This is where I disagree, I also have been sewing for years and I would say the simplest solution would be to buy a vintage wedding dress at a thrift shop which is cheap because its out of fashion BUT has the embellishments you require. I would literally cut out the floral lace areas or areas of interest and use fabric glue and hand sew gently around the edges, maybe adding a few beads as you go around the outside, the shoulder straps on the dress you like would be the easiest in the world to attach, they are literally 2 squares of net gathered up and hand sew to the front and back of the dress over a smaller shoulder area say 4 inches max, this creates the gathered effect and I would attach to the inside of the dress,
Nobody is going to get their magnifying glass out to inspect your dress and its the overall effect. You will be able to make amazing interest by buying a simple dress and adding your own lace or beads, you could make a spectacular patter on a train by adding, vintage lace crochet doilies arranging the circles to represent flowery effects, I know because I did it on my own wedding dress. You could make a simple net or tulle bow to add at the rear of the dress just where the train area begins, best of luck with your dress and please post a picture when you are done. carol x ... View related article.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I had NO idea random drug testing was available and maybe schools should be given the power to do this as well. If kids thought they might get expelled, it would reinforce the parents message as well. I dont know. Its certainly a criminal offense to take drugs so what do others think? ... View related article.
Actually thanks for this tip I will definitely investigate buying one of these kits. I've been thinking about this issue the last few days and it could be a life saver, when it comes to protecting your kids and its a matter of life or death over privacy then other posters are RIGHT privacy comes 2nd even if they are annoyed.
I'm thinking back to a few years ago specifically when I installed spyware on my computer called goldeneye which let me see everything typed on the home computer, it showed me that my one of my kids had taken ecstacy twice. I had no idea that down our local park groups of teenagers were all trying it at the time.
I had a very very lucky escape because what I did was I went on the internet and printed off the worst stories about this drug I could find. Then one night I delicately brought the conversation around to drugs in general and told my daughter I'd read an article online about certain drugs and the story was alarming, then I dropped the issue. Naturally she wanted to know what the story was so I promised I would try and go and find it and print it off for her. She also told me she had tried this particular drug herself, and it was no big deal so I didn't pass comment for or against. I just said to her do me a favour read this article on this one drug and see if you still think its no big deal afterward.
I can say hand on heart that was the beginning of the end of experimenting with drugs she not only stopped experimenting much to the amusement of her friends at the time who all said you wont be able to stop she also drifted away from that crowd.
Many months later she told me she was absolutely terrified to read that this drug could cause sudden death every time a person used it even if previous use had been fine she was shocked to know every time she took ecstacy she risked dropping dead.
I told her I had used spyware once or twice and had known for months , she wasn't as annoyed as I had expected either. I told her I had been concerned for her behaviour and just wanted to do anything to keep her safe.
So my point in this long ramble is: I do think random drug testing is acceptable, but it then throws up the dilemma of what to do next, not all children are going to stop whether their parents found out or not, but I think its better to know rather than to not know because at least the parent could steer the child away from certain places or friends because they don't do drugs in isolation I bet. ... View related article.
I have to hand it to you, that's the best, simplest, most frugal cake and the most spectacular I have seen for a young girls birthday cake, very very well done! Carol UK ... View related article.
Perhaps you could share with us how you do random drug testing (genuine non sarcastic request), living in the UK I know of nothing I could buy in a chemist which would allow me to detect cannabis, ecstacy, etc. in urine (how on earth would you get a sample?) or is it a salvia test? There's no way it could be a blood test, if its a mouth swab where do you buy the testing kit?
Personally I would expect a teenager to have the strength of character to say No anyway, and to support those that can't/won't/don't.
The only way forward is education about drugs and a good relationship with your teenager and even then some fall off the rails. Luckily for you you didn't get a positive result! I'm not sure fear of a parent finding out is a deterrent.
Switzerland is totally landlocked and unless they can go ashore for more than a few hours, they might struggle to get on a train or airplane and visit Switzerland for more than 5 minutes; no offense meant :-) ... View related article.
I grow a lot of vegetables in hanging baskets to keep animals away. I have had success with tumbling tomatoes and herbs. If you can get a child's sandpit on legs this could be used with holes punched in the bottom for salad ingredients, such as bell peppers, garlic, spring onions, lettuce, radishes etc, cress can be grown indoors on the windowsill as can herbs.
Outside you can plant sage, rosemary. mint etc in the flower beds. I doubt animals would like the taste of herbs all except parsley which peter rabbit loved lol
Other vegetables grow underground such as tubers and wouldn't be touched by animals such as potatoes, new potatoes, carrots.
I think your problem areas would be plants close to the ground such as cabbages and broccoli which you may have to cover with a framework of chicken wire mesh, which is what I would use.
Runner beans, green beans grow up poles and are also out of the reach of rabbits.
If you have a list of things you want to grow people could think up animal free solutions hopefully carol x ... View related article.
I remember my mother telling me that during the great depression and also in world war 2 couples used brass curtain rings in the wedding ceremony. I think cubic zirconia rings are beautiful by the way. ... View related article.
I agree with Kristina; in England, Europe and Italy, home of lasagne, first make a white sauce or "bechamel" or "roux"sauce as Kristina described with melted butter, flour and cook first for a few minutes. It resembles playdo almost at first, then the milk is added bit by bit and whisked continuously until one is left with a creamy smooth white sauce to which grated cheese is stirred in at the end not cooked.
definitely hang up some knitted xmas stockings on the walls with red and white stripes , nothing says xmas faster than xmas stockings, in the dr zeuss books there are a lot of stripy stuff,
i would also cut out large paper candy cane shapes and colour them in red & white i agree with the other poster about whoville and maybe watch the movie the grinch again for inspiration ... View related article.
