No-Sew Sachets

If you need a quick and easy party favor for a bridal shower, birthday party, bachelorette party, teacher gift or girls’ night out, think sweet. No-sew sachets filled with sweet-tasting candy or sweet-smelling potpourri look pretty and are simple to make without a lot of crafting experience.

Purchase Supplies

Head to the nearest art supply store Long Beach CA or in your hometown. You will need to purchase the following supplies: scalloped fabric scissors, a yard or two of beautiful sheer or lace fabric, and a couple of spools of thin satin ribbon. If you want to fill your sachets with aromatics, look for the dried flowers broken into the smallest pieces rather than the large decorative potpourri. An excellent option is dried lavender. If you would rather fill the little pouches with candy, something that won’t melt easily like pastel candy-covered almonds are nice.

Make a Pattern

Using a salad plate, trace a circle onto your lace fabric. With the scalloped scissors, cut just inside the line so the pen markings won’t show. Cut a piece of ribbon about 18 inches long. You may need to adjust this based on how large or small you want the bow.

Fill the Circle

Put about two tablespoons of lavender or candy in the center of the lace circle. You will have to experiment to get the perfect amount.

Close the Purse

Gather the edges of the fabric firmly around the center ingredients. Tie tightly with the ribbon. Satin ribbon is slippery so make sure to double tie it before making the bow. If you’re filling the little bag with candy, don’t make it so tight that it can’t be opened later.

It will probably take a few practice attempts before you have just the right size for each little pouch and your bow looks just the way you want it. Add a dab of hot glue onto the bow to hold it firmly in place. While you’re making this fun easy party favor, don’t forget to make a few extra for yourself.

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New York Arts, Culture and Shows

New York, “the Big Apple,” is without question one of the most exciting cities in the world. New York has long been a major center for the arts and for American and global culture, which is why so many people come to visit this city on a regular basis. There are so many exciting things to see and do here, it’s impossible to take in all in in just one visit. From the fine dining to the museums to the big shows, New York is really a city like no other, anywhere.

Arts and Culture

The major museums in New York are incredibly exciting. They include the Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well as the Guggenheim and The Whitney. There are also countless galleries to be seen in New York, both uptown and downtown in Soho and the Village and Tribeca. New York can be toured by riding the subways, Uber and also by walking. It’s one of the great walking cities in the world, and there are so many great restaurants here, they can be enjoyed while seeing the city on foot.

Taking in the Shows

New York, with its Broadway and downtown, off-Broadway shows and ny cabaret scene, is a great city for seeing live entertainment, onstage. Of course the Broadway scene here is legendary, with many great stars appearing on any number of incredible theaters here on any given night. The cabaret scene is a very exciting alternative to Broadway, too, as these shows are generally performed in smaller cafes that allow patrons to see great singers and comedians up close, while also enjoying food and drink. Some cabaret shows also go on to become major Broadway shows, so taking in a cabaret show here may give you a preview of a great show before it takes off in a big way.

There’s no doubt that a visit to New York city will give you one of the most exciting trips you could ever experience. While it’s wise to plan and get tickets in advance, it’s also great to leave some time open so you can be spontaneous if you some great attractions that capture your fancy while you are visiting the city.

So, if you are in the mood for lots of art and entertainment, start planning a trip to New York soon!

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Creating a Picture Gallery in Your Home

Surrounding yourself with photos and artwork that mean something to you is one of the best ways to personalize your home. What confuses a lot of people, however, is how to organize the photos or canvases into interesting and coherent groupings. Creating a picture gallery isn’t difficult if you follow a few basic rules, so collect your printed photos, framed artwork, or photos and pictures you have ordered from handy sites like 24 Hour Canvas to get started. 

Things in Groups Gain Importance One of the most oft repeated mistakes people make is to leave too much space between a collection of pictures. You might be trying to evenly space an inadequate number of pictures along a wall, thinking that you will create balance that way. The problem with this approach is that each picture looks lonely and insignificant when left on its own. 

Only by grouping a collection together does each individual component gain a sense of status and importance, so don’t be afraid to take three or more pictures and hang them close to each other on the wall. The pieces don’t even have to be alike, as vintage postcards, framed photos (color or black and white), canvases, and unframed artwork together create an eclectic and interesting combination. Trace each piece onto brown kraft paper, cut out the shapes, and then use your floor to design a visually pleasing grouping that you can then transfer to your wall. 

Change It Up

Your picture gallery doesn’t have to be static. There are plenty of ways to keep it flexible and changeable so you can remove or add new pieces whenever the mood strikes. Plate shelves are one good option, as you can lean framed pieces against the wall, move them around, or replace them with something new. There are also cable systems on the market that attach to your walls and on which you can clip an ever-rotating selection of your favorite photographs, postcards, or Christmas cards. And when it comes to kids’ artwork that you want to display, buy a few simple Plexiglas frames that allow you to easily slip in a drawing or painting. The frames remain in the same places, but the art within can change as your kids come up with new masterpieces. 

Be Bold

Don’t apologize for what you hang on your wall by keeping it small. If you have photos or artwork that you love, let it be big and noticeable. One way you can achieve a bold look is to have your favorite family portraits, vacation photos, or kids’ artwork enlarged and printed onto canvas or poster paper, which can then be framed or left as-is. Love that photo of your daughter laughing in the sunshine? Celebrate it by turning it into a style statement with its own section of wall. 

Clip on a battery-operated picture light to further draw the eye. Check out online stores such as 24 Hour Canvas to get fast, high-quality canvas prints made that will immortalize in just about any size favorite photos of your loved ones, great times you’ve shared, or family masterpieces for decades of enjoyment.

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Arts and Crafts Hobbies

My kids are full of ideas about arts, crafts and anything that fancies their minds. Their school trained them to do various art things and now it has also become one of their hobbies. They’ve done a lot of interesting projects that are now displayed in our house. Because of this I’ve been collecting instruments and materials they need for their art crafts. 

They have glue gun, brushes, paints, pastel colors, various art materials, special pens, lettering books, cutter and blades like scalpel blades at MartorUSA.com for intricate cutting and shaping and a lot more. I’m glad that they’re inclined in music and arts as what our clan are good at. Even my little boy is so keen on imitating my flair for lettering and now I could say that he’s improving a lot. Next thing I know he’s better than me.

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Perk Up Your Party with Face Painting

Nowadays party events are planned and prepared carefully with a lot of exciting activities, giveaways and theme. The theme should be settled first so every preparation will be in harmony with the chosen theme. I’ve been seeing a lot of my friends’ celebration of their kids with exciting themes and amazed at how they put so much effort in party planning. They look into specific details from stage design, banners, invitations, costume, foodies, cake, candy and ice cream booth, games, loot bags and giveaways, photo booth and a lot more. It really makes me think how tasking it is to held a birthday party for the kids. 

No matter how hard and tasking the preparation it is the parents’ happiness to give the best to their children and to leave memorable moments of their kids’ special day. Now it’s even more exciting as some parties I know have face painting in their line of activities for the kids and adults as well. It brings extra excitement to birthday parties and other events as well especially when you hire professional party company like the  bouncewowny.com who will make the party even more alive not just with bounce houses and inflatables but with their professional party talents as well. 

Parties and events should also have creative activities for unique addition to somewhat traditional celebration and with the help of party talents like kids parties Long Island who has the know how, experience and professionalism to handle this artistic activity. They also have the complete portfolio of full face and cheek art face painting designs your children can choose from. When you want it to harmonize with your party theme it can also be customized to your specific theme. They will make sure that kid and visitors in the party will enjoy with their services and every one who wants their face painted will be satisfied with their service.

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:Wordless Wednesday-Paintings (Musicians)

Happy Wordless Wednesday though I'm not all wordless today (as always lol!!) This painting was taken inside the conference room in our office. I always stare at this painting everyday because I love paintings of all kinds. Guess I'll share this with you guys! I'll have another entry of paintings in My Crossroads.

Visit more WW entries -> here.

Wordless Wednesday

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Artistic Talents

Skills on lettering and drawing run in my father’s clan. My first cousin is known in our town when it comes to charcoal/pastel painting, textile painting and other artistic works. I’ve seen how he managed to do everything with fine art skills and lots of imagination. In our own family my brother can’t be left behind as he used to do portraits as his sideline job when he’s still a student. We have different talents and I’m lucky that during my high school days I’ve been trained by my brother on lettering.

This talent and skill now extends to our kids, nieces and nephews. My nephew who graduated from an electrical technology course didn’t want to practice his education but instead make a living out of his talent. He has so many projects especially during summer days when sports league competitions are everywhere. He does everything from textile painting to different signs. I told him to learn the techniques of using airbrush because it will help him improve his projects on textiles, murals, signs and other art projects that he will be accepting from his customers. I learned some techniques on using it when I was working in a consultancy firm and we used airbrush in doing hardbound covers for technical proposals.

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