Are you prepared for electric outages?  How about a candle as a part of the emergency kit in the car if  you live in cold climes?   All you need is an old cotton (100%) T-shirt, olive oil, malleable wire and a short canning jar and lid!  Oh yes, and a lighter!  HaHa!

Cut an 18 inch long and 1 inch wide strip of T-shirt material.  Start twisting in the middle of the strip until in curls upon itself. (Put loop on top and hold intersection in place with thumb and index finger)  Twist bottom part of strip till tight and cross over the top and hold with other hand.  Continue doing this until you run out of material.  You should end up with about an 8 inch cord!  It should look like the picture above.

Cut a long piece of wire and twist around the looped end of the cord several times.  (Not too tightly because you will need to move the cord upwards as it burns!)  Keep some extra to lift the cord out of the container.  Coil remaining wire to raise the cord up and to stabilize in the container. ( I would ring the bottom of the container with wire to stabilize.)

Put apparatus in the container and pour oil to the rim of the bottom rung of the lid rings and expose about 1/2 inch of the cord on top.  Wait a while until the oil saturates the cord.

Light with a lighter.  It may take a while to burn the oil off first.  Eventually, you'll need to "trim the wick" by moving the cord up and cutting off the burnt parts.  Folks, I had it burning for 5 hours and didn't notice any perceivable difference in the length of the wick burned or the oil level!  Although I used grapeseed oil, olive oil is less viscous, and you want the oil to be almost as thin as water.  The thinner, the easier the cotton will absorb the oil.

 Once you had enough light, blow it out and screw on the lid.  Easy storage and no spills!  By the way, if you knock over the container, all you will have is a oily mess.  The cotton is the only burning part! 

Use your own creativity in what type of container you would like to use.  Here are some examples!  Feel great that you can make your own oil candles and be prepared for emergencies!  A Hui Hou! ( Until we meet again!)

When the word, "Niagara Falls" is said, pictures of honeymooners come to mind.  Although way past the "honeymooner" stage, my husband and I visited this magnificent spectacle in September.  America's oldest State Park, established in 1885, it consists of three major falls.  The American Falls, (between Prospect point and Luna Island), Bridal Veil Falls, (between Luna Island and Goat Island), and the Canadian Falls or Horseshoe Falls, (between Goat Island and Table Rock.)

Here is the American Falls! 

Here is the Bridal Falls, known also as the Luna Falls since Luna Island separates it from the American Falls!

And here is the Canadian Falls, also known as the Horseshoe Falls!

20% of the world's fresh water comes from the 4 upper great lakes; Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Erie. All of them eventually empties into the Niagara River which then cascades over the falls.  Niagara Falls is the second largest falls in the world with Victoria Falls in southern Africa being the largest.  Niagara River generates 25% of all power in New York and Ontario.  50% to 75% of water flowing along the Niagara River is diverted from going over the falls to hydroelectric power generating stations.

The American Falls offers an Observation Tower which extends outward like a pointed finger for great picture taking, views and vertigo sensations! ( I experienced all!)  A speedy elevator transports you to the bottom of the falls and is the boarding area to catch the "Maid of the Mist" boat ride.  Notice the smurf raincoats which protect you from getting totally drenched!

The boat takes you VERY CLOSE to the Horseshoe Falls and the thunderous sound and power of the water is awe inspiring!  Oh yes, and VERY WET!  All areas NOT protected by rain gear was saturated!  I kept laughing as I thought that it was so fun!  I'm surprised I didn't drown as an open mouth is bound to be filled with water at this point!

While you are down there, there is another fun attraction to go to!  A trail of steps lead you to the "Crow's Nest" observation point with a "Bird's eye" view of the American Falls. Check the first picture from the bottom right side to the middle of the photograph.  Was I able to see anything?  NO!  Torrential spray and hurricane winds blasted me the WHOLE WAY!  As you can see, I had a lot of fun anyway!  Another possible drowning with open mouth averted!  HaHa!

On the far end of the American Falls, separated by Luna Island is the Bridal Veil Falls.  You need to go to Goat Island, get a pair of rubber sandals, catch another elevator ride down to the bottom of the falls, put on the canary raincoat and walk up slimy, mossy steps to the hurricane level of the "Cave of the Winds!"  The steps take such a beating from the falls that it has to be torn down and rebuilt every year!

Walking across the Rainbow Bridge into Canada, we took many awesome pictures of the falls and ourselves!  When walking back to America, the custom's agent asked if we brought back anything from Canada, and was flabbergasted when we said NO!  When he asked the question again, I said that we brought back lots of awesome pictures!  Spoiler alert!!  Free to walk into Canada, 50 cents to walk back to America!

With the last rays of the setting sun spurring us, our final stop took us to Terrapin Point on Goat Island.  The eastern edge of Horseshoe Falls has a wonderful lookout point and the mist rises high into the air!  Believe it or not, this point of Goat Island is in Canada! Check your maps if you don't believe me!  Interesting enough, there is a manmade  5 foot stony precipice just off the lookout, either to prevent suicides or as a last ditch area to rescue people from going over the falls.

So even though it's 33 years past my honeymoon, I was still able to experience the majesty of this unique area and am glad that one of my dreams came to fruition!  My hope is that your dreams can become a reality too!  Aloha! (Bye!)

Planning to throw your 2014 Calendar away soon?  DON'T DO IT!  Recycle your calendar into 12, one-of-a-kind envelopes!  You can take apart an envelope and make a sturdier template by tracing the outline on a thicker form! (cardboard, calendar cover, etc,)  Once the template is made, start by tracing the outline on the calendar date side!

The bigger the calendar, the better!  Then you can adjust what part of the picture you want for your envelope.  For smaller calendars, I adjusted the template diagonally!

Cut out what you have traced!

Fold at the indentation areas on all sides, reopening folds until all sides have been folded.

Before gluing and taping, make sure that when putting the three sides together, leaving the top flap open, that the picture is right side up!  I glue-stick the lower edge of the side flaps and then tape the side flaps and bottom together.

And here is your beautiful finished product!  Depending on the pattern, you may have to put address labels on it so that the postman can see who it's from and who it needs to go to!  I would put a decorative sticker on the backside to close, or you could gluestick it together.  I would put my trust in tape or a sticker!  

Here are some other examples that I made.  Enjoy, save trees and impress your friends, family and Billing personnel!