Decorate your kitchen by intermixing cherries and votive candies in a muffin tin.
what you’ll need
Votive candles
Miniature-muffin pan
Artificial cherries 1 yard of 1/4-inch-wide ribbon
1 Place votive candles as desired into the muffin pan. Arrange artificial cherries between the candles. Be careful to space fruit safely away from candlewicks.
2 Tie a bow with ribbon ends. Arrange the ribbon around the pan.
By: Aaron Trubic
Beginners need to know the basics of knife making. Most beginners, in
fact, start with knife making kits, and only from there move on to
assembling their own knives from materials purchased or crafted
themselves. This will include information on how knives go together,
where to find the parts and other supplies, and how to keep yourself
safe.
Safety first: knives are weapons as well as tools. Always wear safety
goggles or glasses, and protect your hands by wrapping the blade in
masking tape while you’re working with the handle. When doing
heavy-duty sanding, safety requires that you have a breathing filter
available; some knives are made of types of carbonized steel that
produces harmful dust.
To know your blade, you need to understand your materials. Knives are
composed of a blade and a handle. Most kits come with a blade, handle,
guard, and sometimes a pommel. Beyond these four items include an epoxy
or other good glue to fix the blade in the handle, sandpaper of various
grains, and files both to sharpen your blade and to get rid of burs
left behind in the manufacture of your metals. Knife making kits will
include the three or four main components of your knife, but you’ll
have to go out and buy the glue and sandpaper.
The foundations of this art also require that you know what you’re
getting when you buy your blade or kit. There are several methods used
to make knife blanks - those are the blade/tang pieces. One is
moulding, which is a form of casting; it may be blacksmithed (all
Damascus steel is at least partly blacksmithed); or it could be made
with a stock removal method, which is a cutting process. You should
know the difference between the methods, and understand the advantages
and disadvantages of all of them.
Knowing the tools are your next step. When you build your knife, tools
will include a vise, a good table on which to work (preferably with a
metal surface and a place to clamp your vise), an electric drill with
sanding attachment for tedious grinding, and all your safety equipment.
Also in learning, you should read about the properties of metal,
particularly carbonized steel used in knife making. Metal properties
first require that you not overheat your metal; this can damage the
crystalline structure that gives it strength and flexibility. If you
overheat metal and then don’t quench it properly, you wind up with
brittle, easily blunted blades. This should include simple information
on how to handle heat.
You’ll need to learn about the different types of knives and metals
available to you. Most knives are made with stainless steel or
carbonized steel of some sort, with a few made of alloys like titanium.
This will teach you that stainless steel is the softest and easiest to
work with, but the higher grades make better all around knives. When
learning the basics, start with stainless steel blades, not hard
blades.
There are several types of knives you can make, but when learning you
should stick with the simplest: a straight blade, something like a
Bowie knife. Bowie knives are straightforward and simple: you prepare
the blade, slide the guard onto the tang, fix the tang into the handle
after ensuring they mate properly, and then finish the blade. You’ll
learn many skills while doing this, though: how to sand properly, the
different issues that can come up when matching blade and handle, and
safety.
More complicated knives will teach you more skills. For instance,
folding knives require one of several types of springs; these springs
are designed to keep the blade extended while in use, but easy to fold
when you’re done. Once you’ve learned this, you might want to tackle
one of these.
Though it’s not quite required to make a knife, you should also
understand the law where it applies to the sorts of blades you might
want. For instance, switchblades are illegal in many locations. Learn
how the law applies to the blades you’re making as well. It’s no fun to
make a great knife and then not be able to carry it around legally.
About the Author:
Aaron Trubic offers knife making advice, tips and information for knifemakers of all skill levels at his website, Knife Making Supplies.
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
Choosing a gift for a loved one is very difficult.
You always want to give something they will love and appreciate and
something special. The best gift you can give to your near and dear
ones, is something made by you, that adds a special touch to the gift,
making it exceptional and very personal. One can spend loads of money,
to buy a wonderful and expensive gift, but making the gift on your own
shows your. It is very difficult to decide what to make.
Making a fruit basket is an excellent option, but most of us do not know how to make a fruit basket.
Making a fruit basket isn’t all that difficult to make as we think it
is. Once you have decided which fruits you want to decorate the basket
with, half your battle is won. Selecting the fruits can be a bit
tricky. You should always carefully pick the fruits, according to their
shapes, sizes and colours, in order to make your basket look uniform,
colourful and stylish. You should choose a very classy yet colourful
basket, to make your gift look grand.
You can either get a cane, straw, wooden, glass or a thick well crafted
paper basket. A carefully selected basket will bring out the beauty of
the gift. You can arrange the fruits neatly in the basket. You can also
use the fruits to make a design or a shape inside the basket. You can
then decorate the basket with similar coloured ribbons or streamers.
Ribbon can be used on the handle of the basket as well, to make it look
very stylish.
If you like you can put a small special gift in between the fruit
basket, which will be a surprise for your loved one when they find it.
You can also put small notes with every fruit or add a special touch to
every item in the basket. Make your gift as innovative and unique as
possible. Always stick to a colour scheme, which brings out the beauty
of the gift. For instance, red ribbons used on red fruit, like apple,
plum, cherries, pomegranate and so on, in a stylish cane basket is a
fantastic present. Or you could make an assortment of their favourite
fruits, which you know they will definitely love.
After having decorated the basket, you have the choice of wrapping your
basket or leaving it open. You can use colourful paper to decorate it.
Transparent paper, cellophane paper, handmade paper, butter paper, or
thin colourful paper can be used to make it look even more stunning. As
a final touch, you can put a bow or a paper made flower or a star on
top of the fruit basket. A card can also be attached to the basket,
which adds a personal touch. Your friend or your family will definitely
appreciate the effort you have put in making the gift.
About the Author:
Gregg Hall is an author living in Navarre Florida. Find more about this as well as the custom giftbaskets at www.giftbasketsplusmore.com
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Marcy Larsen
Being a consultant is easy. The first thing you need to do is love
scrapbooking. The second is like making new friends while working and
doing something you love.
Begin by finding the company the best suits you. Here are a couple of the leading Scrapbook companies in direct sales.
Company Web-site Commissions
Close to My Heart
22% - 34%
$150.00 to enroll
Online store available
Stampin up!
20%
$199.00-249.00 to enroll
No online store
Creative Memories
not posted
$195.00 to enroll
Online store available
Each company provides helpful hints on getting started and ways to make
the best of your new business. Each company gives you the opportunity
to grow your team and earn even more commissions than what is listed
above.
Benefits
Commissions Commissions are always important. Most start out with a
base commission and as your personal sales go up, so do your
commissions. The leading company in commission is Close to My Heart.
Consultant kits Make sure that the company you chose gives you the most
for your money. Not only in products to get started but in business
materials as well. You will need marketing materials, order forms, and
catalog to hand out to customers.
Online shopping This feature is one of the most important these days.
The internet world is growing more and more each day and so are Direct
Marketing businesses thanks to the internet. The internet can help you
reach people form cost to coast as well as out of the country to grow
you business.
Discounts Discounts are important for your growth as well. You will be
able to grow and make money with your business if you are given a
discount on supplies and product. You will be able to show your
customers more and get the opportunity to up sale your customers.
Building a team All of these Direct Sale companies give you the chance
to grow your team. By growing your team, you also grow your
commissions.
While all of these benefits are important, the most important benefit
is the one of success. You can work your own hours and work from home
as much or as little as you would like. This opportunity is perfect for
a stay at home mom looking for a little extra income but still being
able to be with her children. Plus, it gives you the chance of making
new friends and build relationships. All of the companies above are
great and there are even more out there. Just take time to find the
right fit for you. In doing this, you will make a successful home
business for yourself.
About the Author:
Marcy Larsen
Close To My Heart Consultant. CTMH offers much more than just scrapbook
supplies, including opportunities to make money while scrapbooking. Please visit my website - Marcy Larsen.
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Heather Colman
In today’s fast paced world, everyone is busy with work and family.
There is very little time left to relax and enjoy our favorite hobbies.
For those who love scrapbooking but have very little time to dedicate
to it, there are alternative methods that are relatively easy and take
up very little time.
You can still create lasting memories that come with scrapbooking without spending a lot of time doing it.
When you are scrapbooking, you are putting together more than just
photographs, you are putting together memories that will last a
lifetime.
When time is scarce, there are steps that you can take to cut your time in half.
The first is to organize your time and supplies. When you have good
organization, you are making the best use of your time. Have the photos
that you want to use separate from the others, this saves you the time
of sorting through piles of pictures.
There are quite a few things that are needed for scrapbooking. By
putting all of the glues, papers, glitter, photos, scissors and ribbons
in separate bins, you will have everything you need at your fingertips
to create lasting memories in moments.
As a time saver, do not crop your pictures. Trimming edges is not only
time consuming but it is unnecessary. Use matting to create a colorful
frame that you can either decorate with glitter or other decorations.
You can also write anecdotes on the scrapbook border.
You can also use the colored paper to create pockets that you can slide a photo into and change it to another if you choose.
If you want to do the scrapbooking the old fashioned way, it can still
be done in less time by using scrapbooking kits that can be found in
many craft shops.
These kits eliminate virtually all of the work that is entailed in scrapbooking. This saves a lot of time with the same results.
All that you need to do is crop your pictures and insert into the book.
The Internet offers thousands of links to scrapbooking sites that can
give you incredible ideas in designing your own memory scrapbooks.
Magazines also have fabulous ideas.
After you have become an expert at scrapbooking, you can start to
involve your children in creating lasting memories that can be passed
down from one generation to the next. Let them create their own designs
to contribute to a family scrapbook.
About the Author:
Copyright © 2006. The above article with information relating to scrapbooking sent to us by Heather Colman from: scrapbooking-corner.info.
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com
By: Eddie Lamb
Many of us grew up with grandparents who enjoyed knitting and sewing.
Before it became so easy to buy clothes and blankets, people would
often make there own. It used to be that every woman needed to know how
to do their own knitting and sewing. Today these wonderful skills are
not as necessary for women to know, but rather they have become
relaxing past times.
Knitting And Sewing Is Fun for All Ages
Since most clothes, blankets, and other materials are so often
manufacture-made, knitting and sewing has become more of an art, rather
than a job. Women can take pride in their ability to create their
masterpiece, especially since so few women still know how to knit and
sew.
Knitting and sewing can be very relaxing. When you are creating
something with your own two hands, you are able to truly appreciate the
beauty that surrounds you. It helps you recognize how much work goes
into art and creating something new.
To truly enjoy your time when you’re knitting and sewing try to find a
quiet spot to work; away from the annoyances of daily life. You might
even want to set aside a special place in your home and decorate it in
a way that inspires you.
If you have children, you might want to teach them too. That way you
are not only teaching them a form of art, but you are also keeping the
skill alive in the future. Knitting and sewing are especially good for
getting your kids to develop their fine motor skills, which can help
them a lot as they grow up. It’s amazing how teaching your children
something special can not only help them learn useful things, but can
also strengthen your bond with them.
What to Make
There are many different things you can make - just use you
imagination. You could make clothes, blankets, decorations, etc. With
each thing that you make, you can put into it your own style. To get
some ideas of fun knitting and sewing ideas, check out the different
websites that are designed for people who love to knit and sew. You can
also find great fabrics and other materials online that can help you
create your masterpiece. Some important materials to have include a
sewing machine, a sewing table, fabric, needles, yarn, thread,
measuring tape, fabric scissors, etc.
If you are a newcomer to the knitting and sewing world, you don’t have
to worry. You can find easy to understand instructions online that will
take you step by step. With a little practice you can begin to make all
sorts of things sooner than you might think.
About the Author:
Eddie Lamb provides an array information on a range of topics including
hobbies and pastimes. You’ll find a host of useful articles all about
knitting and sweing listed on our site map page at Knitting Sew.
Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com