Using Household Objects in a Miniature Setting

Your dollhouse hobby is a great opportunity for recycling. There is no real “standard” inventory when it comes to dollhouse miniatures. Expect to gather your own inventory of miniature supplies as you complete doll house projects. Keep your eyes open, always thinking ‘one inch scale..’ If it seems the right scale, set it aside to create a doll house accessory. Save these pieces in small jars or containers so that you aren’t faced with the prospect of digging through a big box of odds and ends.

There are plenty of wooden household objects that can be used to build miniature furniture and other accessories. Coffee stirrers, skewers, tongue depressors, Popsicle sticks, toothpicks, and golf tees make great ‘lumber.’ Drawer knobs can be made with beads and map tacks. Kids’ building blocks, matchboxes, small gift boxes, and wooden thread spools also make a great start for all kinds of tiny furnishings for your dollhouse. Continue reading “Using Household Objects in a Miniature Setting”

How to Make Playdough – Playdough Recipe and Activities

To be honest I have never had much success with making my own playdough. The few attempts I made the dough was very crumbly and dried out too quickly and so I gave up and would go and buy some.

I am a big fan of the Crayola brand of playdough, however once I bought another brand and I am still trying to remove that playdough from my house! It was so sticky that it ended up, in its many bright colours, ALL over my house!

Then one day I went into my son’s nursery and the children were playing with playdough. It felt and smelt great so I asked the teacher which brand it was so I could buy some. She amazed me by saying she had made it. So I decided that it was time for me to try again!

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The Magic Character Of Embroidery

“Home cannot do without embroidery. It rewards, forgives, and cures…” they used to say in ancient times.

Let’s look at the ancient towels and garments: where the pattern is located, what colour the mistress used, what she depicted.

Every element of the pattern can tell a story, it defends, helps, bringing the worlds of the sky and the earth together. In the times of old girls used to embroider dowry for themselves. The towels were given as presents and used to decorate the house.

A thing without embroidery could not appear in the house. Stitch work was the measure of the hostess’s thrift and skills. Only the embroidered items had magic influence and could protect the house and the hosts. Embroidered towels were hanged above the windows and the door so that neither misfortune, nor diseases could find way into the house; the patterns on the tablecloth protected the food and the table. Clothes were embroidered too. Continue reading “The Magic Character Of Embroidery”

Tea Gift Baskets How to Make a Tea Lover Happy

Tea gift baskets, the perfect gift for any tea lover. What would be the perfect thing to find in a special basket like this? Being an avid loose leaf tea drinker myself finding those loose leaves in a gift basket would make it special to me. Lots of luck though, trying to find this type of basket. I’ve been disappointed to find that most companies that offer tea gift baskets fill them with lots of goodies along with tea bags. Offering a true tea lover tea bags, is comparable to offering white lightening to a wine connoisseur.

What’s the answer to this dilemma? Create the tea gift basket yourself. Don’t be intimidated, you can do this. Today I’m going to give you three tips to get you started on your way to making beautiful tea gifts. You will not break the bank while doing this either.

Let’s get started. Continue reading “Tea Gift Baskets How to Make a Tea Lover Happy”

Make Your Own Panoramic Sugar Easter Eggs

Making your own panoramic sugar Easter eggs is not hard, just a little time-consuming. But making them with friends or family will create memories that will last even longer than the beautiful eggs themselves.

First decide on the size you want your eggs to be. Purchase plastic Easter eggs that open lengthwise in the size you desire. They are a little harder to find than the typical plastic eggs.

Gather your ingredients:

Granulated sugar
Meringue powder (find this with the cake decorating supplies at craft or discount stores)
Confectioner’s sugar
Cream of tartar (in the spice section of your grocer)
Coconut (optional – use for grass in your panoramic scene)
Food color (paste colors are recommended – find them with the cake decorating supplies)

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German Recipes and Cuisine

In other countries, German food often has a reputation for consisting of large amounts of red meat, simply cooked. While it is true that red meat dishes, especially beef and pork, but also game (including wild boar, venison and rabbit), are popular in Germany, there is much more to German cuisine than simply roasted meat. Additionally, Germany has an international reputation for its sausages – and there are an incredible choice of sausages available – at least 1,500 varieties!

Traditionally in Germany, people eat a fairly light breakfast (German: frühstück) which may include breads and some meats (such as salted meats like salami, ham, or meat spreads such as leberwurst), a fairly light evening meal (German: abendessen or abendbrot), and have their main meal at lunch (German: mittagessen). Sometimes, a “second breakfast” (German: zweites frühstück) also be eaten during mid-morning, and because of modern working patterns is quite common now for the day’s main hot meal to be eaten in the evening instead of at lunch time.

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DIY Winnie the Pooh Keychains

Making your own do-it-yourself Winnie the Pooh hard plastic key chain charm is a great project that parents and their kids can do together. When finished, you’ll have a rigid, transparent, waterproof plastic charm of Pooh that you can use as a key chain, Christmas ornament, as a part of a hanging mobile, luggage tag, necklace or earring pendants or anything else your imagination can dream up.

Here’s what you’ll need:

A large piece of clear #6 plastic (polystyrene)

Fine tip permanent marker (black)

Color permanent markers (Yellow and red for Pooh Bear)

Scissors Continue reading “DIY Winnie the Pooh Keychains”

Yea Mon – Jamaican Cuisine

The cuisine of Jamaica is definitely unique and quite flavourful, bringing with it a blend of the island’s local harvest and spice. The island’s food is represented by Jamaica’s motto, “Out of Many, One People”. Jamaican inhabitants have come from around the globe, including the British, Dutch, French, Spanish, East Indian, West African, Portuguese and Chinese, who brought with them their own unique cooking techniques, flavours, and spices, blending them with the island’s bountiful harvest.

The original inhabitants of Jamaica were the Arawak Indians, who died out after the arrival of the Spanish in 1509, due to disease and overwork. The Spanish then began importing slaves from Africa to replace their workforce. The Spanish brought with them their own culinary influence. As well, many Spanish Jews also arrived during the Spanish rule and contributed their influences to Jamaica’s cuisine, such as a dish still popular today, escovitch fish. Continue reading “Yea Mon – Jamaican Cuisine”

New Trends in Organic Farming

The growing popularity of Homeopathy in Europe has been well documented with statistics and recent newspaper articles that have raked unnecessary controversies only adds to its relevance. Not just the British royals but commoners from countries such as Italy, France, Greece, Spain not to forget Germany, the cradle of Homeopathy are flocking to this form of alternative medicine in droves.

Now the European commission has put its stamp of approval on Homeopathy by issuing guidelines for organic farmers in Britain to treat their livestock with Homeopathic remedies. Its directive specifically states that it is a general necessity for production of all organic livestock that homeopathic and herbal products shall be used over normal usage of chemically formulated allopathic veterinary treatment that commonly manifest as antibiotics in the market Continue reading “New Trends in Organic Farming”

How EPS or Styrofoam Shipping Coolers Are Used In Meat and Seafood Cold Chain Shipping

Cold Chain Shipping in the meat and seafood industry (especially with mail order products) is the logistical process of packaging and delivering goods so that they arrive properly fresh or frozen at their destination, preventing spoilage, customer dissatisfaction, and profit loss. Many businesses rely on Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Foam Coolers and EPS Foam Shippers (often called Styrofoam Shipping Coolers or Styrofoam Shipping Boxes) as a means to meet the demanding thermal protection requirements for temperature-sensitive products and at the same time boosting potential profits by lowering the costs of container packaging. Here, we discuss what’s involved in using these space-age materials for basic business delivery needs.

Common Combinations of Cold Chain Shipping Supplies

Mail order packaging and general expedited shipping involving meat and seafood has evolved into a very standardized, efficient, cost-effective, profit-maximizing logistical process. For many businesses, that system of moving goods means using a well-tested arrangement of supplies proven to get the job done effectively. Among those are… Continue reading “How EPS or Styrofoam Shipping Coolers Are Used In Meat and Seafood Cold Chain Shipping”