Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Tips on using Gas ...

Got this from one of a craft groups ... I am not sure if ti is true, but I am just saving this for later ...might use it one day !!

TIPS ON PUMPING GAS (Good information)
- Only buy or fill up your car or truck in the early morning when the ground temperature is still cold. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the more dense the gasoline. When it gets warmer, gasoline expands, so buy ing in the afternoon or in the evening.... your gallon is not exactly a gallon. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products plays an important role. A 1-degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.

- When you're filling up, do not squeeze the trigger of the nozzle to a fast mode. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapors that are created while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapor return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapor. Those vapors are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you're getting less worth for your money.

- One of the most important tips is to fill up when your gas tank is HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY. The reason for this is, the more gas you have in your tank the less air occupying its empty space. Gasoline evaporates faster than you can imagine. Gasoline storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the gas and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation. Unlike service stations, here where I work, every truck that we load is temperature compensated so that every gallon is actually the exact amount.

- Another reminder, if there is a gasoline truck pumping into the storage tanks when you stop to buy gas, DO NOT fill up. Most likely the gasoline is being stirred up as the gas is being delivered, and you might pic k up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom. Hope this will help you get the most value for your money.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Favor ideas

THis is a list of favors I got also when preparing my wedding but I am keeping it for any future occasions I might need to send back favors to my guests :

Here are some ideas from an article on theknot.com You asked for it, so here it is: We've put together a list of our best favor ideas! Remember, you can spend a lot or a little. It's not how much your favors cost that matters, it's how creative, cool, funny, or yummy they are! We hope these help spark your imagination.

SEASONAL/HOLIDAY FAVORS
1. Candy canes
2. Mini Easter baskets filled with foil-wrapped chocolate eggs
3. Little plastic pumpkins filled with candy corn
4. Simple Christmas ornaments
5. Pretty gourds
6. Blow-up beach balls with your names and the date on them, or just in your wedding colors
7. Miniature heart-shaped boxes of Valentine's chocolates
8. A New Year's champagne flute with your names and the date emblazoned on it
9. Sunscreen (for an outdoor summer wedding)
10. Miniature watering cans filled with spring blooms
11. Frisbees (for a cookout in the woods or park)
12. Miniature Christmas wreaths (perhaps wrapped around the base of a red candle)
13. Dreidels 14. Chocolate coins in gold foil
15. Umbrellas (for a wedding during rainy season)
16. Scarves or mittens (for a nippy winter wedding day)
7. Sunglasses
18. Sparklers
19. Easter eggs (that you've colored yourselves)
20. Miniature pots of clover (four-leaf?) for St. Patty's Day
21. Kites
22. Snow globes
23. Wedding water bottles
24. Slices of apple or pumpkin pie KEEPSAKE FAVORS
25. A copy of a memorable photo you have of you (or both of you) with each guest - very personal
26. A love poem written by one or both of you, or just one that you love 27. A pretty picture frame
28. Potpourri
29. Several sheets of pretty notepaper with matching envelopes, tied with a ribbon
30. A letter of love and thanks from the two of you
31. Miniature soaps or fun, brightly colored glycerin-soap "slices"
32. Fragrance -- small vials of perfume and/or cologne that you love, or that was created expressly for the wedding
33. Engraved silver keychains
34. A Polaroid shot of you and each guest as they arrive at the reception
35. Wine glasses with your names and the date on them in gold, silver, or black
36. Pretty paper fans (to beat the heat, and/or to represent your Asian or Spanish ancestry)
37. Small, round, decorative boxes (or pretty pillboxes)
38. Figurines (Precious Moments are popular)
39. Mini replicas -- or picture postcards -- of landmarks in the town where you marry (the Empire State Building in New York, the Space Needle in Seattle, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco)
40. Little blank books/journals (where your guests can record their most secret thoughts)
41. Music boxes EDIBLE FAVORS
42. The classic: candied almonds (Italian "confetti")
43. A single, amazing petit four
44. A miniature box of good chocolate (Godiva!) or a single truffle
45. Half bottles of wine, perhaps with labels personalized for your wedding
46. A chocolate-chip cannoli
47. Gourmet jelly beans
48. Chocolate Kisses wrapped in tissue paper (in your wedding colors, perhaps)
49. Mixed nuts in little canisters
50. Baklava (your grandmother's recipe, maybe)
51. Mints with your married monogram on them
52. Apples (if you've got apple trees in your yard or an orchard nearby - or if either of you is a doctor or teacher!)
53. Gourmet coffee beans in mugs
54. Everyone's favorite: M&Ms
55. Pineapples or coconuts (for a tropical wedding)
56. Ginger candy (spicy!)
57. Bubble gum or malted-milk balls (for a '50s-style wedding)
58. Licorice (Twizzlers or the assorted, colorful kind)
59. Little tins of butter cookies
60. Rice-Krispies treats
61. Big, round, old-fashioned lollipops
62. Honey or jam - that you've canned yourselves or from a local gourmet shop
63. Old-fashioned "button" candy (colorful drops stuck onto long sheets of butcher paper) "LIVING" FAVORS
64. Tree saplings
65. Flower bulbs
66. A single rose at each place setting (in the color of your choice)
67. Donations to the charity of your choice in each guest's name (leave a small paper scroll or card at each place explaining)
68. Packets of seeds - your favorite bloom, or one with significance to the two of you
69. Potted African violets
70. Flower leis
71. "Adopt" an animal at the zoo in your guests' collective names
72. Aromatherapy candles
73. Goldfish in pretty bowls (make sure they come with fish food!)
74. "Favors" from the bride and groom -- certificates that promise "one heart-to-heart," "a year of email," "afternoon tea," "a day of helping you move," etc., personalized for each guest
75. Boutonnieres and corsages for every single guest JUST FOR FUN
76. Toothbrushes with your names and the wedding date on them (especially if one of you is a dentist)
77. Astrological readings (on mini scrolls) for each guest
78. Pez dispensers (complete with the candy!)
79. Decks of cards (having a Vegas wedding??)
80. Silly, kids' party favors
81. Bottles of bubbles
82. Tiny stuffed animals
83. CD singles (maybe your wedding song, or something classic)
84. Post-It notes in your wedding colors (everyone can use 'em)
85. Wedding T-shirts
86. Bandanas (perfect for a hoe-down)
87. Baseball caps or visors
88. Shot glasses (personalized or just ones you like!)
89. Stickers (silly ones, or have a graphic-designer pal design wedding-memento stickers)
90. Super Balls or Slinkies
91. Cans of Play-Doh (regress to childhood, everyone!)
92. Crayons (you might want to cover the tables with butcher paper, too)
93. Yo-yos
94. Tennis or golf balls with your names and the date on them
95. Personalized pens or pencils 96. Calendars (little plastic ones or funny rip-off-the-date ones)
97. "Paper" airplanes (little colorful ones made out of foam)
98. Chef's hats (if you two are connoisseurs)
99. Comic books
100. Kazoos or harmonicas (for a musical reception!)
101. Lottery tickets (give them a chance at good fortune) Hope this helps.

What to do with photo Negatives?

Got these from the beautiful site of recyclethis...

- The first thing that comes to mind is a lamp shade with cutouts for the negatives so the light shines through. That would be sooooo cool, especially if the light would project the images on the wall :)

- I’ve seen old colour negatives used for artwork, but they seem to fade quite quickly in sunlight. Old black-and-white negatives are more stable, and would look lovely in a lampshade, although they might be imflammable, so check first.
I don’t know if it counts as recycling, but I have seen old black-and-white negatives used for cyanotype printing of fabrics. This produces a sort of “photograph” on the fabric in a beautiful blue.

- The holes that run along both sides of each negative strip allow them to be whipstiched together. Get a lamp spider by taking apart an old lampshade and whipstich one row of negative strips horizontally around the edge. Follow with several more rows attached to the bottom of the previous row. Use a low wattage bulb.
You can also create a lampshade cover by using the negatives vertically and attaching them together in in the top hole on each side with jump rings. When you have strung enough together create a ring and place over a plain lampshade. Attaching them together only at the top allows them to spread out along the cone shaped lamp shade,

- This is probably a less likely use of negatives, but fully exposed negative film (ie. the black bits) acts as a visible light filter - it is however, transparent to infrared light. You can use this property to convert webcams and digital cameras to primitive IR cameras.

Unique centerpieces

Probably I still have this from my wedding preps... I might still need them for other occasions, so just wanted to save them in my bucket--full-of-ideas... So here are the unique table centerpiece ideas that I like :

. Framed photos of you and your sweetheart in your favorite places with a description of why that place is important to you. To take it a step further, assign each guest a table "place" rather then number to correspond with the photo and description on the table.

. Fish bowls with goldfish inside. Use gravel that is the same color as your wedding colors.

. Bottles of champagne (they can each be different types) with a wreathe of ivy or evergreen around the bottom of them.

. Hurricane lamps with flower pedals sprinkled around them or filled with Christmas balls in the shades of your wedding colors.

. Antique teapots with flowers inside. 6. Wedding photographs of other guests at your wedding or who have passed on whose marriages you admire(d) (this looks really cool if the photos are old)

. Straw hats (very cheap at craft stores) decorated with silk flowers and ribbons-perfect for an outdoor, spring, reception.

. Antique birdcages filled with flowers.

. Cool bowls that you and your honey made beforehand at a pottery and paint place-put pencils and blank pieces of paper in the bowls so your guests can write you little words of advice.

. Miniature bouquets made out of lollipops. Duct tape a bundle of lollipops together and put them in little vases.

. Champagne buckets filled with flowers or simply as a flowerpot with one big flower growing from it.

. Gift boxes! Get three or four gift boxes of different sizes, wrap them in paper that reflects your wedding theme and/or colors and put them in the middle of the table with a beautiful bow. Cheap and unique!

. Teacups with votive candles in them. Put several in the middle of each table. You can find really neat and inexpensive teacups at antique or thrift stores. Keep them for your home or give them away.

. Potpourri in bowls or baskets.

. Two plastic champagne glasses hot glued together so they cross (laying down) with four clear glass marbles in each glass. The marbles will give the effect of bubbles coming out of the glasses. You can tie helium balloons to the glasses for height.

. A flower pot with an American flag in it, or any other flag that is meaningful to you. If you put the American flag with another nation's, though, make sure the American flag is on the left (assuming your reception is in the USA)

. Glass bowls filled with water with thin slices of lemons and limes floating on top. Great for a summer wedding.62. Glass mason jars of various sizes filled with peaches or other foods that match your colors. The guests don't have to eat them! Just look at them. Hard candies also work well.