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Snow globes are great for any occasion or holiday, simply by changing what you use to create your scene. Just let your imagination run wild!

For example, make a harvest scene for Thanksgiving, a ghostly haunted house for Halloween, a red Valentine heart or colorful Easter/Spring display for the holiday of your choice.

Other themes could include a special birthday or event, sports team, favorite cartoon character or superhero, seashell or Victorian motif, to name just a few.

Once you have an event or theme in mind, it’s easy to gather together the elements for a really unique custom made creation.

WINTER CRAFTS SNOW GLOBE

Materials:

Clear Glass Jar with a tight lid (pickle, pimento, jelly, baby food)

Small Waterproof Ornaments, Figures or Decorations

Distilled Water or Water that has been boiled and cooled

Clear Silicone Sealant (Aquarium Sealant) or Florist Clay

Egg Shells or Foil Confetti

Glitter

Glycerin or Mineral Oil

Optional: Plastic Lid to fit inside the jar’s lid,
Circle of Fabric, Ribbon or Lace

1. Choose a Clean Dry Glass Jar – A baby food jar is perfect for a small kids craft, pimento jars have a unique ball shape, and pickle jars are large enough to allow you to add several elements to your scene. Just fit your jar to your desired final effect. Remove any labels and food residue.

2. Plan your Snow Globe Scene - Search your sewing kit and home craft supplies for materials and inspiration. You can make people, animals, trees – you name it – from craft foam. Sewing findings are a great source of small decorations too. Also consider miniatures at the craft or hobby store. Remember to shop the day after a holiday for lots of discounted items!

3. Secure the Figures and Decorations inside the jar lid with silicone sealant or florist clay. In order to elevate the scene so it is in clear view, glue a plastic lid inside the jar lid or build up the area with a little extra florist clay. Be sure to leave the edges clear so you have room to screw on the lid. Set aside to dry.

4. Prepare Your “Snow” using the shell from a hardboiled egg. Separate the shell from the membrane, place in a sturdy ziploc bag, and crush with a rolling pin. Finer particles will fall more slowly in the snow globe and have a more pleasing effect. However, avoid crushing eggshell into a powder as it will simply float in the water instead of falling gently.

Depending upon your theme, you can change your “snow” to go along with it. Try themed confetti available at craft stores to add an interesting element to your creation. If you’re doing a Halloween or Thanksgiving scene, look for foil leaf confetti in fall colors. For Easter you can use foil flower confetti. For a sports theme, use glitter in your favorite team’s colors.

The possibilities are endless and ensure that you are creating a one-of-a-kind snow globe!

5. Fill the Snow Globe – When you are pleased with your snow globe scene, fill the jar with distilled water, leaving a little space at the top to accommodate the figures. Add several drops of glycerin to keep the snow suspended and floating properly. Mineral oil or baby oil can also be used in place of the water and glycerin.

6. Add Snow and Glitter – When adding eggshells, make sure you have enough to cover the lid once it has settled to the bottom. Use silver glitter along with the egg shells to make shimmery snow – use one teaspoon of glitter for every inch of water. If you’re adventurous, experiment with different effects. Use a drop or two of colored lamp oil to create a swirling effect. Add food coloring to the water or use different colored glitters.

Close the jar tightly and shake your snow globe. Observe how the snow falls and the overall look. Tweak till you get the desired effect by adding a little more snow, glitter or confetti.

7. Seal the Dome – When you’re sure the figures and scenery are arranged to your satisfaction, and the snow to water ratio looks good, add a bead of silicone sealant around the threads of the lid and close tightly.

8. Add Final Touches – For a more decorative and finished look, cut a circle of pretty fabric a little larger than the jar lid. Secure to the lid with an elastic band. Hot glue a piece of ribbon or lace over the elastic band.

You’ll be proud to display and enjoy your original
winter crafts snow globe creation.

Patricia B. Jensen is a mother of three and kids party enthusiast. She is the webmaster and owner of Kids-Party-Paradise.com – a complete resource for kids party ideas including invitations, cakes, decorations, games, costumes, favors, and food.

For all the latest party news, read her Kids Party Blog.

Subscribe to the Kids Party Paradise Newsletter and get timely updates on popular new party ideas and themes, and so much more…

Famous movie stars and other luminaries have made an interesting journey, when you think about it.

They’ve worked their you-know-what’s off to go from obscurity to universal recognizability, and then, once they have reached such visibility, they try to hide themselves away again behind dark sunglasses, tinted limousines, high gates, and live the most obscure lives possible.

Wanting to fall off the grid, to be untraceable, unrecognized is not only a desire of the rich and famous, but of others like so many Boulder, Colorado and Berkeley, California hippies that are keeping their VW micro-buses on life support in out of the way backyards and garages that no one will ever find on a map.

A few weeks ago, I was combing my local library’s shelves for books on the subject of “Freedom,” which by the way, is a search that I commend to you, when I found a provocative title:

HOW TO BE INVISIBLE.

Written by a European fellow who claims to be unreachable, it outlines how the average person, with a lot of sweat and effort I might add, can cover his tracks and seemingly, leave the world as you and I know it, behind.

Using dummy addresses that forward mail, along with cash payments for everything and tight lips, you can retain your privacy, according to this Sultan of Stealth.

Why would you want to do this?

Well, for one thing, if you’re paranoid about an abusive ex-lover or potential stalkers tracking you down, a low profile, or better yet, no profile can be a big plus.

I suppose the same tactics can be used to dodge pesky bill collectors and to cover your tracks if you’re a desperado, though this is not the author’s stated intent.

Anyway, the book was written prior to 9-11, before phone tapping became ubiquitous, and being invisible came to seem less patriotic and less possible.

After I read this tome, and I navigated it carefully from cover to cover, I was exhausted.

If invisibility takes so much exertion it may not be worth it.

And it makes you wonder whatever happened to hiding in plain sight?

Isn’t that an even better trick?

What you need to know before you decide to run your own server

We’re fond advocates of the DIY (do it yourself) mentality. So you won’t find us dissuading you from taking the reins of your internet presence fully and hosting your website yourself on your own server, if that’s what you want and are prepared to do. Consider this checklist-cum-article your minimal preparation.

First and foremost, do you have what it takes? How tech savvy are you, anyway? Do you know what it means, for example, to secure a server? Do you have the time to devote to the arduous maintenance of a server, responding personally to every glitch that comes with the territory? And do you have the inclination?

Secondly, do you have what it takes? No, you’re not seeing double. This time what we mean by “what it takes” is hardware and software and internet access. Hosting your own server requires the following:

A dedicated computer

This means a computer that will be used exclusively as your server and for nothing else. And it can’t just be any computer. The computer you choose to be the server that’s hosting your websites must be able to handle the amount of server requests you’re hoping to receive (remember, most websites are built with the dreams of getting more and more of these, not less and less).

A Network Interface Card (NIC)

A broadband connection

This must be reliable, secure, and has a high enough upload rate to serve your web hosting needs.

A server-capable OS (operating system) for your server

Just like your computer has an operating system, your server must too. This can be Linux or Windows or something comparable.

An Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Your ISP will need to be able to support the degree of web traffic you’re anticipating. One of the worst things you could do is thwart interested visitors from accessing your website. One of the easiest ways to do this would be to choose the wrong ISP, one that starts curtailing your traffic unbeknownst to you.

Thirdly, do you have currently have a website or websites, and if so, what’s the traffic like? If you’re running multiple websites or applications already and they’re already generating a steady flow of traffic, then it makes good sense that you’re thinking about hosting your own server.

If you’ve gotten this far in the checklist and are still seriously contemplating hosting your own server, we’ll only offer up one alternative for your consideration before you make your final decision: a Dedicated Server.

With a dedicated server, you get all the benefits of hosting your own server without the burden of hosting it yourself. You’ll have your own IP address, you won’t have to share bandwidth, memory, or storage space with anyone else and you’ll maintain 100% control over server administration.

But you’ll benefit also from the committed services of a professional team of experts managing and maintaining the machinery that’s running your business and a secure, safe, and reliable datacenter with redundant power, environmental controls, and other features you probably can’t provide hosting your own server in your own living room or office space.

Hosting-Review.com is the premier resource on web hosting. Visit www.hosting-review.com for comprehensive reviews and rankings of over 50 web hosting providers, as well as informative articles about everything to do with hosting, including dedicated servers.

The process of buying art for your home is one that should be
enjoyable and never ending. Ideally, you should really relate
emotionally to the artist’s vision and it should be an easy
compliment of your own sense of style. Online you will find a
wide selection of artwork in many different mediums and produced
by famous artists at bargain prices. Get a feel for what you
like and what compliments your home.

There is not one right answer for what style to go with. Art is
by its very nature, subjective to the beholder. Ask yourself
what you lean to the most, whether it be classical,
contemporary, graphic, seascapes, or landscapes. Also, you don’t
need to have the same theme in every room of the house or even
in one room. You can make walls of a particular theme. Just work
on the feeling and ambience that you are looking for.

How you display your art is as important as the art itself. Here
are a few interesting ways to frame a piece of art:

1. Shadow box: The depth really gives the artwork importance and
can highlight a very small piece by making it look larger. This
is a very popular medium and is used a lot to display awards for
retiring military officers for example.

2. Un-mitered corners: In this case the frame is built as one
piece as opposed to assembled from 4 separate pieces and gives a
sense of elegance with it’s rounded edges.

3. Linen matt: This is a more formal presentation which gives a
canvas a very traditional look. It works very well for oil
paintings.

4. A gold filet between the picture and the matt highlights the
picture and gives it added emphasis. It also ties in well with a
gold frame.

5. Matting with multiple layers and bevels: This provides
wonderful dimension to a piece of art and gives a very romantic
look – especially to black and white photography.

6. No frame at all: A popular look is to leave the board or
canvas unframed. The look is casual and eclectic, allowing the
texture of the painting to stand out.

Finally, don’t just limit the choices for artwork to paint on
canvas; there are many interesting mediums available such as
silk and wood that adds intrigue and uniqueness to a space as
well as many three dimensional wall sculptures that can add
character and depth.

Looking for professional people to expand business worldwide.
After 100 years the Government’s & Corporation’s have lost the monopoly.
If I could show you how to achieve an income of up to the max allowed $24,000 per week..would you give me 15 minutes of your time?http://www.madeinfreedom.com/100491 (FREE Online Presentation)superiorvoip is an Irish based wholesale communication company,based in Dublin Southern Ireland Why SuperiorVoip is Different to any other Voip Provider. This service will work over any connection whether it is Dial up – Broadband – Wireless – Satellite. Superiorvoip also works on it’s own private network and platform using a very high end encryption codex program to assure maximum security and privacy to its user base*. *It is not peer- to- peer technology,if you aren’t the only one who uses you PC, or if you have more than one PC in your house/office and are sharing an Internet connection,then you’ll want to listen to this.Does anyone who shares your network or PC visit any peer-to-peer sites? If you are not familiar with the term or what it is exactly,here is a quick description: Peer-to-peer file sharing is the method used to share illegally copied movies and music over the Net,it’s really popular with teens and college students. Basically what you do is go out and download and install a program from one of these sites.Once it’s installed you do search for whatever type of file you want (song,movie,etc) and the software goes through all the users and comes back with a list of others that have also installed the software and have the file you want. First and foremost,these programs are riddled with Spyware,and if you run any reputable spyware removal on your PC the program will be rendered crippled,this sounds great,but more than likely whoever is using the peer-to-peer file sharing may simply install it again so that they can get some more free stuff. Another nasty thing that these sites do is rob you of bandwith,do you think your nephew or daughter is getting all these files for free?..Nope! it’s not called peer-tp-peer file sharing for nothing. In order to download files from others your PC also gets set up to share files by default,so even if you are not actively sharing files,but let’s say surfing the Net your PC could be allowing people from across the web to download files from your hard drive. This can become a serious issue not only for your bandwith,but it’s not exactly the best security strategy you could put in place. This is bad,and we haven’t even talked about the viruses yet,whenever you are downloading files from sites like these you are playing Russian roulette with your PC,especially if you have allowed your antivirus subscription to expire,or you get caught with disabled after a software install. Some food for thought!

www.madeinfreedom.com/100491
About the Author

I live and work in Northern Ireland.
Enjoy Golf,Good music,meeting forward thiking people who enjoy the good things in life.