| How to Throw a Fourth of July Party Posted: 27 Jun 2017 05:00 PM PDT The Fourth of July is always a fun and festive time. Warm summer weather, cookouts with friends and family, and fireworks all make the day memorable. With a few simple decorations and picnic friendly food, you can organize your own Fourth of July celebration to commemorate this patriotic holiday. EditPlanning the Party - Send out invitations 3-4 weeks before the party. Avoid waiting until the last minute to invite friends and family. They might have made other plans for the day and won't be able to make it.
- If you are mailing your invites, send them at least 4 weeks in advance to allow for potential delivery delays.
- Alternatively, you can send free electronic invitations through an online site like Evite.[1] Electronic invites are great when time is running out because they'll arrive almost immediately!
- Tidy up your house and yard. Make sure your guests will be comfortable by cleaning your home and completing any necessary yard work a few days prior to the party.
- Borrow additional seating, if needed. Depending on how many people you've invited to your Fourth of July celebration, you might need more seating or tables. Save some money and borrow what you can from friends or neighbors.[2]
- Lawn chairs and folding tables work great both inside and outdoors.
- You can also encourage your guests to bring picnic blankets to sit on outside.
- Develop a contingency plan for inclement weather. Make plans ahead of time to move the party indoors in case the weather turns bad on the Fourth of July.
- Push furniture against the walls, if needed, to create more space for guests to mingle inside.
- Choose an alternate cooking method for any food that would have been grilled outside. Indoor griddles or grill pans are one option.
- Plan to watch a televised fireworks display if rain or thunderstorms prevent you from doing your own fireworks or attending another live show.
EditChoosing the Food - Purchase affordable easy-to-grill foods. Hot dogs and burgers are great options for a Fourth of July cookout. In fact, the Fourth happens to be the most popular holiday for serving hot dogs![3] For the burgers, you can buy frozen hamburger patties in bulk to save money and time.[4]
- Consider including a vegetarian alternative, such as veggie burgers, for guests who don't eat meat.
- Steak and seafood are delicious options, but cost a lot more. Keep your party economical and stick to burgers and hot dogs.
- Ask guests to bring a snack or side dish to share. You can save money on food by having guests bring something to pass around. Ideas include chips, baked beans, salad, or dessert. Guests can even bring drinks or ice.
- Organize a potluck. A fun way to get everyone involved in your Fourth of July party is to have a potluck in which everyone brings a dish to share. Your guests can bring something they like and everyone can enjoy the fun of discovering the different foods.
- A potluck can save you a lot of time and money since everyone is contributing a dish. [5]
- You can still grill hot dogs and hamburgers as your contribution to the potluck or you can do something else and skip the grilling.
- Choose easy desserts in festive colors or shapes. You can add to the festive Fourth of July theme by creating desserts that are red, white, and blue.
- Serve strawberries and blueberries with whipped cream for an easy red, white, and blue treat.
- Use star shaped cookie cutters to cut star shapes out of angel food cake, then top with whipped cream and red and blue berries.
- Order or make your own American flag cookies or cake.
- Buy all of the food you will be serving ahead of time. Avoid the stress of last minute shopping and begin purchasing the food for your party within the week leading up to the Fourth of July.
EditSelecting the Decorations - Stick to simple decorations. Decorating your home and/or yard for the Fourth of July is fun and a great way to create a festive atmosphere. You don't have to do anything elaborate, though. Visit a dollar store for affordable decorations, such as red, white, and blue pinwheels and streamers or mini American flags.[6]
- Cut star shapes out of red, white, and blue construction paper. Punch a hole at the top of each one, tie a string through the hole, and hang around the house or yard.
- Purchase white supplies for eating. Red, white, and blue plates and napkins are certainly patriotic, but they tend to cost more than plain white supplies. Stick to white plastic cutlery, paper plates, and napkins to save money.[7] Your decorations will be enough to create a festive atmosphere.
- Let the kids do the decorating. Providing materials for the kids to decorate will keep them entertained during the day while awaiting the evening fireworks display.
- Use white butcher paper as tablecloths and let the kids decorate it [8] with red, white, and blue crayons or markers.
- Have the kids draw pictures of colorful fireworks and display them around the house or yard.
EditArranging the Entertainment - Set up an outdoor game area. You don't have to wait until the evening fireworks to have fun on the Fourth of July. Have some outdoor activities available to entertain your guests during the day while you eat and socialize.
- Set up a volleyball or badminton net.
- Borrow, build, or buy a cornhole game[9] (also known as a bean bag toss). This is great for adults and kids.
- Borrow a croquet set if you don't have one.[10]
- Provide a few frisbees for guests to toss around.
- Purchase an inexpensive kiddie pool or slip and slide. A small plastic kiddie pool is an easy way to keep the kids entertained and refreshed during the day. Slip and slides can be fun for kids and adults alike!
- Provide sparklers for everyone. Use sparklers once it starts getting dark. Kids and adults can both enjoy them while waiting for the fireworks display.
- Make a fireworks plan. You can choose to light your own fireworks, attend your local fireworks show, or watch a televised fireworks display.[11]
- Only light off your own fireworks if it is legal where you live.
- Practice safety when lighting your own fireworks and have buckets of water or a running hose close by in case of fire.
- Encourage guests to contribute to the party by bringing a snack or side dish to share.
- Provide plenty of activities to keep everyone entertained during the day.
- Make sure it is legal to light fireworks in your area, if you plan to do so.
- Do not light off fireworks in your yard if it is not legal where you live.
- Fireworks can cause burns or start fires. Have water ready and a first aid kit nearby.
EditThings You'll Need - Food and beverages
- Festive decorations
- Activities for children and adults
- Fireworks or other entertainment
- First aid kit
EditRelated wikiHows EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Make a Baby's Breath Crown Posted: 27 Jun 2017 09:00 AM PDT
A baby's breath crown is a fun way to add some style to your outfit. For example, you could wear a baby's breath crown to a summer music festival to create a 1960s flower child look. Alternatively, you may want to include baby's breath crowns in your wedding. For example, these accessories will look super cute on a flower girl. In order to make a baby's breath crown, you will need to create a wire or stem base, attach the flowers, and then add extra decorations such as ribbons and bows.
EditMaking an Adjustable Base - Measure the circumference of your head. Using a thin floral wire, measure the circumference of your head. Wrap the wire around the top of your head where you would like to crown to sit. Then double the amount of wire and cut it using pliers. You want to double the wire in order to ensure that you have a sturdy base for the crown. This will also allow you to make an adjustable crown.[1]
- Floral wire can be purchased at your local florist or craft supply store.
- Fold the wire in half and twist. Once you have cut the wire, find the middle of the wire and fold it in half. Place your index finger at the fold and then begin to tightly twist the wire so that it twists all the way to the ends. You can trim the end of the wire to create a clean end with two equal lengths.
- Create a hook at the end. After you have twisted the wire, you will have a loop at one end where your index finger was located. Fold the other end to create a hook. You can adjust the circumference by creating a larger or smaller hook. This works nicely if you are making a crown that will be worn by someone else.[2]
- Place the hook through the loop to hold the wire in the shape of a crown.
- Wrap the wire with floral tape. Using floral tape, wrap the wire tightly with tape. This will help to hide wire and will give your homemade baby's breath crown a more professional and finished look. Add extra tape to the end of the wire. This will help to prevent the wire from poking your while wearing it.[3]
- You can use a green floral tape to blend in with the stems of the baby's breath.
- If the crown is being used in a wedding, you may want to match the tape with the wedding colours. For example, try gold or silver floral tape.
EditAttaching the Flowers - Cut the baby's breath stems. Before attaching the flowers to the crown, you will need to cut small sprigs of baby's breath. Try cutting the stems so that they are similar in length. You want to leave a few inches of stem. This will make it easier to attach the stems to the crown.[4]
- If you want, you can tape together a few sprigs of baby's breath to create a small bunch and then attach the bunch to the base of the crown. This will make a fuller looking crown.
- Tape the flowers to the wire crown. Take one sprig or bunch and tape it to the crown using floral tape. Lay the flowers horizontally along the crown base. Make sure to tape the entire stem so that you do not have any stems sticking out from the crown.[5]
- Before attaching the flowers, attach the two ends of wire so that it is in the shape of a crown. Once the flowers are on, it is harder to bend the wire into a circular shape.
- Continue evenly around the crown. Continue to tape sprigs or bunches of baby's breath all the way around the crown until you reach the starting point. Make sure the flowers are all facing in the same direction and are placed horizontally along the crown.[6]
- You can place them close together for a fuller look. Alternatively, you may want to space them farther apart for a more natural and bohemian look.
EditUsing Stems to Create a Crown - Choose a long bunch of baby's breath. In order to make a baby's breath crown using the stem of the flowers as the base, you need to choose a bunch of baby's breath that has a long stem. The stem should be long enough to wrap around your head and fit like a crown.[7]
- Trim the stem. Cut off all of the smaller bunches of baby's breath that shoot off of the main stem. You can either cut them with scissors or just twist them off using your hands. Set these small bunches aside because they will eventually be attached to the crown.[8]
- Tape a small bunch to the stem. Directly under the small bunch of baby's breath at the end of the stalk, tape another small bunch of baby's breath to the stalk. Continue to tape small bunches of baby's breath to the stalk until it is long enough to fit as a crown.[9]
- Be sure to tuck in the stems with tape, so that you do not have any stems sticking out of the crown.
- Create a circle. Once you have reached the end of the stalk, carefully bend it into a circle to create the shape of the crown. Use floral tape to attach the two ends together.[10]
- You can then fill in any gaps with more baby's breath. Simply attach small bunches using the floral tape.
- You can also wrap a ribbon around the crown in order to make the base more stable.
- Add ribbons. Once your crown is finished, you can add ribbon or twine to give it a fuller look. Simply wrap the ribbon or twine around the crown and between the bunches of baby's breath. You can leave tails of ribbon at the back to tie a bow.[11]
- Choose a ribbon that matches with the overall look of your outfit or the event.
- Include other flowers. You can also add other flowers to the crown to give it a pop of colour. Baby's breath can still be the dominant look, but you may want to add a few small daisies or some greenery. You can simply tape these additional flowers onto the crown the same way that you attached the baby's breath.
- Disperse other flowers or greenery throughout the crown.
- Spray with water. Once you are finished constructing the baby's breath crown, you should spray it with water in order to keep it fresh. For instance, you may be making these crowns the day before a wedding. A light spray of water can help them stay fresh. You should also keep the flowers in the refrigerator.[12]
EditThings You'll Need - Baby's Breath
- Scissors
- Pliers
- Floral wire
- Floral tape
- Additional flowers (optional)
- Ribbons (optional)
- Attach the crown to your head using hair pins.
- The floral wire can be sharp. It is important that you cover the ends with floral tape so that you don't get poked while wearing the crown.
- Be careful when working with scissors.
- If you are using fresh flowers, they will only last in a crown for about 24 hours. As a result, you should make the crown the night before you plan to wear it. Keep the flowers in the refrigerator overnight and spray with water to keep them moist.
EditSources and Citations
Cite error: <ref> tags exist, but no <references/> tag was found
|
| How to Mute Sounds on the Apple Watch Posted: 27 Jun 2017 01:00 AM PDT If you're out and about wearing your Apple Watch but don't want to hear or disturb others with its noises, you can simply turn off the sound. This wikiHow will tell you how that's done. EditFrom the Apple Watch - Unlock your Apple Watch. Tap your Watch's face once, then tap it once again. Enter your pin.
- Swipe the screen from the bottom up. A menu will appear with options including connectivity, airplane mode, mute, Do Not Disturb mode, theater mode and two modes that will help you look for and remotely lock your iPhone from your Watch.
- Tap the bell icon. This is a mute feature that will silence all bells and whistles without affecting the haptic feedback (if you have that turned on).
- Haptic feedback (vibration patterns felt on your wrist) can be turned off or on with your Watch and/or Watch app on your paired iPhone.
- Turn sounds back on when you want to. You can tap the bell once more to turn sound on again. Your sounds will be back on when the button isn't lit in the purplish hue.
- Open up your Settings app to make additional modifications on your volume on the Watch. With watchOS 3.2, Apple included the ability to adjust the volume inside of Settings.
- Open up the Settings app/tool, tap "Sounds & Haptics", look under the "Alert Volume" setting for the slider control. Press the volume up or volume down button as desired; then you can turn your digital crown towards you to turn the volume down, or away from you to turn the volume up, to more accurately represent the volume you'd like to use.
- Right underneath this, you'll also find a second switch for Silent Mode. This on/off setting works the same as the quick action menu one and synchronizes with it.
EditFrom Your Paired iPhone - Open the Apple Watch app. The Watch app is black with a picture of a sideways-facing profile image of an Apple Watch.
- Scroll the screen up and tap the "Sounds & Haptics" option. At first, it won't be seen, until you scroll the screen up a little ways.
- Locate and slide the switch next to "Silent Mode." Slide the switch until it turns green. Green on this switch means that you've muted all your notifications except your Alarms and Timers while your Watch charges.
- You can slide it the other way to turn Silent Mode off.
- Turn down the Alert volume if you want. You'll find the slider switch right above the option for Silent Mode. Slide it to the left to soften the volume of notifications when the watch has sounds turned on, and to the right, if you want to increase the volume.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment