Decorating for birthday parties can be just as exciting as the birthday itself.  Children who have upcoming birthdays just can not seem to wait for their big day to arrive, so stretch out the fun by decorating ahead of time.  There are many ways to brighten up a room for the special day, but more often than not, children love to make the decorations themselves.  And an added plus is that it makes it easier on your budget too.

Buying paper streamers to twirl and hang from above adds to the birthday occasion.  Making construction paper decorations is simple too.  Your child may even want to make their own party invitations to send out before their birthday.  The invitations can be hand delivered or mailed out to people before the party.  You can find web sites on packages of candy that will help with all kinds of party activities, including games, decorations and invitations to use.  There is a web site for a popular brand of crayon that has so many activities for children that it will boggle your mind.  I wish we had had these kinds of resources when our children were growing up.  But it makes being a grandparent all the more fun to use the sources now, and we have more time on our hands than the children’s parents do with their busy work schedules.  Use libraries and other community sources to get decorating ideas from, and introduce the birthday boy or girl to that great adventure place for future reference work they may have in school.

There have been times when I try to remember the titles of stories I read to my children years ago, and draw a total blank in my mind.  I remember bits of the story, but not the title.  I’ve wished many times that I had thought to keep a record of some kind, in order to look them up to read the ‘old’ stories to our grandchildren.

While you are a young parent, make a file box with the story titles that you read, or teach, to your children.  Include nursery rhymes and poems or songs that you learn together.  Someday you will be glad you did this to have a reference to come back to.  Some of the older nursery rhymes, songs and poems are no longer included in the more modern books for children.  You may be able to find them through search engines on the internet if you can remember enough the words to do so.  Putting the information of favorite titles in your child’s albums when they are growing up could be the only file reference you may need.  Make sure the information is somewhere besides in your head.  There will come a day when you just can’t remember all of the words to the old favorites from childhood.

     I enjoy gardening, and you can tell it by the yard around our home.  When planting, water is the key ingredient to add.  Digging the hole for the plant at just the right depth, using fertilize, and all of those other things are important; but without adding water at the same time, the growth of the plant will be slow.  Pour water in the hole before covering the plant with soil.  This will make the soil softer for the finger roots of the the plant to grow into for the first few days.

Usually a quart of water will do at the time of planting, but you will need to water thoroughly more often if your region does not get rain regularly.  Watering too little will cause the roots to grow toward the top of the soil instead of downward.  After the plant seems to be establishing roots and growing, you can cut back on watering.  Over watering may cause the plant to develop yellow leaves.  Get the whole family involved in watering and weeding around the plants.  Enjoy your gardens with regular care for them, and you will be getting exercise for yourself too.

When you want an inexpensive way to give a gift, try your hand at covering boxes. You can cover them with fabric, paper, or you could try your hand at painting them. Use a tacky glue when using the paper or fabric to make the boxes. And when painting them, always use a solid coat of white or colored paint to cover the printing on the box before painting the last coat of paint or designs you wish to have as the top coat. You may have to paint one or two layers of the bottom coats of paint, but always allow the separate layers to dry thoroughly before adding another one.

Lining the inside of the boxes with velvet or paper gives the project a nice finished look. Anyone receiving the gift in your homemade box will get two gifts in one. They can use the gift box for anything they would like after opening it up.

      The best method I’ve found for cleaning paint off windows is to use a single edged razor blade.  Most discount stores carry a hand tool, found in the paint department, that is made specifically for this chore.  Regular single edged razor blades are usually used as replacements when the blade in the tool gets dull.

Don’t cut deeply into the putty on the edges of the windows, or you will risk breaking the seal.  The tool mentioned above is the safest way to get the paint off.   Use of a knife is not recommended because it does not have the flat surface that the paint razor tool has.  You will end up spending much more time on the job with a knife too, and they are not as safe.

     The next time you are ready to throw out an old pair of tennis shoes that are past wearing, make tennis shoe flower pots out of them instead.  They will still last for years in a flower bed.  Simply fill the shoes with potting soil, add a small plant such as rose moss or petunia, and water it every few days during the growing season.  The shoes can be placed together or put them in different flower beds around your home.  Having a pair by your front door will bring a smile to those visiting you.

To keep the plants growing well, add a small amount of fertilizer a time or two a month.  You will be surprised how many people will notice the shoes, and it is a humorous way to recycle too!

     We all like to make things more attractive that will be sitting on our desks.  Making a CD holder cover is easy, and it makes the container fit in with your room decor if you use a fabric that matches other things on your desk.  Pick a fabric that works well with all your items.  If you have a lot of solid colors, you may want to try a dark matching plaid for men, or a pastel plaid for the ladies.

Lay the holder down on the wrong side of a piece of fabric you chose to make the project out of.  Draw a line around the bottom shape of the container, coming out about one inch from the container itself.  Now, measure the container from the top to the bottom on the side.  Then add two inches to the width of that piece of fabric from top to bottom.  Lastly, measure how long a piece of cloth you will need by measuring around the sides of the container, and add two inches to that figure.  Using the top to bottom measurement, and the side to side figure, you can cut out a piece of fabric.  Sew the long piece of fabric together using a 1/4 inch seam allowance.  Pin the circle to the long piece of cloth, forming the bottom of your CD holder cover (you may need to make a few tucks in the long piece to get it to go around the circle, or you may gather the long piece, and then sew it to the circle).  After you have the bottom sewn in place, go to the top of the side fabric and make a hem (make sure you leave an opening to thread a drawstring through).  After threading the drawstring through the top hemmed part of the fabric, tie the string together.  You can draw the string to close the top of the CD holder a bit to keep dust off the CDs.

The holder will look much more attractive sitting on your desk, and you will find it quicker with the new bright material it will be covered with.

     When you would like to see your book shelves a little less cluttered, you might want to use book cataloging as one method to try.  This method will help keep other unexpected items from getting shoved into the space you reserve for this purpose alone.  You can find information on how to accession books at any local library, if you want to get into a more complicated way to keep track of your books.  Librarians are very helpful to anyone.

If you could provide shelves for this project alone, they will be more likely to stay clutter-free.  If part of the shelves are empty, sit a non-breakable treasured family item on the shelf, or display a collection you have in the space to keep clutter from taking over.  You may want to have a small recipe file box with index cards in it nearby for those who want to borrow books from your shelves.  We all think we can remember who borrowed books from us the last time, but give it a few weeks and you will wish you had it written down somewhere.  On an index card, write down the book title, the borrower’s name, date and phone number.  Having your own system does not have to be like rocket science.  You can make it simple.  Put the cards in alphabetical order by the book title, or by using the borrower’s name.  Be consistent in the method you use to find items quicker.

You can have fun with corks by decorating them to use for many things. Paint a few on the ends with a tiny flower or lady bug, and give as a hostess gift. Paint the top sides, above where it would stick in a bottle, with stripes or some other pattern. Now use them to keep soft drinks from losing their carbonation at a party. They will look more festive than a plain old lid, and the corks will be quicker to get on and off too. Keep the lids to store drinks with after the party is over.

Use slices of corks to glue around the edge of a picture frame in a room that has a seashore theme. Use waterproof glue to put a cork on small things used on a boat. If the item falls in the water, the cork will keep it afloat until you can retrieve it. Also using waterproof glue, place corks around the bottom of a serving tray to keep it afloat in the pool to put drinks or snacks on while you enjoy the water. Remember that you will have to use all corks of the same size for this project to keep the tray in balance. The more weight you have on the tray, the bigger the corks need to be (and place them closer together).

     I buy packages of tea cozies, for sitting drinks on, at a party store.  I then decorate them to my liking with drawings or stickers.  If you can’t draw well, Try taping a small picture to a bright outside window.  Then hold the tea cozy up to the window and trace the picture.  You are an instant artist!

These are fun to make and sell for organizations too!  Just use the same tracing method to put your organization’s logo on the tea cozy (make sure you get copyright permission to do this if needed).  Don’t forget that school teachers can use this for raising funds at a bazaar or seasonal festival too.  Have each classroom, or child, come up with their own picture to use on the tea cozies.  We all have a need to use cozies, so they would sell very quickly.