Make Your Own Pizza

Known as Sfincione, Sicilian pizza is distinct in many ways. The pizza itself is generally made into a large square and can be nestled snugly into a standard-sized pizza box. The dough of Sicilian pizza has 3 times the yeast as a typical American thin-crust pizza, half the flour and water, and requires two rises. The dough turns out to generally be about an inch thick, and is baked on top of a pizza pan rather than in a deep dish.

The crust of Sicilian pizza provides a foundation for pizza lovers to develop their own way to enjoy a Gourmet Sicilian pizza, both traditionally and stylistically.

Traditional Sicilian

“There’s a big difference between traditional Sicilian pizza and Sicilian-Style pizza,” said Brian Johnson, owner and proprietor of B.J. Willy’s Woodfired Pizza and Café, located in West Linn, Oregon.

First, there’s the crust. Traditional Sicilian pizza resembles focaccia, a thick Italian bread baked on a sheet in the shape of a rectangle.

“The herbs and what we know as toppings on American-style pizza are baked into the crust itself after being sautéed,” Brian added. Some of the toppings include onions, anchovies, and olives or tapenade. “If cheese is used at all, it should be caciocavallo or pecorino rather than mozzarella for a more robust flavor.”

After the crust has been coated in olive oil and rolled out, the sautéed onions should be pressed into the dough, along with pieces of anchovy and olive. Spread the cheese evenly across the top, and the pizza is ready to bake.

Sicilian-Style Pizza

Over time, Traditional Sicilian has evolved into what is known as Sicilian-Style pizza, especially popular on the East Coast. The crust is the same, but the toppings are vastly different in choice and presentation.

“Once the crust is pressed out and oiled,” Brian said, “herbs and toppings are still pressed into it like the Traditional Sicilian pizza. But instead of pecorino or caciocavallo, slices of mozzarella are laid on top of the square crust, then sauce is added on top of that.”

Top it off with breadcrumbs and romano or parmesan cheese, and serve warm and bubbly.

The Basic Recipe

Even if you don’t have a woodfired grill at your local pub, you can still enjoy the taste of Gourmet Sicilian pizza.

Sicilian Pizza Dough

• 1 envelope active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water
• 3 – 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil (you’ll need more for coating the dough)

Stir the yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Let it rest for 10 minutes.

Mix the flour and salt in a separate bowl, making a well in the center. Add the ¼ cup olive oil to the yeast mixture and pour into the well, working the mixture into dough with a wooden spoon.

On a lightly floured board, knead the dough, adding a little flour as needed until it’s no longer sticky. Shape the dough into a ball. Put the dough into a bowl and coat lightly with olive oil. Cover dough with a dish towel and let stand in a warm place until doubles in size (about 1 hour).

Sicilian-Style Pizza Ingredients

• 1 recipe basic pizza dough
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2 large yellow onions, thinly sliced
• 8 peeled canned tomatoes, finely chopped
• Salt and black pepper (optional)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pound caciocavallo or mozzarella cheese, cut into thin slices
• 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano Cheese
• 3 anchovies, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• plain bread crumbs

Sicilian-Style Pizza Directions

Saute the onion in the olive oil until soft.

1. Add the tomatoes and sugar. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the salt and pepper to taste. Remove the mixture from the heat and set aside to cool.
2. Press the anchovies into the top of the dough, evenly along the surface. Layer the slices of cheese on top of the dough, one layer thick.
3. Cover evenly with the cooled tomato sauce. Sprinkle with oregano, Romano cheese and a light layer of bread crumbs.
4. Let your Sicilian pizza rise for 30 minutes while preheating your oven to 400 degrees fahrenheit. When the oven’s ready, bake your sfincione for 20 to 25 minutes or until the edges of the dough are golden brown and the top sizzles!
5. Let it rest for 10 minutes and enjoy!

Kelly Wilson is a freelance writer and the author of Live Cheap and Free! Strategies to Thrive in Tough Economic Times. You can read more about using coupons to save money at www.wilsonwrites.com.

Homeschooling continues to grow in popularity but is it right for your family?

A 2007 government study showed that 1.5 million children (2.9% of K-12 students) in the United States were homeschooled, an increase of 36% since the previous study conducted in 2003.

While the reasons for the growth in the homeschooling trend vary, many parents cite religious reasons, lack of faith in public education and/or differences with the curriculum taught in public institutions.

Why Homeschool?

Reasons parents decide to homeschool their children vary widely but often include common reasons such as:

• Belief that public schools are inadequate or too far from home (especially true for parents who live in rural areas)
• Philosophical or religious differences with mainstream K-12 educational institutions
• Family travels or lives abroad where access to schools may be limited
• Desire to spend more time with growing kids rather than having them away from home much of the day
• Special needs or medical treatment that makes going to school difficult or impossible

Is Homeschooling for You?

Don’t underestimate the commitment of time and dedication involved with homeschooling; whereas most teachers focus on a single grade level, you’ll have to be prepared to learn a new curriculum each year as your kid(s) progresses through each grade level.

Talk to other parents who have done homeschooling to get a realistic picture of what you’ll be signing up for and make sure you and your spouse both agree that you want to homeschool, since you’ll both be making sacrifices in terms of time, income, lifestyle, etc.

Ultimately only you can decide whether homeschooling is right for your family but making an informed, deliberate decision is the first step to doing it successfully!

Homeschooling Legalities

Become very familiar with your state/region’s legislation on home schooling; you want to stay within the guidelines to avoid any problems down the road that could affect your family or future educational opportunities for your child.

As a general rule of thumb, school officials don’t have a clue about home school laws and may give you information that is misleading so probably, public schools are not the place to go for your information. Here are additional legal resources:

• Legal Information by State (USA)
• Homeschooling in Canada

Homeschool Support Groups

Meeting other homeschoolers can be helpful, but finding a local support group can be challenging. If you belong to a church that may be a good place to start searching for other homeschoolers you could get to know.

Finding and joining a support group will greatly help you succeed in homeschooling by providing help with choosing curriculum, keeping good records, meeting regulations and giving you and your child opportunities for social interaction.

Local parents or groups who homeschool are going to be your best bet to get in touch with the proper agencies to give you insight on the home schooling rules and laws in your area, and how to make sure that you fulfill them.

Most states have a home schooling group that parents can join to assure that students receive enough interaction with other children and they will usually have brochures or welcome packets that will help you in your choice to home school and help you to find a curriculum or to develop your own.

Homeschool Curriculum

Developing your own curriculum is not difficult at all if you remember your own schooling and you can usually do it quite successfully on your own, however if you don’t feel confident with that, there are many packaged curricula out there that are developed with your children’s age and what they should be expected to know at any given time during the school year.

Most of these packaged curriculum programs are highly expensive, and may cost between two and five hundred dollars to purchase, while some at that price don’t include the workbooks and other materials that you need.

Homeschool Record Keeping

Record keeping is an essential part of homeschooling in order to meet regulations and ensure your child stays on track. Records could be in the form of a daily journal or handwritten in a notebook. You can also purchase computer software that will assist in the record keeping process.

Homeschool Scheduling

While you will have a lot of flexibility and freedom in your homeschooling schedule, it is important to set up a daily, weekly and year-long schedule to ensure you don’t fall behind. Discipline and structure in your homeschooling program is no less important than in the classroom. Again, try to learn from others what works and adapt it you’re your own family needs.

Making Homeschool Interesting (and Fun!)

It’s no secret that kids have short attention spans, so variety and keeping learning activities will go a long way in keeping your homeschool student(s) focused and engaged!

Focus on anything you can do to make learning fun and interesting. Riddles, learning games, puzzles and arts and crafts projects can all help make learning more fun.

Homeschool Tools and Aids

Many teaching resources used in the classroom can be adapted to help you set up homeschool learning centers and activities:

The pocket chart is a commonly used K-6 teaching resource that can help define your curriculum, schedule learning activities, and teach specific subjects such as word study, how to use a calendar, learn about money and many other topics. You can also easily switch the cards that go in a pocket chart, making it an extremely versatile teaching tool.

You can find a wealth of professional books for teachers available that provide complete programs on teaching reading, writing, basic math and other subjects. Many include printables and guides on how to conduct specific learning activities and exercises.

Wikki Stix are a creative, hands-on crafting material that make learning activities fun for kids. They are easy to use and clean up and can be used to teach children basic shapes, the alphabet, numbers and counting and more.

Additional Homeschooling Resources

Hopefully our basic overview on homeschooling will help get you started. You can find many free resources online. Here are a few websites to help get you going:

• TheHomeSchoolMom.com
• HomeSchoolReviews.com
• DonnaYoung.org
• Homeschool.com
• Teaching Resource Center
• Crosswalk.com
• LetsHomeschool.com

If you have experience with homeshooling, please leave your comments below and/or link to additional resources you may know of to help others on their way!

Your old, outdated piece of furniture is off to the trash or the local thrift store, and you never give it another thought. As our world turns into a ‘greener’ place, it is becoming more common to try to restore your older furniture and give it new life with new fabric. Start your recycling with your favorite stuffed chair or ottoman.

Assess your piece of furniture. Does it have a cushion that is separate or is it all once piece? Begin by turning the chair over so you can see underneath, and remove the fabric cover that hides the staples or stitching.

Begin by pulling out the bottom stitching until you have started to remove the existing fabric. Pull each piece of fabric off intact, and draw a detailed outline of how each piece went onto the chair. Keep any foam intact, as you will need it when you start to recover your piece.

Reupholstering your own furniture is not as hard as you might think. Photo by ofpaperandthread

Once you have each piece of fabric removed, you can measure and determine how much new fabric you will need for your ottoman. With detailed measurements, you can go into your local fabric store and purchase the right amount of material.

Be sure to purchase extra, in case you make a mistake while recovering. There are many different wonderful fabrics that are useful for upholstery. Try to stay away from thin materials, as they will not hold up as well during daily furniture use.

For the purpose of reupholstering a piece of furniture, you must have a staple gun, access to a sewing machine, and some fabric glue. Using the old fabric as your pattern, cut each new piece from your material.

Begin to staple each new piece in its proper place, stretching it as you do. Once you are satisfied with how your new material is placed, continue stapling and ensure it is placed securely on the piece of furniture.

Try your new skills out on an ottoman to start, working your way up to a chair when you feel more confident. As you learn to take apart a piece of furniture, you will find that most pieces are put together the same way.

The benefits of reusing your own furniture are vast. Not only can you create an entire new room simply by redoing your chair or sofa, you will save yourself the money that you would have spent on a new piece.

Coordinate your new stool and chair with a large area rug, some nice new throw pillows, and a couch blanket. For example, if you have redone your chair in a jacquard blue pattern, choose a nice contemporary beige area rug and accent your room in beiges and blues.

When choosing your own fabric for your furniture, the sky is the limit as to what you can do with your decor.

And while nicotine is one of the most addictive drugs known to human kind, I believe that force of habit may actually be the more powerful reason that quitting is so hard. Once the habit is ingrained, facing the thought of quitting seems about as torturous as having bamboo shoots driven under your fingernails!

For those of us who smoke (yes I will raise my hand and admit my own addiction), smoking is something we look forward to perhaps more than almost anything else; you think about having a cigarette before you go to sleep and think about having your first smoke in the morning even before your head hits the pillow.

Learning to quit smoking could be the most difficult challenge of your life. Photo by Sean....

If you really want to quit, there is only one real way to succeed; you have to make up your mind that you are going to quit and then take action. It’s really that simple. Sure, you can use nicotine patches, gum, hypnosis and all the rest, but without the will to quit, none of these gimmicks will succeed.

The choice is yours and yours alone. Nobody can force you to quit but you. And it may be one of the most difficult decisions you ever make … at least if you actually stick with it. Not for a month or a year, but truly once and for all decide to quit and never reverse course.

Ways to Help Make the Decision to Quit Smoking

Every smoker is different, but for some a good starting place is to actually write down, in vivid detail, all the reasons you want to quit smoking; to feel better, get more dates, save money, etc. Write them on post-it notes and stick them up all over the house. Print them out on a poster and pin it up on the wall, anything to keep the reasons in your face!

Set a Date to Quit Smoking

Pick some special date to quit. It could be your next birthday, the 1st day of the next month, whatever works. But set the date and commit yourself to going cold turkey on that date. Smoke up until then, but once you get to the committed date, there can be no turning back if you really want to quit.

Redirect Your Need to Smoke

Redirection is one of the most effective ways to quit; ask anyone who has succeeded and they will probably tell you that once they quit smoking, they found something else to focus their attention on … hopefully more, not less healthy. It would not be good to quit smoking and start, say, drinking heavily or eating a lot more.

Pick something like exercise, chewing gum or a new hobby to help redirect your attention. Forming a new habit will help you avoid falling back into the old smoking habit. I have one friend who chews like 2 packs of gum a day now; that’s what it took for him to quit smoking for good.

Dealing with Nicotine Withdrawal

Most smokers who determine to quit underestimate the challenges of nicotine withdrawal. This is why the patches, gum and all the other gimmicks are so popular. The problem is that you have to get past it sooner or later. You will feel fatigue and irritability; you may even get the shakes. Be prepared and be ready to test your determination. For the most part, nicotine withdrawal only lasts a week or two and then it’s behind you!

Resist Triggers to Start Smoking Again

Here’s the scenario most of us who smoke have already faced before: You determine to quit and you do actually quit for some period of time; a day, a week, a month or even several years. And then it happens; you have a bad day or break up a relationship, lose your job, a friend or loved one dies, etc.

And you tell yourself, just one, that’s it; I gotta’ have a smoke, but just one and that’s it. But it rarely ever is; once a smoker, always a smoker! All it takes is succumbing to the desire in your weakest moment and you are likely to relapse before you even know what happened.

Some people claim that it gets easier with time, but I don’t subscribe to that belief. I once quit for well over a year and then one day I was with friends, having a drink or two and somebody lit up. I thought “Man, it would be great to have a smoke right now,” and that was it. Within a week I was right back to smoking as if I’d never quit. Really, it can happen that easily.

Smoking Cessation a Day at a Time

Relapse is actually very common. Probably for every ten smokers who quit, only one of them goes successfully and never relapses. How you deal with it if and when it happens to you can make all the difference. If you get down on yourself about a relapse and tell yourself you just can’t do it, then that’s probably going to be your own truth. You feel ashamed, like you are a loser who just doesn’t have the self determination and wherewithal to quit.

But if you can accept that you are only human and prone to make mistakes, you can pick yourself up again and quit, even if you relapse several times. There is no shame in suffering a relapse; it’s actually very natural and happens to many smokers who quit.

The main thing to remember is what I started off with; only you can decide to quit and, if you have a relapse, only you can decide to start over again. The only thing that really matters is not giving up on your commitment to quit. Take it a day at a time but don’t ever stop trying to quit and stay that way.

BTW – Just so I don’t come off as a hypocrite; for the record at the moment I have relapsed and have not successfully determined to quit again. Hopefully somebody here will leave comments and help me find the will to try again soon!

Actually, if you visit Spain don’t expect to see anybody other than tourists drinking Spanish Sangria in a Spanish Bar! Sangria is what you make when you have a big fiesta. Why, you ask? Because it’s a cheap way to get a lot of people inebriated!

Sangria Myth #2 – There is a secret recipe to make real Spanish sangria right?

Wrong again; there is no secret sangria recipe; the origin of this refreshment is that was traditionally made with basically whatever cheap red wine, brandy, whiskey, etc. was lying around and whatever half-rotten fruit the makers had on hand.

The mixture would then be sweetened with sugar and cinnamon typically in order to make it palatable. This is why you will actually find a lot of recipes that are believed to make the “perfect” sangria. In truth, there are many and the one you like most will vary based on personal taste!

Sangria Myth #3 – There must at least be a science to making great sangria right?

The truth is there’s no science in mixing great sangria; it’s really a matter of experimentation, how much you want to spend on alcohol and fruit, and how drunk you want your guests to be after drinking a few glasses of your punch!

Here is a basic 5-minute recipe you can follow to make what most people think of as traditional Spanish sangria:

Learn how to make Spanish sangria for your next party. Photo by {manda}.

Sangria Ingredients:

• A bottle of cheap red wine … or 2 or 3 if you have a large enough party planned! Don’t worry if you can’t find authentic Rioja or another Spanish wine; any decent red table wine will work.
• About the same amount of a lemon-lime sparkling drink such as 7up, Sprite, etc. The carbonation will help give your sangria a slight “fizziness”.
• A smaller amount (say 25% of the amount of red wine) of a spirit such as brandy, whiskey or Cointreau.
• A good quantity of your favorite fresh fruits … you can use peaches, apples, oranges, tangerines …. Even kiwis, bananas or plantains will infuse a nice flavor that could make your own “secret” sangria recipe a hit with party guests. This is why it’s best to try a few variations before your party. Or, you might even mix a few pitchers with different combinations and have a little taste test.
• Sugar and Cinnamon … add a little at a time until the sangria is sweet enough to your own taste; some people like it very sweet while others prefer a tangier zest!

How to Mix Spanish Sangria

1. If you travel in Spain, one thing you’ll find is that red wine is very cheap. You can find Spanish red wine in most grocery or liquor stores. Don’t get the stuff in the carton, but don’t spend too much either, since you’ll be mixing it with all the other ingredients and would only be overspending. I like Rioja, which is very common and can be bought on the cheap!
2. Chop up your fruit into bite-sized pieces; cut up more than you think you’ll need in case your guests are really thirsty and you end up mixing extra batches during your party! If you have time, you can pour a bit of the liquor you’re using over the fruit and let it soak overnight in the fridge. This adds flavor and also makes the fruit nice and soft; remember in the tradition of Spanish sangria, they would have been using overripe fruit you would probably throw out!
3. Use a large punch bowl to mix your wine, liquor, fruit and lemon-lime drink together. If you wait until just before serving your sangria to mix everything, it will be a little fizzier than if you prepare it too far ahead of time.
4. Add sugar sparingly; taste it. Add a little more sugar and sprinkle in cinnamon; repeat the sweetening process until the sangria is just sweet enough but not so sweet people will think its Kool-Aid; to me the best sangria is a taste bud teaser, with just the right mixture of sweet, tangy sour and bitter all together. Again, you have to experiment a little; as with so many great bartenders’ secret recipes; there really is no exact science in measuring ingredients to taste.
5. Sangria should always be served chilled; pour your Spanish sangria over ice in a pitcher, serve it up and make sure nobody at your party plans to drive home after a few glasses; this is one of those beverages that can really “sneak up” on you!

Do you have your own secret recipe for Spanish Sangria? Leave your comments and share it with everybody.
 

Many of the most unique and lovely fabrics can be quite costly, some as much as 25 to 50 dollars per yard, which makes it difficult to keep your costs low and still decorate with that fabric!

It is however possible to use the fabric that you’re in love with to decorate if you use it wisely and use each scrap that you purchase to make something contrasting or small which will be a focal point in the room.

The fabric that you purchase is usually only enhanced by the mixture with another fabric, particularly one which not only has a different color, but also a different texture, which gives visual and tactile interest to the piece you make with them.

Make the most of your expensive fabric by following these helpful tips. Photo by passitonplates.

Pillows – Use the expensive fabric to make an oval or square throw pillow, and back it with another less costly fabric.

Table Runners – Using a piece of contrasting fabric, place the right sides together and stitch it, making a runner that is not only reversible, but also double thickness. Flat projects are easily accomplished and work up quickly.

Fabric Quilts – Another way to stretch a more costly fabric is to make it into squares and use the squares in contrast with others to build pillows, quilts or table runners that feature the fabric you love so much in smaller quantities, which are enhanced by the use of a contrasting fabric or two. If the fabric that you like is something you really want to showcase, an idea that you might try is to use the more costly fabric for either an edging on your draperies, or as a header piece, which is to say that the rods will run through strips of this fabric, while the lower aspect of the drapes for curtains wil be of a contrasting, less expensive fabric.

The same method might be used to utilize the fabric in a bathroom, or for a bedroom, try edging on a comforter, or as strips on the edges of pillow covering, with matching smaller toss pillows for the beds.

Do you know other ways to make the most of expensive fabric? Let others know how to stretch their budget creatively by leaving us your comments.

Evidence suggests the Chinese used some of the first formulated herbal blends, especially for spiritual and emotional effects like peace. There’s no question that by the time Egypt came into power that various aromatics were already valued by religious people and traders alike, and each had a specific quality attributed to them.

Consider the story of Cleopatra who decorated her floor with fresh rose petals and had bowls of rose water in hopes the aroma would further inspire love in Marc Anthony. And even Hippocrates later wrote about aromatic fumigations as having various benefits.

Aroma therapy is a natural way to relax mind and body. Photo by ernestf2002.

Jump from there to the 19th century when the art of perfumery blossomed to great global status. Perhaps that’s why we find the French chemist Rene Gattefosse in 1928 talking about various fragrant oils and their uses in essential form. His book, written in 1937, is considered a classic in this field. For the home crafter there are two ways to approach aromatherapy.

The first is from the books and recipes pre-contrived on the subject that provide foundational insight into the psychology of aromas. However, it should be noted that scent is also a highly subjective and personal thing.

The second approach (and one that’s more fun if you like to tinker) is creating your own blends to which you personally respond most strongly. In either case, the basic safe proportion of essential oil to any base media is two drops of oil to one tsp. of base. If you‚re using this for massage, sweet almond oil is a great choice.

For relaxation, the traditional method recommends lavender, sage, bergamot, jasmine, and rose. On the other hand, for improved outlook and energy try geranium, rosewood, neroli, and bergamot. As an aside, both these two blends seem nearly universally recommended for stress.

If you know of other aroma therapy ideas please leave your comments for others to see!

Making your own winter fleece blanket will be a fun crafts project.

This reversible fleece blanket and matching pillow is perfect for winter projects, perfect for a Christmas gift and perfect for your own use. It makes a super addition to your living room and being reversible when completed, made as it is of two layers of fleece, is quick to make, and very warm, as well as a great project for those who want to make something hand made for gift giving, but aren’t handy with a sewing machine.

To make your fleece throw blanket, you will need:

• Two pieces of fleece in contrasting or coordinating colors, of the size you’d like for your throw another half yard to cover the pillow
• An old throw pillow to recover, or a pillow form.
• Scissors (quite sharp ones are needed to get a clean cut. I use Fiskars always) or: A mat and rotary cutter.

Use whatever fleece pattern you want your warm and cozy fleece blanket to have.

Instructions to make your fleece blanket:

1. Lay the two pieces of fleece face out, measure in about 6 inches and pin it all the way around. This will hold the fabric together as you work on it.
2. Now, cut a square into the corner, about 4 inches square. This will make the corners match up.
3. All the way around the blanket, cut a fringe, every one inch, and make them four inches long. When you are finished with your fringes, beginning at one corner, tie the fringes together, top to bottom layer.
4. I generally tie a few on each side together first and then complete it. The fringes will lay more neatly if you tie the top cross one way and the bottom crossed over the other direction.
5. Work your way all around the blanket til you get to the ends. In the same fashion you will make the pillow, tying the top layer to the bottom, inserting the pillow before you start to tie the fourth side.

When these tasks are completed the blankets are perfect and they will be the warmest things you have ever covered with.

Studies are beginning to show that completely sheltering your kids from bacteria and infections can actually make them more susceptible to some of them and additionally can actually cause the development of asthma and allergies.

Bacteria are vital to good health. Killing off the normal flora of the body does not assist us in fighting disease but rather, can actually cause it. Recent studies have shown that the more educated a parent is, the more likely their child is to develop asthma and allergies in part because of the parents concern about bacterial infections.

Dr Gerald Callahan, who studies bacteria at Colorado State University explains, "Before we knew the important role of infections, we were concerned about things like polio and rabies and yellow fever. Because of that when Fleming introduced Penicillin we went crazy with joy and began to slather everything with antibiotics. Now we are paying our dues for that over reaction."

New studies show that bacteria is an important part of our every day lives, but that does not mean hygiene is less important. Photo by pyza.

The best method of cleansing for our children is to put the antibacterial things by the wayside, and use plain mild soap and water to wash up, and to toss away the antibacterial sprays unless we are in the presence of something that consistently puts harmful bacteria in our way.

Teach your children to wash their hands thoroughly; for instance try having them wash long enough to sing the ABCs. But toss away your antibacterial soaps and use plain mild hand soap. Teach your kids about preventing disease, by good hand washing, covering their mouth when they cough, not sharing drinks and so on, and leave the antibacterial soap for the surgeons.

Do you have other tips on how to teach kids good hygiene? If so, please leave your comments and help inform others too.

A sauna will offer warmth that will help your mental fatigue drain away as your tensions evaporate from the whole body experience leaving you both mentally and physically refreshed. Companies such as Finnleo, afford residential saunas that are on a par with the commercial units they sell, which offer soft heat, light steam and a very healthy environment. Whatever you use your sauna for, whether its to wind down, to relieve muscle stress or fatigue, or before you retire to promote sleep, a sauna kit is a wise investment into a healthier lifestyle. Pricing on home saunas is fairly reasonable for most. In a price comparison: Laatu Infrared Sauna: single tier, L shaped that will hold two people, retailing for about 4500.00 USD Harmony Infrared which will hold about three people, retails for about 2o000 USD

Save money this holiday season by doing your own gift wrap!

Exquisitely wrapped gifts add a magical touch to Christmas. These shimmering silvery parcels or textured fabric bundles are a pleasant change from the mundane store bought gift wrap.

But why spend a fortune on buying Christmas gift bags when you can make your own?

You can have such fun wrapping presents and the highlight will be the enjoyment of giving! Read on and learn how to make your own unique Christmas gift wrap.

Making your own Creative Gift Wrap

This is a fairly obvious and straight forward idea but here are a couple of ideas that you can look particularly effective that will make it easier if you are going to make a large amount of gift wrap.

Pewter Painted Leaf Paper

1. Spread out a sheet of brown paper. Arrange dried leaves on the surface in a pleasing pattern.
2. Fill a jam jar with water and squeeze a little pewter paint on the jar lid, using it as a palette.
3. Remove one leaf from its position and decide which side to paint on; the underside will show the veining better.
4. Apply the pewter paint with a wet paintbrush.
5. Return the leaf to its position and press firmly yet carefully to avoid smudging. Remove to reveal your print.

Frosted, Opalescent, and Glittering Tissue Papers

Experiment with your own ideas, patterns and colors with these fabulous, highly unique tissue wrapping papers. Simply paint moistened acrylic paint on white or colored tissue paper folded out at double thickness. Finish it off with sequins, pearls and sheesha glass.

Decadent Do-it-yourself Christmas Packaging

You can still brighten up your packaging without making everything from scratch. If you want to use simple store bought materials, you can follow these easy instructions to elaborately and impressively package your gifts:

1. Make sure whatever the gift, it is inside a snug fitting box as regular shapes are far easier to wrap.
2. First wrap your present in decorated tissue paper and secure the ends.
3. Overwrap the parcel with clear cellophane, again securing neatly with tape or a spot of glue.
4. Tie a generous length of ribbon around the parcel and finish in an extravagant bow.
5. Decorate with crystals, beads, tassels, or silver-sprayed leaves.
6. For a personal touch add a home-made gift tag with silver embroidery thread.

Painted Hatboxes and Gift Boxes

Decorated hatboxes make fabulous Christmas presents in themselves. The options are endless so you can personalize it for the person the gift is intended for and they will hold any awkward shaped gifts in style.

You can either simply adorned it in a sizzling color, scattered sequins, paper flowers and glitter glue finished with an elaborate bow. Or follow these easy instructions to make a more traditional Christmas portrait gift box:

1. Paint the box itself all over, inside and out of the lid, with matt emulsion paint and let it dry thoroughly. Coat it twice, lightly sanding off the emulsion between the coatings.
2. Lay your chosen picture against the box lid and make sure it fills the space. Cherubs, angels, and Victorian Christmas scenes are excellent if you can find them on old calendars or gift cards.
3. If the portrait doesn’t fit exactly, trim it and use gold relief outliner to draw scrolls, squiggles, a trellis effect or any other pattern around the portrait.
4. On the outside edge of the lid, glue a length of gold braid, ribbon or gold foil frill.
5. Tie and glue a pretty ribbon around the middle of the box itself.

Silk Velvet Purses

The wintry light reflects upon these sumptuously soft silk velvet purses, the subtly muted rich colors of which can be enhanced by unusual decorations, making them luxuriously desirable and unique gifts to receive.

1. Start with a long narrow rectangle of silk velvet, right-side up.
2. Take the raw edge of the left-hand short end and turn it under twice. Pin and stitch in place to prevent fraying. Take this neatened end of the fabric and fold one-third up on to itself, right sides together. Pin in place.
3. Neaten the raw edge of the other end of the rectangle and also turn it under twice, pin and stitch. Fold the fabric onto itself again, bringing the neatened edge to meet the first one exactly.
4. Pin and stitch the two side seams together overstitching the raw edges to prevent them fraying. Turn the fabric right side out and you have a purse with a central slit for an opening. Create the purse flap by folding the top part of the purse over the bottom.
5. Stitch a little plastic trinket on the outside of the top flap and the weight of this will hold the flap in place.

Wrapping Holiday Gift Cards

While gift cards or money are often welcome presents, handing over a plain white envelope shows a distinct lack of imagination. Instead, disguise vouchers or notes in rolled tubes, which can be embellished in many ways.

1. Cut squares of card, lay the gift card (in its envelope) on top and roll up tightly.
2. Tape in place, wrap and tie with a ribbon. You could find some pretty beaded hat pins at an antiques market or craft store.
3. Tie them to the gift tubes with a length of gauzy ribbon remembering to place the safety cap on the pin.
4. If you have several gift vouchers to give, pile the decorated tubes in a pretty bowl or add an extra ribbon loop and hang them from the tree.

Quick Fix Wrapping Tips with Ribbon

• Old-fashioned pill boxes make perfect containers for special presents such as earrings or cufflinks. There’s no need to wrap the box; simply tie with a ribbon.
• French paper sweet bags make pretty gift wrapping. Place the gift inside, toll the top down and punch two holes through the rolled paper. Thread with ribbon and tie.
• To make a gift bag, use a ‘mold’ such as a book. Wrap a length of good quality paper around the book and tape the central join, then neatly fold and tape one end. Slip the book out and crease the narrow sides to form a bag shape. Place the gift inside, fold over the top edge twice, then wrap ribbon around the bag and tie.

Make your own halloween costume at home with a cardboard box and some good old fashion creativity.

With Halloween on the horizon, it’s time to start thinking about costumes. While store-bought costumes are really easy to find, there’s nothing like making a costume with your children, and more often than not it’s a cheaper option too.

Unfortunately, most make your own costume ideas require you to sew like Martha Stewart, so if you’re not handy with a needle or sewing machine, you’re out of luck, right? Wrong.

You can make a creative and fun Halloween costume using materials that are around your home right now, and all you need is a box, some glue, a pair of scissors, and a little creativity.

Halloween Costume Project: Robot

Materials needed:

• Cardboard box
• Two 20 oz. plastic soda bottles
• Screw off bottle tops, foamies, electrical tape, and other decorations
• String
• Paint, paper, or aluminum foil

Steps to Make Your Halloween Robot Costume

1. First, make the robot Halloween costume body. Turn the box so your child’s torso will fit inside. Cut a hole on the top for the head and holes on the sides for arms. Cut out the entire bottom of the box for the legs. Depending on the construction of the box, you may need to use a hot glue gun to keep it from falling apart after you remove one side entirely.
2. Decorate the body with paint, glue decorative paper to it, or glue aluminum foil onto it to get the effect you want. Create knobs, screens, and panels on the body using your decorative material. For example, you can make a series of turn knobs by spray painting some bottle tops and gluing them onto the body. Foamies can become push buttons. Create a waist or a belt with electrical tape. Or, come up with your own idea.
3. Now, make the robot arms and legs. Using a sturdy pair of scissors, cut the tops and bottoms off the soda bottles. Then cut the bottles in half length-wise. Now you will have four ridged guards that you can tie to your child’s arms with string. (Consider using a hole punch to make the holes for the string, particularly if you’ve selected a thick bottle.) A simple application of metallic paint to the guards will make them look like robot arms.
4. If you want, you can purchase some face paint to help complete the outfit. Robot face paint application is actually very easy. Paint the entire face in the base color of your choice, making sure not to get too close to the eyes. Then, with a paint crayon that is safe for facial use, draw straight lines from the middle of the chin back to the bottom of the ears to create a robot jaw. Create a robot mouth by drawing two straight lines from the corners of the mouth down to meet the jaw. Then, draw two straight lines down either side of the nose, connecting them above the nostrils. Now you have a robot nose. You can add robot cheekbones with a straight line right across the apples of the cheeks. And last but not least, add a line straight across the forehead.
5. If you’ve gone with the traditional silver robot, dress your child in black clothes underneath, since they’ll show around the arm and leg guards. If you’ve chosen a different color, simply select something that will coordinate well.

Costume Idea: Cell Phone

• Materials needed:One or two cardboard boxes
• String
• Paint or craft paper
• Large number cutouts made from either paper or foam
• A large pipe cleaner
• Black magic marker

Steps to Create Halloween Cell Phone Costume:

1. As with the robot Halloween costume, you’ll first need to decide how to orient the box. With the cell phone costume, you have another element to consider, though: you need something to flip open from the bottom to create a flip phone. If you only have one box, you can turn it so that one of the flaps hangs open at the bottom. However, you may end up with gaps in the body of the box that will need to be covered. It’s best to have two boxes: use one for the body and use the other to create the flap. Cut head and arm holes. Cut out the bottom of the box for the body to fit through.
2. If you’re using two boxes, cut a flap off of the second box and attach it to the body of the costume. You want it to swing open and shut freely, so tying it on with string is your best bet.
3. Now, cover the body of the phone. You can use spray paint, craft paint, or glue attractive craft paper onto it.
4. It’s time to decorate. Start at the top down. First, you need an antenna. Glue a pipe cleaner to the top corner, making sure that it’s not going to jab your child in the face. On the body, you’ll need a large rectangle for the speaker, and then the number pad underneath. Use the number cutouts to make the number pad; if you’re lucky enough to find the * and # signs, that’s fabulous. If not, you can always fill them in with the marker. You may also opt to outline the “buttons” with marker to make them stand out more. Lastly, on the inside of the loose flap, you’ll need to put some large black dots for the microphone.
5. Dress your child in a coordinating color, since his or her arms and legs will show, and you’re all set for Halloween!

Take your Halloween pumpkin carving to another level with these tips!

The kids have their Halloween costumes picked out and are eagerly anticipating trick or treating! And one of the best parts of Halloween for most kids is carving Jack O’ Lanterns.

Around our house pumpkin carving is a big deal and we like to try creative new ideas every year. So, we thought we’d share a few techniques, creative thought-starters and tips on carving pumpkins into award-winning Jack O’ Lanterns this Halloween.

When Halloween rolls around, it is impossible to run out of create way to carve your pumpkins. Some are frightful while others are fanciful, make a big wicked grin and the effect can be positively eerie!

Whether you transform a pumpkin into a goofy ‘smiler’ or a wicked, jagged-tooth vampire, jack o lanterns are guaranteed to make Halloween magic.

The Basics of Pumpkin Carving

Scooping out seeds and pumpkin goo is all part of the job; make this a fun activity for kids by keeping the pumpkin seeds to bake later.

Before we can go on and explore some design ideas we better run through the basic procedure for pumpkin carving as this is repeated no matter what design you create or choose:

• Cut the lid or bottom off the pumpkin
• Always the first step; or a small pumpkin you want roughly a 4”- diameter lid, whereas a larger pumpkin will need 6”- to 8”- diameter lid.
• Use a larger size saw tool or a knife to cut out the lid, aim at an angle as it will provide a ledge for the lid to rest on. Also, remember to cut a key in the lid of your pumpkin as it will allow you to easily align the lid when you replace it.
• Remove the pumpkin goo! Scoop out all the seeds and strings first (delicious!), then use a scraping tool to scrape out all the inside lining of the pumpkin. The walls will probably be about 1” thick. To gauge the thickness, simply poke a pin through the wall and measure how far in it goes.

Transfer the Design onto the Pumpkin

Marking the design on your pumpkin is essential to carving a good pumpkin design.

The key to a successful pumpkin design is a sharp, clear image. Some of the smallest tricks can make a huge difference to how easy this can be:

• Draw your pattern on paper and then position this on the surface of the pumpkin. If you make cuts in the corners of the pattern towards the center, it will be easier to bend to the shape of the pumpkin.
• Little pins that are used to hold corn on the cob are great for pinning these patterns down.
• Another method is to use masking tape to stick your paper design to the side of the pumpkin.
• Then, carefully punch holes (only piercing the surface!) along the outside of the pumpkin with a poking tool.
• Check that everything is in line before removing the pattern. If you find you cannot easily see the punched holes, just dust the dots with flour and they’ll show up.

Poking Holes to Trace an Outline

• BEFORE carving, if you poke some holes into the design, you’ll make the carving job easier. This must be done before you cut though or the pumpkin will become unevenly weak in places and could crack. This does require some pressure on the pumpkin so don’t be too nervous about that.
• Use something sharp and small like a kitchen ice pick, corn on the cob holder or a paperclip to poke your holes; this makes carving as easy as ‘connect the dots’.

Jagged teeth are sure to make your Jack O Lantern scary and dramatic.

Pumpkin Carving Technique

The last step is to carve the design in. Use a saw tool and carve gently but firmly straight into the pumpkin at a 90 degree angle.

Start from the center of the design and work outwards with loose, smooth strokes. Whatever you do, do not rush; it’s a slow and steady job.

The point of taking your time can’t be emphasized enough; I am always the last one finished in our family, but the kids always say “Dad, how did you make yours so cool”?

The kids are getting a little more patient each year and I usually encourage them to carve a quick Jack O’ Lantern for immediate gratification first, and then do another that they take their time on and get more creative.

Jack O’ Lantern Designs

There isn’t a limit with to what you can do, but there is a smart way to go about it. You can pick any design, but make sure you use larger, strongly defined shapes. Pumpkins are thick and it’s very hard to carve the intricate delicate details.

Whatever you choose let it make optimum use of the space it is in, you don’t want too much bare pumpkin skin around it or the light inside won’t be effective. Also think about who will be coming to visit; a cutesy, simple design is loved by young children, but if the kids will be a bit older you might want something a bit more spooky or surprising.

A Perky Pumpkin Face

Pay attention to the eyes and mouth if you want a happy, smiling or thoughtful expression on your Jack O Lantern face.

If you like the celebration spirit of Halloween but aren’t so keen on spooking, you might like a perky, smiling pumpkin design.

Draw simple circular eyes and focus on arcing eyebrows that look like flags waving in the wind. This will work to show a happy emotion. Make the nose a simple triangle and then emphasis the mouth. A wide, jovial upward angled mouth with an enormous hanging tongue for a bit of cheek.

A hanging centerpiece in the center of the tongue will give it some definition but carve this part first or it will become too weak.

Lips in Stitches Pumpkin

A really simple design but very effective once lit up. Do two circular pupils and then emphasis them with enormous arching triangular eyes. One downward, diagonal line above each will express a frown.

Scary skull head and flames pumpkin carving design is more than just spooky!

The nose can be a simple wide upside down triangle. For the mouth, create a stitch effect like those which was traditionally drawn on a Frankenstein cartoon by making a wide curvaceous line and then drawing vertical lines across it from one side to the side for a great grimacing growl.

Skull Head Pumpkin

Always one of my favorites, the skull is a straightforward and recognizable image so it will be easy to source a picture to trace.

Make the eyes on this one very deep and wide to let the like out. Two small side by side triangles are all that is needed for a nose. Keep the face long by distancing between the features. Cut out small, square teeth either side of a line for the mouth.

A defined square line running around the outside will be effective. You can take some tinfoil and cover a couple of teeth to give long john silver treatment.

Frankenstein Pumpkin

Monster themes are always a great pumpkin carving theme in keeping with the Halloween spirit.

This is another easy one to adapt from a picture. Track down a Frankenstein cartoon.

The features you’ll want to include in your design are the hair, eyes, nose, mouth, facial stitches, ear, bottom corners of jaw and neck complete with bolts.

The traditional Jack O Lantern face makes a great Halloween pumpkin display.

These are the distinguishing features that make any Frankenstein image recognizable.

Worm Brain Pumpkin

A fun design bound to show your home off as a viable trick or treat stop. Simple carve enormous round eyes and a large cavernous mouth.

Take a drill and drill small holes around the top of the head and on the front of the face between the eyes.

Insert some lolly snakes to appear as if they are squirming out of the holes. If you drill two holes near each other, you can insert both ends of the snake and make it look as if it is crawling tunnels inside. Delicious!

Tips to Keep your Pumpkin Looking Classy on Halloween

Cute Hello Kitty pumpkin design. I bet my six-year-old daughter will love this one!

• Pick a fresh pumpkin (always pick one with a stem) without bruises. When you go shopping for it, take along a photocopy of your design to test it out for size and impact.
• If you haven’t done this before, just stick with a simple design and make it the best you can. It takes practice and you can move on to more difficult designs with time.
• Rub vegetable oil or petroleum jelly onto freshly cut areas to delay aging.
• Once carved, your pumpkin will only keep two-to-five days. Ideally, carve your pumpkin the day before you plan to use it and keep in the refrigerator. If a shriveled design needs refreshing, soak the pumpkin in water for two-to-eight hours, but DON’T over-soak or it may crack. Then dry your pumpkin off, as standing water will soften it.
• For the less creative among us, there are many sites that offer Jack O’ Lantern patterns you can print out and use to transfer the design to your pumpkin. Here are a few you can check out:
  • Zombie Pumpkins
  • Pumpkin Lady
  • Pumpkin Masters
  • Spook Master
  • JackOLantern.com

With some planning and bargain hunting you can still find great christmas presents for less than !

Well its just about ninety days til the big day every kid waits for so impatiently; they’ll start counting the days before Santa’s visit all too soon!

Halloween and Thanksgiving are just around the bend and if you start now, you won’t have to worry that you’ll still be finishing the wrapping on Christmas morning!

Yes, we know it’s a little early to promote Christmas already, but smart gift shoppers always plan as far ahead as possible and some of us would consider the first week of fall too late to just be getting started!

Since this was our most popular story last year, we’ve updated it a bit to demonstrate you really can buy thoughtful and memorable gifts for friends and family for LESS THAN $25. Read on and save money this holiday season!

There are so many people who are hard to buy for and others who you just don’t have a clue what they might really like. and still a few more, that you would like to give something special but you just don’t want to break the bank; Its the third category that we’re going to concern ourselves with today, and find them something pleasing that doesn’t cost the earth.

With that in mind, we’ve surfed the net, taken the virtual walk as it were, to the shops and stores Internet wide to find high quality at low pricing, and done it in time to give you time to place those orders so they will have plenty of space to arrive prior to Christmas. I personally think 20 or 25 dollars not an exorbitant price for a nice gift for someone special.

Keeping that price as our top of the line, we went hunting. First up on our Internet tour of gifts under twenty five dollars, COLLECTIONS ETC, which I personally recommend for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the quality and value. You will be literally astounded at the quality of the goods that arrive at your home and nothing in the catalog is over twenty dollars.

I ordered bar stools, an outdoor thermometer, a rustic table with an opening top, and I have at no time had a complaint about the merchandise or the cost. The turnaround time for me was about 7 days, however there are of course speedier ways to ship.

I would allow an extra day or two at the holiday season to be certain you get your packages on time, more of course if you want to send them off to another area yourself. The moose table that I purchased for under twenty dollars, is very close to the same quality as one that I paid three times that for. Among the unique and interesting gifts that you can find there for under twenty dollars? The little river fountain, ringing up at just 14.99 will offer a gardener the lovely sound of trickling water either inside or outside.

Cool pyramid light is an interesting low budget gift idea.

The unique Solar Acorn Light has a panel that will gather the sunlight during the day and provide light for a porch at night. It provides a lovely diffuse light that is rather an amber color and the solar panel works remarkably well, keeping the light lit most of the night if you select not to use the on off switch that is included. It sells for under ten dollars at Collections.

The site has simply thousands of items that are priced to sell at a cost for an art set for a child beginning at 10.00 and moving up to nothing on the entire site that I could find for more than 25.00 USD. For you Egyptian enthusiasts, the Pyramid votive holder; measuring over a foot tall for under ten dollars. Made entirely of metal it was a surprisingly great value for about 5 dollars USD.

For the Southwestern Decorating Fan, the Kasa Porcelain doll, ringing up at just 17.99 fills the bill. Dressed in authentic Native American styles she is about 12 inches tall and lovely enough to impress a collector or delight a child.

Kasa Porcelain doll makes a great gift for little girls who like to collect dolls.

Moving away from Collections Etc, and toward a treat for the tummy, a few streets down on our Internet walk we find the tea and coffee site of The English Tea Store, who stock teas and oh so much for for those of us who love British teas, foods and want the real thing. These folks not only know tea, but they know prices.

My ceramic tea pot was just about 3.95 for a 4 cup model, and that is most certainly a price you can live with. Stocking British teas, clotted cream, lemon curd and some lovely tea pots and kettles beginning at the wonderful price of just 3.95 for a 6 cup ceramic tea pot, they are located in the United states so you have plenty of time to get your parcels before Christmas, with just a 5-7 day turnaround time on packages that I’ve ordered personally.

They stock traditional Christmas Crackers at a price just a few pennies over ten dollars, as well as McVites Christmas biscuits/cookies packaged in a tin for just 17.00 They feature anything and everything the tea lover could want, including tea chests of wood and biscuit tins as well as a porcelain tea set for the collector or the child at prices ranging from just 9.99 up to 19.99. If you’re in the market for something a bit more upscale, they do offer other fare as well, such as fine bone china teapots.

Tea sets are adored by girls of any age!

A right turn down an old country lane gets us to the clothing shoppe of L.L.Bean, who provide for your warmth and comfort. While some of their goods are a good bit more, some careful browsing can net you items such as this fleece pullover, in the markdown department, of polartec, soft and oh so warm, for just 12.95.

Buy discounted clothing items online so that they can be exchanged easily if the size or color is wrong.

The child in your life will love the rain-gear, with adorable images of turtles and priced to sell at just 19.95. L.L. Bean is known world wide for the quality of their outerwear. Finding it at sale cost makes it a terrific gift .. and this child’s rain gear is definitely worth the price.

For the more discerning recipient, we take a short jaunt up the road to the china shops of Royal Doulton, who proffer their own sale range goods from among their quality fine bone china. I recommend the tea cup and saucer sets that are sold for just 17.95, and have an image of a different flower for each month. Of the same quality as their full priced range of course, they are simply marked down to move more quickly.

The Old Country Rose, the most popular china pattern in the world today, is represented in our low cost, high quality goods by this

A porcelain vase for under 25 dollars; WOW!

There are clearance sections in nearly every store Internet wide, that may not be available to you in the actual physical location and we recommend that you shop those areas and order goods that don’t lower in quality simply because the price went down.

If you find a particularly good deal that you’d like to share with our readers, please do come back and pass it along. Merry Christmas and Happy hunting!

Try baking these yummy, easy-to-make pumpkin cookies this fall.

A real treat for the kiddos, these cookies are also incredibly good for you, using pumpkin as the main ingredient, they fit well into the Thanksgiving repertoire of fall harvest comfort foods!

Nothing warms the tummy like fresh-baked cookies and no other flavor represents the autumn harvest time more succinctly than pumpkin.

They are also a small treat to give the family when dinner isn’t QUITE finished yet and everyone needs something small to "tide them over":

Follow these simple instructions to bake delicious homemade pumpkin cookies:

Ingredients

• 1 package white cake mix
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spices
• 1 cup canned pumpkin
• 1/4 cup softened margarine
• 1/2 cup raisins(optional)

Baking Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375
2. Beat cake mix, pumpkin pie spices, pumpkin and butter
3. Stir in raisins
4. Drop by one tablespoons onto baking sheet
5. Bake at 10-12 minutes
6. Let cool 1-2 minutes before removing from pan
7. Top with glaze drizzled over them (recipe follows)

FOR GLAZE

Combine 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

Its easy to paint your own autumn tablecloth using these simple materials and our How To guide and pattern.

Autumn is my favorite season and I love to toss in some of falls blazing colors in the decorating scheme.

Particularly at Halloween and Thanksgiving, it’s remarkable how well they fit in and how lovely they can look when dressed up with some fall decorations for a centerpiece.

One of my very favorite table covers was made using nothing more than Delta Fabric Paints or Delta Ceramcoat Paint, which has been mixed with fabric medium to render it washable.

You can easily duplicate my efforts if you like the looks of this piece, simply by using an iron on pencil to trace around the leaves and pressing the design onto a fabric tablecloth or luncheon cloth, or any other items you might choose to embellish. Those could include plain pot holders a tea cozy or even a shirt.

The design will look equally well on either a white, or darker background such as burgundy or brown as you can see by the coloration of it.

Materials You Will Need

• Iron on Pencil Table Cloth to fit your table
• Delta paints; light brown, pigskin, apricot, avocado, holly day red, gold, sunbright yellow
• Liner brush, flat shader brush, pointed round brush

Instructions to Paint Your Fall Tablecloth

1. Using the pattern provided, transfer it to the cloth by the use of parchment paper and the tracing pencil to your tablecloth or other fabric.
2. If you prefer to use a larger pattern you will need to enlarge it using your copier or scanner, or print the pattern out at 150% of the original size.
3. You will want to complete one leaf or design area at a time, working wet on wet to permit your shading and blending to work well.
4. Use the brush that fits the area best that you are working on. Fill in the leaves first, shading lightly along the center lines and sides of the leaves.
5. Using the liner, outline the leaf pattern. If you like, you may also add some shades of reddish brown or deep burgundies to the pattern such as appear in nature at this time of the year. Be limited only by your imagination.
6. Note: It is important to wash your tablecloth first to remove any sizing from the clothign which will prevent the paint from penetrating the fabric, and to be sure that your brush has any excess water from rinsing removed as this will cause bleeding of the paint outside the design areas.

Below you will find the pattern as well as a photo of the finished piece to be used as a guide in color placement:

Bake these heavenly chocolate cookies for the holidays ... or whenever your sweet tooth begs!

When you make these decadent chocolate cookies your family will snatch them up as soon as they come out of the oven so you might want to make a double batch.

They are a wonderful treat on a cold winter day with a cup of milk, or a hot cup of coffee. At Holiday cookie exchanges they make a great addition, try making recipe cards to put by the tray, everyone is sure to want to make it themselves.

Heavenly Chocolate Cookie Ingredients

• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 1/2 C firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 C unsweetened baking cocoa
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 C all purpose flour
• 12 oz. chopped white chocolate

Baking Instructions

1. Combine dark brown sugar, granulated sugar butter, vanilla extract and salt in a large mixing bowl
2. Using an electric mixer beat at high speed until light and fluffy
3. Add cocoa, egg and baking soda to creamed mixture and beat until well blended
4. Stir in flour and white chocolate
5. Cover dough and chill for anywhere from 4 to 10 hours
6. Preheat oven to 350 F. and lightly grease cookie sheets
7. Take a heaping teaspoon of dough and shape into a ball
8. Place 2 to 3 inches apart on prepared baking sheet about 6 to 10 cookies per sheet
9. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes for a chewy cookie, or 14 to 16 minutes for a crisper cookie
10. Cool on the baking sheets for about 2 minutes and the remove to a wire rack to cool completely
11. Store in an airtight container

Teaching kids to wash their hands will help keep them healthy and happy.

With reports recently of an increase in staph infections that are resistant to antibiotic treatments, its important that we teach out kids to take good care of their health by teaching them good hygiene and good handwashing techniques.

Handwashing is one of the best ways to defend against infections, both major and minor and to protect themselves from spreading the common things that pass through schools like wildfire.

Here are a few tips to help your kids learn good handwashing and keep them as healthy as possible this school year:

• Be a good role model. Kids learn from what they see. Wash your own hands at the times when you would expect them to, such as when you wake up, before dinner and after handling a pet etc.
• Make it a fun thing to do. Buy a few scented soaps, some foamy kids soap and see that its fun and interesting to do, so that its not a chore but a neat thing to do. One very good one which teaches good techniques is Squid soap, that dyes their hands and doesn’t come off until they’ve washed for twenty seconds.

Try making it fun for your kids to learn the importance of good hand washing technique.
• Don’t just tell them to wash their hands, tell them why. Kids don’t like to be ill any more than we do. If they understand the need to not just wash but wash well, they usually will. Tell them there are bugs they can’t see that will make them ill and help them to understand how to remove those invisible bugs.
• Teach them in ways they understand how long to wash their hands. A good rule of thumb is to scrub their fingers the same amount of time it takes to sing the ABC’s, so maybe having them to do that while washing, even in their head is a good way to bring them to washing for long enough.
• Antibacterial soaps are usually not necessary for children. Appropriate time spans in washing will be enough.
• Don’t use very hot water, and teach your kids that. Really hot water can cause chapped hands, which will make it painful and something they don’t want to do, and also increase their risk for infection.
• Keep their nails clean and short.

Home for Thanksgiving ... A fall centerpiece will give your thanksgiving day table a festive, comfortable setting!

Thanksgiving is a time of reflection on the joys the year has brought us as well as a time to revel in the warmth of our family and friends. The holiday brings to mind lazy afternoons around the fire, an occasional football game, and laughter around the most important symbol of all; the Thanksgiving table.

Thanksgiving Tables

There is no right way to serve the glorious meal we prepare every year for Thanksgiving. Traditional pictures of tabletop finery surrounded by smiling family members watching as the traditional turkey is served have lasted for generations. Even if your meal is served buffet style this year, be sure to decorate the Thanksgiving table to encourage not only traditional revelry, but cheer and goodwill as well.

Decorating for Thanksgiving

There are certain symbols that are universal every Thanksgiving. The legends of the first Thanksgiving included Native Americans and Puritans, or Pilgrims, gathered around tables laden with foods from the woods and harvest. Wildlife such as fish, turkey and venison were served along with potatoes, beans and a vegetable native to the Americas; pumpkins. These symbols remain timeless as Thanksgiving decorations.

The essential decorations for your Thanksgiving table include a centerpiece, serving pieces and accessories including linens. Many choose to invest in heirloom quality items to be used year after year and then passed on to children or other family members. Candle holders, table clothes and platters have a special place in many families as they hold much of the tradition of the holidays.

Simple, elegant, colorful and festive, thanksgiving decorations will make your home warm and inviting to your guests.

Thanksgiving Centerpieces and Fall Tablescapes

The centerpiece of the table and serving area can include many of the traditions surrounding Thanksgiving. Fall colors abound, and gourds, pumpkins and other fruits of the fall harvest can be combined in a colorful cornucopia. A large cornucopia decoration can be used on the dining table, with a smaller version decorating the sideboard, buffet or serving area.

Other centerpiece ideas include figurines and candles. Candleholders and hurricane globes make a warm statement to the fall weather outside, and baskets with harvest items such as apples can be festive as well. Turkey centerpieces and even large pinecones all have found their way to the center of the table for Thanksgiving.

Visit Rafter Tales for more great fall tablescape and table centerpiece floral ideas.

Thanksgiving Serving Pieces

Stylish serving pieces are critical, but the turkey platter is usually the most central of the food oriented decorations. The platter can be simple in nature, perhaps a white crockery style or silver tray, and many families use the same turkey platter year after year.

The turkey platter might be decorated with fall colors and depictions traditional Thanksgiving themes, or it might simply have simple decals or edging that make it perfect for the autumn and the very special job of holding the traditional Thanksgiving bird.

Thanksgiving Accessories

The linens for Thanksgiving are often high-quality and range from heirloom lace edged table clothes to cheerfully decorated placemats. Solid or print tablecloths can set the theme for the room, and placemats can serve as both a layer of protection and a means of showing off a beautiful dining table.

Thanksgiving figures make wonderful additions to the table as napkin rings and salt and pepper shakers. Pilgrims and Native Americans are classically depicted on these accessories as are fall leaves and turkeys. Even coasters are available with autumn colors and leaves, vines and pumpkins that help bring the entire table together.

No matter which recipe you try, fresh trout makes a great dish!

Since last weekend was Family Trout Fishing Day, we had a good bunch of fresh Rainbow trout to cook up on Saturday night. The main key is always to cook your trout as soon as possible after the catch; this will ensure you get the best taste and full flavor of the fish.

We Have Fresh Trout on the Menu Tonight

I have eaten trout cooked a lot of different ways over the years. So I thought it would be worth looking over a number of trout recipes and try to get a consensus between everyone on the best way to cook our fresh-caught Rainbow trout.

After a lucky day at a local Trout Farm (well you really can’t have an unlucky day in one of these places!), we had a dozen or so Rainbow trout ranging from six to seventeen inches, so we tried several different recipes and let people try each. The kids weren’t all excited but everyone gave the fish a try and found it pretty tasty!

Here are several popular trout cooking methods and recipes to try:

Throw Your Trout Doggies on the Camp Fire

When I was young we used to go fishing at a pond and nearby streams on my grandfather’s place in the Rocky Mountains just west of Fort Collins, Colorado. Way up in the high country of the Rockies, one year the pond froze over and he lost a bunch of prized trout in the 20 inch size range. But every summer we’d fish that pond and the small brook that fed into it.

My grandfather particularly loved the little Brook trout we caught there and would simply put a bit of butter, salt and pepper on the fish, wrap them in aluminum foil and put them on the hot coals. I think this is still one of the best trout recipes; basic and you get the purest taste of fresh trout. If you don’t have a camp fire, just put some charcoal in your grill instead.

Fry Those Rainbow Trout Rolled in Cornmeal

Grand Dad always left the heads on. “He liked to eat the eyeballs best,” I said to the kids. “Nice and crunchy he always told us”. Ooohhhhhhhh ….. Yuck ….. What do they taste like?” The kids were at once mortified and fascinated that he would eat the eyeballs. Needless to say, none of them asked to try eating the trout fisheyes.

My father preferred to cut the heads off before pan-frying them, usually rolled in cornmeal with lemon, dill, salt and pepper seasonings. This is another of my favorite ways to cook fresh trout; switch up the seasonings, add some fresh cucumber, butter, lemon, capers and dill … whatever seasonings you like best will probably work just fine. Here is one we tried that was quite delicious:

Simple, pan-fried Rainbow trout is still one of the most popular ways to prepare fresh trout.

Pan-Fried Trout with Herb Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 large trout, cleaned and filleted
• 1 cup flour
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Splash of white wine (preferably sauvignon Blanc)
• Juice of half a lemon
• 3 tablespoons fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley, chopped fine
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped fine
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter

Instructions to Pan Fry Trout:

1. Gently roll the trout fillets in flour and shake off the excess.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium-size frying pan over medium-high heat.
3. Season the trout with salt and pepper and put them into the pan to cook until they’re golden brown on both sides; only about 7 to 8 minutes total on medium heat, depending on the size of your trout; you want the fish to be cooked so that it begins to flake but isn’t falling off the bones, which can make it difficult to separate the bones.
4. Remove fish from the pan, set aside and then deglaze the pan with a little white wine, fresh lemon juice and herbs.
5. Sauté for about one minute to cook the herbs and infuse your fresh trout with their aromatic oils, being careful not to burn them. Remove the pan from the heat, add in the butter. Pour the butter sauce over your trout to give them a little more taste!

Broiling Your Fresh Trout

For a slightly more gourmet trout dish, we tried broiling some of the fish stuffed with pine nuts and rice with roasted red peppers, and fennel. The trick with this recipe is how to actually “stuff” the trout. While the rice stuffing ended up mostly on the side, it was delicious and turned out to be one of the favorites of our crew. Here’s how we prepared the trout:

Ingredients:

• Nonstick vegetable oil spray
• 2 large red bell peppers cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
• 1 large fennel bulb, thinly sliced, 1/4 cup fronds chopped
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup cooled cooked white rice (about 1/3 cup uncooked)
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
• 2 3/4- to 1-pound whole boneless trout

Trout Broiling Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick and spread the peppers, veggies and fennel on the baking sheet and pour a little vegetable or olive oil over the vegetables. Season to taste and roast until the vegetables are slightly brown, giving them a stir now and then to brown evenly; should take about 25 minutes.
3. Mix rice, pine nuts and 1/4 cup chopped fennel fronds in bowl and season with salt and pepper.
4. Take the baking sheet out of the oven and place the browned veggies on the sides, put your trout in the middle and season the inside of the trout with salt and pepper, then use a spoon to put some stuffing inside each fish and fold to enclose the stuffing inside.
5. Put the baking sheet back into the oven and roast until the trout are opaque; about 15 or 20 minutes depending on the size of your trout. If you have left over stuffing, you can put that on the side with each dish.
    

Kids love to fish, especially if the trout are biting!

It the end of august and summer vacation is almost over so last weekend we took the kids trout fishing. The weather was perfect and the kids were bored, so getting out for an afternoon adventure was just the thing to do.

Now, I’m just a bit ashamed to say that we live in Oregon and went fishing at a trout farm instead of any of our water-rich state’s fresh streams or lakes. But, while I have fished with flies, spinners and worms in many of the Western US lakes, streams, rivers and the Pacific Ocean in my lifetime, I have to say we had a great time at the Rainbow Trout Farm!

Family Fishing Day

Since we had five kids along, ranging in age from 6 to 12, the convenience of the trout farm made for a fun afternoon. It’s a great way to get kids excited about angling without the boredom of waiting; I figure the can learn that over the years if the get the bite to take up fishing seriously. Planting seeds of experience is the way my dad instilled in my brother and I many interests, hobbies and pastimes we still enjoy so many years later in life.

We went with our neighbors who had never been trout fishing before, but since the trout farm folks provide you with fishing rods, reels, tackle, bait and a bucket and net, it didn’t take long for everyone to get going. We were referred to the Rules sign before being turned loose to fish on seven separate ponds.

Showing your kids the basics of trout fishing can lead to a lifelong passion for fly fishing.

Rule Number One: No Throw Backs at a Trout Farm

Now I like to catch and release for the most part, so the way you have to look at going to a trout farm is that it’s like going to the fish market except that you get to haul in the catch! They clean your fish and ice them for you, so the kids did miss out on that, although if I weren’t lazy we could have cleaned them at home. Oh well; next time I’ll take them to a real lake and make them fish the hard way.

Rule Number Two: You Bait Your Own Hook

Now teaching kids to fish invariably has its surprises. One is when you six-year-old daughter accidentally flings her flip flop into the pond during the middle of battling a 15 trout fighting for his very life.

The ruckus that ensued involved screaming, children scrambling the banks with fish nets to land the whale, me fishing the cast away flip flop with a fishing pole and trying to maintain some order … and a great photo in the end of the triumphant young fishermen holding up their prize.

The other surprise usually involves the bait, in this case worms. The old adage “Catch a man a fish you feed him once, teach him to fish you feed him for life” is nowhere more fitting than in teaching kids to fish. While the girls were a bit timid at first, after touching the fish they were soon putting the worms on their hooks with ease, despite the disgustingness of it all.

Teaching kids to fish is a fun and rewarding outdoor experience for the entire family.

The Bite Is On

While I have fished for hours on a little brook to catch a few tiny Brook trout (delicious eating, but you need a bunch for a meal!) and fished until late dusk in the high Sierra for the rare Golden trout or stalking bruiser German Browns, I have to say that getting a nibble the minute you throw in a hook is not too bad!

Within an hour the crew had pulled in 13 trout, ranging in size from six inches (great deal at only 50 cents!) to 17 inches (that one was a $13.75 trout!). I quickly figured out that your odds of getting a couple of the whoppers made up for the loss leader pricing on the little guys!

Landing a Rainbow Trout

Now one thing kids love to do is get the fish on dry land. Unfortunately, this initially means simply yanking the trout out of the water, so a little instruction with holding the rod tip up and having a partner net the fish in the water was in order.

By the time we had 5 or 6 nice trout in the bucket, they started to get the hang of netting fish. We had them switch off fishing and netting so that everyone got a chance to bait hooks, feel the nibbles, set the hook, reel in the trout and netting and hook removal.

A Great Day Fishing

After about an hour or so we had all the fish we could possibly eat and, since there are no throwbacks, we called it a day and went to have lunch while the folks at the trout farm cleaned our trout and iced them down for us. Nice!

If you haven’t taken your kids fishing I highly recommend you try a fish farm or trout pond like this first; you’ll be guaranteed to catch your limits so the kids will enjoy their first fishing trip and hopefully get excited about trying stream and lake fishing later down the road.

Cooking Your Rainbow Trout

Don’t miss our article on various ways of Cooking Fresh Trout; we’ve got several different recipes for you to try!

You can have a lot of fun growing indoor plants such as this Aloe Vera plant.

The question becomes, however, how to bring the right plants into the living space to achieve the best balance of beauty, functionality and personal pleasure?

One of the biggest keys to success is using the right and style and sized pot. You need a drainage whole, but you also need a water tray so that surfaces don’t get damaged by excess liquid. Read over the instructional material that comes with any plant you’ve purchased and follow the transplanting guidelines to make sure your pant doesn’t become root bound.

Additionally, use a nice potting mix for soil since you won’t be getting natural nutrients from outside.

Now consider where to put the plant to keep it healthy. Check the light requirements for the plant. Many indoor plants don’t need direct sunlight, or only partially direct sunlight. Note that you can achieve this in part by moving a plant for several hours during the week to another location where better lighting exists if you’re really invested in a spot where the right amount of light is lacking.

The reason most houseplants die is because they receive too much water. To know for certain if your plant needs water, check the soil with your finger. If the soil’s dry down over about 1.5 inches, then it needs water unless it’s something like a cactus. Another reason they die is from intrusion by pets.

This latter situation could be as dangerous for the animal too. Certain plants can make dogs and cats very ill. For example, cactus, English Ivy, laurel, marigolds, and poinsettia are all very hard on cats.

Meanwhile, Hydrangea, Mistletoe, Sago Palm, etc. are very harmful to dogs. Now, obviously one solution here is to keep plants out of range of the animals (like in hanging fixtures), but if that’s not an option please do your research. Your indoor garden needs to be healthy for all the members of your family, including four-footed ones.

Despite the numerous variations of houseplants available, most can be cared for in the same way. By following the tips below you will be able to succeed in keeping a plant alive!

Tip 1 – Start Off Simple And Work Your Way Up!

If this is the first houseplant you will be growing it’s a good idea to choose a simple plant such as the Aloe Vera plant as they do not need as much caring for. If you are often away from home for periods of time then the pony tail palm plant, or a plant with similar characteristics, is ideal for you. Finally, if this is your first time for owning a houseplant then it is best to buy a cheaper plant (so if it dies you’re not too much out of pocket.)

Tip 2 – Treat Your Plant As If It Were A Human: We All Need Room To Grow!

Just like humans, plants need room to grow. Their roots need enough space to expand to great lengths as these are the key features of a plant because they collect the nutrients it needs to develop. Ensure that the container or pot you are using is large enough for the roots to grow as much as they need to. By doing so it gives the roots enough room to expand and therefore, allowing them to absorb all of the nutrients and water they need from the soil/compost.

If you are unsure about what size container you need then there are many Web sites that can help, or you can ask at your local garden centre and they will point you in the right direction.

Tip 3 – Substitute with a Fertilizer!

The ideal substitution for all of the nutrients a plant would gain from outdoor soil is fertilizer. Also known as plant food, there are several different types of fertilizer that are designed for certain plants; for example, liquid fertilizers, slow-release fertilizer and special purpose fertilizers.

It is vital that you use the appropriate fertilizer for your houseplant, if you are unsure of which fertilizer to use then various websites can help or your local garden centre can assist you in making the correct choice. However, don’t overdo the use of the fertilizer as this can poison your plant or possibly poison it.

Most houseplants need food once every month or two. Again, if you are unsure of how often to feed your plant you can use the web or garden centers to help.

Tip 4 – A Little Light Goes A Long Way!

Most common houseplants need sunlight. This is especially necessary for flowering plants. The chloroplasts (located in the leaves) absorb the sunlight and this promote healthy growth. Giving your plant sunlight is simply a case of seating it on a windowsill where it can gain the light it needs.

Plants such as the Pony Tail Palm and the Anthodium (Oilcloth Flower) need a lot of sunlight whereas, plants such as the Sweetheart plant, a foliage plant, needs very little. If unsure of what type of sunlight your plant needs then be sure to look it up.

Tip 5 – If you’re Cold, So Is Your Plant!

Unlike humans, plants cannot tell you when they are cold nor can they get up and put on a jacket, so it is vital that you keep the room at a steady temperature. If you feel too hot or too cold, then so does your plant.

Some plants need really warm temperatures, such as the Aloe Vera plant that should stay at approximately 16 degrees Celsius. The advantage of keeping your plant at the correct temperature is that it enhances faster growth.

Tip 6 – Don’t Drown It!

The main cause for a houseplants death is over watering. There is such a thing as over-watering! Although you don’t want to under-water your plant, you don’t want to over-water it as this may drown and, potentially, even kill it. More often than not, plants do not need watering everyday! The best way to discover if your plant needs watering is by pushing your finger approximately an inch into the soil. If it feels slightly dry then a little watering is needed.

To make sure you don’t drown your plants slowly pour in the water until the water begins to seep through the holes in the bottom of the container you are using.

Don’t think that leaving excess water in the base of the plant will mean it won’t need watering for a while because plants are greedy and will use all of this water up at once, therefore, drowning itself. There should not be too much water sitting at the base of the plant because it will drown the roots!

By following these guidelines you should be able to succeed in growing a healthy houseplant. If after following these guidelines you’re plant still dies then throw in the towel and buy a plastic one!!!

Need a place to sit in your garden? Find the perfect bench like this modern finished-metal bench.

A bench for your garden need not be new to be deserving of a place in your garden.

One which is well weathered and has aged gracefully over many years will add as much charm to your outdoor space as a new one, many times far more.

Give your garden some style and flair by positioning a bench under an archway, or a trellis overgrown with flowers, of place it beneath its own private arbor, scented with flowers growing overhead.

Outdoor Bench Styles

You can build a bench yourself from concrete blocks or larger rocks, or use expensive materials such as cedar or oak. While this will be more costly it will also be extremely durable and long lasting.

You can anchor your bench and create a nice focal point by placing it against a wall or under a trellis.

You might choose to build it with an enclosed storage area beneath the seat that will double as storage space for garden tools and smaller pots, potting soil or seeds.

The rustic variety is also making a huge comeback. This can be accomplished easily by using half a fallen log, or some second hand stone slabs from building demolishing.

Place a bench under a favorite tree, a super area to spend the afternoon on a lazy Sunday reading a book or sewing, and a quiet niche if you just feel like thinking.

If you choose to purchase a bench, go for quality. In this type furniture the old adage that you get what you pay for is very true. If you can find it, opt in for solid joinery, solid wood or metal and brass or silicon fasteners.

Add a splash of color to your garden with a painted finish for your bench.

Garden Bench Colors

If you want to use a wooden bench, and choose to color it, use a high quality stain and sealant as opposed to paint, which will usually blister and peel when exposed to the elements for long periods of time.

A penetrating stain will not show these kinds of wear in the same short time span that paint will.

Even Footing for Your Bench

When you place the bench, make certain it has a secure footing. Place the legs directly on top of four flat stones or bricks which are firmly sitting on the ground.

a natural wood bench adds peace and tranquility; a place to spend some quiet time relaxing in your garden.

This will help to keep the bench level and also prevent rotting of the legs if they are made of wood. The area directly in front of the bench will likely be heavily traveled if the bench receives a lot of sitters in the summer time.

With this in mind, place stone or concrete directly in front of it as well, to prevent what might become a soupy watery spot in the yard during rainy times.

Don’t forget, no matter what you bench is made of, to purchase or make a simple cover for wintertime, out of canvas or simply a tarp and some bungee cords to hold it tight. This will help to greatly increase the longevity of your bench.

You can dress up any room with this simple decorating idea; use stencils to create a unique wall border.

Used primarily to define a wall pattern, or simply as a decorative element, a border was important to early walls because it was usually all the decoration that existed unless the home had been stenciled or was of a wealthy family who could afford the new wall papering that became popular in England and the US in the 1700′s.

Stenciling was largely accomplished using metal or paper stencils and then embellished freehand later. You can accomplish the same look with a few basic materials and some time.

Follow our simple step-by-step instructions to create your own creative, unique painted wall borders using stencils.

Wall Border Stenciling Materials List

• Flat Latex or alkyd paint to prime the wall or area to be stenciled
• Border stencils of your choice
• Japan Paints or Ceramcoat Stencil Paints
• Natural bristle Stencil brushes
• Masking tape, paper towels and a palette knife

Wall Border Stenciling Steps

1. Prepare the walls by using a match for you own paint in a flat paint.
2. Using semi-gloss beneath the stencils will not permit them to adhere well, place your paints in the saucers and using the palette knife make them the colors that you want, or else have them premixed to your specifications. Prepare enough paint for the entire border that you will be painting at one sitting.
3. Determine the placement of your border and make light pencil marks on the wall where the top and right edge will be placed and the bottom and left edge.
4. For a continuous border, start at the dominant corner of the room; the one that your eyes note immediately when you enter.
5. Tape your stencil to the wall, and dab the stencil brush in the paint. Blot it until nearly dry loaded onto a paper towel and using a light dabbing motion apply the paint to the stencil and wall.
6. Move the stencil along using the registration marks you made with the pencil. After you have done about two thirds of the wall take your stencil and measure the remainder of the wall.
7. If there is not room enough for the stencil to run to its end, you will need to either stretch it, or squeeze it unobtrusively together which can be done one of the following ways.
8. Either take the stencil and when you have run to the end of it, move it about a two inches, until the pattern repeats one or two more turns and then stencil those prior to beginning at the beginning of the stencil, or if it needs to be shortened when you are stenciling, skip one pattern repeat, and end just beyond the middle of the stencil then begin a repeat.
9. When one wall has been completed, go back to the point where you started and begin the second wall from that same corner, using the registration marks that you made for the first wall to align to the second wall and move across.
10. Then move to the opposite corner of the room, and begin with the second set of two walls.
11. When you have completed your design, clean all brushes with mineral spirits.

Weaving a basket is a fun and easy-to-learn craft!

Round reed is one of the easiest materials to use and these instructions will teach the reader how to make a basket that is approximately six to sevens inches in height and about a hand span in diameter.

Materials and Tools Needed

Round reed in two sizes, number four and number six reed is good to work with. Check in the nearest craft store or basket supply place to obtain your materials.

The rest of the supplies are found in your home: scissors or clippers to cut the reed; a bowl; needlenose pliers a few wooden clothespins and a good chunk of time to work on the basket.

Steps to Create Your Woven Reed Basket

First, a few facts about working with reeds, they are extremely brittle when dry because they are dry grass. But when you soak them in warm water they become wonderfully pliable and bend to almost any shape you desire. Then, follow these steps:

1. To begin, cut eight pieces of the larger size reed, each piece should measure approximatly fourteen inches in length then set them aside to soak in warm, not hot, water for a few minutes.
2. Working with the smaller sized reed, briefly run warm water over it before uncoiling it. It is best to suspend the tied end of the reed someplace high, like a nail or coat hook while working with it. If left loose it creates a unholy mess that strains anyones patience to try and untangle.
3. To loosen a strand of reed gently pull it loose from the bottom, following it up to where it joins the others. Coil it in a circle as you go, but not too tight as it will break easily.
4. Clip a wooden clothespin on it to hold the reed in place while it is being soaked. You will need several of these while weaving your basket.
5. Check the larger canes, they should be ready to work with now. If they are too pliable just let then dry a few minutes.Reed that is too pliable splits easily.
6. Place the smaller sized reed in the bowl of warm water to soak until it is ready to use. Place four pieces of the reed in your hand so they are horizontal and the other four vertical.
7. Either use a clothespin to hold them together or hold them with your hand, take the thinner reed out of the water, unclip the clothespin from it and wrap one end diagonally across the bottom of the vertical reeds.
8. Now is a good time to place another coil of narrow reed in the water to soak, do this when you take out one so you have one soaking when you need it.
9. Bring the narrow reed over the vertical strands and under the horizontal ones. Continue this until the larger reeds are secure
10. Separate the larger reeds into pairs, you should have 16 total. Cut one of them short so that you have fifteen, then treat the single reed as a double.
11. Weave the narrow reed over and under the pairs, keeping the tension even. It is important to keep the reed damp. Dry reed snaps easily! As you are working, you can shape the basket to be narrower or wider and shallow.
12. When it comes time to add another reed, try and make sure the end of the previous one is inside or hidden beside the larger reed. Overlap the ends so that they stay secure and continue to weave.
13. Watch for any spots that are weak, this will make your basket unstable.
14. Continue to weave using the over one under one pattern.
15. When you are almost three inches from the top of the basket stop and place it upside down in the water so the upper larger sized canes are wet. Then gently bend one and place it inside the basketweave, skipping the reed next to it.
16. Do the same all the way around. This gives you a nice decorative edge to your basket. At this time, make sure the bottom is level and the tension is even on the sides of the basket with no unsightly gaps. Set the basket aside to dry, then use or give away.