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Hands-on time: Less than two hours per dozen.
Total time: Plus 48 hours for paint to cure.

Skill: Easy to moderate.
Cost estimate: Less than $10.00 for a dozen.
Materials & tools:

Clear or frosted glass balls in assorted shapes and sizes

Vitrail and Porcelaine 150 paints by P

Excellent for training on trellises, fences, porches and posts. Particularly effective used with climbing roses or scrambling through shrub roses and deciduous shrubs. Requires support to climb. Prefer evenly moist, well drained, rich, slightly alkaline soil. Ample moisture in summer and early autumn is particularly important. The foliage and flowers prefer a sunny location, while the roots prefer a cool shaded situation. Annuals, perennials, ground covers, but not mulch, are satisfactory to shade the roots.

Pruning practice is related to flowering time and is divided into three groups with the corresponding Roman numeral appearing after the varietal name.

Group I: These clematis are the earliest to bloom, with the buds coming from the previous season’s stems. Thin and lightly prune to shape immediately after bloom.

Group II: These include many of the most spectacular and longest blooming of all clematis. They bloom primarily from the previous year’s stems, and therefore should not be pruned too heavily. Prune every year, in early spring just as the leaf buds start to unfurl. Remove dead or weak growth; prune only as far back as the first strong leaf buds. Spread and loosely tie the vines to their supports immediately after pruning. The Group II varieties are usually midseason bloomers, with later blooms coming on the current year’s growth. After the initial bloom fades, a light pruning enhances this rebloom.

Group III: These late-blooming clematis produce their flowers on the current season’s growth. They are best rejuvenated with heavy pruning every two to three years. Prune back to the lowest strong leaf buds (9 to 18 inches above ground level) in late winter or early spring. These varieties tend to make one very spectacular display. Delaying some pruning until March, or even April, will extend their blooming season. In years when rejuvenation is not required, a light trim in spring is beneficial. These are the best varieties to use intermingled with roses or other shrubs that require frequent pruning.

Two or even three contrasting varieties, with the same pruning requirements, planted together make an incredible display.

Alan Summers, president of Carroll Gardens, Inc., has over 30 years experience in gardening and landscape design. He has made Carroll Gardens one of America’s preeminent nurseries, having introduced more than 20 new perennials and woody shrubs over the years and reintroduced numerous “lost” cultivars back to American gardeners.

Carroll Gardens publishes a weekly online newsletter written by Alan. It contains valuable gardening advice and tips and answers to customer questions.

Every Saturday, Alan hosts a call-in gardening forum on WCBM radio - 680 AM. For those outside of the WCBM listening area, they can listen to radio show via the internet.

Visit http://www.CarrollGardens.com to learn more about Carroll Gardens, the weekly newsletter and the radio show.

[tags]clematis,clematis plant,clematis planting,planting,spring planting,gardening[/tags]

Since antiquity people have used textiles for all range of purposes. From blankets for warmth, to elaborate woven fabrics for commerce, they have been at the very center of human life.

The need for textiles, combined with our desire to embellish the world around us, has given rise to a huge range of fabric based art, everything from basic colored cloth to complex woven textiles. Tapestries and wall hangings have long been one of the most accomplished forms of this art, having a history dating back millennia, and artists from almost all cultures have contributed some form of textile wall art.

Recently tapestries and wall hangings have enjoyed a rise in interest, with many people looking beyond traditional options for wall decor. The tactile nature of tapestries, combined with their long history, has made them once again a choice for the discriminating home improver.

Contemporary tapestry design

Although there are a vast range of traditional designs available, a more recent development is the growth in contemporary art as a basis for modern tapestry designs. Because of the nature of the modern weaving process almost any design can be successfully incorporated into a tapestry, providing the weaver has the skill to do so. This has led many contemporary artists to consider wall tapestries as an alternative medium to framed canvases and prints.

The range of artists who now license their original work for tapestry wall hangings is impressive, and growing. Leading contemporary artists such as Malenda Trick, Elizabeth Brandon and Stewart Sherwood are now being introduced to a whole new group of art lovers.

Encompassing a vast range of subject matter, from modern cityscapes and impressionist inspired landscapes, to idyllic coastal scenes and fantasy art, these contemporary works of art are adding a new dimension to fabric design, marrying traditional weaving techniques with modern, vibrant images.

Although prints enjoy a unique position in home d

Plants grown primarily for their leaf characteristics and utilized for interior decoration or landscape purposes are called foliage plants. As our society becomes more urban, living plants as part of the interior landscape increases. The use of live foliage plants brings individuals closer to an outdoor type of environment, and the large variety of plants gives us the opportunity to select species that will serve as attractive additions to interior decor. Foliage plants are excellent for indoor culture since they are able to survive environmental conditions unfavourable to many other plants.

Most avid gardeners continue to grow plants year-round. We start seeds in the living room, grow ferns in the bathroom, bring in begonias from the outdoor garden year after year, and have pots of herbs in the kitchen. Today there are so many interesting plants that can be grown indoors that there’s simply no reason for a gardener not to be surrounded by plants all year-round.

Everyone can grow foliage plants indoors with little effort if the right plant is used in the right location. Large-leaved species such as rubber plants (Ficus elastica), Monstera deliciosa, dumb-cane (Dieffenbachia amoena), and Philodendron are especially suited to commercial building interiors. They provide the size required to make them focal points in interior landscaping. These large leaved-plants as well as the smaller specimens such as ferns, vines, and ivies can serve a similar purpose in the home or apartment.

Practical Steps To Buying House Plants

Indoor plants are raised in glass greenhouses in which the air is warm and humid. When brought into the average home, they need to withstand more adverse conditions than the average outdoor plant. Challenging conditions such as minimum light, inadequate ventilation, warmer temperatures, drafts, and dry air contribute to stressful conditions for plants. Considering the following points will help in the selection of house plants that will complement your interior d

While many people’s living rooms look like a collection room at the Salvation Army, there are in fact reasons behind making living room furniture a collective design element, rather than a random showing of furniture.

The way that one sculpts pieces of clay into one static sculpture is the way we should look at living room furniture in terms of decorating. There are many reasons why living room furniture should be thought of in terms of sets, or relations to other pieces of furniture, none more obvious than the simple look of it.

When you have a bunch of furniture packed into a room, and if any, or all of it comes from a different location than the rest, the room is bound to look cluttered, and unorganized. Instead when it comes to living room furniture, make sure to buy in sets, or at least coordinate the colors of your living room furniture before installing them in the living room.

For those without an eye for design, or those that simply aren’t interested in spending their time dealing with this issue, here are a few tips.

1) Always buy furniture that will last, like leather, and stay away from cheap furniture at all costs. Chances are if a furniture piece is cheap, you will get what you pay for, and it will break. If it breaks, the chance of you going back to find the exact shade of color that the furniture was is slim, to none. Thus, you will end up buying a replacement that most certainly won’t match the rest of the set. Avoid this by purchasing only high quality furniture that has a warranty for replacement in case it breaks.

2) Another tip is to purchase neutral colors when it comes to your big ticket items like sofas, and easy chairs. Colors like beige, brown, and chestnut are easier to match to, than white, red, and yellow. The more toned down the furniture is in terms of color, the better off you will be to match the living room furniture with one, and other.

3) Finally always be sure to use living room furniture that comes in sets. If you purchase living room furniture set, typically a sofa, love seat, lounge chair, ottoman, and end table, you will be allowing the furniture company to do all the design, and matching for you. By purchasing in sets you don’t have to worry about matching, since the furniture is made by the same company, in most likely the same color.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Shrinivas Vaidya is the webmaster of http://www.livingroomdatabase.com Visit today to get more free tips on living room furniture to decorate a beautiful and charming living room of your wildest dreams.

[tags]living room furniture[/tags]

As Thanksgiving approaches, newspapers, mega-stores, and food producers have recently begun their annual advertising assault to get your turkey dollars. Yet I suspect that huge numbers of people are living in dread and anxiety because they’re uncertain about how their turkeys will turn out. Some will produce turkeys that are a long way from being fully cooked, while others will produce overcooked, tough birds in need of resuscitation.

Has this been a problem for you? Do you follow a recipe to the letter, dutifully preheating the oven, timing the recipe precisely, only to have your dish come out nearly raw, or burned beyond recognition?

I suggest that for an investment of approximately $5.00, you can improve your chances for cooking well-roasted foods by 90%. Another investment of approximately $10.00 will bring your chances to near perfection. And when I use the term investment, I mean that your $5.00 will pay you dividends in the form of well-roasted food for the indefinite future. I’m talking about thermometers; specifically, oven thermometers.

If your oven is more than ten years old, the cooking temperature could vary-in the worst case-by as much as fifty degrees from the temperature you’ve set on the dial. So if a recipe tells you to cook a roast of beef at 375 F., you could be cooking at anywhere from 325 F to 425 F. and have no way of knowing, until you discover that when you remove your dish from the oven, what you’ve cooked is overcooked, undercooked, or somewhere in between. But not well cooked.

For approximately the price of a meal for one at McDonald’s, you can feel assured that your oven is set at the temperature you’re seeking, even if you’ve had to set the dial at 350 F. in order to arrive at a temperature of 375 F. The typical recipe that calls for, say, cooking something for fifteen minutes per pound, was very likely tested in an oven calibrated to cook at the expected temperature, or an oven fitted with an inexpensive oven thermometer.

Oven thermometers are readily available at the local chain hardware store, or in the kitchen gadget aisle at the local mega-store. The two most popular types, are coil (or dial) thermometers, and liquid, in which a colored liquid-usually alcohol-expands in glass as it heats, and registers the temperature on a scale. In both cases, the thermometers will have a kind of hook at the top that will enable you to hang them from one of the racks in the oven.

When you’ve bought your thermometer, it’s a good idea to put it into boiling water for about five minutes, to see that it registers somewhere close to 212 F. If not, it may have some mechanism for adjustment, or you can simply return it to the store for another.

To test your oven’s thermostat, hang the thermometer from the middle shelf, and pre-heat the oven to 350 F. If your thermometer reads 350 F. you’re home free. But if the thermometer is, say, ten or twenty degrees off one way or another, try the experiment again, setting the oven to 375 F. If the temperature is off by the same factor, then you’ll know to set the thermostat with that factor taken into account when you want a particular temperature; 360 F. in order to get 375 F., e.g.

Equipped now with an oven thermometer, and having calculated the necessary adjustment on your oven to produce the desired cooking temperature, I recommend an additional $10.00 investment in an instant-read meat thermometer. By inserting this type of thermometer into meats as they are cooking, it will provide you with-as the name suggests-an instant reading of the meat’s internal temperature. This is an extremely useful device, because it helps you to account for the vagaries of cooking that go beyond simply knowing that your oven is set to the correct cooking temperature. Your standing rib roast of beef may look photogenic after two hours at 375 F., but until it reaches an internal temperature of 130 F. for medium-rare, it isn’t fully cooked.

Gaining the confidence that your oven is set to the correct temperature is not then, the full story. It may be the case that the rear of the oven is hotter than the front, for example. You may notice, as you continue to experiment, that your roast browns far more quickly in the back than in the front. This is where you need to begin to improvise. Very likely, it will simply be a matter of turning your roasting pan one hundred eighty degrees midway through cooking. It could also be the case that you’ll need to cook foods on a lower rack of the oven. But knowing that you’re cooking at the correct temperature is 90% of the battle. The sorts of problems I’ve mentioned will be obvious-as will their solutions.

Finally-and this doesn’t have to do with ovens, per se-is the issue of carry-over cooking. Nearly any recipe you read for roasted meat of any kind, will instruct you to let the meat rest for a period of time before carving. During this resting period, the meat will continue to cook in varying amounts. For example, a standing rib roast of beef will add about five to ten degrees to its internal temperature while resting for approximately twenty minutes. Therefore, it’s a good idea to remove your dish from the oven at about five degrees shy of your target temperature. Again, this is a task that would be impossible without an instant-read meat thermometer.

You could certainly buy more sophisticated timers for your roasting tasks. One popular model that retails for between $30.00 and $40.00 is digital, magnetic, so that it sticks to the oven door, and has a fireproof probe that can go into the meat roasting in your oven. And you can program it to beep when your meat has reached the desired internal temperature. Another, more expensive model, has a remote timer that you can carry up to seventy feet from the oven, and it too will beep to remind you that your meat is done. But you can get wonderful results with the least expensive models too.

So make a small investment in your oven. It will repay you with huge dividends in confidence that your roast will be medium rare; that your chicken will have a wonderful crust, yet be moist and juicy; that your meat loaf will make you a legend in the kitchen. And when your friends and family gather around your holiday table, they will proclaim this year’s turkey to be the best one ever.

About The Author

Skip Lombardi is the author of two cookbooks: “La Cucina dei Poveri: Recipes from my Sicilian Grandparents,” and “Almost Italian: Recipes from America’s Little Italys.” He has been a Broadway musician, high-school math teacher, software engineer, and a fledgeling blogger. But he has never let any of those pursuits get in the way of his passion for cooking and eating. Visit his Web site to learn more about his cookbooks. http://www.skiplombardi.com or send questions or comments to info@skiplombardi.com.

skip@skiplombardi.com

[tags]oven,stove,kitchen,cooking,food,banking,appliances[/tags]

If you are in the market for a new oven and you’ve already begun shopping for one, you’ve probably noticed that there are a few different types. Two of the most popular oven types are conventional and convection, and many newer ovens have the option of cooking food in either fashion depending on the set mode. The difference in these two types of ovens is the way in which the heat in the oven is dispersed during the cooking process.

Convection ovens

A convection oven uses a fan which is usually located on the back side of the oven. The purpose of the fan is to force the heated air inside of the oven and circulate it around the item being cooked. The heated air is constantly pushed over and around the food, and therefore a convection oven cooks food much faster than a conventional oven.

Not only does a convection oven cook food more quickly than a conventional oven, but it can also thoroughly cook food at lower temperatures. The average amount of time saved when cooking with a convection oven is about 20 percent of the food’s normal cooking time. The temperature a convection oven uses to cook food is also about 20 percent lower than a recipe’s suggested cooking temperature.

Typically, convection ovens are known for their popularity in the restaurant industry as well as in commercial cooking facilities. However, it is becoming more popular for individuals to own convection ovens in their homes or at least a conventional oven that can switch to a convection mode upon request.

Convection ovens are speedier and more efficient than conventional ovens, and therefore may be more expensive. However, professional chefs from around the world swear by them and rely on them for delicious tasting food. Also, since the air circulation in a convention oven is the same throughout, food will cook at the same rate no matter where it is placed in the oven on the top or bottom rack or near the front or back.

Conventional Ovens

Traditionally, most personal residences in the United States come equipped with a modern conventional ovens. These are the most common types of household ovens, and are used every day by men and women to cook all sorts of meals, desserts, breads, and many other types of food.

Conventional ovens are similar to convection ovens in that they both cook food using heat. They both have the ability to use either gas or electricity, depending on the hook-up in a home. Some may have the versatility to use either gas or electricity simply depending on what is plugged in to them, and some are made to be either gas specific or electricity specific.

The most obvious difference between a conventional oven and a convection oven is the fact that in a conventional oven, air is not forced throughout the oven on a constant basis with the aid of a fan, as it is in a convection oven.

In a conventional oven, the heat circulation in the oven can become blocked by pots and pans inside of the oven. The blocking of the heat can cause uneven cooking. Uneven cooking is especially noticeable when both the bottom and top racks in the oven are being used at the same time. The items on top will cook faster because heat rises to the tops of conventional ovens and when there is a lot in the oven, the heat gets trapped there.

There are pros and cons to both conventional and convection ovens. Conventional ovens have been serving people for years and years and food has been cooked successfully in them for many decades. Convection ovens have many followers and fans, but these types of ovens can be hard to get used to especially for novice cooks.

This article has been provided courtesy of Kitchen Junkie. Kitchen Junkie offers great kitchen articles available for reprint and other tools to help you get the best bargain on kitchen gadgets and more.

[tags]kitchen, kitchen gadgets, ovens, conventional oven, convection oven, baking, baking tips[/tags]

When you are choosing a color scheme for any room in your home, the first thing to take into account is how that room will be used and, thus, the type of lightning you will need. Light is very important in a room, because it affects colors and makes them seem lighter or darker.

Natural light from windows will change the appearance of colors at different times of the day - enlivening them in the morning sun and gradually toning them down as the day progresses.

Artificial lights also affect the colors in a room, making them look lighter or darker. They can also play tricks with colors, sometimes causing dramatic changes a, literally the flick a switch.

Lamps are the most popular choice of lights today and are easy to install, a homeowner can accomplish this by himself in just a few hours. They are a very important part of any home that will beautify and add warmth and elegance for every room in your home.

The possibilities for using home lighting are endless when considering light fixtures to decorate your home and the fun and satisfaction of decorating the interior of your home by yourself will be rewarding.

Lightning can be used to accentuate features in the room in much the same way as colors and patterns. Strategically positioned wall lights, spotlights, uplights, or ceiling downlights can be arranged so that they wash a complete wall with a blanket of light.

They can also be used to good effect to highlight an isolated area, such as a display shelf, or a recess filled with beautiful objects, or to light a work of art such as sculpture or painting.

The days are long gone when it was considered adequate to light a room with a single, central pendant light. In specialist lighting store, you can be overwhelmed by the lightning options open to you. Light fixtures, bulb wattages, and even colored light have been brought into the scheme of things so that, apart from practical values, there is also the esthetic appeal to consider. Lampshades, too, contribute to the interest and atmosphere of the room, coming as they do in a vast choice of shapes, sizes, materials, and colors.

Marjan Zemljic is owner of Home-decorating-ideas-and-tips.com and author of How to break into the interior design industry. In his book you will find out how you can do exactly that. For more
home decorating tips visit his website and learn how to create the home of your dreams.

[tags]lightnig fixtures, bathroom light, fixtures, kitchen light fixtures, home decorating,[/tags]

Looking to give the perfect first impression when expecting guests? Consider accenting your home foyer with a hall chest cherry bombe. These decorative chests add just the right touch to any room. As a piece that has been used for generations, these chests are definitely making a comeback as a household favorite item.

When redecorating, designers are using bombes more and more. The reason for this is that bombes usually have a more traditional-transitional look. With its unique designs and curves, it has the ability to stand out while still blending with your other pieces. Hall Chest Cherry Bombes are available in sizes from the largest storage down to the perfect nightstand.

Still another new style of the bombe is the bombe chest benches. With its beautiful, classic lines, this bench is a cut above the rest. The seat works as both a sitting area and a storage bin for everything from blankets to memento’s and is a wonderful way to hide clutter.

One of the most popular ideas today is using furniture in the most unexpected places. A recent fashion statement is bringing the bombe into the bathroom. With sink designs going from the regular dated styles to some being a simple bowl with plumbing, consumers are jumping on the chance the bring bombe chest and similar items in the bathroom. Wherever or whatever you use the bombe for it is sure to bring a touch of elegance and pizazz to the room.

A perfect way to add a little change to your home is to add not only the bombe chests, but an indoor bench. While the bombe has succeeded in mastering a variety of designs and uses, there are other benches which will also add distinction to any room.

In an up and coming market the indoor benches are becoming less an accent piece and more a focal point. Being made from materials such as wood, metal wrought iron, or the exotic pieces created with bamboo, rattan or others, whatever your groove or personality there is one there especially for you.

The indoor benches have been considered essential to a home as more and more people are using them basically everywhere. Magazines and design books are showcasing these as an option for seating at the dining table, a shelf to hold pictures or books, as well as adding the finishing touches to the bedroom.

Jennifer Akre, owner of numerous furniture websites, makes it easy to find a quality outdoor bench and indoor benches. Learn how to decorate your patio and home in style by clicking the following link: http://www.SimplyBenches.com.

[tags]hall bench,teak bench,bedroom bench,garden bench,small hand painted bombe chests,entry way bench[/tags]

Something amazing is happening in the world of ceramic tilesOutdoor tile murals. A new and exciting way to have a dramatic focal point outdoors on the floor or walls.

Imagine a dining room far from the kitchen heat, a reading nook with natural light, a place to restore your positive energy, a room with bragging rights. All this could be as close as your backyard. What could be more enticing than a group of people gathered around a fabulous outdoor patio grill with a Tuscan Landscape tile mural as a backdrop or a ceramic tile rug for the patio floor between 2 outdoor couches that is patterned and fringed in an Oriental, Moroccan, or SouthWesten theme
Patios provide private sanctuaries for family and friends, and offer an interlude from frenetic activities of the main house. Patios are getting decked out in fun things which reflect the inside of your home. - Tile murals can fit any style or theme and can coordinate with furniture, fabrics or wallpapers.You might consider vintage labels as your theme– Maybe International, California or personalized wine labels, fruit crate and orange crate labels from Florida or sunny California. If you have a green thumb try adding seed packet labels and botanical floral prints. If you are a traveller you might like vintage hotel, airline, train or boat labels. or vintage posters from the 30’s. Beer labels are a particula favorite.

Upon hearing that YOU can have any image, any size tile mural or tile display, outdoors, YOU will likely get the urge to furnish your patios around a dramatic image. : )

I transfer fine art, vintage labels and personal photographs onto marble, ceramic and glass tiles to create a mural.
Alicia Tapp - Please visit my website for an extensive collection of images to be transferred onto tiles
http://www.AliciaTappDesigns.com
Images on tiles

[tags]kitchen backspash, outdoor tiles, patio tiles, ceramic tiles, tile murals, marble tiles[/tags]