Saint Patrick Day Parade 2014

Finally Saint Patrick Day is here and we watch the parade as we normally do every year. Although we didn't get there on time because of the traffic and it was already started when we get there but we still get to see the rest of it.

It was sunny and really nice day out except it was cold especially the wind blows so hard and it getting intense as we stood there longer by the road where they held the parade. It took about an hour and a half before it was over so we were shivering for a while.

Here are some clips that I took during the parade
PART 1

This clip is not the first part of the parade because I was late about 10 minutes so I took the video from this part until the end but this is my part 1 video there are more coming up.

PART 2

This part where you can see a band playing with different kind of musical instruments, you can see also a different kind of mascots and a huge blow up shamrock leaf.

 

PART 3

Clowns and kid bikers

One of the clown is funny he try to be a magician and shouted to the people to watch him do the his trick (he goes watch, watch, watch and then he pulled out the watch under the red cloth on his hand that was hilarious).I like this part also.

 

PART 4

You can see a marching band here playing bag pipes and a statue of liberty mascots. Lot of them handling out candies and flyers to the spectators too.

 

 

PART 5

a fire truck, another mascots and a blow up shamrock balloon

 

 

PART 6

Twilighters

 

 

PART 7

This is the last part and the best part that I like the most where you can see horses, pedal wagon, another band and a ginormous blow up bear, it's super tall they even have to pull it down to pass thru the stop light.

 

It was really a fun event, next year I will make sure I wont be late so that  I will be able to see the entire parade. It's worth watching it even it was cold, we still had fun.

 

Maybe some of you don't want to watch the videos so here are some pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

Just want to show here my little pumpkin wearing her Saint Patrick outfit, this clothes I already posted it  on my "Getting ready for Saint Patrick's Day" post but  she's wearing it this time.

It is so big for her especially the pants so I changed  her pants to a smaller one

This is the best shots I could get because she is moving around I couldn't get her to sit still, this one here she is practicing her karaoke I think I'm bothering her that's why she keep turning away from me.

 

 So that was the Saint Patrick Parade all about see you again next time and have a happy weekend everyone!

 

Valentine Bows and Ideas

What is Valentines Day?
Saint Valentine's Day, also known as Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine,^[1] is observed on February 14 each year. It is celebrated in many countries around the world, although it remains a working day in most of them.
St. Valentine's Day began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The most popular martyrology associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. During his imprisonment, he is said to have healed the daughter of his jailer, Asterius. Legend states that before his execution he wrote her a letter signed "Your Valentine" as a farewell.^[2] Today, Saint Valentine's Day is an official feast day in the Anglican Communion,^[3] as well as in the Lutheran Church.^[4] The Eastern Orthodox Church also celebrates Saint Valentine's Day, albeit on July 6th and July 30th, the former date in honor of the Roman presbyter Saint Valentine, and the latter date in honor of Hieromartyr Valentine, the Bishop of Interamna (modern Terni). In Brazil, the Dia de São Valentim is recognized on June 12.
The day was first associated with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of courtly love flourished. In 18th-century England, it evolved into an occasion in which lovers expressed their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines"). Valentine's Day symbols that are used today include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards.^[5]

Historical facts

Shrine of St. Valentine in Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine.^[6] The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae).^[7] Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who was martyred about AD 496 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. The relics of Saint Valentine were kept in the Church and Catacombs of San Valentino in Rome, which "remained an important pilgrim site throughout the Middle Ages until the relics of St. Valentine were transferred to the church of Santa Prassede during the pontificate of Nicholas IV".^[8][9] The flower-crowned skull^[10] of St Valentine is exhibited in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, Rome. Other relics are found at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.^[11] Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been martyred during the persecution under Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino). Jack B. Oruch states that "abstracts of the acts of the two saints were in nearly every church and monastery of Europe."^[12] The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.^[13] Saint Valentine's head was preserved in the abbey of New Minster, Winchester, and venerated.^[14]
February 14 is celebrated as St Valentine's Day in various Christian denominations; it has, for example, the rank of 'commemoration' in the calendar of saints in the Anglican Communion.^[3] In addition, the feast day of Saint Valentine is also given in the calendar of saints of the Lutheran Church.^[4] However, in the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feast day of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: "Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14."^[15] The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Second Vatican Council calendar. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, St. Valentine's Day is celebrated on July 6th, in which Saint Valentine, the Roman presbyter, is honoured; furthermore, the Eastern Orthodox Church obsesrves the feast of Hieromartyr Valentine, Bishop of Interamna, on July 30th (source:wikipedia-valentines day)

I love making different kinds of bows for different occasions during my past time. It become my obsession, especially when occasions like Valentines Day is coming up. So, I gather my stuff and make beautiful bows for Valentines. You can make your bows in different sizes based on the size of your gift. Here are some Valentine bows that I made, which are perfect for decorating your gifts for love ones.

 

 

Here are some different designs

 

 

 

Besides red you can use pink as a Valentine colors too. I think pink is nice and delicate because its very feminine and sweet. The color red represents heat and passion, while the color pink represents romance and charm, both represent love.

 

 

TIPS:

         1-use poly ribbon if you want to make this kind of design, you can order them online.

         2-use smaller scissor to cut the ribbon, it's much easier to make designs.

         3-use tape dispenser, it's easy to cut your tape and hassle free.

         4-make sure your bow size is the right size for your gift.

 

In the Philippines, Valentine's Day is called Araw ng mga Puso ("Hearts Day"), and is celebrated in much the same manner as in the West. It is usually marked by a steep increase in the price of flowers, particularly red roses.
I bet some of you are excited already this upcoming valentines day I'm excited too, make sure to plan ahead what to do and what to get for your special someone and what to wear too just in case you have a date(wink).

IDEAS:

Here's a cute idea to wrap up and decorate a valentine gift.

Very easy and simple yet pretty I'm sure whoever will gets it will giggle with too much joy.

 

Here's another idea that I came up with.

 

My husband bought a valentine candies the other day it surprises me because he bought candies early, he said that its on display already in the store so he grab some for everybody to try. So that's the lid of the candy box that I used as a valentine wreath that I hanged on the door, Isn't that cute? the box says happy valentines day on it, so I think it's a cool idea to recycle it and use it as a decoration.
 If you have more lids with different designs on it you can add on maybe two more at the bottom to make it longer that would be nice too, maybe I'll ask my hubby to buy more candies then so that I can use the lid to add into the one that I had lol.
 

Alright LOVE,LOVE,LOVE everyone see you again next time.   

 

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Christmas Bows and Gift Wrappings

 

A Christmas decoration is any of several types of decorations used at Christmas time. The traditional colours of Christmas are pine green (evergreen), snow white, and heart red. Blue and white are often used to represent winter, or sometimes Hanukkah, which occurs around the same time. Gold and silver are also very common, as are just about any other metallic colour. Typical images on Christmas decorations include Baby Jesus, Father Christmas or Santa Claus, and the star of Bethlehem. Typical winter icons include snowflakes, snowmen, icicles, and even penguins and polar bears.(source:wikipedia-christmas decoration)

 

Bow is An ornamental knot made of ribbon. You can use bow as a decoration on top of your Christmas gift or any gifts. Here are some beautiful Christmas bows that I made it is perfect for this upcoming Christmas, you can use it in different ways.



Christmas Bows 



 

    Gift wrapping refers to the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material. Wrapping paper is a
\kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. Gifts may also be wrapped in a box. They may be held closed with ribbon and topped with a decorative bow (an ornamental knot made of ribbon).

History

The use of wrapping paper is first documented in ancient China, where paper was invented in 2nd century BC.^[1] In the Southern Song dynasty, monetary gifts were wrapped with paper, forming an envelope known as a chih pao. The wrapped gifts were distributed by the Chinese court to government officials.^[2] In the Chinese text Thien Kung Khai Wu, Sung Ying-Hsing states that the coarsest wrapping paper is manufactured with rice straws and bamboo fiber.^[2]
Although the Hall brothers Rollie and Joyce Hall, founders of Hallmark Cards, did not invent gift wrapping, their innovations led to the development of modern gift wrapping. They helped to popularize the idea of decorative gift wrapping in the 20th century, and according to Joyce Hall, "the decorative gift-wrapping business was born the day Rollie placed those French envelope linings on top of that showcase."(Wikipedia-gift wrapping).

Here's some pictures how to use a bow and how to decorate your gifts for different kinds of occasions



Gift Wrappings





 

You can even stick a bow on a paper bags to make it look nicer like it shown below.

 

  

Use it for birthdays, weddings, baby showers etc. or any occasions that you can think of that you need a present to wrap up.

 

 

 

The gift wrapping below and the bow is one of my unique creations coz its made of recycled papers. I cut some papers from the magazine and stick them together enough to wrap the whole present as you can see there's some writing on it, and I cut some colored ones that you can find inside the magazine to make a beautiful bow. This is how it turned out.

 

 

To those who can't afford to buy a nice wrapping papers this is a good idea to use recycled papers, besides saving a lot of money its also environmental friendly.

 

 

We decided not to get each others present this year just to save some money but look what happen, We always break the rules and end up getting more that it even spread out to the side coz there's no more space under the tree. I said to my husband you don't need to get me anything this Christmas and I whisper to myself (but I'm expecting something lol).Somebody might be good this year coz I checked all the tags and it says from SANTA. Hmm Santa your so good thank you.

 

Christmas Wreath Chocolate Cupcakes

 

 Chocolate cake is a cake flavored with melted chocolate or cocoa powder.
Chocolate ⁱ/ˈtʃɒk(ə)lət/ is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central America, and Northern South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The majority of the Mesoamerican people made chocolate beverages, including the Mayans and the Aztecs,^[1] who made it into a beverage known as xocolātl [ʃoˈkolaːt͡ɬ], a Nahuatl word meaning "bitter water". The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.
After fermentation, the beans are dried, then cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because this cocoa mass usually is liquefied then molded with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate (bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, a combination of cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.
Cocoa solids contain alkaloids such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine.^[2] These have physiological effects on the body and are linked to serotonin levels in the brain. Some research has found that chocolate, eaten in moderation, can lower blood pressure.^[3] The presence of theobromine renders chocolate toxic to some animals,^[4] especially dogs and cats. (wikipedia-chocolate)

 

I just wanna share this beautiful Christmas wreath cupcakes that I made the other day for my husband's Christmas party. It's made of chocolate cake with melted chocolate in the center that when you take a bite you can perceive the chocolate bits in it yummy. Everybody said its too pretty to eat and they couldn't resist to take some home, I'm glad that they love them and my hard work is paid off to hear such a nice compliment and be appreciated.

 

Speaking of wreath here's my handmade wreath wall decoration

 

You can use either round styro foam that you can buy in the store or improvise your own like cardboard ,paper, twigs etc. and form it into a circle then stick different colors of bows around it and put your favorite ornaments in the center. I put Santa on mine I think its cute and hang it on the wall. Simple yet pretty.

 

 

WISH YOU HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas Lights

Christmas lights are lights used for decoration around Christmas. The custom goes back to the use of candles to decorate the Christmas tree in upper-class homes in 18th-century Germany. Christmas trees displayed publicly and illuminated with electric lights became popular in the early 20th century. By the mid-20th century, it became customary to display strings of electric lights as along streets and on buildings Christmas decorations detached from the Christmas tree itself. In the United States, it became popular to outline private homes with such Christmas lights in tract housing beginning in the 1960s. By the late 20th century, the custom had also been adopted in non-western countries, notably in Japan.

 

The Christmas tree was adopted in upper-class homes in 18th-century Germany, where it was occasionally decorated with candles, which at the time was a comparatively expensive light source. Candles for the tree were glued with melted wax to a tree branch or attached by pins. Around 1890, candleholders were first used for Christmas candles. Between 1902 and 1914, small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used. Early electric Christmas lights were introduced with electrification, beginning in the 1880s.(source:wikipedia-christmas)

 

 

I just finished putting up my Christmas lights today on the bush outside my house.

 

 

 

This is how it turned out. Its not very fancy but I think its pretty cool. We are the first ones who put up lights in our neighborhood. Others are waiting for Thanksgiving before they put up theirs. I'm just so excited decorating my house, so now I'm ready for Christmas.

 

HOW ABOUT YOU GUYS, DID YOU DECORATE YOUR HOUSE YET?