Aggravation Board Game

Spent the afternoon yesterday playing Aggravation with two of the grands. They found the old board game in a hall closet. It must be about 40 years old! Still in the original box and had all the marbles.....hard to believe))) The price tag was still on the box $1.89......we had purchased it at a "dime store" name Kuhn's in Pontotoc, MS. For those of you who remember "dime stores" or 5 & 10. We also had one name Ben Franklin's and in New Albany, MS there's was called Morgan Lindsey's. I loved the candy by the ounce.....chocolate covered peanuts, jelly beans, gum drops....maple nut goodies!

Was a fun afternoon sitting around the table together......and I actually even won a game or two!

Tips on Choosing a Real Christmas Tree

Shopping for a real Christmas tree can be a great fun, family experience. Whether you browse through a retail lot or make a day of it going to a choose and cut farm. Personally, I'm partial to the choose and cut farm. I guess it depends on whether you're looking for the essential fresh tree......or the experience)) Many choose and cut farms have additional activities that are great for children so shop around and make some calls. Sometimes even Santa is present for photos. Also there are some retailers who will ship a fresh tree right to your front door!

Decide on the ht and width of the tree you need before getting to the farm or retail lot. (Trees in the field look smaller when standing in an open field.)

Shop for your tree during daylight hours or at a well lit retail lot. Get to know the retailer. Most are happy to let you know when the trees will be arriving so you can get a fresh one.

Check the tree for freshness. Green needles on fresh trees break crisply when bent sharply with finger, much like a crisp carrot. But, needles on fresh pine trees do NOT break unless they are very dry.

Excessive needle loss, discoloration, musty odor, are all signs of dryness. Give the tree a shake. You can expect some needle loss, but not excessive. If in doubt about the freshness, keep looking at other trees.

Ask the retailer about which species of trees retains its freshness longest for your area and also about water needs.

Notice the size of the limbs. The tree needs sturdy limbs to hold heavy glass Christmas ornaments. Heavier ornaments can be placed on inner limbs toward the trunk where limbs are larger.

If purchasing at a "choose and cut" farm, go prepared for a day in the country and take along your camera - great photo op! Wear comfortable clothes and walking shoes, gloves if you plan to cut your own tree. Most farms pre-tag the trees, but ask in advance how trees are priced. They may be graded or priced by the foot. Call or shop early for taller trees as these tend to go first.

If you want the experience of cutting the tree, check before you go. Some farms prefer to do their own cutting. If customer cutting is allowed, they will have the saws and probably start the cut for you.

If you plan to take your pet, please call before hand. Some farms may not allow pets.

Check the trunk for straightness and sufficient handle to fit your stand. Once cut, the handle can be trimmed and made shorter, but you don't want to get into cutting the lower limbs of the tree.

If this is your first experience cutting your own tree, inquire beforehand if you should bring your own stand or if the farm has some for sale. Larger trees must have an appropriate stand for safety. Some farms will gladly put your stand on before you leave.

In the fall of the year ALL conifers drop, or shed, a certain portion of their oldest needles. This is a normal part of the life cycle of the tree. This phenomena occurs because the tree is preparing itself for winter. Most farms provide shaking, or blowing, services so that you will depart with a perfectly clean tree.

Field of Christmas Trees

Passing Grandchild Inspection

 Ready to Take Home

Have Fun!

How to Make a Halloween Tree

Halloween is a great time to do activities with children. This Halloween Tree is inexpensive and very easy to make. Lets get started!

Halloween Tree

Items Needed:

• Branches
• Floral tape (or duct tape, or something similar)
• Spray Paint
• Cutters
• Plaster of Paris
• Water
• Pot
• Decorations

Items Needed

The first thing we had to do was find the branches. The absolute best branches would come from an upturned tree stump. The roots of a tree are gnarled and twisted. It's not always easy to find however......so look for branches that resemble a tree form. You may have to take 2-3 branches and put them together to form your "tree." Choose branches no more than 1" at the widest part and around 36" tall.

Cutting Branches

We used a backyard picnic table as a work area. Take the branches and arrange them to resemble a tree. If using green branches, remove all the leaves and tiny little twigs. Final shaping can be done later. Once you have them together in the shape you want, take green floral tape and start wrapping around the branches to hold them together. Narrow duct tape, or freezer tape will work. Floral tape stretches a little and makes a good snug fit. Once you have the branches taped together, do a final measure with your pot. Our tree had to have another 6" cut off from the bottom. It just depends on what size tree you need, but you don't want something so tall that it tips the pot over.

Taping Branches

Taped Branches

Next, spray paint the tree with black paint. If you find a great single branch, you wouldn't have to paint, but black paint covers up the taping well. Dark brown, gray or any color could be used. Kids love to paint! This is a great opportunity to turn them loose. Our only problem was that once they painted the tree, they wanted to paint the sand box toys, the table and anything else that wasn't moving! But we stayed focused and only painted the tree for today. Have some paint thinner handy for cleanup.

Spray Painting

Spray Painting

Set the tree aside for drying and proceed to mix up the Plaster of Paris. The directions are on the box. We just started mixing by trial and error until we had a thick cake batter consistency. Use something disposable for stirring. Be careful not to put too much water. Better to be too thick than too thin. You need a pot or container without a hole in the bottom. The container you choose doesn't have to be one for show, it can be anything - a tin can even. Once you have your tree seated in the container, you could put the container and all down into your good pot, cauldron or even a hollowed out pumpkin!

Plaster of Paris

Once you have your container about 1-2 to 3/4 full, position the tree trunk in the center of the pot. Wait until your tree has fully dried. I think you can see by the expression of the faces, that ours was still a little sticky. Mississippi humidity!

Seating Tree

Leave the tree for the Plaster of Paris to dry. It will take at least 30 minutes. We placed some loppers around the tree to hold it in place while it dries.

Drying

This was a perfect time to cool off and take a break! During this time, we decided on what we were going to decorate the tree with. Naturally, since we sell RAZ Halloween decorations this is where we started!

Once the tree was dry, we filled the top of the pot with spanish moss and hung a little off some of the limbs. We didn't fully decorate the tree, just added a few things to give you the idea of how it would look. Will take more photos at the Halloween party when its complete. We also plan to use purple mini lights with black wire on the tree.

Halloween  Tree

The large ball ornaments are from RAZ. They come in orange, black, green and purple and have Boo or Spooky written on them. They large, but lightweight. The Black Feathered Owl in the top of the tree made of feather and paper and very lightweight. Three whimsical mice made of resin are perfect positioned around the pot.

RAZ Black Feathered Owl

RAZ Whimsical Mice

RAZ Feathered Buzzard

The large Feathered Buzzard from RAZ is perfect for Halloween decorating, though I think we've actually sold more at other times than Halloween! Purchased for gag gifts I suppose. Though one customer said she had hers positioned on the cabinet over her stove........Road Kill Cafe I guess))) (If you're not from the South, you may have trouble figuring that one out.....e-mail me)

RAZ Feathered Buzzard

The Buzzard is 18 1/2" and made of feather and paper. It's very realistic looking.....kinda of makes you nervous just being around it!

RAZ Buzzard Back

RAZ Jack O'Lantern People Figurine

The RAZ Jack O'Lantern People are a perfect side companion for the tree. They are whimsical and have these silly grins on their faces. It is 17 1/2" tall and from the Pumpkin Patch collection of RAZ Imports.

RAZ Jack O'Lantern People Figurine

Making the Halloween Tree is easy and inexpensive. The Plaster of Paris step could be omitted and just fill you container with sand, dirt, or rocks. Using the Plaster of Paris though will make the tree more secure and you can actually re-use it for a few years. We'll post more photos later and show you what it looks like fully decorated and lit up.

If you have any questions or comments - please leave them and we will followup.

Happy Halloween!

Christmas Tree Light Tutorial

First a Bit of History: The lighted Christmas tree was the creation of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of inventor Thomas Edison. While he was vice president of the Edison Electric Light Company he had Christmas tree light bulbs especially made for him. He proudly displayed his Christmas tree, which was hand-wired with 80 red, white and blue electric incandescent light bulbs the size of walnuts, on December 22, 1882 at his home on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Johnson has become widely regarded as the Father of Electric Christmas Tree Lights. By 1900, businesses started stringing up Christmas lights behind their windows. Christmas lights were too expensive for the average person; as such, electric Christmas lights did not become the majority replacement for candles until 1930.

First Christmas tree with electric lights 

Home of Edward H. Johnson in New York City - December 22, 1882

More Christmas Light Historical Moments:

1895 President Grover Cleveland had the first electrically lit Christmas Tree in the White House

1904 San Diego had the first recorded use of outside Christmas lights

1956 Even though the tree at Rockerfeller Center had lights dating back to 1931, it was 1956 before it had electric lights

1950's In the mid 1950's, the average household was using electric Christmas lights for their home

Old Fluorescent Christmas Lights

1956 Disney Christmas Tree had electric lights

Christmas Lights Tutorial

Mini Lights: Mini Christmas lights are the most commonly used Christmas lights. The bulbs are candle shaped with a slightly pointed tip. Mini lights are generally about 1/4" in diameter and 5/6" in ht. They can be purchased in the incandescent and LED form. Mini lights can be purchased in all sorts of colors and lengths, flashing, non flashing and twinkle. Mini lights can be found with either green, brown or white wires.

C-6 Lights: These are the smallest of the strawberry-shaped lights that many consider the traditional Christmas bulb shape. The bulbs are generally 3/4 inch in diameter and 1 1/8 inches tall. They can be purchased in LED or incandescent.

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C7 Lights: Have the same strawberry shape as C6 Christmas lights but are slightly larger. C7 Christmas lights measure 1 inch in diameter and 1 1/2 inches tall. Their width gives them a rounded, bulbous look. They can be purchased in both incandescent and LED type.

C9 Lights: Just slightly larger than theC7 Christmas lights. They measure 1 inch in diameter and 1 1/2 inches tall. Their width gives them a rounded, bulbous look.

G Series Lights: These lights are shaped like globes or berries and come in a wide variety of sizes. The number after the G designates the maximum diameter of the bulb in eighths of an inch. To calculate the approximate diameter, you simply take the number after the G, divide it by 8, and round to the nearest inch. For example, G25 is a globe-shaped bulb approximately 3 inches in diameter, and G15 is a globe-shaped bulb that is almost 2 inches in diameter. G Series lights can be purchased in the LED and incandescent varieties.

Wide Angle LED Lights: These miniature LED Christmas lights have a wide angle lens that diffuses light outward instead of focusing it at the tip of a bulb. Because of their ability to spread light, Wide Angle LED lights are another option when striving for a brighter effect than traditional mini lights can provide.

Commercial Lights: Commercial Christmas lights are made with heavier gauge wire than residential lights. That means they can carry more power more efficiently over longer distances than regular strings of lights. The wire itself will be more durable as well.

Novelty Lights: Novelty lights are as unlimited as your imagination! Everything from hot peppers to old fashioned bubble lights, all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors can be found. Rice lights are tiny, tiny little lights and rope lights.....are just that...rope lights))

Incandescent vs LED Lights: According to Consumer Reports, price is a toss up when deciding on either incandescent or LED. LED C7 C9 generally are more expensive and have shorter strings. Mini LED lights may have the some number of lights and length of string, but cost a little more also.

Energy: Energy saving was better with LED using 1 to 3 kilowatt hours of energy, compared with 12 to 105 kWh for the incandescents.

Durability: On the Consumer Reports test, LED bulbs worked even after 4,000-plus hours, while each string of incandescents had one or more bulbs burn out before 2,000 hours. The LED bulbs we bought were also plastic and therefore less likely to break than the glass incandescents.

Brightness: Incandescents won. The C9 and C7 incandescents were five to six times brighter than the LEDs, though the mini incandescents were slightly dimmer than the mini LEDs.

Summation: Per Consumer Reports: LEDs are better for the environment; run much cooler, reducing fire risk; should last longer; and could save money eventually. But it's apt to take more than one holiday season for the savings to kick in, and you might not realize any savings if payback takes more than three 90-day seasons. As a rule, you shouldn't use decorative lights longer than that.

How Many Lights Does My Tree Need? First off, it's personal preference. But here are a few tips to help you decide based on the size of the tree and type of lights. The amount of ornaments and decorations on your tree are a factor also. Sometimes there is nothing more stunning that a beautiful green tree with nothing but lights.

Another quick estimate would be to use 100-150 lights per foot of tree (starting with a 6 ft tree). This method results in more lights than the above table.

To determine the number of C7 or C9 lights for your tree, try the following:

Ht x diameter (divided by 2) for trees up to 7 feet = number of lights.

Ht x diameter (divided by 3) for trees 7 1/2" and up = number of lights.

Example: 7 ft tree with 45" diameter

7 x 45 (divided by 2) = 157 lights

Safety Tips:

• Do not connect mini lights end to end to C7 or C9 lights
• Inspect for frayed wires, loose connections, broken bulbs, loose bulbs
• Look for the "UL Listed" tag
• Use "Outdoor" lights for exterior decorating only - do not use inside
• Plug no more than 3 strings of lights of mini lights into an extension cord
• For C7 and C9 or larger bulbs, string no more than 50 lights together
• Turn lights off when you leave home or when you go to bed
• Use surge protectors

Lighting a Fresh Tree

• Divide the tree mentally into three triangular sections from top to bottom around the tree's cone
• Plug in the first string of lights and start at the top, placing the last bulb on the string at the top of the tree next to the trunk.
• Weave the lights back and forth across the triangle being careful not to cross the cord over itself.
• When you get to the end of the first string, connect the next and continue to weave (connecting no more than 300 together).
• Repeat for the remaining triangles
• Step back and gaze at the tree. Look for any black spaces and adjust lights as necessary.
• Lights can be kept tangle free by removing in a reverse action

Lighting an Artificial Tree

• Artificial trees come in umbrella style section. Use some patience and puts your lights on carefully and plan to leave them permanently.
• Light each section separately. (Don't cross a section or assembly point with lights)
• 50 Light strands are easier to work with
• Begin at the bottom of the tree near the trunk
• Wrap your beginning string around the base of the branch near the trunk, pull the string taunt to the tip of the branch, then wind the string back down the branch toward the trunk, continue over to the next branch.
• Continue working in the manner until you reach the point where the tree breaks. Wind any extra lights back along the branch rather than crossing to another section.
• When you wrap the top section of the tree, don't wrap the lights around as many branches so the tree will look evenly lit from top to bottom.
• To make your lighting bolder, wrap some lights around the trunk itself.
• For spectacular lighting - wrap each lateral branch with lights as you work you way back down the branch.

In conclusion:

• Buy the best lights you can afford
• Buy more than you think you'll need
• Remember you may not can find replacement bulbs for unusual lights
• You need "cool" burning lights on real trees and make note of the recommendations on the box when using larger lights on artificial trees
• Sit back and enjoy your masterpiece!

Visit us a Trendy Tree for more decorating tips and ideas!

Another shipment of RAZ Halloween Decorations in!

Time to start thinking about Halloween decorating! We have several new items this year from RAZ Imports. The Lighted Bats just came in along with Spooky and Boo that were so popular last year. We sold out early of Spooky and Boo. We also have two new styles of Witches. Several customers collect the RAZ Witches each year. They have such unique characteristics in their facial features and dress. Most can be placed in a sitting position on mantels, tabletops or window sills, some can be suspended in flight. We're still expecting some great new lighted Pumpkins too in orange and purple.

RAZ Lighted Bat Halloween Decoration Set of 2

• Set of 2
• Black, Purple
• Made of Sisal
• Measures 9" X 24" X 6", 7.5" X 19" X 4"
• UL Certified
• Single End Connection
• RAZ Exclusive

Bats look about the same size in the photo, but are different dimensions. From the "Unearthly" collection of RAZ Imports

 22" Sitting Witch

From the Hocus Pocus Collection

Spooky & Boo
From the Unearthly Delight Collection

Decorating for July 4th

Backyard entertaining in the summertime means memorable times spent with family and friends. Our backyard is the gathering place for the grandchildren and any events we have are usually centered around them)))

This year, a few days before the 4th when they were just simply "bored to death" I got out some paints, markers, tape, glitter pens etc., downloaded and printed some patriotic images from the web and set them off to working. They quickly came up with ideas for more decorations. They colored their images and outlined most of them with 3-d glitter which gave an interesting effect (though difficult to see in the images).

Once the images were all painted we set them out to dry. I had printed them on plain white cardstock. Once they were dry, we cut them out and placed them on banner length of white paper (heavy duty white Christmas paper on a roll). The pictures were glued to the banner paper along with some thin wooden stars, hearts and ribbons. We positioned the banner above the back door on the porch for everyone to see.



After the banner was finished, we found red, blue and white tissue paper and made paper flowers. I'll have to admit, it had been a while since I had made paper flowers so I had to look up the directions!

1. Cut tissue paper into rectangles of desired size .
2. Stack around 15 pieces of tissue paper. Use the same color or different colors. If you want to use a smaller number of pieces of tissue paper, flower will not be as full.
3. Accordion pleat the tissue paper working from the long side.
4. Wind one end of the chenille stem around the middle of the accordion pleated tissue paper.
5. Gently separate each layer by pulling upwards toward the middle of the flower. Do the second side.

Once the flowers were completed we needed something for stems. Not having any dowels or anything that would work for stems, I found some silk flowers that I wasn't using. I started to cut the flowers off but this proved to be a little difficult, so we just turned them upside down and attached to the plain end. The blossom end was going in the vase anyway so it worked out just fine!



We decorated plain white tablecloths with stars and stripes by taking some plastic tablecloths and cutting out runners for two tables from one cloth instead of using the plastic cloth over the whole table. This looked much better and was easily taped down to the white cloth. Several years ago I invested in several white cotton tablecloths in round, square and rectangular sizes. These have been used many times since then for all sorts of celebrations.

Now that the 4th is behind us......we need to start thinking about Labor Day!