Thursday, May 31, 2012

Craft Projects With Glass Blocks and Lights

When it comes to craft projects, glass blocks are amazingly versatile. There are so many fun and interesting ways to decorate with them in every room of the house.

Once you could only find glass or art deco blocks at home improvement centers. There were solid and in order to put lights or objects inside, you had to use a large drill bit and a complicated process to get them "open" - if you choose to do this - consider hiring this out to a professional. Now you can find glass bricks conveniently at your local crafts store with one side left open. You can even use these wonderful finds as vases. They are generally available in two sizes and I've seen them available all year.

Crafts Hobbies

Take a look at these top 10 ways to use lighted glass bricks to bring soft illumination, charm, and beauty to your home.

Craft Projects With Glass Blocks and Lights

Faux gifts - Fill two bricks with Christmas lights. One should be smaller than the other. Stack them and then tie a large ribbon around the stack, completing the look with a bow on top. Voila, you have "gift boxes" for decorating during the holidays or simply for every day. (Or how cool for a baby shower or wedding!) Place the lit glass bricks under the tree, next to potted plants, on a windowsill or mantel, or decorate the foyer with them to welcome your guests. Paint the outside of a block with a design that will fit into your decorating scheme for that room. Put lights inside and you have added charm to the space! Nightlight - wonderful idea for a child's room. Add decals, stickers, or a painted scene on one side of the glass brick. Insert Christmas lights inside. Place on a shelf or dresser and turn on at night for your child. They'll love it! Create a lighted village display - glass blocks can easily be transformed into a little village display. Paint each as a building - the post office, library, church, house, etc. Add fabric and other accents to make the glass squares look like the building it depicts. Fill each "building" with a string of Christmas lights and you have a lighted village display! This is a fun project to complete with your kids. Decorative paperweights - another way to decorate with glass bricks is to turn a small one into a decorative paperweight. Add your favorite embellishments or paint the block to match your office decor. The weight of your creation is perfect for keeping papers in place. Wedding decor - glass bricks with lights, tulle, and ribbon look absolutely stunning at a wedding reception. Fill the glass brick with lights. Attach gorgeous organza or wired ribbon around the edge of the brick. Nestle the bricks into mounds of "billowing" tulle and you have a beautiful decoration for your gift table, foyer, food table, cake table, or any other space you like. Window decor - instead of the traditional candles, place one lighted block into your window. It will illuminate the room softly and will look beautiful from the outside as well. Welcome sign - spell out the word "welcome" with glass bricks. These would be a perfect addition to a foyer or nursery. Or spell out other messages like "believe", "faith", "joy", etc. Lighted stand/base - decorate with blocks in any room of the house by using one as a stand or base for a display. Place a glass brick filled with a Christmas light string on a flat surface. Put small items on top of it such as small collectibles, candles (in another container), a vase of flowers, a small lamp, or anything else that would look pretty sitting a bit higher and illuminated. Ambiance - add a bit of romantic lighting to the master bedroom with a few lighted glass bricks strategically placed around the room. Decorate with ribbon to match your decor. As you can see, there are many possibilities when it comes to projects involving glass bricks. Let these ideas just be a starting off point for your home decoration and gift giving list.

Craft Projects With Glass Blocks and Lights

Consider looking for craft lights for glass blocks online that are tailored for using with crafts. They have single stackable plugs and come in a wide variety of colors and wire coloring.

Shellie Gardner, owner of http://www.christmas-light-source.com, loves Christmas lighting and enjoys helping customers make every occasion special with lights. With more than 500 different light sets and bulbs to choose from, check out her online store to find one of the widest varieties of LED and traditional Christmas lights and installation hardware available on the web.

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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Widows Mite

The widows mite is a term that coin collectors probably know but that most other people would be unsure of - unless they've done a lot of Biblical reading, in which case they might know that it refers to the coins that the widow put into the offering plate even though it was all she had to buy food with. A lot of people like to collect these kinds of coins and similar coins because they speak to a specific time in history which is very important to Christians.

It's also an interesting time on a non-religious level because so many things happened during that period of history. The widows mite is a coin that brings to mind the Roman influence and so many other things about collecting coins and about how they were used back in the times when they were actually what people were supplying to others to purchase things and pay their debts. Coin collecting of any kind is becoming very important to more and more people today. The coins are judged by some people based on their beauty.

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Others like the history that comes along with them and still others don't get caught up in either one of those things but are much more interested in using their coins as in investment. If they can be bought at good prices their value will only continue to rise, and they are considered to be a better choice for some than the stock market or other ways of investing. The widows mite may not be for everyone, but for many people it becomes one of the central pieces of their coin collection and one of the coins that brings them the most joy.

Widows Mite

With the history and the beauty of these kinds of coins it's hard to argue that they are a welcome and classy addition to any coin lover's collection. The widows mite is a series of coins, too, so there are many different looks that a person can find in these coins. The different styles make it much more interesting than it would be if there was only one kind of widows mite, because collectors can specialize in those types of coins and still have a lot to choose from.  

Widows Mite

If you've done a lot of reading of ancient texts, you probably are aware that the widows mite is a very popular collector's coin. Find them here at http://www.ancientassets.com/

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Dr Seuss Crafts - How Can You Make Them?

Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was born on March 2, 1904, in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. He was a writer of children's books in the United States (1904-1991). During his extended career, he had written more than 40 children's books that have sold more than 200 million prints all over the world. Based on the popular children's characters of his books, Dr Seuss crafts and activities have originated.

There are a variety of Dr. Seuss crafts and activities available in various books and websites. Some of the crafts are Dr. Seuss cat-in-the-hat hat, Horton hears a who craft, green eggs and ham placemat, Dr. Seuss doorknob hangers, Dr. Seuss medicine cabinet, and make a colored bookmark.

Crafts Hobbies

The easiest among the Dr. Seuss crafts is Dr. Seuss' Cat-in-the-Hat hat. It is a wearable paper hat; if you wear this, you will look like Dr. Seuss' Cat-in-the-Hat. The materials required to make this hat are construction paper (red and white), glue, poster board, and tape or stapler. First, cut a piece of white construction paper into strips that are about 2² × 8.5². Then cut a two-inch strip from the poster board that is as lengthy as you want to fit your head. Paste few white strips onto a piece of red construction paper. Try to keep equal spaces between strips, and leave nearly two inches of red at the bottom edge hence you can cut it to appear like a brim. Allow the glue dry for few minutes. Once it is dry, cut it into a hat-like shape. Glue or staple the bottommost center of the hat onto the poster board strip's center. Once you have attached the hat to the band, attach the band strip's ends together using tape or stapler to fit closely around your forehead.

Dr Seuss Crafts - How Can You Make Them?

Horton Hears a Who Craft is simple pink clover that looks like the one Horton is holding in the movie. You can also make this craft easily. To make this clover craft, first, take a green-colored pencil and paste a pink pompon to at the tail end of the pencil. Then paste a tiny white pompon onto the pink pompon and let it dry completely. Now the clover is ready!

To make a colored bookmark, you need scissors, colored markers, crayons, or pencils, punching machine, and colored ribbon or yarn. You can either fully make the bookmark or print the readymade template out from the website and color it. You can use various colored markers, crayons, or pencils to color the bookmarks. Then cut along the outline using scissors. To make your bookmark more beautiful, punch a hole, using a punching machine, at the top end of the bookmark and tie a piece of brightly colored yarn or ribbon. The colored bookmark is ready now!

Dr Seuss Crafts - How Can You Make Them?

Gary Pearson is an accomplished niche website developer and author.

To learn more about Dr. Seuss crafts [http://craftsforeveryday.info/dr-seuss-crafts-%e2%80%93-how-can-you-make-them] visit Crafts for Everyday [http://craftsforeveryday.info] for current articles and discussions.

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Friday, May 18, 2012

Yes, There Are Ways to Improve Memory

Many people seek ways to improve memory. After all, when you know of ways to improve memory, you know how to enhance all aspects of your life-your professional life as well as your personal life. The idea that memory needs to be enhanced or improved is often related to aging, but in fact there are plenty of young people who could use some memory improvement, too. If we don't have good memory, then what have we got? We've got nothing but fleeting events that have little meaning for us. Even great creativity requires great memory.
So, can you apply ways to improve memory? Yes, you can. Memory can be enhanced by following certain methods. Let's look at some of them.

One of the most important ways to improve memory is to be engaged. That is, be active (or interactive) rather than passive. In other words, do whatever you can to make yourself involved in what you're trying to memorize. Write things down, actively speak to the person who is conveying information, or even doodle images that reflect what you are hearing or doing. The more active you can be with whatever it is that you're trying to remember, the better your chances of formulating and retaining a detailed memory.

Being engaged also means being focused. When you really want to memorize something you have to have total focus. Don't be foolish and pride yourself on your "multitasking" capabilities when you need to memorize things. You may very well have above-average multitasking ability, but even if you do it's no help with memorizing things. Memorization absolutely requires intensity of focus, no matter how you are. Maybe you need to tap your foot or stroke your beard to ensure that you are intensely focused, but little quirks like these are worth the cost of a superior memory!

Memory is enhanced when you engage in "lateral thinking". In other words, make interesting associations between disparate things. One of the most well known ways of doing this is through rhyme. Poetry began as more than just art. It was also a mnemonic device. Another powerful method of making this rapid mental associations is by making imagery associations that aren't literal. For instance, if you want to memorize someone's name, instead of just trying to memorize it "cold", when you first hear it think of what images that name makes you think of. What does "Stonewall Jackson" make you think of? When you can memorize the name of a person or an event it becomes far, far easier to memorize other related details, for that name itself triggers those other associated memories to rise up to the surface. But in order to memorize the name you need to be able to make fast mental associations between the sound or spelling of the name and what other emotional imagery it conjures up for you.

Don't be ashamed of repetition. Did you realize that music is based upon repetition? Repeating things over and over, writing things down several times over, or coming back to doing the same thing over and over all cause strong memories to formulate.

Finally, know that if you are passionate about the concepts, method, or information that you want to memorize, you'll do far better with retention. This requires emotional interest as well as a certain measure of selective memory. If something is important to you, try to find some way of making it personal, emotionally.

Use these ways to improve memory for yourself. By practicing these ways to improve memory, your life will be improved in every way.

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