Take a Dance Class – Learn to Waltz!

There are lots of ways to learn to dance – but one of the best is to find a local dance class. Wellington or London or New York city – any town of more than a few thousand people will probably host some form of dance class!

But what type of class are you looking for? Well your basic choices, after you decide which style of dance you want to learn,  is whether you want a private class or a group class. Both have their advantages – if you are solo – a group class is a great way to meet new people and you will get a quick “feel” for the style of dance you have chosen. However if you are more serious about learning or already have a partner you want to dance with you might be better off with a private lesson.

As you get more advanced private lessons are generally more cost-effective – although they cost more at an hourly rate – you will learn a great deal more than in a group class. Also your bad habits will be far more quickly picked up and corrected.

Particularly if you are learning to waltz for a wedding its really a good idea to chose a private lesson – that way you can dance to “your” piece of music. In fact if you  haven’t made a choice of which piece of music you want to dance to yet the teacher will help you. Most people these days don’t actually dance a waltz as their first dance – waltz has 3 / 4 timing and most modern music is 2/4 or 4/4 timing – which is a foxtrot or even a rhumba timing.

The most important thing when choosing a dance studio is to chose an instructor that you are comfortable with – honestly dancing is supposed to be fun – if you are not having it fun then really its the instructors fault. I’ve danced for years in a number of  Wellington dance studios – and laughter is one of the common factors in them all!

Stylish Butterfly Knives

Cool butterfly knives are generally made by skilled knife makers. They take the time to make every component by hand. There not mass produced in a warehouse by an assembly line of workers. The big name knife makers out there like Buck and Spiderco have to operate like this to keep up with the demand. To get a quality cool butterfly knife you need to find a knife maker to do it by hand.

I started collecting knives when I was a teenager, and like most collectors you’re given a knife as a gift, and you find you like it, and start to look out for more. When I received my first butterfly knife it was from a swap meet, and I thought it was a really stylish butterfly knife. It was a couple years later when I started buying my own, and really looking at them I saw the difference. There’s nothing wrong with the cheap knives but if you’re going to be a collector then you need to look into buying the custom handmade knives.

There are very expensive butterfly knives out there if you have that kind of money, and I mean any were from $2500, to $5000.00 and up. The most expensive butterfly knife I ever bought was $750.00 and let me tell you, that was a real stretch for me to spend that kind of money on a knife. What pushed me to go ahead and buy it was the fact that I know the knife maker myself, and I know the quality and personal touches he puts on each ones he builds. I also know that he is really starting to get recognized in the knife market as an expert, and his orders are really starting to build up. So if anything in time I know I made a good investment.

You can find butterfly knives online where you will be able to view a ton of different styles as well as color and sizes. If you are into doing tricks, you can also look for videos that can teach you to do all kinds of cool and neat tricks with these knives. Not all butterfly knives are super expensive of course. Some can be bought for under $20. If you are starting out and don’t have a lot of money, just stick with what you can afford and gradually go up from there to build up your collection.

Homemade Craftiness

Whatever the occasion, birthday, Christmas or an anniversary home-made arts and craft items make delightful gifts.  Anything home-made proves to the receiver that you have spent time thinking about them and what they might like. Craft boxes can be made from many materials and there are many craft books available that can give tips on making them.  If you are a total beginner, then perhaps a ready-made box that you decorate yourself is the way to start your craft career. Ready-made boxes are available in a variety of materials.  Wooden boxes are an ideal starting point as they are sturdy enough for a child or adult to decorate and provide a hard surface on which to draw, paint or stick things on to. Cardboard is a second option and they too are suitable to decorate in a variety of different ways.

Djembe Drums Are Pretty Cool

photo credit: babasteve

I’ve played all different sorts of drums my entire life.  I played a number of different kits while in rock bands in high school.  I even played in the stage band, and symphony bands as well during my high school career.  I started playing drums at a very young age, in drum corp.  Which is kind of like a marching band, but a little more sophisticated and competitive.  I don’t do much of that kind of drumming anymore, but what I do enjoy, is a simpler form of drumming.  The drums I like to use are called Djembe drums.  They’re kind of like a big bongo drum, but with a lot more subtleties.  They’re bigger and longer, with a somwhat curved shape to them.  They are capable of producing quite a wide range of sounds.

Tips for Printing Invitations from Home

Always use a printer that has the ability to print in color to print your invitations. Often times free printable baby shower invitations are colorful and it would be a shame to print them in black and white. Printing them in color brings more attention to them and ensures that the recipient won’t misplace it. Printing in color just makes the invitation more welcoming and will make people want to come to your event.

Material you will need if you do not purchase blank cards with matching envelopes is something called card stock. This material is a heavy paper that can be found anywhere office supplies are sold. It comes in a variety of colorful choices including white. If your invitation has beautiful colorful pictures and printing make sure to use white card stock so that the colors will come through as the artist intended. Card stock comes with embossing and other embellishments that make it much more beautiful and unique.

Wedding Invitations: The Printing Process

Anyone who has ever had to plan a wedding or order wedding invitations, knows they can be very expensive. The demand for inexpensive wedding invitations has sky-rocketed over the last few years, especially with today’s economy.

One factor in expensive invitations are, the printing process you. Here are a few tips for lowing cost.

If you are planning your wedding on a strict budget, try using the economical do it yourself wedding invitation kits. You have free creative control over every thing, including printing and which materials to use.

Do without the letterpress or engraving process. This can up the price on each invitation to $10 a piece. This is a great option if you have money to spend, but is not needed to have elegant wedding invitations.

Talk to a professional printer to decide which printing process is both appropriate for your occasion and friendly to your wallet.

Scrapbooking with Cricut Cartridges

Scrapbooking is time honored tradition in the United States.  No one wants to forget those special moments you had with your loved ones.  Many creative people have found scrapbooking to be a great outlet for creating crafts and designing unique things.

Scrapbooking centers around photographs, and now that most people use digital pictures you would think scrapbooking would have lost its touch.  I mean, people have even replaced their picture frames with digital ones.

Quite the opposite has happened.  Scrapbooking has kept up with the digital age with things like the digital cutting machine – the cricut.  You can buy cricut cartidges that will cut just about any material in just about any shape, design, or font you can create on your computer.

It is just amazing to see how even craft activities have kept up with modern technology!

Improving Garden Through Lean To Greenhouse

If I considered applying some kind of improvement for our garden, I would be thinking about a lean to greenhouse or even a pond. Some suggested a stone garden but I do mostly lean towards the add on space that allows for planting our own vegetables. Tomatoes were nice. And beans. I imagine carrots and potatoes as well

On the other hand, a koi pond could be cool and nice to look at as well. An expensive hobby though, from what I hear. More like an asset. Beautiful but without the kind of practical use a lean to greenhouse would have. At least not in relation to every day needs such as feeding ourselves. The only thing I am concerned with is if I have the “green thumb” required to grow sour own veggies successfully.

Taking Baby Pictures

photo credit: mohd fahmi

Babies learn different things everyday. And as you watch your babies grow up, you feel like you want to keep these precious moments forever.

Before your baby reaches his full-growth years, when all of a sudden you realize your baby is indeed growing up real fast—from being a baby, to being a toddler to preschooler—you need to seize those precious moments in time: capture your baby’s early childhood on film or digicam. Taking baby pictures is a great experience most especially to excited parents who are the hugest fans of their child.

There are several things to consider in taking baby pictures

photo credit: mohd fahmi

. Things as aiming your camera at a particular focus. Thus, you get that great shot. And since the baby is equipped with natural charm, all you have to do is click on the shutter for as many times as you like with a digicam and you will get several good shots from them. But always keep a back up in case of unforeseen hard drive failures.

Taking pictures of your baby during his early life will make you enjoy, a few years from now, that same feeling of the wonderful parent-baby bond you’ve had.

Boudoir photography for you

You may feel nervous when you show up to arrange your boudoir photograph session, but there is no need to be tense. The goal of the professionals there is to relax you and make the session enjoyable for you. You will be invited to meet with a consultant at some of the bigger studios, so you can help her determine exactly what you want, and so that she can help you select clothing and accessories. She will help you set the mood, and she’ll be there to help you along every step of the way.

When you arrive for your photo “shoot”, they will help you to settle in and become comfortable, and then they will do any hairdressing and makeup that you would like done. You may be looking for sultry and sexy or sweet innocence, so be sure the assistants know what “look” you’re going for. These professionals make it their specialty to enhance the natural beauty you possess with classic and modern styles. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with your boudoir photography experience.

Martial Arts Weapons Training Teaches Self Confidence

If your child is shy and anti-social most of the time it is probably because they have a self confidence issue. People who are not confident in themselves have a tendency to try and steer clear of others and will do poorly in school and not learn proper social behaviors. If you want to make sure your child develops a healthy self confidence you might consider putting them in a martial arts weapons training class.

The martial arts are a great way to boost confidence levels. There is nothing more confidence building than winning a fight or knowing you could win a fight if the need arose. Weapons training allows your child to emmulate the confident super heroes and action heroes they see every day on television and it will all take place in a fun and safe environment. There is no better way to build a child’s confidence and make sure they develop social skills than to put a weapon in their hands and teach them to use it properly.

Where Will You Hunt Black Bear In Oklahoma This Season?

I would like to tag along with someone who is going to hunt Black bears in Oklahoma this year.  I would pay my own way and help pay for fuel and camping cost. I’ve never hunted black bears in Oklahoma and this sounds like fun to me. I can help you track a bear, put up bait, treestands and just about anything else that concerns black bear hunting. I can also field dress a bear and cape out the hide. I will happily carry it out of the woods for you if you get one before I do. So if you have a place to hunt and need some help or some company, just give me a buzz. I’m really excited about the upcoming black bear season in Oklahoma and can’t wait to get out in the woods after them. All I need now is a place to go hunting and I’m hoping you can help with that!

Buy Beekeeping Equipment For A Good Price.

photo credit: voobie

So you want to buy beekeeping equipment, but get it at a good price?  No problem.  Just read my handy dandy guide right here that will show you how to get great deals on beekeeping supplies and leave you with money in your pocket.  (Sorry – couldn’t resist the pitch).

Make a list.

All good shoppers (meaning shoppers who don’t spend too much) make a list before they start.  This helps with a couple of things.  It helps you to effectively comparison shop, and it helps you to only buy what you actually need.  As you buy the things you need cross them off your list.  It really makes a big difference.

eBay.

eBay carries all sorts of beekeeping equipment, the big thing you need to remember when you are buying from eBay is to check other sites prices and always check the sellers ratings to get a good idea of the quality they offer.

These two tips should help you buy your beekeeping equipment at a bargain and still have money in your piggy bank.

Invites You Can Print From Home

The use of printable baby shower invitations has been on the rise due to its functionality, convenience and practicality which made life a little bit easier for parents who want to throw a party for their future marriage and kid. The good thing about the printable invitations for the baby shower is that there are thousands of designs which can be chosen from the catalogue which can be inline depending on the design or motif of the celebration. Many designs range from famous cartoon characters to nature inspired designs. This is a very good choice for mothers who are rushing things since time is short when organizing these events. The invitations come with software which allows people to create their own text and wording designs that would be suitable for the invitations.

Ceramic Teapot

A few years ago I went into a local pottery shop and created a very interesting ceramic tea pot.  While I never had any actual experience doing ceramic work the process was very fascinating and helped me to learn a new trade.

First I had to form the bowl or pot itself in the wheel.  With the help of an instructor (and about 5 attempts) I created a classic ceramic pot, which had a small base, forming a wide center and crested at the top, allowing enough room for a lid to be fashioned on it.

Once the pot itself was created I then cut out and placed on the pot a spout.  The spot should not be any higher that the top of the pot and actually should be a bit lower that it so that it pours correctly.  Finally, the handle and lid were fashioned and once it was fired and set, I then painted it a cool midnight blue.