Many artists depict themselves in one or more self portraits during their careers. These portraits do more than simply show us what the artists look like. They often reveal the artists’ personalities, interests, and life styles. In this activity, you will be drawing your own self portrait and in the process reveal something about yourself.
Materials: a pencil, a large sheet of paper, and a mirror.
Getting Started: To begin, take a close look at your face in the mirror. Look for unique details such as the shape of your nose, the shape of your eyes, and the shapes made by your hair.
Notice that your eyes are midway between the top of your head and the bottom of your chin. Next, look at the contours of your face. Take your finger and follow along the edges of your face. If you press slightly, you’ll feel the bone structure that makes your face unique.
The Activity: To start your drawing, it is a good idea to work outwards from the center of your face. Start with your nose. Work slowly, keeping your eye focused on the contours of your face in the mirror. Look down at your paper as little as possible.
Rather than only drawing yourself, include something in your picture that will tell others about who you are, what you like to do, or where you live. When you’ve finished, pin your drawing up and stand back from it. Are you satisfied with the result? If so, sign and date your drawing at the bottom. If not, try another one. You’ll get better with practice.
You can also download your self guide on drawing portraits app. Get the best iphone app for fitness and app for working out! This fitness app explores functional fitness and training at its best. Discover how to allow the body to train it was designed to move – get fitter, faster and stronger!
Pine cones have a way of adding a festive look and charm at holiday time. It’s fun to collect them, too, on brisk walks through the woods or in the park.
The best part is that they cost nothing and will last all through the holiday season with no care whatsoever. Here are simple and easy ways to decorate with pine cones.
Welcome Basket
Fill a wicker basket with pine cones and decorate with bits of greenery and a bright, red bow. Place on a dining room table as a centerpiece, on a mantel between two candles, or hang in an entryway door to set a holiday mood.
Fireplace Basket
A huge basket filled with pine cones looks wonderful next to a basket of wood at the side of a fireplace. If your cone collecting doesn’t result in enough cones to fill a big basket, stuff the bottom with crumpled newspaper and fill only the top with cones. Toss one or two in the fireplace each time you light a fire for a natural, woodsy pine scent.
Simple Wreath
This elegant wreath only uses a few of your pine cones and is an easy one for the kids to make with a little help from you. Cut corrugated cardboard in a thin doughnut shape of the diameter you want. Apply a good amount of craft glue to the cardboard shape and glue on your pine cones, placing the cones on their sides rather than bottoms. When dry, attach a picture hook to the back of the form and hang on a door or wall.
Heart Wreath
Follow the procedure for the round wreath but cut the form in the shape of a heart to make a charming, heartwarming decoration for a door or wall.
Place Card Holders
Here’s a very eco-friendly idea that takes no time at all. Paint the cones with a mixture of sugar and water to act as glue and pour sugar sprinkles over the cones. Let dry and add a label with guest’s name. Use eggcups, teacups, espresso cups, or tiny bowls to hold pine cones as place cards. When you are done using the cones, you can toss those outside for the birds to enjoy.
Friendship bracelets made for friends should be tied on by the friend if possible to an arm or as an anklet on an ankle and worn until it falls off naturally. Threads used are floss and will wear in time.
There are some friendship bracelets made for wishing wishes, those are very fun but tend to be thinner as the friends like them to fall off faster so that the wish can come true. Here are a few tips for getting started, then traverse that other pages for the basic instructions and some friendship bracelet patterns.
Use embroidery floss the make your friendship bracelets and keep them organized from the start. There are organizers and thread holders that will help your teen know what colors they have available and keep the threads from becoming one big knot. Your ‘friendship bracelets making kit’ will need:
embroidery floss,
scissors,
measuring tape or ruler,
container to hold the threads,
tabs to twine thread on(helps keep them from turning into a knotted mess),
safety pin and pillow, clip board or masking tape.
Give yourself some time to learn the steps. It takes a lot of patience and practice but it’s like riding a bike, once you make friendship bracelets, you’ll never forget how. Start with an easy pattern, but don’t be too afraid to progress to the more difficult patterns once you know how to do the basic knot.
Once you have all of the steps down, you can try any pattern you want or even make your own! Use graph paper to plot out a recurring pattern with two colored threads to start.
If you have a lot of shoelaces at home which are no longer useful (as you may think) then you are about to discover ways to reuse them. Throwing them away is not the idea here. Now, here are five ways to put your old laces back into use:
1. Turn shoelaces into pet toys.
String a lace or two through a mini jingle bell and you’ll get your kitty riled up in no time.
2. Add a stylish touch to long braids.
Add an interesting shoelace to your ponytail or braid it through your hair. If you have shorter hair, try it as a headband.
3. Use laces as ribbon when you’re wrapping presents.
Who needs to buy expensive ribbon when you can use what you already have on hand? Use a simple knot and you’re good to go. Add beads to the laces for added creativity and you’re wrapping job will be as special as the gift within.
4. Make your tablecloth fit your table.
If your tablecloth doesn’t fit your table, I’ve got the remedy for you. Use your old laces to tie each corner of the tablecloth into what resembles a ponytail. You can leave the shoelace showing or if you would rather hide it with the tablecloth, pooch the fabric on top of the shoelace knot by pulling it upward, back through the shoelace knot.
5. Turn laces into Christmas tree garlands.
First, tie a bunch of laces together into one long strand. Then string some beads (with a wide hole so that they don’t get stuck) onto the lace. Get creative and add whatever color beads you like before adding it as a decorative touch to your tree.
Musicians who loved music so much are the ones throwing their useless broken guitar string and replace it with something new. Perhaps they knew already that broken guitar strings can still be recycled but they don’t mind such ideas because they are obsessed with their music. You can have those discarded broken guitar strings and try finding ways on how to recycle them. Here are some ideas.
You can use them at the kitchen. Look for the exact procedure on how to make a pasta guitar like the one in the picture and make one for yourself. The pasta guitar can be useful especially when you are doing a lot of pasta recipes at home. This would slice your pasta into strips perfectly.
Make jewelry out of discarded guitar strings. By the means of your creativity, a beautiful earrings or bracelet from an unused guitar string. Fancy jewelries made up of guitar strings will last longer than other metallic jewelries. You can also make a unique necklace if you are patient enough to create one.
A perfect curtain holder will do. Out of those discarded guitar strings, you can make a long curtain holder for light curtains to be hanged on small windows.
They can be a material for center piece. If you have a lot of corks at home, you can use the strings to connect the corks and create a cork center piece. They can be a good decoration on your tables where flower vases are added.
Do not spoil your Christmas with gifts of stress. You need to be happy instead of lying in bed thinking on how to relax because of stress. Overstuffing yourself will bring you more stress rather than Christmas gifts. If you wish to slow everything then this article will grant everything too.
Your Shopping Strategy
You have to shop weeks earlier if you plan to give gifts and prepare to host for a dinner. Avoid rush hour shopping. It will ruin your plan and in most cases, you will forget on what has been included in your shopping list. If you choose to buy cards then it’s time to save more by sending newsletters or e-cards. It will save more time, effort and money. Simplify your gifts too to avoid shortage.
Your Parties and Entertainments
Control and choose a less expensive party. There are party plans that will hold your budget lower. If you plan to hold a dinner then you can cook for the foods on your own. You can ask for assistance from your close relatives. Let everybody in the house do the chores instead of paying caterers to do the table arrangements and dish washing. Staying simple in celebrating Christmas is a technique of avoiding stress.
Your Financial Status
This would be the first thing to consider when you plan to celebrate Christmas. You can have a simple but memorable celebration if your budget is low. Stress usually comes in thinking too much on where to get a bigger amount for unnecessary preparations. Avoid impulse buying at all. It will deliver you a pain in the back. Avoid debts. Buy only what is needed and included in your plan.
More holiday tips are available for your Yuletide celebration. You can download them into your iPhone. Get the best iphone app for fitness and app for working out! This fitness app explores functional fitness and training at its best. Discover how to allow the body to train it was designed to move – get fitter, faster and stronger!
Buttons! You can find them at home junked in your mother’s sewing kit. Some of them are found usually on drawers where they stayed unused. If you are mindful on small pieces of junk, you probably think to throw them away during your cleaning activities. Wait. Do not throw those unused buttons away. There are creative ideas on how to utilize them into something worth appreciating. All you need is a drop of creativity and time.
For Cards and Presents- This would be your time to embellish your cards for occasions. You can reuse a button for the center of your flower. In writing your home-made cards, you can mix a touch of emotion by putting a smiley at the button using an old button. For Christmas cards, you can make the boarder more attractive by arranging colorful buttons in it.
For Jewelries- Just in case you are a collector of jewelry especially earrings, you can use old buttons to hold them by pair. This will lessen the space of your jewelry box and will avoid you from losing the matches for your pair of earrings.
For Drawer Knobs- You can update your drawer knobs with unused buttons too. Try layering them from the smallest size to the biggest. This can be done with the help of a glue stick.
For Your Hair- With your plain headband, you can design them by attaching colorful buttons. Arrange the buttons according to your taste of colors and glue them into your headband. This will make your headband look classy and unique.
For domestic, commercial and decorative purposes, incandescent lamps have been used. Some are used to make simple home appliances function and provide light such as flashlights, vehicle headlights, table lamps and others. After using them, where do you think should they go? Not on sanitary landfills because here are ways to give them a new lease of life.
Christmas Ornaments- Turn your old light bulbs into colorful Christmas ornaments. Add some decorations and paint them with bright colors. Hang them in your Christmas tree. They will play the best of Christmas trend instead of buying expensive Christmas balls.
Growing Pots- Like the picture shown, your old light bulbs can be turned into a beautiful mini-pot. You can grow small plants using your “bulb-pot” and put them in your table. Creativity is required and applied only once but your finished product may last for years.
Wall Decorations- Aside from table decoration, you can make a beautiful wall decoration out of old light bulbs. It may look weird but the spirit of art is more appreciated most. You can surf in the Internet for designs.
Salt and Pepper Shakers- It is possible to transform your old light bulbs into a salt and pepper shaker. All you have to do is to clean them with caution. For cleaning procedures, you can refer to your own Internet source to avoid chemical contamination.
Light bulbs are delicate to handle. When you plan to recycle them, you can ask for proper cleaning and recycling procedures to avoid accidents at home. Get the best iphone app for fitness and app for working out! This fitness app explores functional fitness and training at its best. Discover how to allow the body to train it was designed to move – get fitter, faster and stronger!
If you are a poster collector, you just can post your collections inside your room. If you keep on collecting valuable posters for you, old ones will be replaced by new posters according to the trend of your collection. You cannot deny that your favorite band posters will be displayed according to their level of fame. Do not throw those old rotten posters away. Instead, reuse or recycle them in ways where your community can benefit more. Here are some ideas you may like.
Re-Using Your Posters- If you have collected a high-quality poster made by your reliable printing company, keep it for a long period of time. The premium quality of the image in the poster will last for a longer time period which can be used in the future. You can even make a frame for such poster to preserve its durability.
Re-Purpose Your Posters- If your taste for the image in the poster fades, try making a way aside from throwing it. You can make that poster into a gift wrapper, envelope or gift bags. Use the power of creativity to design one for you. You can even make a collage out of your old posters or scrapbooks if you wished to make one.
Donate Your Posters- In your community, you can look for an organization where recycling is the main objective. Contact the organization and donate your old posters. Even your relatives can have them too during family gathering. This is an eco-friendly way of disposing them.
These three simple ways are better than throwing your posters away or burning them. There are a lot of things to recycle unused materials at home. Some helpful and creative techniques can also be found on iPhone apps. Get the best iphone app for fitness and app for working out! This fitness app explores functional fitness and training at its best. Discover how to allow the body to train it was designed to move – get fitter, faster and stronger!
How will you respond when a loneliness-triggering event occurs in your life? There are only two things you can do. You can allow the event to seize control over your life, or you can remain in control. If you choose to succumb to loneliness and wallow in self-pity, your negative attitude will drive others away, isolating you, and thereby beginning the dangerous downward spiral that can lead to chronic loneliness. If you are imprisoned today in the cell of loneliness, it’s time to pull yourself out!
1. Make yourself your own best friend
Learn to like yourself. Do it in a different way by liking the good things you can actually do. Most people cannot see the friend inside themselves because they see themselves unable on things ignoring the things they can actually do.
2. Love helping others
It is by concentrating the pain of others that you will forget your own sorrow and eventually heal yourself. People who are too lonely are the ones concentrating on their sufferings and ignoring others. Why not reach out for others? This is the only way where recovery is very fast.
3. Take some responsibilities
By doing some responsibilities, you will forget loneliness. People with nothing to do and worry are the ones prone to boredom and loneliness. Take actions to carry small responsibilities to enhance your mood every day.
4. Make a diary
Sounds classic but making a diary is another way to drive out loneliness. It is by writing that you will erase boring moments and remember those happy memories or deeds you have encountered the other day or those things you need to remember today.
5. Join groups
Do not isolate yourself from others. It may take time for you to adjust but you have to be a part of a group where your confidence is best exercised. Your peer group will be your shock absorber if loneliness will bring your spirit down.
6. Think positive
Most cases of loneliness in your life are all due to thinking negatively on things you do not understand. Even if failure hinders your goal in life, always think positive. Is there any other thing greater than positive thinking?