Key West has always been a hot spot for live music. When tourists finally get to the end of the road after making the long trek down the Keys, it does something to their psyche. Normally respectable citizens of the mainland tend to breathe in the free air of the tropics and start doing some pretty uncharacteristic things - things like drinking rum runners and stripping down to barely perceptible clothes. And they naturally congregate on Duvall Street, where the local clubs are happy to contribute to the anything-goes atmosphere. Live music pours out of nearly every bar.

The music leans heavily towards a Jimmy Buffett, island-flavored sound, and you’re sure to hear “Brown-Eyed Girl” at least ten times a night from ten different clubs. And that’s as it should be, because everyone is usually in an island kinda mood. But there is much more to be found. You can hear jazz, reggae, hard rock and blues, from places like Rick’s, Sloppy Joe’s, The Bull, La Concha, The Hog’s Breath, and, if you don’t mind walking an extra ten blocks or so, Jimmy Buffett’s own Margaritaville Cafe. What makes the whole scene so appealing is that most of the clubs are open to the outside, and all this music makes a potent gumbo of sound in the humid air as you walk down the street.

Long ago, before there was ever a road to Key West, most of the town was populated by pirates, who helped to ’salvage’ goods from ships that were wrecked on the reefs because someone had switched the signal lights around. Everyone knew who switched those lights in the first place, of course. But salvaging was a tempting, lucrative profession in those days. That outlaw spirit still lives in Key West, and it can be heard in the music of performers in the clubs and from street performers on nearly every block.
I personally got to experience healthy doses of Key West music every April for 15 years, when I played at Sloppy Joe’s with the duo Faust and Lewis.

We developed our music and comedy act on that famous stage, and wrote gobs of funny songs about life in the islands. We always did the 5-9 PM shift, so after our show there was plenty of time to do the Duvall Crawl and check out the other acts in town. I became a great fan of Hugo Duarte, who was performing at the Hog’s Breath Saloon late one night in early April. It was uncharacteristically cool that night, with the temperature all the way down in the low 60’s, but my wife and I braved the chill to listen to Hugo for over an hour. His original songs are nearly perfect, and tell great stories about life in the islands, and about ship captains heading somewhere down south.

I also got to know Terry Cassidy, who still does afternoons at Sloppy Joe’s. He adds a smooth, bluegrass feel to his island music, and his song “Hooked On the Easy Life” just about sums up the attitude of the locals.

Pete and Wayne currently handle the 5-9 shift at Sloppy’s, and you can be sure they are continuing the “What Me Worry?” attitude down there, with their adult humor and songs.

There are so many more artists that have made a real splash on the Key West scene. Pat Dailey, the legend of Lake Erie, has been performing in February and March at Sloppy Joe’s for over twenty years. Bill Wharton, The Sauce Boss, one of the finest blues players I’ve ever seen, also makes hot sauce during his shows and serves it up in gumbo to people who stay around until the end. He makes regular appearances at Margaritaville. Ben Harrison, who with his wife Helen own Harrison Gallery, is also a renowned singer-songwriter who puts on mini operas about some of the colorful characters in Key West history, including a guy who kept his wife’s body in his parlor for years after she died.

All of us who have performed and written songs about Key West owe a tremendous debt to Shel Silverstein, who lived in Key West until his death several years ago. Shel wrote many famous songs, including “The Unicorn Song,” and “Cover of the Rolling Stone,” as well as countless award-winning children’s books, including “Where the Sidewalk Ends.” He generously gave of his time and talents to mentor songwriters that made their way to Key West. I personally spent an afternoon at his house, and I knew I was truly in the presence of greatness.

I recently did a weekend back at Sloppy Joe’s for the first time in four years. You can rest assured that the music and fun continue on, as vibrant as ever. Maybe it’s the gulf breeze. Maybe it’s the rum runners. Whatever it is, I hope it goes on forever.

Wayne Faust is a music
and comedy performer, who also runs Picklehead Music, a site devoted to showcasing funny music, along with some
great acoustic and variety CD’s.
Incidentally, Picklehead has a section devoted exclusively to
Key West Artists, with
more CD’s added there all the time.

If you are planning a Michigan beach vacation, Lake Michigan is the place. Here is an overview on your options.

Finding Michigan Beach Lodgings

Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great Lakes of the United States. In fact, it borders four separate states: Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin. Lake Michigan is also the only one of the Great Lakes that is contained entirely within the US. Its large size makes for a long coastline, with plenty of beaches for you to enjoy.

The beaches of Michigan are a great place to take a vacation because of the many activities available to tourists in the area. Harbor Country is one of the more popular areas to find a place to stay. It is located at the southern point of Lake Michigan, in the state of Michigan. Within Harbor Country there are eight separate townships, which house many different resorts, spas, bed and breakfasts and hotels.

One popular lodging destination in this area is the New Buffalo Inn and Spa located in New Buffalo, Michigan. This spa and retreat has both cottages and inn accommodations available for rent, as well as a women’s wellness spa with pampering treatments such as facials and massages. It is an ideal place to get some well deserved pampering.

Another great place to stay on your vacation in the Harbor Country area is the Gintaras. It is located in Union Pier, Michigan. The Gintaras offers beach and waterfront activities as well as a children’s playground, bike riding, horseback riding and much more! As you can tell from the description, these lodgings are tailored to the entire family.

Michigan beaches are a great spot to take a family vacation and be able to relax with your loved ones. While at these locations, be sure to attend some of the festivals and other entertainment that is available in the region. Aside from lounging on the beach, you can attend plays and other shows at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan, or go on a Wine Tasting Tour starting at the Round Barn Winery in Baroda, Michigan. There are so many activities to choose from that you’ll be sure to find something to do that everyone in the family will enjoy.

Richard Rspad is with ResortSpaDestinations.com - reviews and articles on resorts. Visit us to read spa articles as well.

After the video production is done, the editing procedure gets going. Generally editing control units remain put for the most with the editing studios & the technically qualified expert professionals chip in a high level of creativity for the duration of the editing assignment. Typically at some stage in the editing assignment the positive points of the video recordings are reserved & unnecessary fragments are erased. There is quite a few sophisticated software that are in great demand for this specific job. The purpose of the video is analyzed & subtle alterations are done too. Audio clips & background music are also made use of at some stage during the editing. There remains Special Effect Generators (SPG) which makes the selected footage more smarter. Most of the video production organisations supply the video production and the editing services. Are you looking to utilise online video as part of your marketing mix? If so, then Vidify has the video productions services your want.

At the present time several video production agencies exist to satisfy needs of different businesses. Apart from corporate presentations, videos are also made use of to preserve precious events of life for example anniversaries, birthdays, special celebrations; summer holidays and so forth. Handheld camcorders with digital chips are nowadays commonly accessible on the consumer market. Short films have happened to become reasonably fashionable not counting being very enlightening & compelling. In reality online videos allow people to relate better with the subject than any other brand of online media communications.

Today, numerous people are setting up video production companies as demand of these brands of agencies are on the up. It’s also feasible to obtain ample information from the internet concerning video production just with a couple mouse clicks. The rise of video media has influenced the development of commercials & to produce beautiful commercials, a high-quality video production and publishing company is fundamental. Online videos play essential function in execution of business marketing promotion & at this moment online video publishing is an accepted concept with the World Wide Web users. Therefore, across the globe online video production plays a significant role.

Bring the southwestern feeling to your home by having a fiesta for Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday. It has been celebrated since 1862 when the smaller less modern army of Mexico defeated the larger more powerful French army at the Battle of Puebla.

Friends and Family members will love to get together to celebrate this festive holiday. Write on the invitation for guests to break out their Mexican fatigues. Sombreros, serapes, ponchos and bandannas are the perfect party gear for your guests to wear.

Offer an array of authentic Mexican dishes to appease the appetites of all who come to your fiesta. Enchiladas, tacos, salsa, guacamole, and queso dip are a few of the tasty dishes you might consider. Don’t forget to accompany these delightful entrees with a few traditional Mexican beverages.

Use stunning colored lights in a variety of shapes including cactus and red chili peppers for your Cinco de Mayo fiesta. No fiesta ceiling would be complete without a few paper lanterns in an array of sparkling and traditional colors. Use cutouts of cactus or howling coyote silhouettes for wall decorations.

For younger guests to be able to relish in the traditions of a Cinco de Mayo celebration, incorporate a piata into the festivities. Use a traditional seven pointed star shape or the shape of the horse piata. Children of all ages will be excited in taking a swing at this popular party game in hopes that they would be the one to spill the treasures that are carefully contained inside.

With all of your careful planning and a few of your great ideas brought to life, your Cinco de Mayo fiesta is sure to be a party that will be remembered and appreciated for many years to come.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Free Party Games to help complete your event.

Royal Vegas Casino

Assuming you haven’t yet learned about betting saloon betting, read on.

In the name of clarity, a betting hall is a structure that organizes card-playing. At such a place, aficionados are invited to take chances at slot machines or another pastimes of chance. Gambling saloon games ordinarily include well calculated probabilities governing them that maintain that the organization possesses dominion over the gambling buffs.

Very many betting saloon games can encourage you to become dependent quickly. A case in point: the simple 1-armed-bandit, a coin operated instrument with three plus drums which pivot when a handle latched onto it is operated. This instrument commonly pays out based on a row of pictures presented on the front panel of the appliance. Disastrously, gaming room games furnish the mirage of power, thereby conning the guest: the addressee is charged with decisions, but in reality they will not really match the patron’s fundamental handicap. That is precipitated by the gaming room never paying up the full amount as hoped for. This systematic arrangement is typically noticeable in well known casino games such as seven-card stud, dice games, roulette or blackjack.

Seven card stud poker is indisputably an immensely fashionable casino pastime. The betting enthusiasts, playing with fully concealed hands, wager in a central pot which is paid out to the last punter blessed with the best hand. (And yes, the coolest bluffer can win)

Similar to five-card stud, blackjack is likewise an incredibly fashionable casino pastime. A great deal of its reputation is caused by the mix of chance and expertise and decision making, and a practice called Card Counting. It is a sophisticated strategy through which gambling aficionados may actually force the probabilities of the game in their interest both by wagering and tactical opetations in accordance with the cards deployed.

Craps is the name of another famous wagering game using the roll of dice. Clients wager on the outcome of of one roll, or on a sequence of spins on two dice. Very much unlike blackjack, there can’t be a possible killer strategy punters can exercise to bend the odds.

Roulette is a notable pastime; here, a croupier twists a roulette wheel encompassing precisely 37 (applies to classical roulette) or, respectively exactly thirty-eight (Vegas roulette) distinctively marked places in which a pellet will then settle, thus deciding the winning number as well as the other chances that come with it. If the player has bet on any given number which actually is successful so he is indeed enjoying a lucky hand, the promised reward is thirty-five to one, the stake will be paid back. Thus in totality it is multiplied by a factor of thirty-six.

Make sure to be emphatically attentive notwithstanding as some of betting house games of chance can be particularly obsessive. Myriad lives are proven to have been demolished by reckless gambling and notwithstanding that it arguably feels entertaining, undertake to govern yourself.

Travel luggage is an important part of every traveler’s wardrobe. There are various luggage models, sizes, styles, colors, materials and prices associated with the luggage currently on the market. There are even vintage and collectible luggage pieces available! Whether you are going to be gone for a day, a month or a year, you will most likely need to help of luggage to keep your items together and organized. Travel luggage is designed for professionals, sportsmen, men, women, kids and even animals! There are a ton of models that can be bought today, but in the old days, the choices weren’t as plentiful.

For as long as man has traveled, there has been a need to take items with them. Christopher Columbus would have carried a trunk/chest that housed his clothing and navigation products. In those days, the trunk was the most popular form of luggage. Made of woods like oak, pine and cedar, the trunks were fashionable and functional. There were even trunks made of animal hides, like deer, horses and even cows. The materials used for these trunks allowed them to last for a long time. Trunks were even accented with ornaments, like locks and nails; making them even more appealing. The majority of trunks made during this time in history have gone on to become family heirlooms and even collector’s items. Though they are still made, the trunks have been replaced with suitcases and totes.

Manufactured in countries all over the world, you should have no trouble finding the perfect travel luggage piece to carry your items. Backpacks, suitcases, hard side luggage, tote bags, duffels, leather briefcases, cosmetic totes, computer cases and handbags are all designed to make your traveling experience a little less stressful. Whether you are going to fly to Europe, Asia or spend a week in a secluded cabin, putting your items into a suitcase or other form of luggage will give you peace of mind.

Made of many materials, features of travel luggage include: wheels, zipped inside pockets, water resistance, lock and even extra storage space. Today, travel luggage sets are offered in many colors and prices. There are also vintage sets that can still be bought! Online, you can easily locate great discounts and huge luggage selections. If you are unsure as to what type of luggage would be your best choice, there are even places to read consumer reviews. Taking the ideas of yesterday and adding technology of today, travel luggage sets offer consumers the chance to organize and easily tote any size or style of luggage. The next time you need to travel, say a little thanks to our ancestors for passing down such a practical, important product!

When talking about intelligent design, we are not talking about the creation of man. Nope, this is more important! The creation of your media and site products.

There are some very basic things about design that one can learn that can vastly improve one’s ability to make appealing and intelligent creations. Some of those things are:

1. Lining Things Up

2. Using Variation

3. Giving Breathing Room

4. Using the Grid

5. The Golden Section

6. Lining Things Up

Things that line up look nice. Things that are all over the place don’t look nice. Of course, one must know rules to know which ones to break, so these rules are only guidelines. In general though, straight or smooth lines are appealing. Jagged and inconsistent lines are less likely to be appealing. A design with many elements lining up and a few elements that don’t can create nice contrast, yet starting with things that line up is a nice easy rule for beginners.

To support these statements, lets look at examples of man-made objects. Roads, desks, walls, buildings, orange juice containers. The forms of all these objects are straight or consistent and any deviation from this norm is considered mildly repulsive. On roads, the matter is quite important to health. There is a merge under construction from the 60 East (that’s how we identify freeways here in California) to the 215 South, where the turn starts at one size circumstance then abruptly veers a few degrees tighter to another sized circumstance. This slight change in curvature results in a driver having to adjust for this change with a slight, and apparently unexpected, turn of the wheel. I say apparently because road barriers prevent a driver from seeing the whole turn going into it and
there are a bunch of tire marks etched up the construction barrier right at the point of the change in curvature.

Lets look at desks. Obviously straight and even desks are good for writing, fit against straight walls well and look nice, at least to me. Buildings, like desks are convenient shapes for space efficiency, map drawing, road creation, furniture and room modularity. Sure, curved buildings are beautiful too, yet the curves are often very even, and more often than not, the curve is accompanied by a straight line in another dimension.

OK, orange juice - very nice to ship little square boxes. Long rectangles make a nice canvas for marketing. If the straight lines are not straight, but crumpled or dented, chances are you won’t buy that carton.

All of these are man-made objects that benefit in usability from straight or evenly curved lines. Lets take a look at nature. Trees are basically straight lines. The trunks of a redwood forest all go in one direction with remarkable consistency. (That direction is up, by the way, unless you are on the opposite side of the Earth, in which case it would be down.) Again, this is usability for the tree - a competition in height to get to the sun. Leaves - straight veins out to the tips - same idea, get some (light). Curvature of the earth - smoother than the curvature of an 8 ball. Something to do with gravity which, for existence as we know it, is quite useful.

OK, OK, but how does this apply to my intelligent ___________ (fill in the blank - web site, ad, package design, solar electric car, hair)?

For your designs, line up your stuff in straight lines. Line up images so that image edges are lined up with image edges and lines, text with text, and other elements inline with other elements. This is a fundamental design principle yet, some websites are all over the place with every image and section of text every which way.

Using Variation

Things that line up and have no variation are boring. For example, straight long roads with no turns are quite boring. The 58 zigzags across the arid Southern California desert, between mountains, with every few miles a turn. The 5 goes in one straight line for mile after mile after hour after hours. Which would you rather drive?

Likewise, with web sites, if everything lines up on the same line, the page is likely to look very boring. You can change it up with:

1. Bold Titles

2. Lists of items

3. Indented text

All these things break up the monotony of straight lines and can add rhythm to a design. Yet if there is too much breaking up of the lines, the design can become junky looking noise That is hard to read. Hey, no doubt - some people are into that.

Giving Design elements Room to Breathe

Even things that line up do not generally look good if they can’t breathe. Putting text right against the edge of another element has a claustrophobic feel. Some sites pack in so much information on one page that there are no margins or breathing space between elements. The result is in uncomfortableness and unreadability. Give your images and text margins, frames or room to breathe.

Use the Grid, Luke

To help you line things up, use graph paper, the Adobe Photoshop grid or draw a measured grid yourself. In the final design this grid is usually removed, but used in layout to ensure things line up nicely. Experienced designers often intuitively use a grid without physically having a grid in the design.

The Golden Section

There is a thing called the golden section, the golden ratio or the divine proportion. If you’re really into math, you can do a search to learn more. For those of us not so into math, the Golden Section is a little more than a third. If you take a picture, it just happens to look real nice if you show a little more than two thirds sky. The same applies to many forms of composition. This golden section has some relation to basic geometry that seems to resonate with a human’s sense of beauty.

Conclusion

When designing things, remember: Line things up, but don’t get boring. Use grids to line things up. The golden section looks nice. Peace.

Halstatt Pires is with the Internet marketing firm - www.marketingtitan.com - a San Diego Internet marketing and advertising company offering automated web site systems - www.businesscreatorpro.com - create web databases, e-commerce sites, business lead management systems and more.

Yesterday I got up early again and typed up my travel reports on the free computer at the Arlington House. Then my friend Linda and I made our way to one of our favourite Chicago hangouts for breakfast: the “Bourgeois Pig Cafe” is located close to the intersection of Fullerton and Halsted/Lincoln and is a 2 story cozy cafe with a small sitting area and patio downstairs, and a beautiful converted living room and balcony upstairs. I had one of my favourite breakfast indulgences: a deluxe Belgian waffle with strawberries, whipped cream, pecans and brown sugar, just a sinful treat on a hungry stomach. Linda had a huge and delicious looking foccaccia sandwich with ham and melted cheese and raved about it as well.

Appropriately strengthened we started our explorations. We wanted to check out a Polish area called Wickertown and took the Fullerton bus west to Damen and south to North Street. We walked around a pleasant neighbourhood with lots of small stores, funky boutiques and chic little restaurants. The weather was really clammy and cold though, so we decided to continue our explorations indoors and head to a museum. On we hopped onto the el-train and headed downtown to the Chicago Cultural Center, the main informational contact point for tourists. One of the local volunteers recommended that we go to the Field Museum and see the Pompeii exhibit.

The Field Museum was originally incorporated in 1893 and was renamed the Field Museum of Natural History, to honour the Museum’s first benefactor, Marshall Field. In 1921 the Museum moved from its original location in Jackson Park to its present site on Chicago Park District property near downtown where it is part of a lakefront Museum Campus that includes the John G. Shedd Aquarium and the Adler Planetarium. These three institutions are regarded as among the finest of their kind in the world and together attract more visits annually than any comparable site in Chicago.

The Field Museum is currently hosting a special exhibition: “Pompeii - Stories from an Eruption” and we decided to visit this special exhibition. The Pompeii exhibit features jewellery, earthenware, small tools, everyday objects, even a bathtub that were excavated from Herculaneum and Pompeii. Room-size frescoes and mosaics bring to life the artistic talent of these ancient Roman towns. A little eerie were the plaster casts of victims that had been buried in volcanic ash and when the bodies disintegrated, they left behind a cavity in the ash that was filled with plaster, providing a perfect cast of the victim. We saw plaster casts of a young girl, a young man, two women huddled against each other, even a little dog with its feet up in the air. The plaster casts really gave you an idea of the instantaneous nature of this catastrophe.

Informational videos and a 3-D animated feature provided a visual representation of some of the Roman villas and public areas, giving us a good example of what Pompeii and Herculaneum must have looked like before the volcanic eruption. The exhibition really showed what a catastrophic event this volcanic eruption must have been and how people were caught completely off-guard, unable to flee. In essence, most of the victims choked almost instantly on the burning clouds of pyroclastic ash that rained down on them as they were trying to escape or hiding away in the cascades by the sea.

The show also demonstrated that today the area around Vesuvius is extremely densely populated and a timeline indicated that the amount of volcanic activity has noticeably increased over the last 300 years. Today the area around Naples is one of the most closely monitored areas on the planet where the African Plate is subducting under the Eurasian Plate. More seismic and volcanic activity is definitely in store for this geologically unstable region.

After our visit to the Field Museum we walked across Grant Park to Michigan Avenue since we needed to have one more tasty lunch before we had to grab our luggage and start our respective journeys home. We took the bus up Michigan Avenue, and as we unfolded our CTA transit map to figure out what combination of buses we had to take, the couple behind us and a young lady in front of us volunteered their help in navigating us around their city. With their input we chose the most appropriate route and we both noted that we were surprised at this unsolicited but most welcome gesture of assistance.

Once back in the Lincoln Park Area, we headed back to our favourite place, the “Austrian Bakery” on Clark north of Fullerton, which offers delicious samples of the type of food that both Linda and I grew up with, dishes that are usually hard to come by in North America. We both enjoyed a typical Austrian dish: “Fritattensuppe”, a clear beef broth with pancake strips, and I had a Wiener Schnitzel with home-fried potatoes. It doesn’t get much more Austrian than that and we both purchased a few baked goods before we headed off. Linda took the train back to her town in Indiana, while I made my way through the rain to O’Hare Airport where I was randomly selected for a thorough frisking, and just a couple of hours later I touched down safely on home turf in Toronto.

As always, Chicago has been a beautiful getaway and we both had a phenomenal time. Even the cool and clammy weather wasn’t able to stop us….

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions(http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest(http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

“Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons”.

The article with photos is published at Travel and Transitions - Travel Stories

Thanksgiving is a time for reflecting on the past year, getting together with family and of course, eating a big ‘ole turkey until you feel stuffed yourself. In fact, according to the National Turkey Federation, over 90% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Many of us have Thanksgiving food traditions ranging from deep fried turkey to green bean casserole to sweet potato pie, but there is often more to Thanksgiving than a good looking bird. Many families have adopted other traditions that are passed from one generation to the next. Here are some fun Thanksgiving tradition ideas that will surely delight your family.

1) Have each person generate a “What I’m Thankful For List.” You could go around the table before the big dinner is served so that each person can say aloud what he/she is thankful for or you could have each person write their list down on sheets of paper so that they can be hole-punched and stored in a 3 ring binder. Throw in some photos of everyone at the Thanksgiving celebration and the binder can serve as your Thanksgiving family memories book.

2) Watch the NFL football games on TV with beer and snacks of course. Watching the Detroit Lions and/or Dallas Cowboys is considered by many to be as much a part of Thanksgiving Day as the turkey. Better yet, gather the family in the yard or local basketball court to have a Thanksgiving game of your own.

3) Watch “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” Released in 1973, this heart-warming film shows the misadventures of Charlie Brown as he tries to throw together a traditional Thanksgiving dinner for all of his friends. Snoopy and Woodstock step in to save the day. One fun idea would be to make and eat all the foods Snoopy served like toast and jellybeans.

4) Go to tree farm and pick out the family Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. You could mark it for delivery a week or two later to make sure that it won’t dry out before Christmas.

5) Make a wish on the wishbone from the turkey. Let two people from the family grab on to each end of the wishbone and pull while making a wish. Whoever gets the larger piece (the one with the head on it) will have his/her wish come true. Be sure not to share your wish with others or it won’t come true!

6) Watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade on TV with your family. For almost 80 years, Macy’s has celebrated Thanksgiving and called forth Christmas with their big parade in New York City. The parade features huge balloons, bands, beautiful floats and of course, Santa Claus.

7) Volunteer at a local shelter to serve or at Meals On Wheels to deliver the Thanksgiving Day meal to those less fortunate Americans.

Make a Thanksgiving craft or hostess gift for the cook(s). This is a great project to do with the kids.

9) Get up bright and early the day after Thanksgiving to go shopping. This is especially fun for the women in the family. Known as “Black Friday,” the day after Thanksgiving is traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year with sales and early bird specials at many retail stores.

10) Draw names for Christmas presents. Many large families draw names for the annual Christmas gift exchange and Thanksgiving is the perfect time to figure out who is buying a gift for whom.

Don’t have time to make a Thanksgiving gift yourself? Visit http://www.holiday-gifts-gift-baskets.com/Thanksgiving.html to see our large selection of ideas. Holiday Gifts & Gift Baskets has gift baskets, desserts, gourmet food and more for your next Thanksgiving get together.

You can find a large variety of Halloween costumes available at stores in your neighborhood. However, when you consider the cost and lack of originality, homemade costumes are a more fun and oftentimes more cost-effective option. Plus, if you involve your children in creating the homemade costumes, the results will be worth more than any store-bought costume in any store.

Here are some inexpensive, homemade Halloween costume ideas that will cost little money and show lots of imagination.

Scarecrow: An over-sized flannel shirt, some straw, and faded jeans with patches will make a great scarecrow. Stuff the jeans and shirt with plastic grocery bags and leave a little straw hanging out of the shirt and jeans. A little makeup will complete your scarecrow costume.

Ghost: Ghosts are an old stand-by that never goes out of style. Use an old white sheet with holes cut for the eyes and sew a simple treat bag out of a scrap of material or a worn out pillow case. You can dress your ghost up a bit by making lips out of red lipstick and a few false eyelashes. Or you could color a beard and moustache with markers. You may want to create a colorful ghost by using a sheet covered with polka dots or one that is brightly colored.

Clown: You can create a great clown with sweat clothes that are a bit to large decorated with fabric paint or markers. Sew on some pom poms, use an inexpensive wig with a large, colorful hat, and you could even stuff the clothing with tissue (although the tissue will be a problem if the need for a restroom break arises).

Hippy: You can become a hippy from the 1960s with a tie-dye shirt and faded jeans with holes in the knees. Combine this with a headband, a ponytail wig, and a jacket or vest covered in fringe and you will have the most authentic looking hippy costume of all time.

Nerd: Halloween is the time to dress like something completely out of character. You can dress your child as a typical nerd, complete with white shirt, pocket protectors, pants that are too short, horn-rimmed glasses, while socks and black dress shoes. Don’t forget to tape one corner of the glasses for a true nerd appearance. Make sure you use plenty of hair gel to slick back the hair and a few overly large fake teeth will be a great addition.

Soda Can: Find an inexpensive plastic barrel and cut a hole in the bottom. Paint the entire barrel the colors and design of your favorite brand of soda in a can. With holes for arms and your head, a simple barrel can transform your child into a soda can.

Your child can be the hit of your block or at the neighborhood Halloween party if you use a little imagination and create special homemade costumes out of inexpensive, household items.

Like the commercials say “The memory of your child in a costume you made together”… priceless.

For money-saving tips, don’t miss Frugal Mom Tips (link to www.showmomthemoney.com/timesavers.asp ) And, if you’re a mom who likes to have fun with your children, visit ShowKidsTheFun (link to www.ShowKidsTheFun.com ).