One of the coolest things you can do to really make your child’s party stand out is use personalized party favors. You can personalize just about anything with your child’s name and birthday, or just the name of the party, and you can bet that this will be the talk of the kid’s class the next day.

One of the most popular things that you can personalize for your kid’s party are tee shirts. You can make your party into a real event, with tee shirts saying “I Rocked The House at Brian’s Party” or something similar.

Of course, you can also make the preparations of your kid’s party favors something special between you and your kid by doing them at home by yourself. There are dozens of party favors that you make at home cheaply, that you and your child will enjoy making together.

One of the best ones you can do is to get colored clay and make little figures for each of the kids attending the party. This will allow you to create party favors that are truly personalized, since not only will they be handmade, you can make something that fits the personality of each party guest.

Kids love candy, that’s generally an accepted fact, so why not give them what they want. You can get candy necklaces and bracelets easily, and this is the sort of thing that kids just eat up, literally.

For an added touch of personalization, you can get candy letters to make necklaces and bracelets and this allows you to make individual favors for every child at the party. You can do this for every adult if you want to. The right kids party favors can make any party a party no one will ever forget.

• Photos
• Frames
• Hanging fixtures or nails
• Hammer
• Spray Paint (optional)

The first step is to decide on which photos you want to display. These can be photos of your children, pets, family, or special events in your life.

Once you have decided on which photos you want to use, the next step is to select a wall to create your photo collage on. When selecting a wall. Make sure you choose one with enough room to display all of the photos you have selected. If you do not have a wall large enough, consider limiting your photo selection or choosing to create multiple collages.

Once the wall has been chosen, the next phase is to place the photos into frames. Many frames are somewhat expensive, but if you plan ahead, you can find some great deals on picture frames. If you are fortunate enough to live near a Hobby Lobby store or other local craft store, you can purchase frames up to 50% off at least once a month. You can choose from designer frames or you can choose to create your own frames. You may also just want to go with your basic, everyday, wood grain frames. When choosing designer frames, make sure the styles complement each other and try to avoid conflicting styles and colors.

If designer frames are out of your budget range but you prefer not to go with wood grain frames, try the following: purchase wood grain frames when they are on sale and use spray paint to achieve your desired color. One can of spray paint will cover up to 10 frames. Normally, you can find 8 X 10 frames on sale as low as $2.50, so for approximately $30; you can create your own custom frames. You can also add appliqués or whatever else you desire for an even more customized look.

Once your frames are ready and you have placed your photos into them, the next step is to lay out your pattern. Take measurements of the area you are going to use and create a diagram. You can either draw out a diagram or you can create a layout on the floor.

When you have decided on your layout, make sure to find the center of the area and work out from there. Try not to start from the left or right because your collage may come out uneven. It is best to actually measure for each photo to ensure uniform placement on the wall. Mark the location of each picture and either place a hanging fixture or nail in the desired location.

After all of the fixtures are in place you can start hanging your photos. Make sure to use a level to keep your pictures straight. If you have an older house or crooked wallpaper, you may want to eyeball them based on the vertical patterns instead to avoid the photos looking crooked.

That’s it! Creating a photo collage is simple and is only as expensive as you allow it to be. So have fun, and create a beautiful display of your photos for all to see.

Cats in particular have a curious nature and tendency to get into things that could either be harmful to them or annoying to you. Sometimes it seems they want to get into things just to prove they can.

For example, your pet may bang on a closet door, bedroom door or kitchen cabinet in the middle of the night until they manage to get it open. By installing a device meant to keep children from opening doors or drawers, you can get a good night’s rest.

Keep the garbage located in a place they cannot get into because they will rummage through the garbage and may ingest something harmful to them. When it comes to chicken bones and other obvious dangers, wrap them in a plastic bag and put them in the trash in the garage where there’s no chance they will get into them.

Keep the toilet lid closed. If you leave the lid open, pets will drink the toilet water and could possible ingest something dangerous to them such as hair or dye. Besides, open toilets really are an unattractive decorative item and should be closed anyway. Your pet is training you to have good taste in home décor.

Don’t leave dirty dishes in the kitchen sink and remember to rinse the sink afterwards. Cats jump in the sink and lick the bits of food left after rinsing dinner dishes.

Use pest control that isn’t harmful to pets. If you must use toxic cleaners or formulas, keep the pets away from the scent and/or open the windows for proper ventilation.

Keep medications and cleaning supplies under lock and key. The best place for medicines is the medicine cabinet and you should not keep your cleaning supplies under the kitchen sink unless you put a child-proof latch on them.

Make sure screens are in and doors are latched. If a handyman or somebody who may be going in and out of your house frequently, keep the pets in a safe room where they cannot accidentally get out. Also, when entertaining, you may want to keep the pets away from the guests because people sometimes stress pets by giving them too much attention—especially if they are strangers.

If you have overnight guests, you may want to instruct them on being careful not to let the pets out. You can set your home security alarm to “ding” whenever a door or window is open so that everybody can be aware of somebody going outside.

Be careful when you cook with foodstuffs that are deadly for pets. For example, you may not even want to cook with mushrooms and other ingredients that would harm your pets if swallowed. It’s important to take extra care to keep your pet safe and healthy by preventing careless accidents.

When selecting a place online to get your coffee bean direct, make sure that they are located close to you. My favorite online coffee bean source is located only one day away via UPS. That means if I place and order for my favorite coffee on Monday, I will have the coffee on Tuesday. Nothing beats quick service, and if you love your coffee as much as I do, you’ll do anything to get those coffee beans in your coffee mug as soon as possible. It is a bad idea to select a coffee roaster that is located far from you unless you like paying tons of overnight shipping charges. There are exceptions to this rule, however. I get peaberry coffee from Hawaii every month and it is worth every penny to have it FedEx’ed to me.

Anyway, buying coffee online has many advantages. The most obvious of these advantages is having your coffee freshly roasted for you and getting coffee at a discount. Expect to pay about half of what you do at the supermarket unless you are buying coffee that tastes more like tree bark than gourmet coffee beans. Another advantage to buying coffee directly from a coffee roaster is selection. You can get regular coffee, gourmet coffee, Costa Rican coffee, Brazillian coffee, dark Sumatran coffee, there’s lots to choose from. So, as you can plainly see, you can’t go wrong when you get your coffee bean direct from a reputable coffee roaster.

Cut out the middleman, buy coffee direct. Do your research, try out a million types of coffee to see what you like. Dark coffee, light coffee, coffee blends, all types of coffees are available online. There are so many coffee distributors, it is hard to choose. First, search by your favorite coffee. Do you like Kona coffee? Do a search on Kona coffee. Find the closest distributor to you so you won’t have to wait to savor that coffee goodness. Keep in mind that there will always be coffee that you must fly in to get the best flavor possible. My favorite comes from Hawaii, so until I move there, I have to fly that Java in overnight.

Did I mention price? Maybe I forgot, but you can buy coffee direct and save big bucks. Imagine paying less than supermarket prices for gourmet coffee. Yes, that’s right, you can save big if you buy big. Usually, you need to buy 10 to 25 pounds of coffee to see significant discounts. If you are like me, this is no problem. I drink at least 4 cups of coffee each and every day. I just love it. No, I don’t understand tea people. Coffee is for me, and coffee loves me. Of course, I don’t have proof of this as coffee doesn’t talk to me (if you find someone who’s coffee talks to them, here’s a hint: don’t drink anything while you are in their house).

OK, if you thought that there would be a shortage of flavors, you would be wrong. One of my favorite online stores has the following flavors: almond, amaretto, butter cream, butter rum, butter scotch cream, cherry bomb, cherry cobbler, chocolate almond, chocolate cherry, chocolate, chocolate Irish cream, chocolate marshmallow, chocolate mint, chocolate raspberry, cinnamon hazelnut, orange, pumpkin spice, vanilla almond, vanilla nut, and on and on. A good gourmet flavored coffee starts with a solid base like Colombian Supremo, carefully selected and then pure flavorings are added without sugars or any other chemical additives. The result is an extremely flavorful coffee experience. Flavored coffees can be addictive and there are so many to choose from. Personally, I go from loving added flavors to just savoring the coffee without any added flavorings.

Any type of coffee you choose will taste better if you take the time to prepare it correctly. Always keep your coffee press, coffee maker, etc. as clean as you can. Residues left from coffees, especially flavored ones can make the next batch taste a little off. I always clean everything every time I make coffee immediately after making the coffee. This may seem a little obsessive, but when I go somewhere and see a brown glass carafe, I know I shouldn’t be drinking coffee there, especially if it’s gourmet flavored coffee. Water is important too, so always use cold, filtered water so that your water does not add any of its own flavor to the final product. I also recommend that you buy your coffee in bean form rather than already ground. It will last longer and the flavor will remain more consistent. Measure out just the right amount of coffee and grind only what you need. Freshly roasted, freshly ground coffee is simply out of this world.

There are many bulk coffee programs out there. You can usually save if you join a plan where a certain amount of coffee is shipped to you each month. How much coffee you have to order varies by company so be sure to check the terms of each plan. Most house blend coffees that are up for sale come from various vendors. Expect to see a blend of coffee from Kenya, Sumatra, South America and Central America. You should test the quality of the coffee by buying the lowest quantity you can. Personally, I like to buy coffee in small amounts and I only buy the best. If you have a coffee house, diner or restaurant, then you will probably have need of lots of coffee.

As I said before, you probably own a restaurant or large office if you are buying bulk coffee. It is a good idea to get a commercial grade coffee machine if you are going to make large amounts of coffee. Regular home coffee makers are very slow at making coffee and they don’t make the water hot enough to extract the optimum flavor from the coffee bean. If you are wondering why your home brewed coffee does not taste the same as it does in the store, this is one of the reasons why. Water temperature during brewing matters a lot. If you don’t need lots of coffee, don’t buy large bags. Yes, you can save money if you buy a 25 pound bag, but if it takes a year to use up so much coffee then don’t do it. The last cup will be totally devoid of any flavor. Only buy as much coffee as you’ll be using in the next month maximum.

What kind of coffee drinker are you? Do you drink more than one coffee each day? Do you get your coffee on the run to work? Do you get your coffee at the office? These questions will all point to the coffee services you might be interested in. As an example, I have a Braun Tassimo coffee maker. It is one of those instant coffee makers which can make a latte in no time flat. My wife loves them but as a true coffee drinker, I will not part with my coffee press. Anyway, we get a box of Tassimo coffee cartridges delivered to the house each and every month. They are, of course, cappuccino coffees.

One of my favorites is the office coffee services package that some companies offer. I highly urge you to get your boss into one of their office packages. Basically, they give you a free coffee machine, much like the Braun or Keurig instant coffee machines and each and every month, you get your choice of regular, hazelnut, vanilla, and other gourmet coffee flavors. It is up to you when delivery takes place and you can select the volume of coffee shipped. Bigger offices, will have need of much more coffee, but any office that has me in it will have to have large volume and great selection. If you are your own boss, you will be stuck with the bill, but on the bright side, you won’t have to share! Oh, and as always, a good company will have free shipping to their customers who buy monthly supplies.

When giving any gift, you should at least know something about the person you are giving the gift to. If they love coffee, that’s great, but what else do you know about them? Do they have one of those instant coffee machines like the Keurig coffee maker? If they do, great, you can get them coffee gifts with an assortment of the various cartridges in them. How about things that go with coffee? I could think of lots of things I eat with my coffee. Here are a few suggestions: biscotti, chocolate, cookies, biscuits. Hmmm… I love biscotti with my coffee. Presentation is important as nothing ruins a nice surprise like a poorly presented gift. If you are shopping online for your coffee surprise, make sure they have pictures of the final product to assure it is up to snuff. If you are getting chocolate to go with that coffee, then I highly suggest dark chocolate. Dark chocolate is high in antioxidants and is actually good for you. Another side benefit to giving chocolate is that it does not expire immediately so you don’t have to worry about spoilage.

Coffee gifts are perfect seasonal gifts. During the holidays each year, it is pretty safe to give the gift of coffee. You could also give a fruit basket and a cheese basket to cover all the bases. There are many things you could give and it is easy to go crazy. Fortunately, coffee lasts longer than cheese or steak, so keep this in mind if your intended recipient is out of town a lot and/or doesn’t eat at home that much. Now that I think of it, Valentine’s Day is a great holiday to give chocolate and coffee gifts. Women love chocolate so what better accompaniment is there than coffee? Need I say more?

Who makes a good coffee espresso machine? There are many specialty manufacturers and the price can go into the thousands of dollars. Even the mainstream coffee machine manufacturers have offerings that are reasonable. Krups, Bosch, Capresso and others make great coffee machines. What are the features to look for? If we are talking fully automatic, it should have an integrated burr grinder, high-capacity bean hopper, high-wattage heater, high-pressure pump and automated cleaning cycles. It should also have an integrated frother for lattes. If we are looking at the semi-automatic models, then look for high-quality components, large boilers, stainless steel components, high-quality portafilters, etc. The manual models are my favorite for many reasons. I like simplicity and quality. Choose a model with stainless steel or chrome plated parts for maximum durability and minimal interaction with the coffee and water. I simply do not like any plastic components coming in contact with very hot water and/or the coffee. Plastic parts should be avoided if you are an avid espresso coffee fan.

If you are an avid coffee consumer and only the very best will do, then do yourself a favor and get the best coffee espresso machine that you can afford. The investment will be well worth it as you’ll enjoy the very best espresso coffee for years to come.