plane flight. But there are a number of issues that can become significant during those hours where you are essentially immobile as you fly cross-country. Some of those are. * If you are claustrophobic, having a window seat isn’t about sight seeing. It can be a sanity saving necessity to keep you from focusing on the enclosed airplane space. * If you wish to work, you need some space to spread out. * Some medical needs might require easy access to the privacy of the laboratory, if for no other reason than to take medicine without being observed. * If you have close connections and are on a tight deadline, sitting near the front of the plane helps with getting off quickly. To get some control over the variable of where you are sit en route to or from your business trip, put some thought into the issue up front and see if you can reserve the seat that suits your purposes before you ever get to the airport. If you use online reservations, you can get a map of the plane, which will show you which seats are open. This gives you excellent ability to move your seat so you can sit just where you want before you go to the airport. Some factors to take into consideration are the room you need and whether you need to recline your seat or not. The seats on the exit row are almost always more roomy. In exchange for being willing to open the door in an emergency, you can gain twice as much room as you might have had which pays off when you want to work during the flight. The last row of the airplane does not recline. The upside of that row is that you don’t have anyone behind you to kick your seat back or bounce the tray table as they do whatever it is they are doing back there. By the same token, the first set in the section does not have seats in front of it so it can be roomier. But you may not have a tray table to use to set your laptop on for work. These are trade offs worth thinking through in advance. You can have your travel agent know your preferences when they book your flight. But don’t miss the chance to make changes as late as the day of the flight. You might spot a row that is not full and be able to grab a seat and have the row to yourself. And believe you me that can be a rare treat indeed. Be well-prepared before you Leave on your Business Trip
You want to turn up at that business meeting look as fresh as a daisy even if you have just got off a long international flight. If that was all business travel entailed, that would be challenge enough. But to carry off a successful business trip, you have to think about your personal needs, medical needs and everything you might require. The ability to travel light on a business trip is truly a refined skill that takes into account the ordeal you might go through at the airport, the potential for lost baggage and what you really do need once you get to your destination. Many travelers have a firm ethic about not checking bags. The result is you see almost a comical effort by travelers to drag huge bags onboard and jam them into overhead bins. As a business traveler, your ability to relax and pass through the airport system with little fuss is paramount. When you take bulky bags on board on an airplane, you exchange the time at baggage claim for a huge hassle in getting your bags on and off that airplane. It’s best to balance what you really need at your destination with the problems of taking too much on board. To reduce your anxiety about baggage claim, leave plenty of time between your travel plans and your business appointments at your destination. If you have several hours or a day before you must make your business contacts, you can relax and go through the baggage claim process without anxiety. The other problem with baggage claim is lost luggage. So to assure you will have the basics when you get to your hotel, lost luggage or not, pack a very small bag to take on board. In that bag, only take your basic requirements. Include your medications, contact lens supplies, sample sizes of toiletries, underwear and one change of clothes. Then you have what you need for one night and the next days meetings while your baggage catches up with you. To pack light, do a good inventory of what you really do need. There are some economies you can utilize to greatly reduce the bulk of what you are going to take without sacrificing your needs and ability to look good when you make your business contacts. * Wear a basic outfit. If you have a suit or other garment you know will be your anchor piece, wear it on the plane. You can also wear a coat or jacket that you might need there and then fold it and use it for a pillow on the plane thus keeping it out of your bag. That coat is not considered part of your carry on but it helps you reduce your baggage bulk. * Economy of space in your bag. Compress what you pack and use every empty space. Pack socks into shoes and roll your clothing rather than lay them flat to squeeze the empty air filled space out of them. You can always iron and get pressed any outfits that get wrinkled in route once you are at your destination. * Mix and Match. Take outfits that can be used over again with a different pant or shirt combinations. * You can get it there. Don’t take anything that won’t get guaranteed and frequent use. If there is something you might need, remember, you can buy it there in a drugstore or nearby store. So don’t let anxiety make you over pack. These steps can reduce your packing problems and result in a workable travel system that will reflect that you are well organized and ready for the road. It is great to be prepared and not to have to go shoppingbecause you have forgotten something you cannot live without. Surviving Jet Lag
No matter whether your trip is long or short, it is always tiring when traveling for business. The work of moving through airports, dealing with delays, handing your baggage, finding transportation at your destination city and getting to the meeting are a much greater stress than you ordinarily go through doing business at home. But when you add the problems introduced by jet lag, you face physical distress that can almost feel like you are becoming ill as your body reacts to the long distance travel. So it’s a good idea to have some techniques ready to use to prevent jet lag when you are traveling overseas or across several time zones. Yes, you can get jet lag just traveling from the east to west coast domestically. Jet lag comes from the change in time zones and the adjustment your body has to make to deal with the new time cycles in that time zone. We are not aware of it but our bodies are finely tuned to work at their best in the time zone of our homes. Our biological clocks are tuned to react to the time of day, the daylight and nighttime cycle, environmental factors and the magnetism of the local environment. We have an internal monitor that tells us when we should sleep or be active based on that internal clock. When we travel to a new time zone, while our mind finds it peculiar that it is a new time of day that is out of sync with what we know, our bodies go through quite a dramatic adjustment to adjust to the new environment. That is why in a new time zone, you may not be able to sleep when it is 11 p.m. where you are because to your body, it may be the middle of the afternoon or the next morning. The symptoms of jet lag are fatigue, lack of appetite, shortness of temper and even a feeling of mild nausea that comes from an internal system that has been thrown for a loop. So the best cure for jet lag is good preparation so you can ease into the change of location without too much anxiety. By reducing the effects of jet lag before they even happen, you make the potential that your business meetings will go well much more likely. * Start adjusting in advance. If you can put yourself on the time frame of your destination a few days in advance, the jet lag won’t be as severe. Start adjusting your sleep times and when you take your meals even before the trip begins so you are already “living in that time zone” before you even make the trip. * Keep a clean diet. Jet lag experts advise that you simplify your diet significantly for several days before the trip. Begin to reduce the amount of heavy foods, carbohydrates, sugars and fats in your diet and increase the level of fruits, vegetables and juices you consume. This will make your system more nimble and able to adjust to change. * Give yourself time on the other end. Try to make arrangements to arrive a day before your meetings so you have time in your hotel room to rest and prepare for the business objectives to be achieved. * Eliminate physical stress sources. During the stressful time, try to cut down on physical stresses such as drinking or extreme physical exercise so your body has more reserves to handle the jet lag symptoms. By thinking ahead about jet lag, you are taking the measures you need to take to eliminate a threat to the success of your business goals on this trip. So if you can minimize the effect of jet lag, your business trip will be a lot more successful. Don’t fall for Travel Anxiety
Do not fall for the old anxiety of forgetting to turn off the oven that arises while you are traveling. While that is a domestic story, there is just as much or more anxiety that can go into getting on the road for a business purpose as there is for private travel. The details that must be taken care of to put a business trip on the road can be overwhelming. It is easy to develop an anxiety complex when going on a business trip and get to where you are in a constant state of stress and worry that you have forgotten something or that there is an important detail that was left undone before you left. This stress anxiety can be destructive to your business goals for the trip. So you need some basic concepts that you can go back to just before the business trips gets underway and as you get on the road so you have some ammunition to combat travel anxiety en route. * Call in the troops. One big way to stop travel anxiety in its tracks is to utilize your business partners to help you prepare for the trip. It is likely that a number of people in your chain of command or in your department have a vested interest in seeing the trip you are setting out to accomplish is a success. Use their help to plan the trip and to develop detailed check lists of what has to happen before you leave and what has to go with you. Then on the day before you depart, meet with those associates and review those lists. As you check off each thing, insist that your associate initial the list to validate that the detail was taken care of. Then take the list with you. By consulting it often, you can calm yourself that you did take care of all the details along the way. * Did you forget your head? Ok so you have a good system in to make sure all of your business needs are covered, the next level of anxiety comes when you are sitting on the airplane and you wonder if you packed everything you need for travel personally. There are a couple of antidotes to this type of travel anxiety. First of all, use a similar check list system to assure you have what you need on the flight. You can develop a travel check list that you maintain and update from business trip to business trip. As you use that list each trip, you will discover any missing items or things to do and update the list. And by checking each need off as you take care of it before you travel, you can calm that nervous system of yours that you have done everything so its time to relax. * What do you really need after all? Second of all, if that check list system has dozens of items and issues on it, much of that can be eliminated by that simple question. The truth is there is very little you really need that you cannot get there if you forgot something at home. You must have your airline tickets, your driver’s license and credit card and any special medication that cannot be found at your destination. If you have plenty of credit, there really is little else you cannot buy at your destination point if you forgot something or other. Comfort yourself that the trip won’t grind to a halt if you forgot something. * But what if? That question literally can drive you insane. If you let yourself start thinking about whether the plane will crash or if your dog dies while you are away or the hundred of other “what ifs” that might happen, you will turn into a ball of anxiety before the first flight is done. So the answer to “but what if?” is “that has not happened so far and the odds it will happen this time are remote.” Use some logic and adult thinking to combat emotional urge to worry. The urge to worry is natural in all of us. It’s part of your urgent desire to do well on the road. But be sure you take time out on the road to relax to help make your business trip a success. Travel for Business with your Family
Traveling for business is not always just about business – it is profitable and rewarding and a good opportunity to see some more of the world. But there are some downsides to the life on the road especially if you must travel for business often. Besides the occasional airport delay or layover and the ever present issue of how weather affects your business trips, it is always hard to say goodbye to your family as you go out of town to accomplish the mission of your business trip. For many business people, one solution is to take their family with them on business trips if the nature of the trip will accommodate such arrangements. Few would deny the road weary business traveler the joys of having family with them on a challenging trip. And for your family, not only does this mean more time with you, it can be a big adventure for everybody involved. Taking your spouse on a business trip is entirely different scenario than if you are planning a trip to include the spouse and children. In that your spouse is an adult, can rent a car and plan a day without help and mold his or her schedule around yours, a spouse can be a huge plus to you because you have that familiar face to greet you in the hotel room when you return from your business affairs of the day. And there is a strange vicarious enjoyment to be had as you are working hard to know your spouse is taking in the pleasures of the local area which you will hear about that night. Taking the kids on a business trips gets to be more of a logistical challenge and there are some real limitations to the kind of trip that will work as a full family outing. One of the big factors in determining if this trip is a good one for the whole family to enjoy is location. If the trip is to a popular destination such as Orlando or California where your spouse and children can find plenty to do each day, then it’s a good situation for bringing the family along. Other locations that make great choices to include the family are historic and memorable cites such as New York, New Orleans, San Francisco or some of the great overseas destinations like London, Paris or Rome. If the children have your spouse to guide their tours, those trips with you can be events to remember and tremendous learning experiences that they will be talking about to their grandkids decades from now. Obviously, the time of year for your business travel is a determining factor on whether the children can tag along. Summer business trips work well for such plans but if your travel will interrupt the children’s school schedule, it usually is not feasible to include them. Now in a case where there is significant educational benefit to the trip, there may be some concessions to be made to the children out of school if they will gain valuable experiences from the trip. But all of these factors, including just including your spouse on the trip will hinge on one important factor that only you can determine. And that is how much time you will be able to spend with the family when you are working and traveling. It is well known that business travel also frequently means long yours and then business dinners and negotiations that can go into the night. If you are going on a trip that such dedication to the task is necessary, it’s best not to bring the family. It does them no good to come along on an exciting business outing only to find themselves never seeing you until the flight home. They will feel frustrated and you will wonder what value there was to the expense and trouble of bringing them if you could not enjoy them except to kiss them good night in their hotel beds and good-bye in the morning. But if all of the factors fall into place, taking the family along on an occasional business trip can take a humdrum trip and put some real fun into it. So keep your eye on that business travel agenda you have. There just may be the opportunity to take your family with you on an occasional business trip. Tips to help Control your Business Travel Costs
It can be easy to lose control of you costs when you are traveling for business. But if you are working from a per diem or have other constraints on your travel budget, you should learn some cost cutting methods that you can put into effect that won’t make your life miserable on the road. These cost-cutting ideas are not just to stay out of trouble with the budget people back at the home office. Often businesses have a set budget for business travel and once it is gone, no further trips can be made during that budget year. So if you anticipate the need for more business trips in months ahead, it is prudent to keep an eye on costs as you go so you can conserve that limited budget to facilitate important trips yet to come. Economizing on the road can be difficult because you are put right in the middle of the hospitality industry which, while good at making you feel comfortable and providing for your needs, hotels and restaurants are also good at running up your tab. But there are some easy ways to sidestep a lot of unnecessary spending so you can stretch your business travel budget. * Eat before you go. Airport restaurants or snack bars are notoriously overpriced. So even if you are leaving early in the morning, have breakfast and get well satisfied before leaving home so you don’t have to buy food en route. * Wise packing. Think through your life in the hotel and on the road. You can buy travel sizes of almost everything you will need. Moreover, you can pack some light and easy to carry snacks such as trail mix, candy bars or nuts that can be used to tide you over during the trip until you can get a good meal. By being self-dependent during the trip, you save a lot by not using airport services. * A hotel is just a bed, a shower and a TV. When booking your accommodations, think about where you should stay. If you don’t need a luxury hotel, don’t book one. If you are just staying the night in one place and then moving on, a clean, well run motel can take care of you just as well as the executive suite at the Hilton. * Share that ride. If you are traveling as a party or you are meeting business partners at the destination, you can share cabs or rental vehicles and save business costs as well as conserve on burring fossil fuels unnecessarily. * Markets and delis. You can even eat economically in a big town like New York or Orlando by using the same sense you have at home. By taking an early trip to a nearby grocery, you can stock your room with fruits and travel foods and cut down on the amount of meals you have to eat out. * Public transportation. If the town you re traveling to has safe and workable subways or other public transpiration, that can be much more efficient for you than renting a car. Washington DC for example has outstanding rail transport that you can use rather than rent a car. By using some of the same good common sense you use at home to keep expenses under control for your home budget, you can not only live inexpensively on the road, you can actually live better. There is nothing better than the feeling than living well for little cost and becoming known as a smart traveler. Business Traveler’s Tips
There are always those business travelers that are organized and then there are those that are always running late. The business traveler who has been at it a while figures out some insider information that not many travelers know. These little travel secrets make the world of difference when traveling. And you can bet they are not going to share this information with just anyone because this is the kind of information that can change the nature of your business travel forever. Your laptop is a crucial piece of equipment as you travel. In an airport emergency situation, your wireless laptop can be used to change reservations so you can avoid those long lines to get on the next flight out. You can reserve a rental car or snag one of the few remaining hotel rooms in town right from the comfort of a seat at the airport. Then the savvy business traveler can casually stroll to his or her designation as others around them panic because they knew how to leverage technology and the internet to bail themselves out of a crisis situation. But one aspect of using your laptop to rescue yourself when the airport is in shut down is the limited power of laptops. To see your battery go dead just when you needed it the most is like watching your ship sink as the sharks circle the lifeboat. What not many people know is that there are open electrical outlets in airports that are there for cleaning crews if you know where they are. Usually these outlets are just under the windows that overlook the landing strips so if you can secure a seat near these outlets, you can charge up your laptop and keep your lifeline to the world alive. Business travelers also know how to take full advantage of resources that are made available to business travelers exclusively. Find hotels that cater to the traveling businessperson. These hotels will not have amenities for families nor are they trying to bring in busses of teenagers on the way to camp. So you can find a hotel with much fewer young people making noise and being a nuisance when you are trying to focus on business. In addition to using businesses that cater to the business traveler, take advantage of frequent flyer and priority clubs that many airlines and hotels offer. If you are going to travel a lot, you can rack up some credits on those clubs, which can result in upgrades to first class, better accommodations or free services when you stay at your selected hotels. They win because they capture your travel dollar. You win because you get pampered for a while. You can gain a lot of convenience and reduce your hassles by using a less popular airport to come into town. By utilizing an airport in a smaller town near by and renting a car, you get out of the congestion of traffic and can drive to your destination without that exposure to the masses all pushing and shoving to get through the major hubs. Extra copies of travel documents can speed things up a lot especially if you are leaving the country. Often when you are going through customs, you must surrender your passport so the customs agent can make a copy. So you make a copy before you get there and give it to them. With a quick scan, they can confirm that it is a legitimate copy and have you on your way much quicker. Don’t overlook how public transportation can bail you out of dealing with a lot of traffic in large city situations. In Washington or New York, the subways work exceptionally well. If you can get out of the airport area via mass transit, you can find a rental car location in town and conduct your business with less wait and without the traffic jams you would face at the airport. Plus airport rental car sites are more expensive than those in town. These little tips can go a long way toward making your trip less of a hassle, less expensive and more successful. Knowing what resources are available to business travelers you can save money and make your business trip hassle-free. Turn the Airplane into a Temporary Office
Often your long business flight can turn into time well used for business. For most business people, this is lost productivity time that can be torture if you cannot get work done in flight. How often have you said to yourself or to a coworker, “That’s all right, I will just work on that on the airplane.” That is a noble intent but circumstances inside an airplane cabin, especially in coach, can make the fulfillment of that commitment hard to accomplish. Like anything else, if you are going to redeem the time while you are in the air, you should come prepared with an agenda of work you can get done in that setting and with your expectations well in check before you even check in. Let’s face it, the cabin of a domestic airplane is not designed for business productivity. You may have a myriad of distractions from crying babies to a talkative neighbor. The airline personnel have quite an agenda of items to interrupt your time with and then there is the turbulence and the narrow seats that dictate that whatever you are going to get done is going have to be done in a place of very little space availability. To expect that you will have the seat next to you to spread out your work or that this will be the flight of perfect peace and quiet is to set yourself up for frustration and disappointment. So to be prepared to achieve some level of productivity on an airplane, be aware of these limitations and design your work so you can use that time within those constraints, not in spite of them. A basic necessity to use to realize some level of concentration in flight is a good set of ear plugs or an earphone and an ipod. You can use that device to pipe music to your mind that can be conducive to concentration and thought. Now earphones sufficient to block out the kind of distractions you will encounter on an airplane will have to be pretty sophisticated. So don’t cut corners on this purchase. It will pay you back over and over as you use them to block out surface noise in airplane cabin. The best way to walk off of that airplane with a sense of accomplishment is to set your goals before you board and make them goals you can attain. You cannot expect to be able to open up your laptop and work peacefully in coach. It is very possible you will be able to do that but you may find turbulence, an active population around you or other factors may make such work very difficult to do. So to be sure, prepare a project to work on using your laptop but don’t be disappointed if it turns out to be too difficult to attempt. And above all avoid having a deadline you have to hit using the time during your flight to make up for lost time on your deadlines. That will only make the flight frustrating and result in an angry and worn out business traveler. The best form of work you can assign to yourself is analysis or reading. If you have a document or some documents to review, the confines of an airplane seat accommodate that work just fine. Business reading is easily the best form of work to do in flight. Using those head phones to block out the world, you can lay back with a book, a business magazine or a report and take your time to study it or read lengthy blocks of that material during a long flight. In a two to three hour flight, you can read entire chapters of a business book and come off the flight with a tremendous amount of food for thought to take into your businesses meetings at your destination. It is possible to redeem the time in the air by accomplishing some solid work. But the key to getting success at that goal is to be realistic about what can be done in an airplane seat and tailoring your expectations and goals accordingly. Doing this will let you use your time on the flight productively. Doing Business in Dangerous Countries
With the turmoil many countries of the world are in there may be times where you are faced with danger when traveling on business. But in some cases, there may be some real travel threats on your route to your business destination. This is especially true today in the age of terrorism where a trip to Europe or the Middle East can mean some very real danger may loom as you travel. It is our job as responsible adults to think about the dangers that could happen on an upcoming business trip and assess that danger and either approach the business objective differently or prepare accordingly. The first step if you suspect that your next business trip may be hazardous either from political unrest, bad weather or other reasons, is to do an honest review of the importance of this trip. If you can accomplish he goals of the trip without putting yourself or your business associates in harms way, that would be preferable to a potential disaster on the road. If it looks like the trip is still a go, be sure you learn all you can about your destination, recommended safety precautions and the nature of the potential danger. The US State Department keeps their web site up to date on the nature of potential security risks at http://www.travel.state.gov. The next step for preparing for a business trip that may be hazardous is to double and triple secure your documentation. You can make copies and scanned images of your important personal documents such as your passport, visa, driver’s license and other crucial identification cards that you must have overseas. By leaving copies of these at home where a contact person can access them and uploading digital copies to a public folder that you can access anywhere you can find the internet, you give yourself a safety net should those documents disappear. Also review the status of your travel documents and get y our renewals done now if there is any chance one of them will expire as you are out on the road. If you are traveling to one or many foreign countries, make yourself familiar with the location and phone numbers of the US embassies in those countries. By having that information on your person as you move from country to country, you are ready to move swiftly should you need to call on them to help you out of a jam. If you do encounter trouble and require medical help, you should have on your person your crucial personal data that can be used to quickly get you help. You can print up a card with your name, names of who to contact in an emergency, blood type, medical details such as allergies that should be noted, important medicines that you may have that can help you if you are in physical need and anything else a lay person might need if you are in a far away place in critical need. For even more security that this card is able to communicate your critical data, you can have it translated into the language of the country you are visiting so there is no delay as local health or public service persons work to get you help. The more you do to prepare for your trip, the better prepared you will be to respond to trouble or even avoid trouble entirely if it occurs. By understanding the local customs and what to do in an emergency situation overseas, you can respond calmly and quickly to crisis and secure yourself, your business associates and property early and quickly. Being prepared is always good because you never know when you may need to react quickly when traveling in foreign countries. Traveling for Business the First Time
Doing business in a foreign country can be a strange experience. The odd thing about business travel is to some extent, it is a mixture of what you know the very strange. The business you are going out to do you know how to do. Whether it discussing a new business project, developing a software product or attending a seminar or conference, the business part of your business trip is probably not the hardest part. But if you are new to business travel, there are some aspects to it that are very different from travel for leisure and ways to prepare for the trip that will make or break whether it goes well or you come home frustrated in your efforts. Just like any business venture, the key word for success in this venture is preparation. Above all, have your business program well organized and ready to use when you get there. If you are giving a presentation, have it finished, the PowerPoint slides prepared and tested and all of your equipment ready to go when you set out. The sheer fact that you are prepared for the work you are going to this new city to do will relieve your tension tremendously. But preparation doesn’t stop just in planning for a successful business effort. Do your homework about the place you are going and how you will handle the trip once you get there. Here are some key things you should think well in advance about to assure your trip goes well. * Your plane flight. As soon as you know your destination, book that flight. The earlier you nail that down, the more you know you will have a flight and that your choice of seats is assured. This can make business travel by air much less stressful. * Driving in a new town. If you are going to drive in a new town, be sure you have maps and know how to negotiate the roads. It’s a whole different world to drive in Boston compared to driving in Kansas City. If you can avoid driving, make sure your ground transportation is arranged ahead of time. * Accommodations. Obviously, book your hotel well in advance to assure you will have a room when you get there. Only in situations where you are not sure where you will end up should you put this off. The last thing you want would be to need a room at 11 p.m. and everything in town is booked up. * Extraordinary needs. If you have medicines or other needs that are going to require special planning, get out ahead of that too. If there are business needs you will require upon your arrival, you can ship things ahead for yourself so that equipment is waiting in your destination office when you arrive. * Dealing with security. Remember that homeland security at airports is tight and the rules change from time to time. You can usually find the current restrictions and ways the airlines will allow you to travel on the internet. By knowing this in advance, you can avoid a lot of heartache when you get to the airport. * Money. You don’t want to have wads of cash with you when you travel but think ahead about how much cash and other monetary needs you should have. Travel with plenty of credit at your disposal. Emergency situations on the road can be defrayed with good credit or you can find yourself in a real jam without it. If you are traveling overseas, become familiar with the monetary system you will be using there. * Things you take for granted. Little things mean a lot. If you have creature comforts you need in the hotel room, think about them and pack such things so you can feel as at home as possible. Something as small as your favorite pillow or a scented candle to relax you can make all the difference in your ability to rest and be ready for business the next day. By doing plenty of good planning, you can assure yourself that you have what you need on the trip and nothing more. This will become more natural as you travel more. Always be prepared before you travel and you can be confident everything is well taken care of. Take Time to Relax on a Business Trip
When traveling for business you need to focus on what you need to achieve for your company. It’s important to know your objectives on a business trip and to set out with those goals in mind and to accomplish them. But along the way, something rather amazing happens when you travel on business. You may get to go to some pretty amazing places and get chances to see things you would have never sought out if you have your wits about you as you travel. Business trips don’t have to be all about business. There are times when you have completed your work and you can take in some of the local color, attractions and good food as part of your visit to an area. The first resource to tap to find out what is really cool to enjoy in the city or town you are visiting are the locals. If you go to a far away town to conduct business with a partner or vendor, they are often more than happy to show you the lay of the land and what is fun to see and do in town. If you can secure the evening of a local in your destination town, you can get quite an amazing tour of the area and see things that tourists may never find. It isn’t that hard to woo a local to be your guide. If you have expense account money, you can arrange to buy your guide dinner on the company dime. They get a good meal for free and you get a guided tour of the area. The first lobster I ate in Boston happened when a person in the office I was working with took me to see the sights and find the best lobster in town. She got a great meal and I enjoyed the local haunts of one of the great cities in the country. But don’t be afraid to be a tourist if you are in a great city and you want to see the big sites. If you are in New York and you want to take the tour of the Statue of Liberty and the boat ride around the island, by God, you just do that. It can be a fine memory of your visit to the town and after all, you worked hard on your business objectives while in town so your entitled to some relaxation. One of the best ways to get some free time to enjoy the local events and attractions is if you are there on Friday but your work must be continued on Monday. Most businesses would rather pay for two nights in a hotel and meals rather than fly you home and back out again. So you can keep your rental car and have two days to simply be a civilian for a while and really explore the local haunts. To find those unique events in town that not many know about, read the local paper and look for those little local culture or arts papers like the Village Voice in New York. These papers will carry details of festivals going on around the area, what is happening in the clubs and theaters in town as well. You may find a regional celebration not far away that you can be part of and pretend to be a local for a few hours and have plenty of fun along the way. If you do have a couple days to explore, don’t be afraid to travel a bit to see some things not that far away. On the east coast, a trip up Highway One will move you through some of the most scenic New England towns you can imagine. And you can linger and take a whale watching tour if you want to. If you already have a rental car, usually it is no more expense to use it to see the state or go to the coast nearby where you are doing business. At most it might cost you a tank of gas and for that you may get so see one of the great sights in the country. Take advantage of your business travel to see the world, have some fun and as the song says “stop and smell the roses along the way”. Combining business with pleasure can make those long nights away from home not so empty. Why to Tip as a Business Strategy
In many countries, professions such as waiters and hotel bellhops expect to be tipped. Tipping is an odd practice primarily because it is common and expected in some professions and not at all in others. As adults, we become accustomed to tipping in the normal day in day out activity of our business and private lives. Most adults have a tipping policy and they pretty much follow it without giving it much thought. But when it comes to tipping on a business trips, its best to think about the use of tipping as a common courtesy in light of your business trip and how it can be used to benefit you during the trip. To do that, think about the tip as a practice and why you do it at all. Mostly we know it is expected and we may also be thanking people for exceptional service. Traveling for Business at the Last Minute
We all know the further ahead you plan your travel the better deals you will get. But in the world of business, it often occurs that you have to get to a destination immediately and the ability to move swiftly is critical to the success of the business goal. The good news is that you can do some preparations well in advance for short notice business trips so you are not caught completely without a plan. You don’t want to have to flounder around about how to book a flight and where to stay if the business journey looms suddenly and immediately. Short notice business trips seem to be endemic of certain industries and job descriptions so if you know you will go through this drill often, you can make some arrangements far in advance so you have a checklist of just what to do when you find out that you must be at your destination virtually immediately. First of all, in a short notice travel situation, economy takes a second priority. Your employer knows that if you have to book full fare on an airline to get to your destination at a specific time, the higher expense is unavoidable. Make sure that your company travel policy has some clauses to put aside travel budget limits in such a scenario. The part of the trip where you will have the least “wiggle room” will be airline accommodations. Of course, you can use the big internet search tools like Travelocity or Orbitz. In general, those are good places to start to find what airlines do have flights at your specified times. But once you pick an airline, working through the airline’s web site directly will show you the most options they can offer and sometimes provide you with better fares, even on short notice. Be sure you watch the travel details closely so you don’t find yourself enduring long layovers that are going to jeopardize the tight timetable of the business meetings you need to attend. If necessary, spend the money on nonstop flights to assure that the business goal of the trip is top priority. Do your homework about hotel accommodations well in advance. If there are likely destinations that you could be called upon to go to quickly, you can do your research on the closest hotels to the business site so you cut down on commutes once you are there. By having your target hotels bookmarked and the phone numbers on file, you can quickly call and set up your accommodations in a matter of minutes. But if you find that your best choices for hotels are booked up on the days you will be at your site, call them anyway. A good hotel will call around to other hotels in the area and get you a room as close to your destination as possible. They can save you hours of frustration searching for a replacement room. Rental cars are usually not as much of a problem. It’s a good idea to call ahead and get a reservation but short of a major convention or sporting event in town, there are so many rental car agencies that you should be able to find a car to rent even if you don’t start your search until you are on the ground at your destination city. You can make other preparations for the possibility of a short notice business trip like having your toiletries and personal affects you always travel with packed and ready to walk out the door. By doing this you will save yourself a lot of time, worry and stress and it will minimize the likelihood of leaving something behind. How to Create Festive Thanksgiving Decorations
Thanksgiving is a time of year when the evenings are getting dark earlier, the chill is beginning to set in, and the lovely autumn leaves of October are off the trees. The fairs and festivals of summer are over, and people are spending more time indoors. Beautiful and inviting decorations can help make this a festive, inviting time. Here are some ideas on how to create festive Thanksgiving decorations. 1. Candle Wreaths Candles are a perfect decoration for the darker days of late fall. They bring a cozy light indoors and provide a festive atmosphere. Remember never to leave a candle unattended, and keep all flammable objects and decorations well away from the flame. These are fun because you can make them in all kinds of sizes and put them in bay windows, on sideboards, tables, and wherever it's safe to have a candle. To make candle wreaths, you'll need: * Floral foam rings of various sizes * Dried or silk flowers and/or leaves * Pillar candles and votive candles * Clear glass holders such as hurricane shades for the pillar candles and clear glass holders for the votives Cut the silk or dried flowers and leaves so that you have a stiff stem to press into the foam rings. Use a hot glue gun if you need to reinforce the flowers or if you don't have a stem to push into the foam. Then place the candle holders and candles in the center, and place wherever you like. You could even place one at each guest's place at the table and let them take the wreath and candle home. 2. Pumpkin Vase For an unusual Thanksgiving centerpiece, use a pumpkin for a vase. Here's how. Cut the top off of a pumpkin and hollow it out as you would for a Halloween jack-o-lantern. Inside, place a large plastic container full of water or floral foam (it doesn't matter what the container looks like since it will be covered by the pumpkin). Place cut flowers such as mums and other seasonal plants into the floral foam or container until you have a nice arrangement. 3. Platter of Plenty Many households have more platters than they can use. Pull one out to use as a centerpiece or a decoration on a bay window or mantle. On the platter, arrange colorful gourds, decorative field corn, and fall squash on the platter. Put the tallest, largest objects in the center and work outward. Fill in with ivy, mums, and pretty seed pods and branches from outdoors. This is a great time to use all those acorns that are crunching under your feet outdoors! 4. Fall Fruit Basket Place this in a prominent place in your home and encourage family members and guests to partake, then replenish! It's healthy and beautiful. All you need is a pretty basket, dried or silk flowers, a hot glue gun, brown and green tissue paper, and some plastic wrap. First, line the inside of the basket with plastic, then with the brown and green tissue. This is where your fruit will go. Then, hot glue dried or silk flowers to the outside of the basket, grouping similar flowers together. Fill the middle with fruit and set out for everyone to enjoy. Homemade Wreaths
Have you ever looked at lovely holiday wreaths and then experienced sticker shock? Or maybe you've seen homemade wreaths and wished you could do that. Luckily, there are so many possibilities for wreath designs and materials that you're bound to create something beautiful once you find the right idea! Here are some ideas and how-to advice on homemade wreaths. 1. Acorn Wreath The look of acorns is so festive, and it's such a versatile look - you can embellish this wreath with sprigs of holly, pinecones, or ribbon, or simply leave it as-is. First, gather your acorns and place them in a paper bag. Freeze them for 24 to 48 hours to make sure no bugs are hiding out in the acorns. Once they're frozen, you will have better results if you dry them in an oven on a cookie sheet for an hour or so at 200 degrees F. That way, the acorns won't be as likely to shrink after you've placed them on the wreath. To make the wreath, simply hot glue the acorns to a wreath frame. Foam, grapevine, or hay wreath frames work well, but anything flat, sturdy, and circular will do. 2. Cardboard Tube Wreath For the eco-minded among you, make a wreath out of cardboard tubes (such as toilet paper and paper towel tubes). Cut the tubes into various lengths to add variety, then paint them. Use several different seasonal colors if you can. Next, arrange the tubes with the open ends facing you in a ring shape. When you're happy with the arrangement, hot glue the tubes together. The handy hollow tubes leave the perfect place to hang the wreath, and you can glue all sorts of interesting miniatures inside the tubes - small ornaments, acorns, figurines, or whatever you like. 3. Traditional Greens If you have access to fresh-cut greens such as juniper, hemlock, or holly, you can weave your own traditional wreath. Be sure to wear sturdy gloves when you gather the greens into bunches of the same approximate size and wire them together. Then take the wired bunches (still wearing gloves) and wire them onto a wreath frame - it will also need to be wire. Tuck the wired ends of the greens under the branches of the bunch before it. You can even do this without a wreath frame; just wire the bunches into a ring. 4. Fruit Wreath Citrus fruits and apples make a lovely wreath. For a base, you can use a basic greens wreath, grapevine wreath, twigs, or other natural frame. Use thick floral wire to pierce the fruit and wire it to the frame. Alternatively, you could use a large sewing needle and upholstery thread to attach the fruit to the wreath. When you're finished, you can hot glue some bay leaves around the fruit to fill in any unfinished or open areas. Homemade Christmas Tree Decorations
Homemade Christmas tree decorations can make for some fond holiday memories with your family. Special ornaments can bring back memories of holidays past and remind family members of fun times and ages. And in these frugal times, homemade Christmas tree decorations can help stretch the holiday budget. Here are some ideas for making your own ornaments and decorations for your Christmas tree. 1. Popcorn Chain Use some air-popped popcorn and red beads to make a pretty popcorn chain. You can also do this without the beads. Thread a sewing needle with upholstery thread. Push the needle through the popcorn kernels one at a time and push them onto the thread. Don't cut off the length just yet; unwind the thread as you go until you reach the desired length. Then cut it off and tie in a knot at both ends to keep the corn from slipping off. 2. Cinnamon-Scented Dough You can make cinnamon-scented, permanent, non-edible ornaments out of dough. They last for years and look lovely. Here's how you make the dough: In a bowl, mix together: * 1 cup cinnamon powder (ground cinnamon) * 1/4 cup applesauce Then add: * 1/2 cup white craft glue This mixture forms a stiff dough which smells wonderful and looks like brown gingerbread. All that's left is to roll out the dough and cut out the desired shapes. When dough is still soft, decorate with dried cloves, buttons, beads, etc. After they dry, you can paint them. Don't forget to leave a hole at the top for the hanger. 3. Buttons Do you have a button collection sitting around? There are several kinds of ornaments that can be made with buttons. Here are some ideas. * Wreaths - String buttons on wire pieces about 9 inches long. You can use floral wire or thin copper wire. Use needle-nose pliers to make a small loop at one end of the wire before you string on the buttons. Then bend the button-covered wire around into a circle and use the pliers to attach the straight end of the wire to the loop. To hang, tie a ribbon to the juncture where the wires meet, and use another ribbon to make a bow where the ribbon tie is. * Garland - Buttons can simply be strung on string to make a garland, or used to augment a popcorn garland. * Decorative balls - Glue buttons to plain Styrofoam balls or worn-out commercial Christmas balls. 4. Cards Use holiday cards to make ornaments. You can simply punch a hole in the upper folded corner and hang with ribbon, or you can get more elaborate. Try cutting out two circles from the card, and cut a slit halfway across the middle of each circle. Push the slits together to create a 3-dimensional ornament. Punch a hole at the top for a hanger. Homemade Centerpiece Ideas for Your Thanksgiving Table
Thanksgiving centers around the table. Therefore, the centerpiece you have for your table says a great deal to your guests and family members. When it's a homemade centerpiece, it can be a conversation starter, and it shows your guests you care enough to invest some time in them. Here are some homemade centerpiece ideas for your Thanksgiving table. 1. Winter Squash Vases Think beyond the pumpkin for these lovely vases made from butternut squash. Cut the top inch or so off of a butternut squash, and use a paring knife to dig/cut out the insides. Beware: butternut squash flesh is rather hard. So the best way to accomplish this is to use the paring knife to cut progressively-deeper circles around the inside edge of the squash neck. Once you get down to the bulbous seed chamber, you can scoop those out with a spoon. Then add water and seasonal flowers such as mums, straw flowers, and berry sprays. If you make several of these, choose squash of various sizes and/or cut the squash so that you have an arrangement of different heights. 2. Three Little Pumpkins Have you ever been at the farmer's market or grocery store, and wanted an excuse to buy those little pumpkins? Now you have one! You'll need three small pumpkins (about the size of a cantaloupe) for this project. You'll also need: * Hot glue * Buttons * Fabric ribbon in holiday colors, about half an inch wide * Curly ribbon in holiday colors * Hat pins with pearl heads * White glue or decoupage medium * Fabric scraps in holiday colors You can take these basic supplies and make three pumpkins that are the same, or three pumpkins that vary in design. Here are some general guidelines for the decorations, and you can apply them how you wish. Attach ribbons vertically to each pumpkin using white glue or decoupage medium. Coat the ribbon strips with glue, running your finger along the ribbon to scrape off excess. Attach strips from the base of the stem to the bottom center of the pumpkin. Cut squares of fabric and attach to the pumpkin with decoupage medium. Arrange another square on top of the first in a sideways fashion, so the corners of the first piece are showing. Then attach a button to the center of this arrangement using one of the pearl-top pins. Decorate the pumpkin stems (and cover up your fabric ribbon ends) with curly ribbon. 3. Swan Gourds Look at the market for long, thin-necked gourds in various sizes. Make sure they have the stems attached - these will be the swans' bills. In addition to these, you'll need: * Grapevine wreath (the swans' nest) * Craft paint and/or permanent marker * Pine cones, acorns, berries, and other "nest-like" decorations from nature * Raffia * Hot glue All you need to do is use a little craft paint or even a permanent marker to create eyes on the swans on the stem end. You can do some with eye lashes, others with colorful eyes - however you wish. Tie raffia ribbons around the swans' necks and nestle them in the grapevine wreath (which you will need to lay sideways). Arrange acorns, twigs, and so forth around them and attach with hot glue. Holiday Decorations Your Kids Can Make
Involving your kids in the holiday decorating can be a lot of fun. Holiday decorating crafts are also a great way to spend time during the bad weather that sometimes comes with the holidays. Here are some ideas for holiday decorations your kids can make. 1. Turkey Bouquet This edible bouquet will look fun and whimsical in your home at Thanksgiving. You'll need: * Lollipops (the spherical, wrapped variety) * Brown and tan felt * Small rubber bands * Wiggly eyes * Red and yellow craft foam * Hot glue gun First, cut the felt into circles about 8 inches across. Then, fold each circle in half twice (fourths) and snip off the pointy end to make a small hole (this will be for the lollipop stick). Starting at the bottom of the lollipop, push the stick through the hole in the felt and draw the felt up over the lollipop. Using the rubber band, secure the felt at the top of the lollipop and fan out the remaining felt. Use the hot glue gun to attach the wiggly eyes, red wattle, and yellow beak cut from the craft foam. Place these in a small vase or bowl for a fun bouquet. 2. Button Corn Hang this creative corn craft on your front door to welcome guests. You'll need: * Craft foam in seasonal colors (red, yellow, orange, blue, brown, etc.) * Scissors * Buttons * Raffia * Hot glue gun or white glue Cut 3 or 4 corn cob shapes from the craft foam, each about 12 inches long. Punch a hole in the top of each one. Then use glue to attach buttons to the cobs. Choose colors that are reminiscent of decorative field corn. When you're finished, attach them with a raffia bow. 3. Wrapping Paper Chains There are always scraps of wrapping paper about at holiday time. Cut them into strips about 8 inches long and 3/4 inch wide, and make them into interlocking loops. This makes a colorful and festive paper chain that fits the season. You could also use holiday cards for this. 4. Sock Snowmen This is a fun craft with no sewing. For one snowman, you'll need: * A white sock * Small dried beans or rice * Rubber bands * Yarn * Fabric paint or markers * Wiggly eyes * Cloth scraps Put the rice or beans into the sock until it's about 2/3 full. Close off the top with the rubber band, leaving 1 to 2 inches of sock at the top. Then move the filling apart so that the top (where the rubber band is) has less filling than the bottom. Secure the division with another rubber band. Now roll down the excess sock at the top to make a hat. Set the snowman upright and you shouldn't be able to see the rubber bands. Decorate your snowman however you like. You can use fabric scraps to make scarves, buttons for the front of the snowman, and pom-poms for the top of the hat. Use markers and fabric paint to decorate as well. Green and Eco-Friendly Decorating Ideas for the Holidays
One of the wonderful things about holiday decorations is that so many of them can be made from recyclables. Just making ornaments and decorations instead of buying them is green in itself, even if you don't use a plastic water bottle in the making of it! Put the "green" in "evergreen" this holiday season with these green and eco-friendly decorating ideas for the holidays. 1. Christmas Trees There are eco-friendly arguments for artificial trees as well as natural ones, but it's generally agreed that a live tree with a root ball is the most environmentally-friendly choice for live trees. However, you can bypass the dilemma by making your own tree. Here are some ideas. * Choose a wall and run strings of lights downward in a tree shape (use LEDs if you can). You can use a recycled paper star for the top, and even attach lightweight ornaments to the light strands. * Use embroidery hoops of varying sizes covered in green cloth, and arrange them on a wall in a tree shape - large ones along the bottom, for example, then smaller toward the top. You can insert most ornament hooks right into the fabric to decorate. * Use wooden boards of gradually shorter lengths to make a tree shape. Nail them to a sturdy stand such as a 2x4 mounted to a wood X shape. Nail the longest board horizontally near the bottom, then follow with the next-longest board, and so on until you reach the top. Leave space between each board. Then you can paint the tree and/or attach screw eyes to the boards to hang the ornaments. 2. Nature's Bounty There are so many ways to use nature's bounty to make holiday decorations. For example, you can make frozen luminaries using two different plastic containers (maybe one small and one large yogurt container?). Place autumn leaves in the large one and fill it 2/3 full of water, and then put a few rocks in the small container and put it in the middle. When you freeze this arrangement and unmold it, you end up with frozen autumn leaves in a block of ice that has a hollow at the top from where you removed the small, rock-filled container. You put a candle in this hollow and light it up. You can also fill clear glass containers with pine cones, acorns, and holly berries. Alternatively, you can fill clear glass containers with greens like ivy, then pour water over them and float disc-shaped candles or tealights on top. Cut natural evergreens and bring them in to your home to decorate, creating a lovely smell and look. 3. Twigs and Branches Make a lovely tabletop tree by inserting curvy, interesting branches into a vase or cup. Then hang eco-friendly ornaments from it, such as painted (or unpainted) toilet paper tubes, old CDs (cut into interesting shapes if you have the tools), and even beverage cans in seasonal colors. You can also paint acorns and use those to brighten up your twig tree. Fall Harvest Decorating
Fall has been a traditional time of harvest celebration since the days when farming was commonplace, and this theme continues today even in urban communities. Decorating for the fall harvest means celebrating the plenty of the season and heralding the change from summer to winter. It can also be a festive time to usher in the holiday season. Here are some tips and ideas for your fall harvest decorating this year. 1. Charming Frames Chances are, you have picture frames stored away in various places in your home. They make popular gifts, and many of us end up with more than we need. If not, you can often find them for very little money at second-hand stores and even some major retailers. You can make fall harvest decorations from these ordinary frames. Lightly glue pressed leaves and/or flowers onto a blank white background, such as a piece of card stock, and insert it into the frame. If you are lucky enough to have frames with two pieces of glass, you can achieve a floating leaf look by sandwiching it between the glass. These look nice on a table, mantel, wall, or anywhere you want to bring the autumn in. Another note on frames - using a hot glue gun, you can attach acorns, seed pods, and other autumn odds and ends to the frame itself. 2. Natural Vases for Fall Bouquets You may not have considered this before, but autumn brings all sorts of interesting fruits and vegetables that you can use as vases for fall arrangements. The best sorts of vegetables and fruits for this type of decoration are those with a long shelf life, such as squashes, gourds, and apples. But you can certainly think outside the box if you're only going to have the decoration up for a few hours. In that case, you can include citrus peel cups and even hollowed out pears. Basically, you slice the top off of the vegetable or fruit of your choice, and then dig out the flesh to the depth you need. You can then fill it with water and flowers, or use floral foam. 3. More with Gourds and Pumpkins All those inexpensive little gourds and pumpkins are readily available in the fall. Gather lots of them and make a wreath using hot glue and a circular base (such as grapevine or a foam craft ring). Another idea is to arrange gourds on a cake plate, or pile them in a tiered tray. You can even make a garland of small gourds, stringing them on fishing line or upholstery thread. |
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