Day 68: Christmas gift ideas for your girlfriend

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 68: Christmas gift ideas for your girlfriend

Gentlemen, have you been wandering the town or mall, wrecking your brain for the perfect Christmas gift for your girlfriend?  If your budget is limitless the choice is easy, as diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but something tell me you are not as fortunate. 

The Christmas gift you will present your girlfriend with will largely depend on the length of time you have been dating.  If you have been going out for months the type of gift you give will obviously be different than if the relationship is fairly new.

Whatever the case may be, there is no need to panic or rush to the bank for a loan, the following are Christmas gift ideas for your girlfriend that won’t cost you an arm and a leg.

Jewelry

If you cannot afford real diamonds consider the next best thing ... Swarovski crystals.  The Swarovski collection holds a number of jewelry items, ranging from necklaces to bracelets and rings to pretty ornamental pieces for her room.  They are not cheap, but they do fit a man on a budget.

If Swarovski crystal is still too much for you, have a look at custom jewelry in sterling silver, electroplated gold or pearls.  You may find some beautiful items for a fraction of the price.

Perfume

Unless your girlfriend suffers from asthma, consider a nice bottle of perfume or au de toilette.  The pretty bottles come in all kinds of scents and price ranges and will be welcomed with a smile.

Should perfume or au de toilette be out of your price range, have a look at body lotion, bath pearls or scented candles.  They cost next to nothing and will still make for a very nice gift.

Books

Does your girlfriend like to write?  If she does, surprise her with a laptop.  If this is a bit much, I’m sure she will be tickled pink with a beautiful journal to capture her ideas and thoughts.  Journals come in all kinds of sizes and price ranges, from expensive leather-bound books to economically priced hard cover ones.

While you’re at it, you might as wells spring for a nice pen too.

If your girlfriend loves to read, you can’t go wrong with a book. Before making a selection in the bookstore, discretely find out what she likes to read, does she like murder mysteries, biographies, vampire stories or romance novels?

Clothing

Should you wish to give your girlfriend a clothing item, stick to a warm scarf, gloves or anything else that doesn’t require knowing her size.  

Steer clear of lingerie.  Unless your relationship has reached an intimate stage and you are very sure such an item will be welcomed, give it a miss as this type of gift is presumptuous and might backfire.

If you are still at a loss as to what to get, talk to your mother, your sister or a female colleague.  Girls know what girls like.

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Day 28: Cheap Halloween decorating ideas

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 28: Halloween - Cheap Halloween decorating ideas

If you’re planning on having a family gathering or throwing a big Halloween party, turning down the lights and playing some scary music is not enough, you need to create the right atmosphere. Halloween night belongs to ghosts and goblins and when the dead rise from the grave and crows, rats, and spiders are there to welcome them. 

To party with them or at least be sympathetic to their plight, your house needs to be suitably attired. The following are some cheap Halloween decorating ideas.

Ghosts

You will need two or more white balloons for this trick. Fill the balloons with helium, attach different lengths of string and secure the string with weights so they don’t float to the ceiling. Cover the balloons with a white curtain or bed sheet. To get some movement in the balloons, enlist the help of a fan turned on to the lowest setting. Your ghosts will gently sway in the breeze.

Spiders

Fill a black balloon with Helium and let it float to the ceiling. Cut eight pieces of black streamer and attach one end with tape to the black balloon and the other end to various points on the ceiling or walls, thus creating the look of the spiders’ legs. If you want you can give the spider a face by using white or silver paint to paint eyes and a mouth on the spider. A word of advice though, this is not a good idea if any of your guests are afraid of spiders.

Coffins

If you have a couple of shoeboxes, you can paint them black or brown and decorate them to look like coffins.  For an open casket, place a skeleton on top of a pile of cotton wool or Kleenex tissues.

Tombstones

Get some Styrofoam and cut it so that it’s flat on the bottom and rounded on top. Paint the Styrofoam grey with the letters R.I.P. in black with your guests’ names and a message. That will creep them out.

Cardboard

Get some black cardboard and draw various sizes of bats, rats, and birds on it.  With a red pencil or paint, give the animals eyes, a mouth, and whiskers. Cut out the drawings and attach them with sticky tape to the walls or windows.

On orange cardboard, you can draw pumpkins and jack o lanterns. After cutting them out decorate them with leafs drawn and cut out from green cardboard.

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Halloween decorating ideas for the office

While you can go all out decorating your house for Halloween, you might have to tone it down a bit with Halloween decorating ideas for the office. After all, the office is a place of business where management meets clients, customers or patients.

That is not to say that you cannot bring a little atmosphere to your office or cubicle. In fact, a few tasteful ornaments might gain you popularity.

To start off, you might want to decide on a good place to decorate. This can be a corner of your desk, the top of a filing cabinet, a windowsill, or even some floor space.

To create the right setting, start off with either a black or an orange piece of cardboard. If you mainly want to use decorations such as ravens, bats or spiders, orange is your best choice.  If on the other hand, you are thinking of using or pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, or other colorful items, then black cardboard will be better suited.  Creating contrast is key.

A word of advice though, be sympathetic to your colleagues’ feelings. If you know of someone who has a phobia for spiders, best not to use them. You don’t want to give someone heart failure when coming face to face with a lifelike tarantula.  

However, if nobody in your area is afraid of spiders, they make for great decorations. You can have them sitting on your desk, crawling on walls, dangling from the ceiling, whatever you fancy.

Alternatively, you can use witches and scarecrows. Nobody is likely to go screaming when they see a witch or scarecrow in your office and they make for great, colorful decorations. Along with witches, you can add little details such as cauldrons, poison bottles, broomsticks, and apples.

Other Halloween decorations for the office could be a touch of the sinister. How about some coffins or headstones?  To jazz things up a bit you could add a ghost or two. 

Then there are the ever-popular vampires. Whether you work with dolls or pictures, nothing says Halloween like a blood-sucking creature. To give extra character to your display, you could make use of a few bats and goblets filled with some type of red liquid. 

If management doesn’t allow creepy Halloween decorations for the office, you could just stick to pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns. Providing you have space, you could have the real thing in your office or cubicle, or you could have pictures or a banner.

If you don’t overdo it, most offices will have no problem with having a few decorations. Keep it simple, keep it tasteful and be considerate. 

Want to share your thoughts? Comments are welcome.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Halloween decorating ideas for the office

While you can go all out decorating your house for Halloween, you might have to tone it down a bit with Halloween decorating ideas for the office.  After all, the office is a place of business where management meets clients, customers or patients.

That is not to say that you cannot bring a little atmosphere in your office or cubicle.  In fact, a few tasteful ornaments might gain you popularity.

To start off, you might want to decide on a good place to decorate.  This can be a corner of your desk, the top of a filing cabinet, a windowsill, or even some floor space.

To create the right setting, start off with either a black or an orange piece of cardboard.  If you mainly want to use decorations such as ravens, bats or spiders, black is your best choice.  If on the other hand you are thinking of using or pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, or other colorful items, then orange cardboard will be better suited.  Creating contrast is key.

A word of advice though, be sympathetic to your colleagues’ feelings.  If you know of someone who has a phobia for spiders, best not to use them.  You don’t want to give someone heart failure when coming face to face with a lifelike tarantula. 

However, if nobody in your area is afraid of spiders, they make for great decorations.  You can have them sitting on your desk, crawling on walls, dangling from the ceiling, whatever you fancy.

Alternatively you can use witches and scarecrows.  Nobody is likely to go screaming when they see a witch or scarecrow in your office and they make for great, colorful decorations.  Along with witches you can add little details such as cauldrons, poison bottles, broomsticks and apples.

Other Halloween decorations for the office could be a touch of the sinister.  How about some coffins or headstones?  To jazz things up bit you could add a ghost or two. 

Then there are the ever popular vampires.  Whether you work with dolls or pictures, nothing says Halloween like a blood sucking creature.  To give extra character to your display, you could make use of a few bats and goblets filled with some type of red liquid. 

If management doesn’t allow creepy Halloween decorations for the office, you could just stick to pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns.  Providing you have the space, you could have the real thing in your office or cubicle, or you could have pictures or a banner.

If you don’t overdo it, most offices will have no problem with having a few decorations.  Keep it simple, keep it tasteful and be considerate. 

www.connymanero.weebly.com

10 Valentine gift ideas you can make yourself

When Valentine’s Day comes around, it’s tradition for the guys to surprise their girlfriend with a gift.  Some guys want to do more than merely buy their girlfriend a little something though, they want to make the gift extra special by making it themselves.  Other guys may want to give their sweetheart the moon and the stars, but find themselves a little strapped for cash and see themselves forced to make something for their girlfriend with their own two hands.  Regardless of which category you fall into, the following are ten Valentine’s Day gifts you can make for your girlfriend.

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