How To Keep Romance Alive

A marriage is supposed to be forever, and the first few months of forever are easy enough. But as the years drag on, the bills pile up and the kids start arriving, the fun and games of early marriage start to fade away. But you can keep the romance and spirit of your marriage alive – it just takes a bit of work

Start Dating Again

The best way to keep the romance alive in a marriage is to remember what put it there in the first place. Go on dates as regularly as possible. A date is an outing where the two of you leave the kids behind with a sitter or set up a rendezvous with a movie and take out after the kids are safely in bed for the night. In short – no kids allowed.

Don’t just spend the "date" sorting laundry or running errands together. Sit close, cuddle and maybe kiss a little. Laugh at the funny parts of the movie and talk about your hopes and dreams. Enjoy your time together, even if it’s just a couple of hours a week – that may be all you need to stay connected and feel romantic.

Surprises

One of the best ways to show you care about someone is to bring them little treats and surprises that are meaningful especially to them. Candy, cards and flowers are always a nice treat, but if you know your wife is working hard to lose weight, swing by the yogurt store and bring home some fat free frozen yogurt in her favorite flavor. Or, buy her a romantic nightgown or dress to hug her new shape. Just be sure the surprise is for her not you.

Tender Words

A great many people are verbal communicators. They need to speak and hear the words to feel loved. But unfortunately, romantic words are often replaced with the basic tasks and instructions to get us through the day. If you find you’re not telling your wife how much she means to you, find little ways to tell her. Whisper it to her at dinner. Leave a small handwritten note by her sink. Buy a card and put it on her windshield first thing the morning so she can start the day off with a lift and a smile.

Behind Closed Doors

Finally, keep the romance alive by acting out that romance in the bedroom (or any other room of the house.) Keep things lively and interesting. Take turns on the kind of evenings you have. If you like sex one way, and she likes it another, alternate activities and foreplay so that nobody feels slighted or left out.

Look at new activities together to find something that both of you agree would be fun to try. Then have a good time – sex shouldn’t be boring. Find ways to make it fresh and interesting, even if it means stepping outside of your comfort zone or giving in to just one more massage before the real action gets started.

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How to Tell a Girl You Like Her

From the earliest days of primary school, boys and men have been faced with an age-old quandary: how to tell a girl that you like her. While there are plenty of options ranging from chasing her down on the playground at recess to showering her with gifts, there is no way to guarantee that a particular choice will produce the optimal result of her returning your affections. However you decide to tell her, the most important thing is that you actually tell her, rather than living in a state of uncertainty or constantly wondering what could have been.

From the earliest days of primary school, boys and men have been faced with an age-old quandary: how to tell a girl that you like her. While there are plenty of options ranging from chasing her down on the playground at recess to showering her with gifts, there is no way to guarantee that a particular choice will produce the optimal result of her returning your affections. However you decide to tell her, the most important thing is that you actually tell her, rather than living in a state of uncertainty or constantly wondering what could have been.

Custom-Made

Just like your girl is one-of-a-kind, you need to be sure your confession matches her personality. What works for one girl may not work for another. Keep this in mind if, when offering you advice, your buddy swears that his way is the only way. Most girls will appreciate your attempt to appeal to their unique preferences and your efforts to treat them like an individual.

Basic Choices

While no method of revealing your feelings can be labeled as easy, these choices are fairly basic and will allow you to save some money for those dates that will hopefully follow. A well-thought out verbal confession uncluttered by gifts or gimmicks is the most basic, yet for some, the most nerve-wracking option. For a sentimental-type, a handmade or store-bought card delivered in either a unique personal delivery or the conventional method (if you have the patience and trust the postal service with such a special delivery) can do the trick.

Gift Ideas

Depending on what type of girl you’re after, a gift may catch her attention and indicate that you are serious. Sending her a gift at her home or work may be easier for you and may allow her time to process your revelation. Traditional gifts include items such as flowers, jewelry, teddy bears, and chocolate covered-strawberries or other chocolates. Non-traditional gifts may show her that you know more about her than the average guy.

For instance, buying her the newest CD of her favorite artist shows that you care about the details of her life. Think about things that she is passionate about, like a pet or a hobby, or some piece of personal history that you share and buy a gift along those lines. Remember, though, you don’t want her to go out with you out of a sense of obligation because of your gift. Don’t go overboard. Save that for later.

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How to Grow a Butterfly Garden

A butterfly garden is a flower garden specifically planted to attract butterflies. Whether you take on this project alone or with your children, you will watch in wonder as butterflies come flocking to the garden you planted.

Gather Materials

Before you start planting, be sure you have all the materials you will need. Your garden will need flowering plants or seeds (see below for specific types of blooms), a clean, empty, plastic milk jug, large flat stones, and gardening tools.

Choose a Location

You will want to locate your butterfly garden in a sunny spot with good soil. Try to find a place that not only gets direct sunlight, but that is visible from your patio or windows so you can watch the butterflies enjoy your garden. Also, make sure your garden is in a location that will not be damaged by other pets or children playing.

Choose Your Flowers

Butterflies are attracted to fragrant flowers that have large petals or blossoms that grow in direct sunlight. Consider flowers such as giant swallowtail, prickly ash, swallowtail ash, violets, pansy, pearl crescent, asters, milkweed, ageratum, bee balm, bougainvillea, calendula, coneflower, dahlia, daylily, geranium, hibiscus, marigold, milkweed, snapdragon, yellow sage, and zinnia. These types of flowers provide easy access to the nectar that butterflies love to eat.

Plant Seeds or Seedlings

Once you have your spot picked out, prepare the soil, making sure it is moist, and plant your seeds or seedlings. If you are planting seeds, be certain to follow the instructions on the seed packet. Remember that butterflies tend to migrate to groups of flowers, so plant your flowers in bunches.

Add Other Elements

Your garden will not just consist of flowers. Provide places for the butterflies to rest and bask in the sunlight and socialize. Place some flat stones near the flowers where the butterflies to land. Also, dig a small hole and place the milk jug inside the shallow hole after you have cut off the top of the jug. You may choose to lay some stones over the edge of the jug to keep it from blowing away and to give the butterflies more sunny spots to perch. Fill the jug with fresh water. This puddle will give the butterflies drinking water and a place to socialize.

Decorate Your Garden

The extra elements in your garden don’t have to just be for the butterflies. You may choose to decorate your garden to make it more pleasing to the humans that visit it. Add a small fountain or garden arbors to enhance the look of your butterfly garden. Once you have finished putting everything together, watch and wait for the butterflies to come!

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How to Attract Butterflies

If your perfect garden comes complete with flittering butterflies, you must attract them using the proper collection of plants. Fortunately, these plants are easy enough to find in nurseries and do not require a great deal of work outside of your normal gardening routines. All butterfly attracting plants have a similar element, however – they all possess a great deal of nectar.

Plant a Butterfly Friendly Garden

When you plant your garden, design it with butterflies in mind. Include flowering plants that have been proven to attract butterflies with their nectar. Some of those plants include lilies, lavender, thistle, blanket flower, and rock cress. Additionally any other flower, even wildflowers, with high amounts of nectar can attract butterflies.

Plant a large variety of bright and colorful plants. Arrange plants in clusters so that you have bold splashes of color in various sections of the garden. Butterflies are attracted to large riotous splashes of color, so don’t be timid when it comes to planting flowering shrubs or even trees.

Give Them Mud

Balance these flowers with a small water garden. Growing irises around a pond beside your butterfly garden can create a variety as well as give butterflies a full habitat right in your backyard. The pond can also help create a mud patch. Butterflies love to frolic in the mud, and you can make yours even more appealing with a few pieces of fermenting fruit.

Experiment over Time

Each season, try new plants with different colors and blooms to see if you can attract more butterflies and their caterpillars. Over the years you’ll soon find the perfect recipe for attracting the butterflies native to your area.

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How to Attract Birds

If you’d like nothing better than to gaze out into your garden and see birds frolicking about, you’d do well to actively recruit them. Here’s how to attract birds to your garden.

Plant a Food Supply

If you want birds to stay in your garden without the help of bird feeders, you should plant a variety of shrubs, trees and flowers that actually provide food for birds year-round. Start with a good mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Deciduous trees produce fruit and nuts while evergreens provide pinecones and berries. Both plant types offer a place for birds to nest and visit.

Reduce Lawn

You’ll want to reduce the amount of space the lawn takes up in your yard. Bare expanses of grass have little or no attraction for birds. Build up your garden with a collection of plants in close quarters. Consider a path and arbor through a variety of blooms and fruit trees. Give the bird something to hide and nest in.

Provide Water

You’ll also want to provide your feathered friends with a source of water. A bird bath makes an attractive addition to a garden or you can install a small pond or fountain for appeal as well as a location for birds to drink and bathe.

Bird Feeders

While waiting for your garden to grow, or if you’re simply unable to build the kind of garden to attract birds, you can also install a bird feeder in your backyard. Be sure the feeder is well stocked with birdseed on a daily basis and hung far enough away from the house and action that birds feel safe. Then, sit back and enjoy the birds that come by for a quick snack.

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How to Plant Daffodils

Daffodils, one of the top ten bulbs to plant for spring, are simple to plant and even easier to grow. Daffodils are planted in the fall, but their cheerful heavy blooms are most often recognized as forerunners of the spring. Here’s how to plant your own daffodils.

Select Daffodil Bulbs

When selecting the actual bulbs to plant, you want to find large heavy bulbs. Light bulbs may have a shriveled plant inside or have been eaten by internal parasites. Small bulbs may be easier to transport, but may not flower in the first year. Gather as many large bulbs as you’d like, be sure you have gardening gloves and a trowel, and you’re ready to plant.

Plant Daffodil Bulbs

You can plant daffodil bulbs anywhere in the full sun, so long as you water them occasionally. Daffodils will naturalize by multiplying underground which means you many have many repeat blooms in subsequent years.

Find soil with a pH of 6-7 in the full sun. Dig a small hole for the bulb. Place the bulb inside the hole and cover loosely with dirt. Apply a slow release bulb fertilizer in the fall, and then water occasionally until blooms appear in the spring.

Thin and Separate

After the bulbs are done blooming, dig up clusters of daffodils and replant each one separately. Daffodils grow well in most climates and with care you should be able to enjoy the blooms year after year.

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How to Grow Annuals

Planting annuals in season can bring color and vibrancy to your garden and make your landscaping the envy of the neighborhood. With just a little work, and after learning how to grow annuals, you can have a beautiful assortment of colorful flowers blooming in your own yard.

Seeds or Seedlings

First, you need to decide if you are going to grow your annuals from seed or plant established seedings. Buying established plants is more expensive than starting from seed, but it is also much easier and will give you your desired results quicker. Growing flowers from seed takes a little more skill and patience, but can be very rewarding when you have hundreds of flowers for the same cost of a dozen established ones.

Choose Your Flowers

Annuals by definition are flowers that have a lifespan of one season only, as opposed to perennials, which bloom again and again year after year. If you choose to grow from seed, look carefully at the seed packets to find the plants that are right for you. Those with shorter germinations times are easier to grow than those with longer germination periods, and some seed packets will be marked as a beginner level plant.

If you are using established plants, find some that do not have roots growing out of the bottom of the container and do not have many flowers already on them. While ultimately you want flowers, you want plants that will first put their energy into establishing strong root systems. Plants that are already flowering are already putting more energy into that than into developing roots.

Plant Your Flowers

Plant the annuals following the directions on the package, with one exception. For premium visual effect, plant them about twenty-five percent closer together than the label recommends. The recommended distance is for optimal plant health rather than best visual effect. Use fertilizer or other soil treatments depending on the needs of your soil and your plants. Pinch off any existing blooms to encourage a better root system. This will produce more flowers in the long run.

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How to Make Christmas Table Decorations

The shopping is done, the tree is decorated, the presents are wrapped, but something is still missing. When all your guests gather around the table for the Christmas dinner you have spent hours preparing, what will they see? A bare tabletop? Let’s hope not. With a few simple touches, your dinner table can become a showcase for some beautiful Christmas decorations.

Centerpiece

The centerpiece will be the focal point of your table, at least until Aunt Mary starts telling embarrassing old family stories. While you can purchase a fresh or silk flower arrangement, a sculpture or figurine of some kind, or a potted poinsettia, there are other options that you can assemble yourself on a budget. Try filling a pair of clear glass hurricane lamps with cheap and colorful glass globe Christmas ornaments. You can also use a vase to hold peppermints or small red and green candies. Use the candy to support a classic taper candle or a small group of artificial flowers fitting for the winter season.

Napkin Rings

A great opportunity to add a personal touch to your table is with your napkin rings. Napkin rings can be a pricy investment, or they can be a creative outlet of your holiday spirit. For a basic approach, cut one inch segments from the cardboard tube inside your wrapping paper. You can cover these with the wrapping paper itself, or paint or color the cardboard. Hot glue a small ornament to the top of the napkin ring. Another option is to string festive beads or buttons on a piece of elastic. Whatever you create, your guests will appreciate the time and creativity you invested in this Christmas decoration.

Placecards

For large or small crowds, use placecards to not only help guests find their place at the table, but to showcase your holiday spirit. You can adapt gift tags to be placecards, or glue rectangles of wrapping paper on a stiff backing and write guests’ names on your homemade place card. Another option is to cut a Christmassy shape such as a star or bell out of cardboard and cover it with aluminum foil. A permanent marker will have no problem writing on the surface, making a lovely placecard.

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How to Decorate a Patio

A patio can be a lovely extension of your home, or it can be a big bare slab of concrete. The difference is just in the decoration. With a few simple touches or even a sizable investment, you can make an outdoor living area that will be a joy to spend time in or entertain on.

Consider Your Budget

The main thing to consider when beginning this process is your budget. How much do you have to spend on this project? Can you afford a makeover or are you just in the market for a few inexpensive touch-ups? If you have the money, you can hire a landscaper to surround your patio with lush vegetation, some shady trees, or some cheery floral annuals.

Or, you can invest in some durable patio furniture like a table with an umbrella and matching chairs, an outdoor bar, or outdoor fireplace or chiminea. Perhaps you want to take your culinary flair outside and you choose to invest in an outdoor kitchen or gas grill. Don’t be discouraged if these ideas are out of your budget. A few less extravagant purchases can make a difference, too. Once you have an idea of what you can afford, you will be better prepared to make a plan to decorate your patio.

Choose a Theme

Some people choose to have a central theme with their patio decorations. From garden gnomes to birdhouses to dragonfly décor, a theme can bring your decorations together for a more well-thought-out effect. Without a theme, you can still decorate tastefully, or you may end up with a motley assortment of uncoordinated items.

Go Shopping

Once you have a budget and a theme, it’s time to start shopping. You may want to look for decorative pots in which to grow some herbs, flowers, or greenery. Perhaps the relaxing sound of running water sounds good to you and you want to shop for a little fountain. There are a large assortment of figurines and ceramic or metal decorations to adorn your garden. Don’t forget to find a centerpiece for your patio table! From candles to outdoor wall hangings, you have limitless options to express your style and transform your patio into a showcase for your creativity.

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How to Throw a Garden Party

What better way to enjoy a beautiful day or the changing of the seasons than by throwing a garden party! Not only will your guests enjoy getting to spend time outside, they will also appreciate the novelty of a garden party and you will be able to showcase your patio or backyard that you have taken great pains to make perfect.

Furnish the Party

A party in your backyard will only succeed if furnished properly. Be sure you provide your guests with places to sit and a table or two to serve food and place plates and drinks. You can use patio furniture with matching chairs, or just pull out a folding table and cover it with a decorative tablecloth and invite guests to bring their own lawn chairs. Whether formal or casual, your party will center around the furniture.

Choose Your Decorations

To differentiate between a casual backyard gathering and a marvelous garden party, decorate! You can select a theme, such as a Victorian gala with frilly lace and tea and scones to a Chinese celebration with paper lanterns hanging from your trees. Cover your table with a festive tablecloth, use garden flags to add some color, fill terra cotta pots with brilliantly colored flowers, or set candles afloat in a pool. When your guests arrive, the stage will be set for a fantastic time!

Send the Invitations

Without guests, your party wouldn’t be a party at all. You can incorporate your theme into your invitations, but be sure it is clear to your guests that the party will be outside so they can dress accordingly. If there is a dress code or a theme you want your guests to participate in, be sure to let them know that information as well. To ensure you have a good idea of how many guests to prepare for, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to include an RSVP request.

Prepare the Food

For a garden party, your cuisine can match the theme, or you can assemble your favorite finger foods. Be sure you have plenty of cold drinks, especially if your party is on a warm day. Since your guests will be enjoying the outdoors, incorporate fresh food into your banquet, offering an assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables.

Have a Back-Up Plan

As with any out-of-doors event, you can’t control everything, and bad weather could send you scurrying. Be sure you have a back-up plan in case it rains on your parade. Be ready to move inside, to a covered porch or gazebo, or provide awnings or tents to keep your guests dry and comfortable. If the weather doesn’t cooperate with your plan, don’t despair! Your party will be a success if you keep a positive attitude and are flexible.

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