Equipment-
- A laptop.
- Either a USB drive/flash drive or
a CD and DVD burning program or an external storage/hard drive device or a cloud storage platform or just a computer system.
Methods-
- USB drive/flash drive- Insert your USB drive/flash drive into your laptops USB port and then copy and paste or drag your important files onto your USB drive/flash drive's folder and then remove it when it is finished transferring the files.
- CD- Insert a blank CD into your CD player in your laptop and then open up your DVD burning program and select Data DVD in Disc Type and then drag all your important files onto the DVD burning program and give your CD a name and then click burn on the program and then remove the CD and close the program when it is finished transferring the files.
- External storage/hard drive device- Insert the external storage/hard drive device via the USB port in your laptop and then copy and paste or drag your important files onto your external storage/hard drive device and then remove it when it is finished transferring the files.
- Cloud storage platform- Using an internet or app based cloud storage such as Microsoft SkyDrive, you can download, install or use via the internet a cloud storage folder on your laptop which should automatically back up all of your files on your laptop every day and every time you save something new into your files and folders or you can manually copy and paste or drag your important files onto your cloud storage folder or sometimes the cloud storage folder will let you create new things on the actual folder, e.g. word documents on a Google Drive and storing it on Google Drive or Google Cloud Storage, and then close the window/tab when it is finished transferring the files.
- Computer- On your laptop open the start menu and then click control panel and then click back up and restore, next click the back up now button and then close the window/tab when it is finished backing up and transferring all the files.
Tips-
- This is a guide for backing up files on a Windows 7, Dell laptop and certain features may differ on other laptops.
- It is safest to back up using a USB drive/flash drive, a CD or an External storage/hard drive device, or cloud storage but it doesn't hurt to complete a Computer back up as well, so that you can restore and recover files if needed.
- Remember to complete both back ups, mention in tip number two, regularly.
- Be careful and only choose trusted brands and companies when using cloud storage, to make sure their servers, etc. are reliable (e.g. Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.).
Equipment-
- 1 small 360 ml or 600 ml plastic bottle with a lid.
- Some clear and non-toxic oil, e.g. canola oil or light canola oil.
- Some water.
- Blue food colouring.
- Silver, blue or green glitter.
- Plastic, lightweight sea creatures/animals.
- Plastic, foam or confetti that is shaped like sea creatures/animals.
- Blue stickers e.g. stars, love hearts, shapes, etc.
Method-
- Clean and thoroughly rinse the plastic bottle.
- Add the oil into the bottle and fill it up till it reaches half way.
- Fill the other half of the bottle with water.
- Put the food colouring, glitter, the plastic animals and the confetti animals into the bottle.
- Put the lid on the bottle and secure it tightly.
- Now decorate the bottle with stickers.
- Next shake the bottle a few times, to mix up its ingredients.
- Now its ready to play with!.
Tips-
- Make sure the lid is not taken off once the bottle's lid is secured in step five, so that the liquid inside is not accidentally ingested by its user.
- Supervise children when they are playing with the bottle.
- This is a great toy for children of a young age.
- This is a good holidays activity for both yourself and your children.
Ingredients-
- Popcorn- preferably air popped/self-made popcorn- don't get popcorn that is butter flavoured.
Equipment-
- Cotton string/thread or yarn, etc. (preferably some very thin string).
- A popcorn machine, or a microwave, or a stove top and pot, or none (depending on what type of popcorn you are using- e.g. pre-made, microwave, air popped, self-made, pan cooked, etc.).
- A medium to large (preferably large) sewing needle.
Method-
- Pop lots of popcorn.
- Let the popcorn sit for a day in a sealed container, if you want it to be easier to use- optional.
- Cut a large piece of string and thread it through the needle and then knot the end of the string or you can triple knot it if you are having trouble keeping the popcorn on the string.
- Now thread the needle through a piece of the popcorn or you can thread it through the kernel in the centre of the popcorn if you are experienced at this.
- Repeat step four for each piece of popcorn until you have completely covered almost all of the string, remember to leave a small gap at the end of the string so that you have room to tie the necklace together.
- Tie the necklace together using the ends of the string and the gap you left for tying in step five and tie the ends together.
- You have now completed your popcorn necklace!.
Tips-
- This is a great idea for a festive, holiday activity (especially Christmas).
- Be careful when handling the needle and the hot popcorn and pop corn kernels and always supervise children when they are doing this activity.
- A fun idea would be to use different coloured string or colourful popcorn that you could buy from the supermarket or make at home, and then you could use that to complete the activity.
- You could also try using (coloured or un-coloured) dry macaroni noodles, or dry cranberries(for a Christmas holidays activity), or dried fruit, or colourful beads, etc.
- Use a sharp sewing needle if you want to thread through the popcorn kernels and are experienced at making these popcorn necklaces but if you are inexperienced or you are working with children and only wish to thread through any part of the popcorn but not the centre then just use a blunt sewing needle.
- By leaving the popcorn for a day in a sealed container, it will be easier to make a popcorn necklace as the popcorn will be hard and not soft which is why most people use stale and not fresh popcorn for this activity.
- Try not to use a small needle as it may be more difficult to thread through the popcorn.
Ingredients-
- Salt.
- Sugar, either brown or white sugar (use white sugar if you want an exfoliating body scrub or use brown sugar if you want a smoothing body scrub- both will be good with dry skin, especially if you use both of these two body scrubs).
- Fragrance Or Essential Oil.
- A fragrance oil- e.g. sunflower oil, jojoba oil, apricot oil, almond oil, sweet almond oil, grape seed oil, macadamia oil, etc.
- Herbs and/or spices and/or honey (optional).
Equipment-
- 1 small container with a lid- e.g. a glass jar.
- 1 small mixing bowl.
- 1 spoon.
Method-
- Add equal parts of salt and sugar into the small mixing bowl and mix well until it is all combined.
- Add some of the fragrance oil of your choice, lightly cover the mixture in the bowl but don't add too much because you don't won't the scrub to become greasy and oily.
- Add 5-8 drops of fragrance or essential oil into the mixture.
- Mix the mixture thoroughly until it is all combined.
- Spoon the mixture into the small container and now it is ready to use.
- To use the mixture, just spoon some onto your hands and use it as an occasional hand wash or soap or you could use it in the shower on occasion as a body wash or soap.
Tips-
- Only use the body scrub on occasion because it is not an equivalent to soap and does not contain anti-bacterial qualities that are needed for cleanliness. Use it when your skin gets dry, this mixture can be used with or after you use soap.
- If you have an unusual allergic reaction from the body scrub then discontinue use immediately and consult a medical professional if needed.
- This body scrub can be a great gift idea, decorate the container and make a special mixture of someone's favourite scents, etc. and give it to them.
- Try adding herbs, spices or honey to get a great smelling scrub.
Equipment-
- A variety of brushes (e.g. soft bristle, etc.).
- Some scissors and/or a seam ripper (sewing tool).
- An electric animal shaver/razor (optional).
- Detangling spray (optional).
- Animal tear stain remover (optional).
- Animal nail clippers.
- Some balls of cotton wool (optional).
- Some luke warm water.
- Animal shampoo (optional).
- A towel (optional).
- A hair dryer (optional).
Method-
- Get your pet into a quiet spot and make sure they are relaxed and not agitated in anyway, if they are I suggest that you try grooming them on a day when they are relaxed.
- If your pet has any matted fur or has something stuck in their fur, then use a brush, your fingers and some detangling spray to try and remove the knotted fur but if this is not possible you should try using some scissors or a seam ripper to gently and carefully remove the knots and if the fur is still matted after you have tried these two methods then you should use an electric animal shaver/razor to remove the matted and knotted fur but only use the electric animal shaver/razor if you know how to properly use one on animals.
- Now that you have removed the tangled fur, you can use a medium, coarse animal brush to brush the large parts of the animals body and then use a soft bristle brush to brush small, sensitive areas such as around the animals face, ears, paws, tail, etc. If you find anymore difficult, matted knots on the animals body then use one of the techniques in step two to remove the tangled fur.
- If your animal is dirty then bathe it in some animal shampoo and then dry them with a towel and/or hair dryer and then brush them again before continuing onward with step five.
- You may now use the nail clippers to remove the animals nails if they are long, only use nail clippers if you know how to do so and have previously, successfully done so before, because it can be quite tricky. Put the animal on your lap, possibly on its back or on its side to make it easier for you, use the animal nail clippers to only clip the tip of each nail and never clip anywhere near the pink quick of the animals nails. For cats you only really need to clip the nails on the front paws but if your cats nails are really long then proceed to clip the back nails and for dogs usually all the nails need to be clipped. Try to clip the animals nails quickly but gently and carefully.
- Now you can use some balls of cotton wool to remove any discharge from around the animals eyes, if you find it difficult to remove then dampen the balls of cotton wool in some luke warm water and then try removing the discharge from around the animals eyes.
- Get the tear stain remover if your animal has tear stains around its face, especially near their eyes, mouth and nose, and dampen some balls of cotton wool with the animal tear stain remover and gently rub over and around the tear stain, especially near and around the animals eyes but do not put it close to or in their eyes, mouth, nose, etc. Now use some dry balls of cotton wool to lightly rub over any damp areas of the tear stain remover.
- Now check inside your animals ears and use some balls of cotton wool that have been dampened in luke warm water and clean away any ear wax or ear mites, be extra gentle and don't use much water when dampening the balls of cotton wool.
- You have now successfully groomed and cleaned your animal/pet.
Tips-
- Be gentle, careful and patient when grooming and cleaning your animal.
- Be especially careful with cats.
- If your animal does not like being groomed then try completing only one step of the method each day until you have fully completed the entire method.
- Do not use any of the tools or products used, if you do not know how to use them or have never used them before. Just get a professional animal groomer/cleaner to do it for you or show you how to and then supervise you whilst doing it.
- Groom and clean your animal regularly, especially if you have a long and thick haired animal.
- Be extra careful when grooming and cleaning sensitive areas of your animal, e.g. their face, paws, tail, etc.
Equipment-
- Two wash cloth and/or some tissues.
- Warm water.
- An old toothbrush.
- Lip gloss and/or Lip stick.
- Lip Balm and/or Chap stick.
- Vaseline.
Method-
- Softy remove any dead skin that is flaking off and around your lips.
- Use the wash cloth and dip it in the warm water and use it to wash way any remaining dead skin and impurities.
- Use an old toothbrush to exfoliate your lips by rubbing it along your lips and apply Vaseline afterward, if your lips are severely dry, exfoliate every 5-10 days and thoroughly wash the toothbrush after you use it.
- (If you wish, you can research and make your own organic lip balm to help speed the recovery process of your lips).
- Pat your lips dry with a cloth or some tissues.
- Apply lip balm to your lips throughout the day, before you go to bed, when you wake up in the morning, after showering, wetting or washing your face, etc. and before you use lip gloss, lipstick, etc. to make sure they are moisturised and soft and try to use a lip balm that is for dry lips.
- If you have sun burnt lips, make sure you use a lip balm that contains SPF.
- Try not to lick your lips, that will just make them even more dry.
Tips-
- Some good and recommended lip balm's to try are- Nivea, Maybelline- Baby Lips, Burt's Bee's, Blistex, Carmex, Vaseline, QV, Lucas' PawPaw Ointment, ChapStick, The Body Shop, Benetint, Palmer's- Cocoa Butter Formula, Kiehl's lip balm #1, EOS, etc.
- If you experience unbearably, severely dry lips and non of the techniques above help, then please consult a medical professional and they may be able to prescribe something stronger for you.
- Always read the label on lip balms, chap sticks, etc. to make sure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients.
- When first applying lip balm to dry lips, it may sting slightly but try not to touch your lips.
- If your lips react badly to certain lip balm's, the ingredients may be to strong, so you may need a lip balm that is for sensitive lips.
Equipment-
