Decorating Jars for Your Holiday Gifts
January 24, 2012 | 
Author Use paint, labels, stencils, decoupage, and embellishments to make your jars look special. Match gifts and jar decorations to the person receiving the gift. Then attach a matching gift card to your jar.
Use glass canning jars, glass bottles, old-fashioned wire bail jars, recycled jars, antique jars, or plastic storage jars. Jars must have tight fitting lids.
Sterilize Jars for Food Gifts
The jars you use to package food gifts should be glass and sterilized before use.
Check all jars for chips and cracks. If chipped or cracked, don’t use for food. Use new lids.
Wash with hot, soapy water; then rinse.
To sterilize jars, place on a rack in a large pot and cover with water. Let water come to a boil and boil for 15 minutes. Remove from boiling water and let dry. Jars and lids can also be sterilized in your dishwasher.
Methods to Decorate Your Jars
Decorate With Paint
Always wash jar in hot soapy water to remove grease or residue.
Select a paint intended for use on the surface you are decorating. Read the label on the paint container to determine the paint’s compatibility with your surface. This rule goes for painting on glass, metal lids, or plastic jars and lids.
Acrylic craft paints are not permanent and can be rubbed or washed off.
Acrylic Glass Paints are best for glass jars. They come in a wide variety of pre-mixed colors in convenient squeeze bottles to decorate your gift jars. These types of paints can be baked in a home oven to make them more durable and washable. (Read the label) To bake, let the paint dry on the jar for 48 hours. Place glass jar in a conventional oven (not preheated) and heat to 325 degrees F. Bake for 10 minutes. Turn off the oven and allow jar to cool in oven before removing. After baking painted jars can be hand washed. Washing in a dishwasher is not recommended.
Air-Dry Enamel Paints for Glass are opaque, brush-on glass paints available that air dry to a high-gloss, waterproof finish. Choose a brand that is water-based and non-toxic.
Paints for Plastic are brush-on paints especially formulated for adhering to plastic and dry to a durable, waterproof finish. Water-based types allow you to clean brushes and spills with soap and water.
Paint Pens are available in craft shops and come in a wide selection of colors. They are great for detailing and simple jar decoration.
Fabric Paints can be used for special effects like wording or facial features. Can also be used to decorate lids. They squeeze directly from the bottle.
Paint a design on the jar using pre-cut purchased stencils or a design you cut yourself from freezer paper. You can also paint the design on your jar free-hand. Draw the outline with a Sharpie Fine Point Permanent marker or paint free-hand. Use caution as the Sharpie marker will smudge on glass.
Decorate With Labels
Make paper labels created on your computer and then printed, or draw label on your choice of paper.
To give your labels an aged appearance spatter with brown acrylic paint thinned in water. Use an old tooth brush for spattering.
Lightly sponge the edges of the label using a dense foam sponge and the spattering mixture.
Allow labels to dry; then glue or decoupage to jar.
Decorate with Decoupage
Use Mod Podge Gloss Lustre decoupage medium for your jars.
Decoupage is done in three basic steps: cutting, gluing, and sealing.
Trim away excess paper from the image or picture you wish to use.
Using a foam brush, lightly coat the back of the image with decoupage medium. Position the image on the surface and smooth it with your fingers, pushing out wrinkles and air bubbles. Allow to dry.
Apply two or three coats of decoupage medium over the image with a foam brush to seal the paper. The image appears cloudy when wet, but will dry crystal clear.
Decoupaged jars can be wiped with a damp cloth to clean but cannot be washed in a
dishwasher or submerged in water.
You can create a paper collage jar using decoupage. A collage is a group of pictures or images layered and overlapped to form a display. Use printed photos, interesting paper, stamps, and stickers. Arrange the images by overlapping them for a decorative display. Attach and seal them with two or three coats of decoupage medium.
Decorate with Fabric
If you prefer not to decorate the outside of the glass or plastic jar, add decoration to the lid.
Cover the top of the jar lid with fabric or a small lace fabric or paper doily. Use holiday or gingham fabric cut with pinking sheers. Add three to four inches to the diameter dimension of the jar lid for coverage and decoration. A circular piece of batting can be used under the fabric for a stuffed appearance. A counted cross stitch design can also be used on top of the jar. Place the fabric over the lid on the jar or place over the lid seal and then add the screw-on band. Lace or braid can be glued around the band.
Embellishments
A variety of items can be used to embellish your decorated jar. Make your embellishment compliment the contents. If your gift jar contains a Gingerbread Cookie Mix attach a gingerbread man cookie cutter. Add a holiday cookie cutter to a Sugar Cookie Mix. Attach a tea ball or infuser to a jar of tea. Attach a wooden spoon, rubber spatula, or wire whisk to other mixes.
Make a tag or card to coordinate with the jar decoration or contents and attach with a ribbon or raffia.
Embellishments include ribbon, holiday garlands, gold braid or cord, raffia, lace, buttons, beads, charms, tassels, or bandanas.
Choosing Glues
For gluing items to jars, silicon-based glue for glass works best. It also works well for gluing wood to glass, metal to glass, or plastic to glass. It can also be used to attach items to metal or wooden lids. Silicone-based glue dries slowly so you will have to prop the jar carefully until the glue is dry.
A glue gun can be used for attaching light objects such as ribbon to the jar for instant hold.
White craft glue is used for gluing unbaked polymer pieces to a jar or lid before baking in the oven.
Gift Jar Contents
Use your imagination and consider who the gift is for when deciding on the contents. Food mixes are very popular. Gift jars can also contain sewing notions, keep sakes, games, snack foods such as trail mix, nuts n’ bolts or chex mix, candied nuts, candied popcorn, Christmas candy or jelly beans, coffee, tea, flavored vinegars and oils in glass bottles, potpourri or fragrance gel, bath salts, and a baked cake-in-a-jar.
If you plan to give a food mix, first choose the recipe and ingredients. Food mixes often look better when the ingredients for the mix are layered in the jar. The recipient can mix the ingredients before using them.
If you plan to give a mix you will need:
A small bottle to tamp down the ingredients as you layer or place them in the jar.
A canning funnel or piece of card stock to make a simple funnel for filling jars.
Paper towels to wipe powdery ingredients off inside of jar.
Tips for Packing Food Ingredients
Layer ingredients in the jar in the order given in the recipe.
Wipe down the sides of the jar with a clean paper towel after adding powdery ingredients such as sugar, cocoa, or flour before adding the next ingredient for a better appearance.
Pack down all ingredients firmly as they are added. If you don’t, you won’t have enough space to fit in all the ingredients. Generally, a quart holds 6 cups of packed down ingredients; a pint jar holds 3 cups of packed down ingredients.
If ingredients do not come to top of the jar, fill space with crumpled plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent the ingredients from shifting and mixing.
After packing ingredients into jar, seal with the lid. Attach a card with the recipe, instructions, a list of any additional ingredients, and a holiday greeting.
Baked Cake-in-a-Jar
Use a pint-sized wide-mouth canning jar with a two-part lid (flat seal and screw-on band) when baking a cake-in-a-jar. The wide mouth allows the cake to slide out of jar. Choose a cake-in-a-jar recipe or adjust your favorite cake recipe to make in jars. Place one cup of prepared cake mix in pint jar. Bake according to directions. Jars and lids must be sterilized before using. (Use new lids) Bake cake and add lid as soon as cake is removed from oven. Carefully place flat seal on top of jar and then the screw-on band. Jar is very hot so do not burn yourself. Allow jar to cool and then test to make sure the jar is sealed. If the cake does not seal properly, eat cake, refrigerate or freeze until ready to eat. The sealed jars of cake can be stored without refrigeration for up to two months. Attach a tag with the name of the cake and that says, “Best eaten before (two months from date the cake was baked).”
Give yourself plenty of time to decorate your gift jars and plan the contents for each person on your Christmas list. Fill the jars, then sit back and relax. Sip a cup of hot spiced cider and enjoy the holidays.
7 Steps Effective Strategic Planning Process
This TQM article provides an insight of a typical Strategic Planning Process that was used in several organizations and proven to be very practical in implementation. the key processes of this typical Strategic Planning Process are lined up into 7 steps. Detail of each steps are illustrated below:-
Step 1 – Review or develop Vision & Mission
Able to obtain first hand information from various stakeholders (Shareholders, customers, employee, suppliers communities etc).
You may use templates to evaluate how the stakeholders think about your organization. To find out whether their action are aligned with the organization’s objectives.
To review or develop company’s Vision and Mission with the involvement of other stakeholders to ensure it is still current with the business changes and new challenges. Also use this session as a mean for communication.
Step 2 – Business and operation analysis (SWOT Analysis etc)
One of the key consideration of strategic planning is to understand internal (own organization) Strengths and Weaknesses as well as external Threats and Opportunities. These are commonly known as the four factors of a S.W.O.T. analysis.
Involvement from various stakeholders to provide their points of view about your organization is key. In the process, you will gain better buy-in from these implementers of strategies and policies.
Step 3 – Develop and Select Strategic Options
You may use templates to develop several key possible strategies to address the organization’s objectives. More important, these possible strategies are develop based on the inputs from stakeholders (step 1) and Business and Operation analysis (step 2).
It is often several possible strategies are developed and everyone of them seems important. Since it is quite normal that an organization would have several key issues to tackle, you will be able to use a proper tools to select a few from the possible strategies. You will b e able to apply several prioritizing tools as introduced in this step.
Step 4 – Establish Strategic Objectives
During this step, you will be able to view the overall picture about the organization and able to select a few strategic options objectively. Template may be used to understand various strategic options, set key measures and broad time line to ensure the selected strategic options are achieved.
While it is quite common that measures and timeline is given by top management, it is the intention of this step 4 that these measures and timeline is SMART . What it meant was Specific (S), Measurable (M), Achievable (A), Realistic (R) and Time-bound (T). when the strategic options are SMART, it will help to ease the communication toward the lower level of the organizational hierarchy for implementation.
Step 5 – Strategy Execution Plan
Many organization failed to realize its full potential of its strategies are due to weak implementation. In this Step 5, a proper deployment plan is developed to implement these strategies.
Step 6 – Establish Resource Allocation
Very often, management team assigned selected strategies to key personnel and left it to the individual to carry out the task. While most organizations operate with minimum resources, it often ends up work overloaded by individual.
Step 7 – Execution Review
One of the key success factors for an effective strategy deployment is constant review of its progress and make decision for any deviations to plan. It is vital to decide what to review and with who the review is done. New decision may be required as the status of the strategies progressed.
In summary: Follow this 7-steps in Strategic Planning will ensure various options are considered including its execution, resource allocation d and Execution Review. This 7-Steps form a complete cycle for new or existing Strategic Planning initiatives
How To Date Your Fred Bear Bow
Since we have the opportunity to sell a lot of different items through our eBay Drop Off Store, certain things start to stick out that seem to sell extremely well. One item that sticks out are the vintage BEAR Recurve Bows.
Recently on an out of town trip we stopped by an antique store like we usually do and saw this recurve bow in the corner. Since we were already somewhat familiar with how well bows have sold from selling them for a client we naturally gravitated to it. It looked to be in excellent condition and came with a quiver and 3 different sets of arrows. The asking price was $100.00 and we ultimately got all of it for $75.00.
Based on the dating procedures listed below we determined that this was a Fred Bear Kodiak Recurve bow from 1965 in excellent condition. It was a 60″ bow with a 44# pull.
After we got the bow to our store we noticed that inside the big quiver was a smaller single quiver. Based on a light embossed marking on this smaller, leather quiver that we pulled out we were able to date it to the late 1940′s.
We decided to break this up into 3 different auctions and started all three at $9.99. The results of the auctions are listed at the end of this article.
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DATING YOUR FRED BEAR BOW
There are several features and changes that were made to the bear bows over the years that will help narrow the age of your bow or your potential investment.
1. The Serial Number: These bows usually have, what appears to be a hand inscription on one of the limbs that gives a serial number along with the length and pull weight of the bow. This serial number works very well for dating Bear Bows from 1965-1969 when the first digit of the serial number is the year of manufacture.
For example, a serial number of 5L212 would be a 1965 Bow.
Prior to 1965, the serial numbers for all Bear bows were started over every month, making these bows almost impossible to date by serial number alone. The “K” series of serial numbers (for example KZ9672) were started in 1970.
2. Patent Mark: Most of the BEAR Bows we have sold have the logo and the US Patents printed on it along with the date of CANADA 1953. This date that is printed on all bows made between 1953 and 1972 is simply the date of the patent for a working recurve limb and has nothing to do with the actual model year.
3. Decals & Silkscreening: In 1948 the small Running Bear decal was first and then was replaced by the large Standing Bear decal in mid-1953. The large Standing Bear decal also has the words “Glass Powered Bow” under the Standing Bear.
The large Standing Bear decal was used until 1955 when it was replaced with silk-screening the identification on the bows. By 1956 the silk-screening appeared on all bows.
4. All Wood vs Laminate: If your bow is ALL wood (no laminations of any kind) then your bow had to be made before the mass productions beginning in 1949.
If the ALL wood bow has a stamp that reads “Bear Products” in some form it would have been made before the early to mid 40′s.
If it is stamped “Bear Archery” it would have been made AFTER the early-mid 40′s and BEFORE 1949.
Also wooden bows with a small “Running Bear” decal can be dated to 1948
5. The Leather Grip: ALL Bear bows had leather grips until 1959. In 1959, the Kodiak Special removed the leather grip and in 1961 the Kodiak did the same, as well as the Grizzly in 1964.
6. The Coin Medallion: Beginning in 1959 all Bear bows had a coin medallion of one type of metal or another. Below are the approx date ranges for the type of coin used.
Copper Coin – 1959
Aluminum – 1960-1961
Pewter – 1962
Brass – 1963 – 1970
Nickel-Silver – 1971-1972
ALL coins were flush with the wood until 1972. In late 1972 the coin was raised above the surface of the bow and came in both gold and chrome covered plastic and are still used in Bear bows today.
7. Manufacturer Location: in 1978 Bear moved all manufacturing and offices to Gainesville, Florida. If your bow shows Gainesville on it then it was made after 1978
8. Model Of The Bow: Check the Model of the bow. Below is a yearly production chart for the most popular Bear Bows.
Wood Handle Take-Down 1969-1972
Wood C-Riser Victor Custom 1973-1975
Magnesium Handle Take-Down A-B-C 1971-1978
Kodiak Static Recurve 1950-1953
Kodiak Recurve 1954-1966
Super Kodiak 1967-1976
Grizzly Static Recurve 1949-1957
Grizzly Recurve 1958-1978
Super Magnum 48 1966-1976
Kodiak Magnum 52″ 1961-1977
Kodiak Hunter 58″ and 60″ 1967-1977
Tamerlane 1962-1968
Tamerlane HC-30 1965-1967
Tamerlane HC-300 1968-1972
Kodiak Special 1955-1967
Temujin 1968-1970
Tarter 1968-1972
Victor Patriot 1973-1977
Victor 1972
Polar (recurve) 1957-1970
Alaskan (leather grip semi-recurve) 1959-1961
Alaskan (recurve) 1966-1970
Tigercat 1964-1978
Bearcat 1964-1971
Black Bear 1972-1978
Little Bear 1965-1978
With this information you should be able to get really close to dating your Bear Bow if not pin-pointing it to the year.
If you are looking to price your bow I would suggest first logging into your ebay account and do a Completed Auction Search on the general keywords that match your bow, i.e. Bear Grizzly Recurve and see what has sold in the past 30 days.
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Our eBay Results: Within 6 hours of listing our 1965 Bear Bow by itself starting at $9.99 it had already reached $152.50 which was exciting but based on our research not surprising. What was surprising was that it stayed at $152.50 for the next 6 days. On the last day with 8 minutes left it was up to $182.50 with over 40 watchers. Usually on these types of auctions we tend to refresh and refresh and refresh the auction all the way to the end to watch the bidding but we got busy writing more listings and forgot. When we did remember to go back and check the auction it was over and had ended at $282.55
The other 2 auctions for the quivers and arrows sold for a total of $80.00. So our initial $75.00 Investment at an antique store ended in $362.55 in sales. That was almost a $300.00 profit (minus gas and eBay fees of course).
How To Dry Your Roses Perfectly So They Will Last Forever
The idea of a rose is timeless. The flower symbolizes all manner of pleasant things, from love, beauty, to youth. For millions of people from around the world have clipped roses and displayed them in their homes, and enjoyed them for their aroma and color. The idea of roses is timeless, yes, but they are not. You can, with a little effort, work to make them last forever by drying them, however. Once you know how to do it, you’ll ask yourself why you didn’t before, it’s so simple.
Why dry roses? Because fresh roses inevitably must die, and, if not dried, will be lost irrevocably. Drying roses maintains their beauty. With a little patience and less expense you can preserve exquisitely dried roses that look just as marvelous in vases as fresh ones do. And, you’ll be able to cherish them for a much longer time.
There two most widely used ways to dry roses are with air and with sand. Air drying is the easier of the two and requires only a good set of pruning sheers, a strip of wire, a clothes hanger and a dark place to hang the blooms to dry. First cut the stem off of the rose, as close to the roses head you can manage. Now you need to poke the wire into the rose head. The wire should be about 7 inches long. Then take the end of the wire and wrap it around the hanger so that the rose is hanging upside down.
Repeat this process until you have as many roses as you want or the hanger is full. Then, hang the hanger in the dry, dark spot and wait for the roses to dry. This will take somewhere around two to three weeks. Air drying requires little more than patience and some spare space, but you will be pleased with the results.
Sand drying is a bit more difficult, but works a bit better as well. For this method you need to cut the rose when it is at its prime, and then trim all but about an inch from the stem. Once you have done this, you need to take a piece of wire and stick it through the stem into the rose’s head. Then, take the rose and stick it into a box full of sand that is deep enough for the rose to stand up in. The sand must be white. Once the rose is set on the sand, very gently begin to cover the rose itself with sand. If you like, you can place multiple rose heads in a single box.
The goal is to use the sand to both maintain the shape of the rose and to draw out its moisture. Once every rose is well covered, take the box to an area suitable for drying and let it sit until they are all dry. When they are you can empty out the sand. Be careful! It is very easy to shatter a dried rose while emptying the sand! Compared to air drying, this is more difficult, but the results are even more impressive.
Other than air and sand drying, there is wax or desiccant drying. To dry roses in this manner is bit more complicated. Or you can simply place a rose between the pages of a book and wait for it to dry. However you manage to dry your roses, you’ll be producing wonderful, useful dried flowers, which are perfect as gifts, for home decorating, artwork, and many other things. Use your imagination and start preserving roses’ beauty!
Also as you start drying roses, don’t be discouraged if your first attempts are not perfect. Like any other art form, the drying of roses can take a bit of practice. Keep at it, and reap the rewards.
Costume Ideas For an ABC Party – Where Anything But Clothes – Goes
If you are looking to get everyone to come to your costume party dressed up, here is one sure-fire way to make it happen. Throw an ABC Party. ABC stands for anything but clothes. See, the trouble with many costume parties these days is that the theme is often very restrictive and many people just choose not to attend because they don’t have a costume in the designated theme. It can be a bit tougher to get a good turnout at your party with such limited options for the party-goers. The solution is an ABC Party.
Imagine getting invited to an Anything But Clothes Costume Party! The costume ideas are endless, if you walk into your garage, you can find duct tape, toolbets, boogie boards, cardboard, paint and the list goes on. I personally think a costume made entirely of duct tape would win best costume for the garage category.
For those that have a costume box – score! – anything in it will be superb! You might have a prom queen sash, a chicken mask, a Sombrero, and a cool pair of stilleto boots. All of these would be totally and completely acceptable and expected at an ABC Party. The beauty of an ABC party is that it leaves so much to the imagination of the person dressing up. You can be just about anything and it gives the party-goer so much room for creativity.
Another idea would be to use a covering of liquid latex, then add a splash of glow in the dark body paint, throw on a costume wig, a pair of costume shades and a wacky hat. Who really knows what you are, but then again, who really cares – it’s an ABC Party afterall.
More fun ideas for your next ABC Party now that you are properly pumped about the idea:
Saran wrap – One roll should suffice
Postage stamps – Kinda pricey, I know… but you’d be unique for sure!
Stickers of any kind – You know you have a collection of them from your childhood, put them to good use!
Bandaids – Everyone has these in their bathroom medicine cabinet
Gauze – Maybe a boring and uncreative one – but think mummy… or sexy mummy?
Cotton balls – Think stay puff marshmallow man
Foliage – fake or real – How about Adam and Eve
Tar and feathers – This is only for the committed ABC Party Attendee
Tin Foil – Sexy Tin Girl or Tin Man!
Surfboard bag – not sure how you’d make your face pointy to be the fin – perhaps a bit of cardboard also and poke some holes for the eyes.
There you have it. A number of fantastic ideas for the times we live in. Remember that the Costume Party MUST go on! To get the most creativity and individualism out of your party-goers, keep the party theme wide open and throw an ABC Costume Party this weekend. Anything But Clothes, goes.
How to Put Your Best Cricut Ideas Into Your Cricut Projects
Looking for some Cricut projects? Here are some Cricut ideas for you.
Now that you own your Cricut cutting machine, why don’t you start making great projects such as handmade greeting cards? Start selling them either at local craft shows, online, or at specialty shops in your area.
Now days everyone could use a little extra cash. Your first of many cricut projects will be to make an assortment of about 10 to 12 cards. Be creative, there are a ton of ideas you can think of. Included in this assortment you should have a couple of Birthday cards (make sure you make cards for women, men and also cards for children), make sure to include Thank You, Anniversary, Get Well and even a Sympathy card. Some more projects that you can make on your Cricut cutting machine would be to make blank inside note cards for any occasion. You can have some card ideas such as flowers that are layered on the cover with a rhinestone center, or maybe just the word hello decorated with some other shapes. You can package them up in sets of 4-6 cards. With your Cricut cutting machine making all kinds of projects are all at a touch of a button. All kinds of ideas will start flowing from your creative mind. You can even make decorated boxes to put your cards into.
Now you need to take your Cricut projects along with some of your ideas and take them around to a few shops (Florists, Bakery, Salons, and small Gift Shops) and talk to the owner. Have your pricing available for each shop owner. Make sure to personalize the price sheet with the name of the company that you are going to sell them at. You will come across looking like a very professional business person and not just a crafter trying to sell your card ideas. Some owners may even let you leave your cards in there shop on consignment and just take a percentage when you sell them. (I have done consignment in the past in at a local florist and also in an upscale nail salon and did great. What a better place to display your Cricut cards than in an atmosphere that is 95 percent women, who by the way are the best shoppers. Besides the cards that I sold in these shops, I also received special orders for Baby Showers and Birth Announcements) Just don’t forget to leave your business cards at these shops.
Customers may want to contact you personally for special orders. You can also sell online a great place online is called Shop Handmade, it’s great because it is free. Or you can also sell your Cricut projects at local craft shows. While creating your cards, don’t forget Christmas and other big holidays that people send cards such as Valentines Day, Easter, Mothers Day, Fathers Day!
Another of many projects you can make with your Cricut cutting machine is to create a Custom Baby Shower or Wedding Shower or even Wedding Invitation. There are so many ideas for these types of cards. There are a lot of Cricut cartridges that are made especially for these projects. In the Cricut Solution series there is a cartridges called Wedding for all the great wedding shapes you can think of and they also have Home Accent cartridge that has beautiful swirly shapes and flowers that you can also use for a wedding theme. If you decide to go the Baby Shower or Birth Announcement route, there are great cartridges such as New Arrival and soon to be released A Child’s Year.
Which ever route you take make sure that you make several samples in a variety of styles. Take them to Wedding Shows; contact Wedding Planners in your area, Bakeries, Florists and Baby Boutiques. I can’t stop thinking of ideas. I just had another one for a fantastic project. See I told you that your ideas will start to flow once you get started using your Cricut cutting machine. If you have any party centers for children birthday celebrations in your area you can offer decorated and personalize goodie bags, and Name tags. Show them samples of different themes that you have (depending on the Cricut cartridges that you have). You may even make up a catalog to leave there so customers will be able to see the selection that you have to offer.
Have fun and be creative. Cricut Ideas and Cricut projects will start popping into your head. I guarantee it!
Small Dogs – Different Breeds, Different Personalities
Small dog breeds are great pets, but since their personalities are all different, it’s a good idea to look at their individual characteristics to see if they fit with your lifestyle.
Pomeranians:
Pomeranians developed from a much larger dog breed and seem to have retained the mellow character. They are good with children if they have been raised with them from puppyhood. They are playful and active. They tend to bark and require daily grooming.
Chihuahuas:
Chihuahuas are an interesting small breed. I have raised several herds – and that is a good word for a group of chihuahuas – and their temperment is a bit different from other small dogs. They can be very aggressive towards other dog breeds. I adopted one chihuahua who kept attacking a German Shepherd who finally bit her. After she got out of the hospital she went after him again. I ended up with her because she wasn’t going to quit attacking bigger dogs. Some chihuahuas will growl and nip at small children. Good points – chihuahuas are very loyal and affectionate. They don’t require as much exercise as other small breeds so they make ideal pets for apartment dwellers or older people. They are good with cats.
Boston Terrier:
Good with children and other animals, the Boston terrier is a good small dog for families. They are suitable for any lifestyle. They can be aggressive chewers. Their short coat is easy to keep clean.
Jack Russell Terrier:
This dog breed is only for the most active owners. They love to chase balls, can hop onto a table with ease and can be aggressive if not trained properly. Very intelligent and lively, they require a lot of attention and discipline.
Maltese:
This small dog breed can be very protective of its owner. It is not suitable for families with children because they are very fragile.
Shitzu or Shih tzu:
Good natured and non-aggressive, these friendly little dogs make great family pets. They require daily brushing but their hair is non-shedding. Good with other animals.
Bichon Frise:
These little dogs make good family pets. They are good with children as well as other animals. Very intelligent, easy to train and lively. Their coat doesn’t shred.
Dachshund:
Not a hound but a terrier bred to go after vermin, the breed is lively and affectionate. Good with family members but will become aggressive to children outside the family. They make good watchdogs and will bark frequently to alert their owners.
Pekinese:
Very fierce and loyal, these little dogs are not good around children or other animals. These are good dogs for the elderly. Their coats require a good deal of grooming.
Skye Terrier:
Great with children, okay with other dogs but not tolerant of cats. This unique breed makes a fine pet. Distrustful of strangers.
The next step after selecting a breed is to find a reputable breeder. To get more information, visit us at http://www.dog-match.com/small-dog-breeds
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Nautical Star Tattoos – The Original Meaning
Nautical star tattoos have caused much controversy and heated discussion regarding the true meaning of the design. Over the years, many groups have attempted to tag the design with their own unique interpretation. In addition to the nautical connection, this popular tattoo design has been connected to the military, punk rockers, the lesbian community and the anti-racism movement in recent years.
But what are the origins of the nautical star tattoo? Where did it come from and what did it originally represent?
Almost everybody, without exception, accepts that sailors were the first group of people to wear nautical star tattoos.
In previous centuries, working at sea was a very dangerous and unpredicatable way of life. Sailors had very little to guide them at night, apart from the stars. And the one that they relied upon most was Polaris, or the North Star. As this star is positioned close to the north pole, it appears to be stationary at all times, unlike other stars which appear to move as time passes. This provided early sailors with a fixed reference point. And once they know where the North Star was, they could position their ships accordingly and be reasonably confident that they were going in the right direction.
Over time the North Star became a symbol for finding your way home safely and symbolically finding your way in life. But beyond that, as many sailors were deeply superstitious with a rich history of lore about life and death at sea, they were always looking for lucky charms. So many sailors began to place nautical star tattoos on their forearms or hands as a symbol of good luck and a desire to get home safely.
Skip forward through the centuries and the meaning of the nautical star tattoo has become broader. Not only is it a symbol of the sea, but also a sign of security and guidance for all sailors and travelers. It has also become a sign of following your dreams and achieving success in your life.
However, these is some disagreement concerning the design of the nautical star. Most people accept that the basic design of the nautical star is a five pointed star. But a minority of people claim that the nautical star represents the traditional design of a ship’s compass. This consists of the four cardinal directions, North, South, East, West, and possibly the intermediate directions of North East, South East, South West and North West. So their idea of the nautical star is a four pointed design or even an eight pointed star.
Personally, I think that the five pointed star best represents the design of the nautical star tattoo, especially when you consider that on many nautical maps, north is shown by a compass style five pointed star.
But whatever style of design is selected, one thing is clear; the nautical star has had a long connection with naval tradition and was originally a symbol of finding your way home safely. And while other groups may attempt to link themselves to the use of the nautical star tattoo, the sailors of bygone centuries will always retain the distinction of representing the original interpretation of this iconic tattoo design.
Halloween Face Painting Ideas
Halloween is such fun for kids of all ages, and adults too. Here are some face painting ideas to get you in the Halloween spirit.
Halloween face painting idea 1: pumpkin
A bright orange pumpkin painted on each cheek. Black paint used to paint eyes, nose and mouth. A light grey would be used to show the ridges of the pumpkin as well as its outline.
An alternative would be to do a full face pumpkin with an orange face base (blending a darker orange shade over cheekbones), black triangle shape over the eyes (extending above and below the eye area), a black nose and a large black mouth (need to cover more than just the lips).
Halloween face painting idea 2: skull
A full face design. Has a white face as the base, large black ‘panda’ eyes, black and white vertical stripes on the lips (with the white stripes wider than the black ones) and a trickle of red from one side of the mouth (to indicate blood).
Halloween face painting idea 3: vampire
A full face design. A white face base, bright red lips, fangs coming out of each corner of the lower lip (outline is light grey, fill is white, and tip is red to denote some blood), eye lids are smoky grey (right up to and over eye brows), eye brow then exaggerated with black sweeping strokes.
Halloween face painting idea 4: bat
A full face design. A white face base, bat’s face painted on forehead above the nose (it’s in black with light grey for eyeballs, and for some definition in ears); the bat’s body is painted in black on the nose and ends at the base of the nostrils (use different shadings of black; the bat’s wings extends out from head and body and covers the eyes curving up towards the temple and down the outside of the eye to mid cheek (again use different black shadings and some fine dark grey strokes to paint some definition into the wings); the lips are painted in dark grey with an exaggerated upward curl at the corners.
The Top Five Morgan Silver Dollars
Why waste everyone’s time? Let’s skip the appetizers and get to the meaty stuff right now: The Morgan silver dollars poised to increase the most in value in the years ahead are the 1895, 1892-CC, 1894, 1878-CC, and the 1883-CC. Pretty bold prediction, eh? At this point, the reader now has three options: (1) Stop reading and act upon this information, (2) Stop reading and get on with life, or (3) Continue on, evaluate the analytical approach to identify the “Top Five” Morgan dollars, and then implement a variation of (1) or (2) above. If you’ve gotten this far, we encourage you to continue on with option (3).
First, a little background info on the Morgan silver dollar…
The Morgan silver dollar is today one of the most popular of all collector coins. First minted in 1878 following the passage of the Bland-Alison Act, the new dollar was named after its designer, George T. Morgan. Political pressure by powerful silver mining companies, in a gambit to stabilize the price of their commodity at artificially high levels, created the impetus driving the legislative action. Bland-Alison led to the overproduction of silver dollars, resulting in millions of these unused “cartwheels” languishing in bank and Treasury vaults. Indeed, few coins have ever been released under more dubious circumstances than Morgan silver dollars. Minting continued until 1904, and then again for one more year in 1921, when the series finally came to a close.
For decades thereafter, Morgan dollars were largely snubbed by hobbyists. Many dates, including those in mint state condition, could be obtained for as little as $1.00. This situation shifted dramatically in 1962, when the US government began selling original 1000-piece silver dollar Treasury bags to the public at face value. Stories of rare dollar finds circulated widely, touching off a veritable Morgan mania. Within a matter of months, all but a small fraction of the federally owned coins were transferred from government vaults to private hands, consequently expanding the Morgan dollar collector base far beyond anything seen previously.
Since then, Morgan silver dollars have proudly perched themselves atop the catbird seat of the numismatic world. Their physical size, availability, beauty, and historical significance have consistently attracted herds of new buyers. Numerous boom-turned-bust cycles have come and gone, sometimes driven by pure speculative motives, but from a long-term perspective, most Morgan dollar prices have trended somewhat positive.
Unlike some controversial promoters in the past, I do not propose purchasing Morgan silver dollars simply as investment vehicles. However, for collectors hoping to satisfy their numismatic yearnings AND acquire coins destined to be worth substantially more in the future, Morgan dollars do present a few opportunities. As noted above, as a whole, Morgans have gained moderately in value over the years. The crucial challenge, then, is to identify which members of this series have enjoyed the best growth patterns in the past. The underlying logic is clear: coins that have demonstrated the strongest gains over a long period of time are the coins best positioned to show similar price advancements with the continued passage of time.
In order to measure past performance and thus visualize Morgans most likely headed toward a bullish future, I developed a systematic approach. First, I researched individual Morgan dollar retail prices as they existed in 1950, for a broad range of conditions, and entered this data on a computer spreadsheet. Moving forward in time, values from the years 1980, 1995, and 2000 were likewise recorded. Finally, estimated selling prices in 2005 were juxtaposed with counterpart data from those earlier years. Because grading terminology has evolved over the 55 year period, certain assumptions were made to progressively track price movements throughout the time spectrum (e.g. an “Uncirculated” value in 1950 is equivalent to the “MS-60″ of today).
For each date and condition, compounded annual return rates were computed from 1950 to 2005. [Editorial note: compounded annual return rate is the accepted yardstick for comparing investment performance. Of course, coins do not grow at a guaranteed uniform rate, such as bonds do, but if a coin is purchased at a certain price, and that price is compared with the value of the coin at some later date, the compounded annual return rate can be calculated for the time period in between]. Return rate computations were made from 1980 to 2005, 1995 to 2005, and 2000 to 2005. For each Morgan dollar, the data was placed in tabular format.
Next, I calculated a “composite” score for each date by averaging all the compounded return rates computed for that date. I then ranked all the “composite” scores. The Morgan silver dollars with the highest scores are as follows:
Date: Score:
1895 11.37
1892-CC 10.54
1894 10.43
1878-CC 10.28
1883-CC 10.25
So, it would appear, based on past performance over a period of 55 years, the 1895 is the Morgan silver dollar with the best hope of appreciating significantly in the years ahead, followed by the 1892-CC, 1894, 1878-CC, and 1883-CC. Not surprisingly, dollars of the Carson City Mint occupy 13 of the top 16 positions, thanks to persistent collectors scrambling for bona fide artifacts of the romantic American West. On the opposite end of the rankings, Morgan silver dollars having the bleakest long term prospects include the 1898, 1899-O, 1884, and the 1888-O, followed by the 1897 coming in dead last with a score of 2.66.
Anyone whose dual objective is to acquire Morgan silver dollars with a bullish future ought to begin looking at the “Top Five” above. Purchase coins in the best condition you can afford, but be sure the coins are clean, problem-free, and CERTIFIED by a reputable grading service. Be prepared to hold for at least five years. Morgan dollars have skyrocketed in value in the last three years, so some cooling off may be in order before the next upward cycle.
If a polling firm were to survey the population of US coin collectors, it is very possible that Morgan silver dollars would win the vote as the most appealing coin in American coinage history. These beautiful coins have been the heartbeat of the hobby for many years, with no retreat in sight. Ironically, these same coins spent the better part of a century hidden away in government vaults, unseen, unwanted, and unloved. My, how times have changed!