Unique and creative Gift Ideas for those who are close to your heart

November 1, 2018 By Anne

Everyone knows the importance of traditional festivals in life. There is a list of religious occasions on which we find time to spend with our close family and friends. It gives us a great time to strengthen the bond of closeness with them. Diwali festival is also famous for spreading happiness and joyous moments in a unique style. We get a chance to dedicate some beautiful Diwali gifts to our close ones. It helps to create some remarkable memories of the religious festival every year. People also start shopping to buy some unique Diwali gifts to send best wishes a week before the festival. They also want to give unique gifts to their family and friends.

Here are some ideas to choose unique Diwali gifts for your close family members.

A Beautiful Tea Set:

As we know that Diwali is the best time to dedicate something special to our close ones. Women are fond of decorating their kitchen with some unique crockeries. You can choose a designer tea set to gift your mom on Diwali festival. She will appreciate a beautiful floral tea set from your side. Your mother will love to use such a pretty tea set on her tea events. It would help to make her feel special on this memorable day.

Stationary and Book Drawer Set:

There are some people in the family, who are fond of reading in their free time. They also like to store new novels and famous books in their reading room. You can gift some stationery items and book drawer set to make them happy on this day. It will be helpful for everyone to spend their quality time reading thoughtful books. Your children also get knowledge from your book collection. It will be a fantastic Diwali gift for everyone in your family. Your grandparents will also appreciate such a thoughtful gift on this memorable day.

Make a Large Photo Frame:

Everyone loves to decorate their home with some essential items which resemble closeness of the family members. If you want to dedicate something special for your family, then you can make a large photo frame on Diwali celebration. Try to create a beautiful photo frame of all family members as a memory of the day. You can choose the best cherished moments together with family to make a photo frame. Everyone will appreciate your idea of making such a fantastic Diwali gift for the family. It will be a perfect gift to strengthen the bond of closeness with all members.

Cake for Sweet Moments:

We need some delicious sweets to enjoy any memorable occasion with family members. A cake can be perfect to commemorate your special day with full of joyous moments. You can prepare or order cake online for the grand celebration at home. Make a theme cake to represent the bonding of your family. You can also arrange a photo cake to make everyone feel special on this day. Enjoy the delicious bites of the cake after performing Diwali Pooja in the evening. It will be an ideal food gift for everyone present in the family.

Anne

I'm a mother of 2 who likes to get involved in too much! Besides writing here I started a non-profit, I'm on the PTO board, very active in my community and volunteer in the school. I enjoy music, reading, cooking, traveling and spending time with my family. We just adopted our 3rd cat and love them all!

Simple Tricks You Can Use to Decrease Your Chance of Reoccurring UTIs

November 1, 2018 By Anne

UTI infections can be both uncomfortable and painful. While antibiotics can effectively clear up an infection, they become less effective the more you use them. If you deal with recurring UTIs, standard antibiotics may no longer be a viable treatment option, in which case you may require long-term, low-dose antibiotics. You can prevent the need for antibiotics entirely by taking simple daily measures to maintain optimal urinary tract health, such as adding a UTI prevention medicine to your daily vitamin regime. Below are a few other ways in which you can keep chronic UTIs at bay.

Stay Hydrated

The number one way in which you can prevent UTIs is by staying hydrated. UTIs occur when harmful bacteria is given the opportunity to settle into your urinary tract. If you’re well hydrated, you can flush out the bad bacteria before it has a chance to implant itself and wreak havoc. In addition to drinking water, you should also add all-natural cranberry juice and a preventative drink to your diet.

Wash Up Before and After Sex

Most women know to urinate and wash up after sex to rid the body of foreign and potentially harmful bacteria, but most don’t know to wash up before sex as well. Washing your vaginal region with soap and water before sex can rid the groin of any harmful bacteria that could make its way into the urethra during intercourse.

Wipe From Front To Back

UTIs are often the result of E. coli bacteria that has spread to the urethra. E. coli often lives in the intestines, which means that when a person defecates, there is a very real chance that the feces will contain the virus. If you wipe from back to front, especially after a bowel movement, you risk spreading E. coli to the urethra. You can eliminate this treat by wiping from front to back instead.

Take UTI Prevention Medicine

Give yourself an immunity boost and add preventative supplements and medications to your diet. Some such supplements include cranberry pills, probiotics and vitamin C tablets.

If you suffer recurring UTIs, boost your urinary tract health by following the above advice. Contact us to learn more about what you can do to prevent UTIs from complicating your life.

Anne

Basket Case – Make Laundry Day the Best Day

November 1, 2018 By Anne

Chores. The mere mention of the word is enough to make you shudder and wither up and die a bit, isn’t it? Unfortunately, once we grow up and leave home, chores become as much a part of life as work. There’s no excuse, they just need to be done. Yet everyone has their preferred chores. Some people would rather wash the dishes than vacuum the floor, while others love to dust but can’t abide cleaning the bathroom. Or, perhaps the thought of laundry day turns your stomach? So if doing your clothes washing makes you plain riled up, read on to learn how to avoid becoming a basket case while doing your laundry.

You Need the Right Tools for the Job

Laundry day is like any other chore or task, it becomes easier with the right tools. A pair of good, deep laundry baskets is a great place to start. If you get big enough ones, all your laundry from each load should fit in them, meaning that you can make a trek out to the line in one go instead of going back and forth and wasting time and energy. Make sure to grab good quality baskets too. It can be tempting to go for bargain basement deals but like most cheap products these are inferior and will break before you know it. So spend a bit more and get something that will last a while.

Make it Fun

Laundry can be fun, if you do it right. One hot tip is to listen to some of your favourite music as you work. This can make any mundane task fly right by as you groove out to some classic hits or contemporary beats. If you don’t have a stereo that’s fine, you can just pop in your headphones and the time will pass quickly.

Also, if music’s not your thing you could always catch up with some friends and family over the phone. Again, bust out the headphones and make some calls. You can chat and discuss events in your life while you hang up or fold the washing.

Save Money

It can be tempting to throw every washing load straight in the dryer once it’s done washing, can’t it? While this may give the impression of saving time, it’s actually costing you money. Dryers suck power to create all that heat and motion. If there’s some sun outside then hang out your washing the old fashioned way. If it’s rainy then can you hang them on an indoor clothesline or clothes horse instead? If it’s winter and you already have the heater running the double up on it and hang your clothes near it to dry.

If you absolutely must use the dryer then try to do a few loads in a row, as it will stay hot and use less power as it stays on for multiple loads.

Don’t Let it Pile Up

A common mistake that many people make is letting their laundry pile up until there’s a giant Mount Doom of dirty clothes to clean. This can be overwhelming and make the chore harder than it has to be. So try to make laundry day every two to three days so you save your sanity and it’s a smaller task that is easier to carry out.

All Done!

There you are. Grab a few decent laundry baskets, and pop on some music or make some calls as you work. Save money by hanging clothes outside or indoors and not using your dryer unless you need to. Finally, don’t let it pile up and you’ll have an easier time of it.

Anne

Basepaws Cat DNA/Genetics Test Kit Collection (Initial review)

October 25, 2018 By Marijean

There are so many companies out there right now that can send us kits to check human DNA, health, genetics…etc. Believe me, I have researched and found it all so very interesting. I always thought though…what about my non human fur baby? You never know what kind of DNA your fur child has. We adopted our sweet Scarlet in 2014 from a shelter. We were told she was a stray found at McDonald’s. She is now almost 5 and seems to be in perfect health. I would love to know more about her health and DNA though. I researched and found that there is a company especially for my sweet kitty. Let me introduce you to Basepaws!

One simple cat DNA test,
a lifetime of discovery.

Find out what your cat’s DNA can tell you about their ancestry and ultimately their health and habits.

How Does This Work?

Basepaws gets DNA from your cat’s hair and cheek cells. Most of the hair DNA comes from the living part of the fur — the follicle that is closest to the skin.

Because sometimes we can’t get enough fluff!
We also get DNA from other cells, like cheek cells that rub off onto a cotton swab.

What will I find out about my furry friend?

Health Info

Simple Disease Markers*
Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD)*
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)*
Comparative Markers*
Complex Disease Markers*
Personalized veterinary medicine*

Ancestry Info

In-Breeding*
Maternal and Paternal Tracing*
Breed Index *
Family tree, Percent of breeds, percent breeds by chromosome*

Features

Send report to vet*
Health and wellness assesments*
Make decision based on genetically similar cats*

Fun Facts

Wild Cat Index *
Predicted weight*
Traits*
Predicted user submitted traits*
Catnip*

The cost of this kit is $95. Below are the details when you order your kid.

Order Details

Expect results 8-12 weeks after we receive your sample at the lab. However, processing times may vary and it may take up to 5 months to receive your results. We are doing our best to make it faster!

Ships in 3-4 business days.

Free shipping and return shipping in the continental U.S. included. $15 for International shipping.

Reach out to us for a bulk discount if you are buying 3 or more kits (meow@basepaws.com).

By purchasing the test before January 1st, 2019 you’ll get a lifetime of free updates!

I received a small envelope collection kit in the mail. When I opened it, it included the cat DNA kit, thorough instructions, 2 really cute decal stickers and a return envelope. All and all it looked and seemed a very easy process.

When you receive your kit it will instruct you to log in and activate it. Once you create your cat’s profile you can add a photo of your cat and also type up a little story about your furry friend. Then it will prompt you to activate your kit. Your activation code can be found in your kit you received. Once you enter the code and save, you are done with that part! Now comes collecting your cat’s DNA.

My kit contained only tape for the hair, no mouth swab. I had my husband hold Scarlet so I could collect the hair. It was easy and painless to her. Once completed I followed instructions how to put it in the envelope. I then mailed it off! The instructions say the company will notify me once they receive it. The process was so simple!

I am so excited to receive the results! Once I do I will be doing another review on Scarlet’s results. We will be anxiously waiting!

In the meantime, please visit their website for more information/to order. Basepaws

*I received this kit in exchange for my honest opinion.

Marijean

My name is MJ. I have two wonderful children and work part time as well as volunteer at my children's school.

5 Creative Ways to Customize Your Baby’s Photobook

October 24, 2018 By Anne

If you have a baby, you undoubtedly have dozens upon dozens of photos that you’ve taken in a relatively short amount of time. Those photos can stay on your phone or camera, they can be sent to other people in the family, and they can be posted on social media, but what about having a tangible copy of them in your own hands?

There’s nothing quite like being able to see printed out copies of your most precious photos. Traditionally, photo albums and frames have done the trick to display them, but today’s world provides you with so many more options.

This is the era of photo books: sleek books you have designed yourself that can be customized and sent directly to your home. You have so many ways to customize these books, too, so that you know your product is just for you and your baby. There are little details you can add to a photobook product that maybe hadn’t even occurred to you!

So, without further ado, here are some ideas of creative ways to create customized photobooks that might help you get started on your next project.

Books for Kids

Just because it’s a photobook doesn’t mean it has to be photos of the baby for everyone else to enjoy! Why not create a little photobook that is meant to teach and entertain the baby too?

You can now design photobooks that display photos of children on one side, plus text or other lessons on the other side of the page. For example, select photos of people (including your children) making different facial expressions and print them next to the word associated with that expression!

Soft or Hardcover Books

Maybe you want a soft book that baby can hold and play with, one that you’re not too worried about getting bent or poked around. In that case, a softcover book might be the perfect option for showing off your favorite photos of your baby.

However, you might want to show how important family is by creating a beautiful display of your photos that can sit on the shelf. In this case, having a hardcover book means you can put your photos on the shelf next to your favorite novels, adding some elegance to how you share your memories with everyone else!

Ways to Show Off

Maybe you or Grandma really like to show everyone their family, but you need a succinct way to do this without scrolling through endless photos on your phone. There are ways to brag about your kids and grandkids that is perfect for carrying around: a brag book.

This tiny collection of photos is big enough to see the details in each shot but folds accordion-style so that it’s compact and transportable. With one of these little books on hand at all times, you’ll be ready to show off your family with the drop of a hat.

Add Some Art

Your baby’s photobook doesn’t just have to be photos, either: try scanning in some pieces of art to add to the pages. Not only is this a creative and cute way to keep more than photo memories in one place, but it’s also a way to show kids how important their little masterpieces are.

Over the years, you can watch the collection grow and reflect back on the changes they’ve gone through in growing up. If nothing else, it’s a nice personal touch to really bring a baby’s photobook to life.

Scrapbook-Style Photobooking

Some people have taken up the art of scrapbooking, adding little details to the pages of their photos and gluing endlessly as part of their hobby. You can do the same—kind of.

It may be a little less labor-intensive, but it still adds a beautiful touch to your photobook: when you go to design your book, incorporate fun expression, pretty passages of text, and various other bits of clip art. This will add color, enhance memories, and help pull together the perfect photobook for your family to share!

Final Thoughts

Photobooks are great ways to keep memories together in one singular place. These days, they are increasingly easier to make with affordable craft supplies. If you’re going to take the time to make something for your family to cherish for years, you might as well make it personal and specialized just for you.

From soft and hardcover books to displays of art alongside the memories, photobooks are a great way to capture the past and present. Having these little treasures will also give you something tangible to pull out when guests are over. The options out there are endless, so put your energy to good use with these creative ways to customize your high-quality photobook!

Photo URL: https://unsplash.com/photos/EQlTyDZRx7U