Happy New Year!
I hope you and your family have a safe, blessed New Year!
Michelle
Holiday Cards
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Product Description
Finally, a new breed of stationery cards that bring the cutesy right off the page with the United Feathered Friends Christmas cards. Light-Hearted Christmas cards to send off to friends and family.
You may think of holiday cards as being only Christmas or Seasons Greetings cards. However, there are really many more holiday cards than for just this one holiday. There are holiday cards for Christmas, Hanukah, Easter (or Resurrection Day), Thanksgiving, Halloween, Columbus Day, President’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Independence Day, New Years, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparents Day, and Administrative Assistants Day. There are cards for as many holidays as we celebrate.
Holiday cards were not always so popular. Only in the last several years have holiday cards been created for all of the holidays we celebrate as Americans. I was surprised to find Halloween and Thanksgiving holiday cards when I went Christmas card shopping last year. I later discovered that holiday cards are becoming more and more popular, as people send cards for holidays all year round to their friends and family. It is becoming increasingly popular to send holiday cards to friends and family, just to let them know you care.
Holiday cards come in all shapes and sizes. You can choose holiday cards that are uniform and simple, and send one to everyone on your list. Or, you can choose individual holiday cards suitable for each person based on their personality and what holiday they celebrate. For example, if you know people who are Christian and people who are Jewish, you may choose to send a uniform card that says simply “Season’s Greetings.” On the other hand, you can choose to send your Christian friends Christmas holiday cards, and your Jewish friends Hanukah holiday cards. This way everyone feels special, and knows that you are thinking of them specifically.
Holiday cards can come with fancy pictures or cartoons, sentimental poetry or funny phrases, or even music or pop up figures. You can get holiday cards specifically for each member of your family. There are holiday cards for children, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, husbands, wives, and friends. There are romantic holiday cards, funny holiday cards, sexy holiday cards, and sentimental holiday cards.
You can find holiday cards at any general store, retail outlet, discount store, or holiday store. You can also find holiday cards at wholesale outlets, dollar stores, and specialty shops. The funniest and most sexy holiday cards can be found at novelty stores such as Spencer’s, which can be found in most shopping malls.
Alternatively, you can make your own holiday cards with a little bit of glue, construction paper, a pair of scissors, and a lot of creativity. Children rather enjoy making holiday cards for their friends and family. Buying a holiday card is not nearly as much fun as making one yourself. A home-made holiday card from your favorite child means much more than a uniform holiday card purchased in a store.
Regardless of who you are sending a holiday card to, you are sure to find the perfect holiday card to suit that person’s interests and hobbies. From Harley Davidson to Disney, holiday cards are an absolute must for every season.
How To Keep Your New Years Resolutions
Just like every year, you ate, drank and spent too much over the Holidays. Now you are overweight, bloated, tired and broke. And just like every year, you are promising yourself that you are going to change all that in the new year!
Every year we make New Years Resolutions that we do not keep. There are two reasons why New Year Resolutions don’t work:
- 1st - we try and take on way too much,
- 2nd - we don’t believe in ourselves.
When it comes to New Years Resolutions, “Size does matter”. You can turn your resolutions into realities by starting small. As the saying goes, “the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time!”
At the start of each New Year, we begin looking at our life and deciding that this is the year we are going to make real changes in our weight, romance, smoking, drinking, career, money, getting in shape, organizing, cleaning and more. Even though we never followed through in all of the other years. As good as our intentions and desires are, our subconscious is not expecting our resolution to come true. We have conditioned ourselves to doubt our ability to change. This core lack of belief triggers a lack of commitment to action and the result is the same year after year. We do not pursue our goals with consistent action.
You have said it before, “This year is the year I _______!” Sound familiar? You have said it and you have not done it. However, there is a way to make your goals materialize. Its called the “Resolution Success System!”
The first step is to learn and use this Success System. Once you learn the system you can apply it over and over again with success in every area of your life. Concentrate on the system, not the goal.
For the second step, ”Pick one, and get it done” as a friend of mine is fond of saying. Make sure you are picking something that YOU really want to change. You can’t lose weight, stop smoking, or get an education just because someone else wants you to. If you really want something, you will do what it takes.
The third step requires you to reduce this goal to manageable pieces. Set goals that are what you believe you can achieve in one month. Remember size does count. Focusing your energy on one goal to be accomplished in 30 days gives us something attainable. If you don’t believe you can do it, you won’t be able to.
For the fourth step, write down your goal and then brainstorm to find at least 20 different actions you can take right now to achieve it. Don’t skip this step! Our tendency is to take shortcuts. Do not! This is one of the most important steps in achieving your first New Years Resolution.
For step five, post your written goal and the 20 ways you can achieve it on the wall in a very visible place. If we don’t affirm our goals we will not achieve them.
For the sixth step, study your goal and the 20 actions several times a day. Visualize yourself as if you have already attained the results. If you can’t see it, you can’t achieve it. Link your 5 senses (sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch) to the goal. Make it come alive for you!
For step seven, Act as if you have already achieved your goal. Give yourself positive affirmations as if you have already achieved the goal. This is called telling the truth in advance.
For step eight, go to the posted goal everyday as often as you can, recite it out loud, visualize the result, state the affirmation and then pick activities that you will do (from your list of 20) that day to achieve it. It is all about what you do each day. So resolve to put the effort in. I call this the “Law of Effort”.
For step nine, apply the “Law of Consistency”. Do not fall into the trap of tomorrow. Start now. Not tomorrow. Not January 1st. Then, commit to yourself that you will be consistent for 30 days. After all what is 30 days?
For step ten, update your goal, and repeat all these steps every 30 days. Every 30 days, add one more goal you want to achieve along with 20 ways you can achieve it!
Be enthusiastic, as Emerson said, “Nothing great is ever created without enthusiasm.” These are the 10 parts of success that, if used, will guarantee your success.
Don’t let this New Year end up like all the others, follow these steps and you will learn that you can develop a success system in your life. Congratulations in advance for taking this first positive step in realizing your resolutions, and Happy New Year!
Handmade Christmas Gifts
December 13, 2008 by admin
Filed under Xmas Gift Ideas
This year, I am making most of the Christmas Gifts that I will be giving friends and family. The harsh economic times has made it a necessity. However, I have come up with some really special gift ideas that I will be proud to give. For
those of you who are like me and must give handmade gifts from the heart this Christmas, I am happy to share some of my gift ideas along with the recipes, templates and instructions.
The first gift set I am making contains Homemade Oatmeal Soap, Homemade Almond Oatmeal Scrub and Homemade Bath Bombs. I will be including some sort of loofah or bath scrubby. The Almond Oatmeal Scrub can be put in either a small canning jar or a cosmetic jar which can be found on ebay.
To make the Oatmeal Soap you will need one large bar of Dove soap, 3 or 4 Tablespoons of ground up Oatmeal, and 4 or 5 tablespoons of water. The Oatmeal should be ground up enough to break up most of the individual flakes, but not reduced to a flour. You will want to leave your Oatmeal some substance. Grate the Dove bar into small slivers, add a couple of tablespoons of water and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Be careful not to let the soap bubble over the bowl. Stir the soap once or twice while heating. Once the soap has dissolved, remove from microwave and stir. Add the Oatmeal gradually until you are happy with the consistency and the proportion of oatmeal to soap. Pour into a mold and let cool.
For the Almond Oatmeal Scrub you will need 1/4 cup of Oatmeal, 1/4 cup of almonds, 1 tablespoon cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of Chamomile flower tea. Add all of the ingredients together in a food processor or blender and process until mixture resembles a fine mealy textured powder. Funnel into small glass jars. Add the following instructions for use: Place 1-2 teaspoons of Almond Oatmeal Scrub in your hand. Add enough water to form a paste. Dab onto face with fingers and gently scrub with a soft, circular motion, avoiding the eyes. Rinse well with water and fresh washcloth.
For the Fizzy Bath Bombs:
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Another gift set I am making consists of Hot Cocoa Mix, a couple of mugs and Chocolate Covered Spoons. The Hot Cocoa Mix is made from 5 cups of powdered milk, 2 cups powdered coffee creamer, 1 1/2 cups sifted cocoa powder (you can use dutch cocoa for a richer, darker mix), 3 cups powdered sugar, 1/3 cup granulated sugar and mini marshmallows. Use a wire whisk to mix the dry ingredients together. Make sure to mix it well. Stir in the marshmallows and divide the mix into canning jars or other containers for gift giving. Attach the following instructions: To use, fill mug 1/3 full of Cocoa Mix and stir in hot water.
For the Chocolate Covered Spoons you will need heavy, plastic spoons and 6 ounces of dark dipping chocolate and 6 ounces of white dipping chocolate. Line 2 cookie sheets with waxed paper. Put the white and dark chocoate in seperate bowls and melt each in the microwave at half power for 1 minute. Stir well. If not completely melted, microwave and stir at 15 second intervals until smooth and completely melted. Dip a spoon into one of the bowls, covering both sides completely. Place spoon on cookie sheet with handle resting on the edge. Make some spoons covered with white chocolate and some covered with dark chocolate. For an extra special touch, drizzle a small amount of the contrasting chocolate over each spoon or you can sprinkle a little colored sugar on the spoons. Refrigerate the spoons until the chocolate is completely hardened. Wrap each in cellophane and tie with a ribbon.
For family, I am also including a Rice Buddy Hot/Cold Pack that is super easy to make. You will need cotton, fleece or other suitable fabric, sewing thread, sewing machine, one cup measure, scissors, 3 cups of rice (not instant) and a funnel. Trace around a hot water bottle leaving a 1/4 inch seam allowance. If you do not have one, the link for the template can be found below. Fold fabric right sides together and place the template along the fold line. Pin the fabric pieces right sides together. Starting at one side of the neck, sew around the fabric to the other side of the neck, using 1/4 inch seam. Leave the top open. Turn right side out. Top stitch a straight line down the center of the pattern from nub on the bottom to base of the neck.
Using a funnel, put approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup of rice into each side. Top stitch a straight line across the pattern trapping the rice into 2 segments approximately 1/3 of the way from bottom of pattern. Repeat this step 2 more times ending with a short sewing line across the neck of hot water bottle pattern. Turn in a 1/4 inch hem on neck and sew close to the edge to close your Hot Water Bottle Rice Pack. Include the following instructions: Rice Buddy Hot/Cold Pack – Microwave for 1 – 3 minutes until hot and use as you would a hot water bottle. Great for easing aches and pains. For cold pack, store in the freezer until ready to use.
The other Handmade Gifts I am making are from the “Gifts In A Jar” e-book. There are many, wonderful handmade gift ideas for all occasions included in the e-book. It is well worth the money. For adorable 3D gift box and packaging templates for Christmas and other occasions that are easy to make, it is well worth buying the “DIY Gift Package” e-book. You will be amazed at the cute templates that are in the e-book. Your friends and family will love receiving their gifts in a unique 3D gift box.
** Hot Water Bottle Templates (Templates are in PDF format): Top Half - Bottom Half
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Product Review
Open this idea-packed volume completely at random and you’ll come up with a great project every time. Besides great holiday-related crafts–lots of marvelous Christmas decorations, some fun Halloween items, lovely Valentine’s Day keepsakes, Easter goodies–there are loads of wonderful objects for year-round use (frames, vases, lampshades, napkin rings, candleholders, table settings, and so much more). Everything is very easy to make, from simple step-by-step projects that require a modicum of time and materials to quickly made pieces that need only a very few supplies and even less time, to instant crafts that you can throw together out of almost nothing in almost no time. (Try this glittering centerpiece, for instance: fill lots of mismatched glasses and goblets with water, add sprinkles of confetti, and float a candle in each.) Even if you’ve never crafted before, you can handle nearly any project in the book, but each one is so appealing that experienced crafters with fairly sophisticated tastes will also find much to enjoy here. –Amy Handy
Avoid Recalled Toys At Christmas
December 4, 2008 by admin
Filed under Xmas Gift Ideas
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Product Features
- Five sides of fun, including animal alphabet, squiggly tracks, jungle design pattern doors, silly critter puzzle and snake along beads
- Promotes early development of hand and eye coordination
- Stimulate the imagination with the movable objects and colorful design
- Solid wood construction with rounded corners
- Designed for a child 12 months and above
Kids love getting gifts for Christmas, especially toys. Once they start seeing Christmas decorations in the stores and around the neighborhood, they start dreaming about what they will find under the tree on Christmas Morning. As parents, we want our kids to be happy and when possible and appropriate, we try our best to give them what they want for Christmas. However, it seems like there are more toy recalls each year. Toys are recalled when there is something dangerous about the toy or toxic in the way it was made. We need to be aware of what toys have been recalled and what to look for when purchasing toys so the gift is received with joy instead of disaster.
The usual way a recall starts is with an investigation into the reports of incidents and injuries or from tests that are conducted in quality controlled labs. Unfortunately, many have already been injured from a dangerous toy before an investigation is started. Currently on the US Consumer Product Safety Commission website, there are a whole page of recalls. As of today, the most recent recalls involve toy army figures that violate the lead paint standard, Groovy Fashions Sassy Jammies Doll Clothing Sets that violate the lead paint standard, and Reebok Hockey Helmets due to head and neck injuries because of a faulty chin strap. Other recalls include MagnaMan Figures, Toy Tool Benches and MEGA brands Magtastik and Magnetix Jr. Pre-school Magnetic Toys. MEGA Brands and CPSC have received 19 reports of magnets coming loose, including one report of a 3-year-old boy receiving medical treatment to remove a magnet from his nasal cavity and one report of an 18-month-old boy with a magnet in his mouth, which was thankfully, not swallowed.
In a perfect world, the companies quality control department would discover dangerous situations before toys hit the shelves so that no child would become injured or ill from playing with a toy. Safety standards are obviously an important part of any product manufacturing process. Obeying these standards should be expected especially when the products are made to be used by children. Monitoring and enforcing these regulations should be of the highest level of priority of the US Government. There should be a hefty price to pay for violating these standards.
Thankfully, we have a way of finding out what toys have already been recalled by way of websites such as the US Consumer Product Safety Commission or at the toy manufacturers website. When a determination has been made by a company to recall a toy, they usually set up a hotline and information on the compant website that addresses the recall issue and what consumers are suppossed to do if they have the product in their possession. Many news agencies make recalls public by announcing and giving information about the toy to the public using their media coverage ability.
It is a good idea to fill out the registration card that comes with products you buy so that companies can update you on issues with that product including recalls. The best thing you can do regarding giving toys at Christmas or at anytime of the year is to stay informed and pay attention to any news regarding recalls.
