If you’re more interested in entertaining your children at home on Halloween than visiting the neighborhood, your best options are to find things to do together as a family. Cooking fun Halloween treats together is a great way to bond and spend time as a family this Halloween.
Find Recipes
Your first step will be to find appropriate Halloween recipes. As many Halloween treats such as chocolate spiders and caramel apples can be made in large batches, you might consider inviting your child’s best friend or a small group of friends over as well for a Halloween party instead of trick-or-treating if you prefer. Otherwise, gather a collection of recipes and necessary ingredients before Halloween night.
Prepare for Family Fun
Halloween is most special in costume, so before starting your family Halloween fun, everyone should change into a costume. Once everyone is ready, set out your recipes and ingredients and let all your family members focus on baking different things together. The more projects you have going at once, the more people can help and the more fun the family will have together.
Feast!
Prepare as many treats as you can – keeping the number reasonable for the size of your family and gathering, of course. Then, while you wait for the food to bake or set, take on another family activity. Carve the jack-o-lantern or watch a fun Halloween cartoon together. When the treats are ready, bring them in and everyone can grab a few while they enjoy a Halloween classic.
Document
It goes without saying, but when you have a Halloween adventure this grand, you must document the occasion. Take plenty of pictures and maybe even videos. You might add those videos to the stack of materials to watch NEXT Halloween!
Easy Step By Step
- Find fun Halloween recipes that are kid-friendly
- Gather necessary ingredients and costumes before Halloween night
- Plan a fun family evening full of baking and movie watching
- Enjoy the treats as they are ready!
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
Young children can enjoy baking as much as older ones. Be careful to give them tasks that don’t put them in harm’s way and use this family fun in the kitchen as a time to teach them about safety issues in a fun, yet meaningful way. One night of staying up late for Halloween will be especially meaningful to the younger crowd – almost as much fun as Christmas.
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
If nobody is going to believe you’re an angel or fairy this Halloween, you might be better off taking on a scary Halloween costume. A favorite of older boys, especially these costumes usually involve a realistic mask or even prosthetics to recreate a look similar to what you might see in Hollywood. Your look is designed to terrify someone when you jump out in the dark or take on a role in a haunted house. To do this you’ll need three things – a mask, a costume, and acting skills.
Halloween Masks
An essential in scary costumes, Halloween masks can be silly, funny, or the best ones – down right gross and terrifying. While anything looks mundane sitting on the shelf at a costume shop, taking the mask into the night on Halloween can create a different feel entirely. To select the right mask, you should be willing to invest a bit of time and money in the selection process.
Your mask should appear realistic and be flexible. The mask that doesn’t move on your face doesn’t look nearly as authentic as the one that moves with you. Created in the same manner as masks used for special effects and prosthetics in Hollywood, Spfxmasks were designed for the individual seeking a truly terrifying, realistic mask. The masks are silicone so they fit easily and well yet move with you to make the face on the mask shockingly life-like.
Halloween Costumes
Your costume should be realistic as well and shouldn’t distract anyone from your freaky mask. Torn or faded jeans and an old button down shirts are always good choices as are the jeans and a beat-up t-shirt. Big, clunky boots are essential in any scary costume. Be sure to grab a few realistic props as well, but take care that they aren’t so real someone can get hurt.
Acting Skills
Finally, to make people believe that you are in fact the character you’re portraying, you’ll need acting skills. Monsters rarely walk casually – they limp, shuffle, sneak and even lope between locations. They skulk along in the dark and might be shy of the light. This can be fun to practice while you’re trick-or-treating with friends, but if you’re taking a role in a haunted house or trying to scare kids at your door, you’ll need to practice as much as possible so that you have your character and role down. Staying in character and looking authentic to that character are the easiest ways to terrify people this Halloween.
Easy Step By Step
- Decide on how scary you want to be
- Visit costume shops and look online for Halloween masks that are realistic and frightening.
- Once you have a mask, select clothing from your closet or from a thrift store to complete the look.
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
Keep an open mind about a costume until you have a chance to see the available masks. Pick a Halloween mask that you find particularly gruesome or scary. If you feel scary, you’ll be able to play the role much more effectively.
(1 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
If you’re enjoying the fall season and ready to start decorating for Halloween, avoid buying the expensive decorations in lieu of the many less expensive options available.
Find Bargains
Your first step is to find bargain items online and in craft or party stores. A bargain doesn’t have to be cheaply made or even on sale – it might be something designed for one purpose that you can use for another. Halloween masks are an excellent example. A simple, inexpensive Halloween mask can be your costume on the big night or you can arrange a series of masks around the room amongst glowing candles to give your home an eerie look. Search for other items such as holiday twinkle lights you can use with orange or black scarves, yard signs and pumpkins.
Outside Decorations
Once you have a collection of items, brainstorm how you might use them. Your yard decorations should be able to weather the elements. As October can be a bit blustery for many areas, you should avoid lightweight items and consider easy decorating methods such as pumpkins, carved jack-o-lanterns and even bales of hay are easy to acquire and even easier to arrange. A well positioned spot light can make a well arranged gourd, pumpkin and hay arrangement look sharp in the evenings and after dark.
If you prefer something a bit eerier, use the inexpensive spider webbing to cover your bushes and hide a CD player behind a potted plant so that you can play a scary sounds CD. Blow up yard decorations are also available that include things as simple as a large pumpkin or as complex as a full, walk-in haunted house. These can become expensive, however, so plan for the expense in your budget.
Inside Decorations
Inside your home, you needed fear the elements or any pranks. The inside is the best place for glass or other fragile decorations. A collection of scarecrows and Halloween masks with plenty of candles and pumpkins are well suited inside. Place an arrangement of small pumpkins and harvest gourds on the table to use as a centerpiece along with harvest or Halloween colored candles and placemats.
Place window decals of spider webs and other Halloween images on your windows and on mirrors. Hang cheap plastic spiders from threads throughout your home, preferably dangling from spider webs to give the appearance of a haunted house. Most of all, use your creativity and come up with a decorating style that is entirely your own using a variety of inexpensive things you can replace with something new year after year. Changing things up every year is definitely the most fun of all.
Easy Step By Step
- Take stock of what you have and where you want to decorate
- Buy items on sale or that are inexpensive so that you don’t spend a bundle on decorations to stay out a single night.
- Use lighting and unusual items for decorations
- Make your own decorations
- Be creative in how you arrange items.
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
If you’re starting from scratch, consider purchasing items to use as a centerpiece on your table and a door decoration of some kind. These will set the mood and then give you more ideas on how to expand your options into other rooms of the house and even the front yard.
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
What is Halloween without a fun costume. Of course if you’ve been to the stores lately, you know that getting a quality costume for adults or children can get rather expensive in a hurry. Making a Halloween costume is far less expensive and more fun.
Children’s Costumes
Many parents opt to make costumes for their children simply because they can’t find the desired outfit in the stores. If you lack basic sewing skills, you can always make your child a ghost. This involves cutting a circle from an old white sheet and then cutting two eyeholes. With that, the costume is complete!
To make a more complicated costume, you’d do best to look for a pattern in the fabric stores. Use the pattern to cut out the required pieces of the costume and then carefully sew the items together. In some cases, you can skip the sewing and make a Halloween costume out of items you already have at home combined with inexpensive items from the party or costume store.
How to Make a Witch Costume
To become a witch for Halloween, you need only pair up a long black skirt, black shirt and a witch hat acquired from a local costume shop. You can add a bit of sparkle and fun with spider jewelry or any other kind of Halloween jewelry. Remember too that painting faces is a big part of Halloween costumes – especially witches. Nothing goes better with all that black than a green face!
Angel Costume
To become an angel for Halloween, you can make an easy robe from a white sheet. Fold a sheet in half and cut a bit along the sides to make two long sleeves and a draping gown. Simply glue the sides together with fabric glue, turn the gown inside out and fit your child’s head through a hole cut at the top. Add a halo and wings acquired from a costume shop and you’re little angel is ready to go. A bit of glitter on her face would add the right angelic touch as well.
Cat Costume
For the sexier among us, a black cat can be alluring while being mysterious at the same time. Don your leotard or body suit in black. If you have a full body leotard you’re set, otherwise use standard leotard and black tights to make your sleek and sexy body. Buy a pair of cat ears from the costume shop, add some black whiskers and a black nose and you’re ready to slink out into the night!
Easy Step By Step
- Consider your time and abilities when it comes to creating costumes from scratch.
- Take requests from your child or brainstorm your own ideas
- Get a pattern and fabric for a costume from scratch – or –
- Buy accessories to create a costume from clothing and household items you already have.
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
If you don’t know how to sew, a Halloween costume is a great way to learn. It’s something you’ll only use one time and a few safety pins and fabric glue are expected. Test your skills on a sewing machine or pick something you can stitch together by hand – by next year, you might be ready for the more deluxe costume varieties!
(No Ratings Yet)
Trick or Treat! While few would choose tricks, the vast majority of children and adults showing up to your door this Halloween will be looking for treats. If you are having a Halloween party, making special treats for your guest would be well received. If you plan on handing treats out at the door, plan on passing out individually wrapped candy to most children saving special treats for family friends or relatives. This is no reflection on your generosity, but a sign on the times. Many parents are instructed to throw out any treats that are not sealed by the manufacturer.
Cookies
A simple treat to begin with is the Halloween cookie. Two varieties are equally popular. One is the sugar cookie. Buy a roll of slice and back cookie dough and a container of special Halloween sprinkles – black and orange are standard fare. Break off sections of the dough and roll each piece into a small ball. Pour the sprinkles on a plate and roll the balls of dough through the sprinkles to coat them thoroughly before baking. If you are especially adept, you can knead the white cookie dough with food coloring to make your cookies orange and roll them in black or green sprinkles.
Another cookie favorite is the peanut butter cookie. Peanut butter is perfect for fall, and chocolate is great anytime, so why not combine the two flavor? Make peanut butter cookie dough or buy a ready-made dough from the store. Roll pieces of the dough into balls and bake. Immediately when you pull the cookies from the over, press a chocolate kiss candy into the center of each circle making delightful peanut butter and chocolate cookies.
Candy
Candy is another special Halloween treat. The most popular types of homemade candy at Halloween are taffy and caramel apples. Caramel apples are by far the easiest candy treat to make. In a double boiler o the stove, or carefully in a microwavable bowl, melt a bag of caramel candies. While the candies are melting, wash off a dozen apples and spear each with a popsicle or craft stick. You would do well to use small apples for this project as they weigh less.
When the caramels are melted, gently stir the mix to ensure it is even and spread a sheet of parchment paper on the counter. One at a time, dunk the apples in the caramel and roll it about to fully cover the outside of the fruit. If you have some available, you might then roll the apple and warm caramel through nuts you’ve crushed on a plate, but this is optional. Place the apple on the parchment paper with the craft stick in the air. Repeat the procedure for all of your apples and then allow the caramel to cool completely. Enjoy!
(1 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Many aspiring web writers make the mistake of thinking writing for the web is the same as writing in the classroom. While the foundations of grammar and punctuation are generally the same, the elements of style in web writing are very different than what you might be used to.
Avoid Indentions
When writing a formal paper, you likely double-spaced and indented each paragraph. These are two of the worst things to do online. Don’t double-space as it can make your reader’s eyes strain – if he sticks around long enough to read it. You should also use blocks of text rather than indented paragraphs. This helps the reader to keep his place reading more effectively.
Choppy Paragraphs
The standard formal paragraph is five to seven sentences long. This is torture online. When you write for the web, use only one to three sentences in a paragraph, and leaving a single line standing alone is perfectly acceptable. This strategy is highly used in copywriting. Short bursts of text doesn’t mean the writing is choppy, you want the paragraphs to appear choppy as they are easier to handle on a computer screen. Visual breaks make reading easier.
Subheadings
Using subheadings also helps to make reading easier online. Rather than writing an essay, include subheadings in the vast majority of your work. You can also include numbers, bullet points and blocks of data inserted into the primarily article to make your information more compact and easy to digest. Many readers online skim articles looking for the goods. Subheading help them find it.
Keywords
While it’s not critical, writing for the web includes a fundamental knowledge of SEO practices. This means you should understand keyword saturation and how to use a particular keyword 3-5% of the time in your writing. For best results, the keyword should be used naturally and flow easily in the material. Remember, your written piece is for readers first, and then search engine spiders.
Avoid Excess
In the vast majority of cases, too many details and tangents will wear out your reader. Online writing should be targeted and precise. Don’t waste words. Wasted words frustrate readers. Keep your article or webpage tight to avoid rambling and always read back through what you’ve written to clear away the verbal clutter.
(No Ratings Yet)
If you are a webmaster struggling to find a quality writer, it’s no doubt you’ve run the gauntlet the way many have before you. You can find cheap writers who do an okay job, and cheap writers who do a terrible job. The best, and presumably most expensive writers, are out of your budget right now, so you are just another webmaster looking for a good writer in an affordable price range.
What should be an easy job is complicated by the sheer volume of writers claiming to be what you need without much to back up their claims. To find a writer in your price range that can handle your topics, you have a few options.
Search the Net
Your first choice might be to search for a particular kind of writer online using a search engine. You’ll see the paid ads alongside the organic listings, but any of those might lead you to the writer you seek. Of course, if a writer has an established website which is fully optimized, you might be out of luck on price range issues, but many foreign writing firms offer writing services at reasonable rates through optimized websites – you simply have to browse the listings to find out.
Consider Forums
There are many forums where webmasters and other professionals gather to discuss business and drum up business. Spend some time on the forums and pay a visit to the Buy and Sell section to see if there are any writers advertised that fit your needs. You can even advertise yourself to see if the right writer answers the call. Sitepoint, Digital Point and the WAHM forums all have writers.
Writing Service Websites
There are also websites entirely dedicated to offering services such as writing. On these websites, writers often bid for projects and you, the original poster, have the option of selecting the writer whose pitch and samples best meet your needs. These websites include elance.com, getafreelancer.com, and guru.com.
Writer Directories and Content Sites
There are also specialized websites dedicated to bringing writers and webmasters together. A writers directory lists available writers in various niches to help you find the one most suitable for your subject matter. Other content sites allow writers to sell their content to any buyer and when purchased, you have the opportunity to use that writer on an ongoing need or try out other writers you find through the site.
Recommendations
Finally, if you have any friends in the industry who have worked with a writer in the past, asking for recommendations is likely your best option to find a writer whose work is verified. This way you’re also allowing your friend to sample the writing on is dime – not yours.
(No Ratings Yet)
Setting a table properly involves much more than a fork, spoon, knife and plate. A formal table setting is complex with up to sixteen or twenty different items per setting. There are two basics rules to follow with much technique to follow depending on arrangements and the actual food items to be served.
Basic Rules of Table Settings
The first rule to remember is that utensils are placed in the order they will be used. This means you set a table from the outside in. Also, forks will always be placed on the left and spoons and knives are placed on the right.
The Basic Table Setting
The basic table setting is much like the word FORKS. You place the fork on the far left side followed the O-like plate. Ignore the R, and then place the knife for K and the spoon for S. The knife should be facing in toward the plate. Make circles using your thumb and forefinger. On your left is a “b” This is to remind you that the bread and butter plate goes on your left. Your right hand forms a “d” to remind you that the drink is placed at the upper left. Napkins are placed on the left of the plate or on the plate itself.
The Traditional Formal Table Setting
The formal table setting has the same bones as the basic with FORKS helping you place items in the correct area. The formal table setting includes more items however. Place the dinner plate in the center, in the same “O” space as before. On the left of the plate, you’ll now place two forks. The dinner fork is largest and goes next to the plate with a smaller salad fork just outside the dinner fork. Additional forks would be placed outside the salad fork in the reverse order they would be used based on courses.
To the right of the plate you’ll find the dinner knife (blade in), then spoons in the reverse order of courses. The dessert spoon will be next to the knife with a soup spoon on the outside right of the arrangement. Above the spoons and knife, you’ll arrange any drinking glasses.
A salad plate is placed at the far outer left of the setting outside the forks and is used if salad is not to be eaten with the meal or if the main course contains gravy or another runny option. The bread plate is placed above the forks with the butter knife lying diagonally across the plate, blade facing down and handle on the right.
The dessert spoon and fork can be placed diagonally above the plate forming a roof over the plate with the spoon on the right and knife on the left, or they can be placed in the utensil lineup. If they are placed with other forks and spoons, they will be closest to the plate as they are used last.
If coffee is part of the meal, the setting is arranged with the coffee cup and saucer at the upper right of the arrangement – outside the glasses and diagonally above the spoons and knife.
Easy Step By Step
- For a basic table setting:
- Place the dinner plate in the middle of the setting.
- Place the fork on the left side of the plate.
- Place the knife on the right side of the plate, blade in.
- Position the spoon on the outside of the knife.
- Glasses go about the spoons.
- The bread plate goes above the forks
- The napkin is placed on the plate or on the far left side of the arrangement.
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
In addition to place settings, be sure you know other rules of etiquette to host an effective dinner party. This includes the positioning of dirty knives (never on the table) as well as the art of serving. Serve from the left side with the left hand and remove plates with the right. Serve the oldest lady present first. All ladies are served before men in descending age order as well.
(2 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Splicing or splitting cable from a paying customer into your home is stealing. We certainly can’t condone anything illegal that might land you in jail, but if you want cable television shows, and you want them for nothing out of pocket, there is still a way. You can watch them on your PC.
Visit TVUnetworks.com to download a special player that plays 3000 cable channels directly on your computer. Open Internet Explorer and navigate to TVUnetworks.com. Watch a few shows to try it out if you’d like, and then click on the Download button to download the free program. You’ll have the choice of location for downloading, and your desktop is likely the best choice as the zipped file will be easiest to find there.
Allow the download process to complete and then double click on the downloaded file. If you have unzipping software, the file should open automatically and show you the contents and instructions. If not, you might need to also download zipping software at CNet.com.
Double click on program file inside the unzipped folder to begin the installation process. During the installation, an icon will be created on your desktop. You can use this to open the television program.
When it is installed, open the cable program and select English as your language to eliminate programs in other languages. Then scroll through the many programs on the right side of your screen to select something that interests you. Many of your favorite channels are available with this program and you can also receive channels from all over the world.
Easy Step By Step
- Visit TVUnetworks.com
- Download the cable program from the site – the download is free.
- Unzip the file and install the software on your computer
- Open the program and begin watching your 3000 new cable channels absolutely free!
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
Many of your favorite channels are available through TVUnetworks. It’s worth a try, even if you’re already resigned to paying cable for your television. You’ll be able to watch shows at your computer or you can run the picture and sound to the television using appropriate attachments (This varies by television.)
(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)
Tying a bow in a girl’s hair is reminiscent of youth and frivolity – not to mention they are so darn cute! The kinds of bows that are popular today for young girls are not the pouf creations of a decade ago. Instead, hair bows are slim and trim.
To make a hair bow, first purchase ribbon from a craft store. You can use any width of ribbon up to about ¾ of an inch, but the number of ribbons you use is determined by the width. The thinner your ribbon, the more strands of color you can get away with.
If the girl will be wearing her hair in a ponytail, the best way to affix the hair bow is to tie it tightly around the elastic holding the ponytail in place. To do this, use a length of ribbon about 12-18 inches long. Wrap the ribbon around the base of the ponytail so that the lose ends are on top. Tie a bow as if you were tying a shoe. Pull the ends out evenly and be sure the bowed parts match. You might need to retie if it didn’t come out evenly.
To do this with multiple ribbons, simply wrap all the strands around the hair in the same way and tie as if all strands were part of a single ribbon.
For hair that’s not in a pigtail, the easiest and most attractive style of bow in current fashion is again, a simple bow like you would use to tie your shoe, but neat and even. Tie a small bow and use a dot of invisible fabric glue on the knot to keep it from pulling out. Thread a bobby pin through the middle of the knot before the glue dries. The bow should sit at the top of the curved portion of the bobby pin.
When it’s time to put the bow in her hair, simply slide the bobby pin in the desired location. The pin will blend with the hair leaving the bow visible. For very young girls, another option would be to tie a bow, seal the knot and then use fabric or hot glue to affix the bow to a small barrette.
Easy Step By Step
- Cut a ribbon 12-18” inches.
- Pull hair into a high ponytail.
- Tie the ribbon around the ponytail and pull the bow and dangling ends evenly.
- Or tie a traditional bow separately and glue it to a barrette or bobby pin to affix in hair not in a ponytail.
Warnings, Advice, and Suggestions
The larger you’d like to make a bow, the wider ribbon you should use to give it strength. Otherwise the bow will be droopy or come untied more easily. Large bows can be tied and then glued to larger barrettes. Wrap extra ribbon around the top of the barrette to hide any metal parts you’d prefer not to show.
(2 votes, average: 2.5 out of 5)
