2008 December | Mom Blog Magazine

Drip Candle Gift Ideas

December 13, 2008 By admin 2 Comments

One of the most memorable scenes in Walt Disney’s The Lady and the Tramp is the Italian restaurant scene. Lady and Tramp are sharing a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. On the table is wine bottle with a candle dripping down the sides. These types of candles had gone out of style but seem to be making a resurgence, so here are some drip candle gift ideas for the coming holiday season.

Candle wax dripping down the sides of wicker-covered chianti bottles were common in the 1960s and 1970s. The bottles were used as candle holders after they had been drained. Originally the candles were white; however, soon colors were added to the drip candles. People who enjoyed these candles in the past claimed watching the colors change as the wax dripped down the bottle was relaxing.

Today’s professionally-made drip candles have various combinations of wax and wicks. The effect of the dripping wax is reminiscent of the old romantic movies. The candles come in solid-colored tapers as well as multicolored layers. As the wick burns, the layers of wax melt in a rainbow of colors.

Find empty chianti bottles and include a few of the multicolor drip candles to give as part of a “Taste of Italy” gift basket. Include spaghetti noodles, a container of sauce, Italian bread, and Parmesan cheese. You may even want to include a romantic Italian movie.

Buy multicolor red, green, and white drip candles to include with crystal candle holders. Decorate the candle holders with Christmas greenery. Place everything in a box and wrap it up for Christmas giving.

Use similarly-colored candles for a Mexican gift basket. Fill it with salsa, tortilla chips, hot sauce, and some maracas. A Mexican Talavera wall hanging can round out the basket.

Give drip candles as wedding gifts. White drip candles, or candles made with the colors of the wedding, can be given with frosted glass candle holders.

Pay attention to the décor of friends and family you may be considering giving drip candles. Gold drip candles would look great in a formal dining room. Yellow and green drip candles might be perfect for a friend who loves gardening.

Remember that no matter if you’re giving drip candles as gifts or you’re using them yourself, it is not wise to leave lit candles unattended. Place them on flat surfaces. Since these candles are expected to drip, you may also want to place a plate under the bottles or candle holders to keep from damaging cloth tablecloths.

People have probably been putting candles in bottles to use as a candle holder for years. Regardless of where they are placed, they make great gift ideas for nearly every occasion. These drip candle gift ideas barely scratch the surface of the possible ways you can give them to your friends and loved ones.

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Filed Under: Featured Articles Tagged With: shopping

How to Review Products and Make Money with a Blog

December 8, 2008 By admin Leave a Comment

From where to shop and eat, to where the best places to live or work are, most people will freely share their ideas about these things with others. This can also translate to what the best products and services are out there and people talk about them with their friends and families via word-of-mouth. It’s what drives the market in many cases. This is called “reviewing” and it’s a popular way that many are cashing in via online blogs.

Blogging, which actually had its start in 1995 but has gained more popularity in recent years, is a way for people to spread the word about their opinions and first-hand reviews on things. Blogs are everywhere, thanks to the free services like WordPress.com and Google’s blogger.com that allow anyone to build a blog in a matter of minutes from any computer. A blog is essentially an online journal where you can share a lot of opinions and reviews of things daily and this Just Add Sweat Guide will show you exactly how to get yours set up.

If you love sharing your opinions and reviews about different things, then you have the skills needed to build a review blog and start earning money for your reviews. How? Companies know that consumer reviews are a powerful marketing tool to get the word out about their products and services.

Many are willing to pay big bucks to people who are willing to review their offerings. There are paid surveys that companies send out to carefully targeted consumers. They can offer anywhere from $1 to $10 or more per review and are mostly sent out via email to people who sign up to do them. Combine this with posting the questions and answers on your blog for more earnings.

There are also research studies and product reviews that may include trying an actual product for a period of time and then writing an honest review. Those can pay between $15-75 for each review and you get to keep the product afterwards.

You can also earn from reviews by selling advertising on your blog and earning commissions from companies who sell the products you review.
The potential to earn a good income from writing about products and services on your blog are endless. Just do a quick search online and you will find hundreds of ideas what to write about and where. Chances are something you just tried recently is available for you to write about on your blog.

Recommended Additional Resource:

To learn the step-by-step details of how to set up your up your review blog, pick up your copy of the Just Add Sweat Guide to Start a Review Blog. You’ll not only learn the nuts and bolts of how to get started, but how to make money and enjoy your new business.

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Filed Under: News Tagged With: Blog

Recycle Your Wrapping Paper

December 5, 2008 By admin 2 Comments

Every year it seems that families spend more and more at Christmas time. Many are looking for ways they can save money. One way to save money is to recycle your wrapping paper rather than merely throwing it away. You’ve already spent the money, oftentimes quite a bit; it almost seems wasteful to toss it out. Here are some ways you can recycle your wrapping paper by using it for other things after it’s already wrapped gifts.

Use crumpled wrapping paper to keep fragile ornaments from being damaged. Sure, you can buy ornament keepers, but a sturdy box and some crumpled paper will do the same job. It will also save you money because ornament keepers can be expensive.

Push crumpled-up wrapping paper into formed hats or purses to help them stay the correct shape when they’re stored away for a period of time. This is especially helpful if you don’t have boxes to store them in.

Re-wrap presents next year. Of course, this will be difficult to do if the paper is too wrinkled or torn up. If you had wrapped a large present, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem; however, it might be if the gift was smaller. If the wrapping paper is wrinkled, you can turn the paper on the wrong side and iron it on low. You can also cut off parts of the wrapping paper that can be used again to wrap smaller presents in the future.

Did someone wrap a present in wrapping paper that’s not really limited to Christmas? Iron the back of the wrapping paper with an iron set on low. Find a corkboard that will fit into the paper and wrap it up. This is a great craft for children to try because they can tape the wrapping paper on the back and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Hang the corkboard up by a telephone as a message board. You can also cut used, ironed wrapping paper into squares to use for leaving telephone messages.

Learn a new craft and recycle your wrapping paper at the same time. You can find books on origami at the library. If your library doesn’t have a book, look online. There are many websites that are dedicated to the art of folding paper.

Use the ironed paper as drawer or shelf liners. Measure the size of your drawers and shelves before placing the paper in them. This will allow the paper to fit as closely as possible. If you have enough wrapping paper to recycle this way, you may be able to place more than one layer in each drawer. Remove the top layer of paper when it is soiled and you’ll already have another to replace it.

Make a decision this year to try to save as much wrapping paper as possible so that it can be used again in following years. Of course, if you really want to save money, you could create a fabric bag that can be reused year after year. You can even embroider names on it if you like.

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