Got a small stain on your favorite shirt? Don’t throw it away, paint it instead! You don’t have to be an artist to do shirt painting. Of course, if you are an artist, all the better, but if not, there are many different designs you can do anyway. You can buy a stencil and stencil on your design, then trace the lines with your fabric paint. Another way you can do the shirt is to select a picture from a magazine, lay it on cardboard, and poke holes with a thumb tack, until you’ve outlined the design with holes. Lay the pattern on the shirt. Use a marker to place a dot on each tack hole, check on occasion to see that the marker is going through the tack hole, onto the shirt. After you have your pattern drawn on, outline it with your fabric paints. Let dry.

Another great way to create shirt painting desings is to lay the shirt on newspapers, with the newspapers surrounding the shirt somewhat. Stand over the shirt and gently squeeze paint from up in the air, letting it splatter onto the shirt. Change colors several times, until the shirt is covered in paint spatters. For a varied pattern, hang the shirt up on a clothesline or other place that won’t be damaged from paint. Dip a paintbrush in regular housepaint, wall paint or enamel. Sling the paint at the shirt, not letting go of the brush. Do this several times, in as many colors as you want. You can do the entire shirt or just the front. Sponges, paint rollers and other implements can make some wild designs, so just experiment and come up with your own creations.

Candles are so easy and you probably have all the molds you need, right at home. Melt your wax in a saucepan and shave a crayon of the color you want the candle, into the melted wax. Stir until everything is well melted. The crayon pieces will tend to melt at the bottom, so stir very well. Prepare your mold by taping a piece of cardboard to the bottom of a bathroom tissue roll. Tape another piece of cardboard to a paper towel roll. Now, cut a paper towel roll to be a size which is between the bathroom tissue roll and the paper towel roll. Tape a piece of cardboard to this third mold, also. Make sure the cardboard is taped well where it meets the roll, or the wax will seep out. Using a funnel, pour the wax into the rolls. Allow to cool, then peel away the roll. Candles can be painted with glitter paints, then placed on a plate or tray. Tie a glitter ribbon around the three candles and encircle the bottom of the candles with tiny ivy and berries or another decoration of your choice.

Another easy candle requires a cardboard quart or half-gallon milk carton. Make sure it is clean and dry, then cut the dispenser part (about 1/4 of the carton) off and throw away. You should now have a large rectangular shape. Fill candle mold full of chipped ice. Large cubes are not recommended for this project. After stuffing as much ice as possible in the mold, pour tinted wax into the mold, on top of the ice. Allow to cool, then turn upside down to drain any water. Remove the milk carton from the candle and your candle should look something like a large block of swiss cheese.

There’s lots of manuals, books and Web sites which tell you all about how to train your new pup, but if you’ve ever tried to train a pup, you already know that many of these techniques don’t work, or take months to do so. Certain things are known about pups: they love to be loved, they love to eat and they love to play. Taking these things into consideration, it’s easy to do new dog training, but first know that it will not happen in one day, so have patience with your new friend.

Don’t get a new pup if you’re not ready to spend lots and lots of time with it in the beginning. To first get a dog to love you, pet and hold it often when you first get it and let it sit on your lap as much as possible. For one thing, dogs won’t potty on your lap if they’re beyond 6 weeks old, and secondly, when a pup knows you love it, it will do anything for you. Begin immediately trying to communicate with your dog, and if he understands you and obeys, or at least tries, give him a small treat. Make sure the treat is very small. This will encourage the dog to do more to please you so that he can have another reward. If you feed the dog a large snack, he’ll fill up fast and be ready to sleep.

The two main things that a dog does that drives us crazy is chewing what he’s not supposed to and using the potty where he shouldn’t. Dogs don’t like to use the bathroom near their food dish, so start off with a small section of your house where you’ll let the dog sleep and eat. Preferably, this place is near the door or the designated spot. For the first few days, take the pup out every hour or so. If he has already relieved himself in the floor, put his nose close to it – NOT IN IT – for a few seconds, then take him outside. Before doing so, take his paw and scratch the door, or ring a bell, so he’ll get used to the designated method of letting you know he’s ready to go out. If you would prefer the dog to bark when he wants out, he’ll learn this on his own in the near future. Walk the dog around the yard and as soon as he does his business, give him a treat. It could take awhile before he decides he’s ready to potty, but don’t play with him in the meanwhile. Just walk around and wait on him to go, then immediately treat him. After he has had his treat, then play with him. This teaches him that food and play will follow potty.

To keep the pup from chewing your home to pieces, have a chewable toy that is his and his alone. Every time you see him chew on anything else, remove the other object and give him his designated chew toy. If he’s chewing furniture, take him several feet away, giving him his toy. The pup will eventually learn that this is for chewing and other things are not. Don’t allow him several different chew toys for now; it’ll only make him think everything is up for grabs. Make sure he understands there is only one chew toy.

To teach the pup to stay in the yard, sprinkle small treats, like bacon bits out in the grass before letting him out. Where a dog smells food, he’ll stay. If he does start to leave the yard, call him back, and if he comes, give him a treat. If he doesn’t come back, lay a treat at the spot where you want him to come, go get him, and place him in front of the treat. This will teach the dog that a snack awaits him if he comes when you call. Overall, just show your pup lots of love, never hit him, always reward him and he’ll be your best friend for a long, long time.

Here’s a cute little ornament which is eash for kids or adults to make. Take a lid from any size soda bottle and glue a scrap of Christmas fabric or a picture from a magazine. Choose a picture which has a glossy finish. After gluing the picture on the flat side of the soda lid, use a small piece of elastic thread to make a hanger. Glue the hanger on the top of the lid. Now, use a piece of wide velvet ribbon to wrap around the outer side of the lid, starting right beside the hanger and ending up at the other side of the hanger. Cut a small slit at the end of the ribbon and wrap one side around the back of the hanger, one side around the front of the hanger, covering up the glue where the hanger is attached. Now, spread glue in the concave part of the lid, then sprinkle with glitter. Use glitter glue to go around the flat part of the lid where the picture is. Encircle the picture with the glitter glue. Tie a small bow and glue it at the top of the ornament where the hanger is.

With a coffee lid, you can also make some great ornaments. Remove the cardboard piece from the concave part of the lid. Cut a picture of your child, your pet or a Christmas picture into a circle, the size of the flat part of the lid. Glue it onto the top of the lid. Use a small piece of cord or a piece of elastic thread for a hanger. Glue the hanger on top of the lid edge. Glue tiny pom-poms around the lid, or you can use velvet ribbon to wrap the lid. If you’re using velvet ribbon, make a slit at the end to go around the hanger. Spread glue into the concave part of the lid and sprinkle glitter. Use glitter glue to encircle the picture. Let dry completely. Now tie a tiny bow and glue it in front of the hanger.