BKC Solutions Corner

If you have special occasion coming up like an anniversary or birthday that requires giving a gift it is the ideal time to consider a wine gift basket. Baskets can provide elegant gifts for wine lovers and can include additional products besides wine. They can also include such gourmet treats as cheese, chocolates, fruit, nuts and wine accessories like corkscrews and bottle openers, drip stoppers, foil cutters or whatever else you decide to add to the basket. You can buy them already assembled or you can make your own for a very special gift-giving touch. All you need to know is the style of wine the receiver enjoys, or you can create a surprise basket.

Where To Buy Prepared Baskets

If you’d rather buy a wine gift basket pre-packaged, stop into your local liquor store to see if they have a selection available. Liquor stores will often sell wine gift baskets, especially at holiday times. You’ll be able to choose the wine you’d like to include in the basket and then add additional products.

Shop Online

The internet is the first place to search for customizable gift baskets. Begin by selecting one or more bottles of wine of your choice, then start adding complementary products from the wide range available. Similar products that could be included are smoked salmon and caviar, cheese crackers or other savory bites, small dairy cheeses, cheese platters and knives, nuts, whole grain mustards or regional honeys … the sky’s the limit when it comes to adding to them.

The online retailer will then arrange delivery the basket directly to the gift recipient. This is an easy option if you are searching for a corporate gift or as a thank-you to a staff member.

Create Your Own Gift Baskets

Making your own wine gift basket gives allows you to add that extra personal touch. Start with an attractive basket. A simple and inexpensive basket will do the job because you can then decorate it with fabric or colored paper. Buy your wine of choice or choose champagne for a special celebration, add some additional products depending on the preferences of the gift recipient. For example, it’s not necessary to limit your gift basket to wine or wine accessories. You could include handicrafts for someone interested in arts and crafts, or a book about wine for a wine lover who is also interested in the history or the making of wine. Select some gourmet delights to accompany the wine, pack everything into the decorated basket and wrap it all up in clear cellophane.

Personally deliver the gift basket to the recipient if you are able to so that you can share their joy when they receive it. If you’re very lucky they may share the bottle of wine with you.

You can still assemble a stunning gift basket for a non-wine drinker. For a coffee lover you could try a themed gift basket that might include coffee mugs, single origin coffee beans from different coffee-growing areas, gourmet cookies, toffees and nuts. A tea lover would probably enjoy a range of teas from different regions, together with a teapot and strainer and a fine china teacup. A coffee or tea gift basket could actually be packed onto a decorated tray rather that a basket. Again, wrap the whole package in pretty paper and add a ribbon.

There is no limit to what you can incorporate into your gift basket.

Here you have a dozen play-time ‘recipes’ to help keep your children entertained during the school holidays. Learn how to make homemade goop, papier mâché, cinnamon ornaments, soap crayons and much more. When the kids say, “I’m bored!”, print this article and stick it on your fridge – it will be one of your best weapons against the ‘boredom’ gremlins!

Washable window paints
A selection of tempera paints (powdered or premixed)
Clear dishwashing liquid
Mix powdered paints with dishwashing liquid until they resemble house paint. Line the window sashes with masking tape and spread newspaper under the window area to protect flooring. To erase paint or touch up mistakes just wipe paint away with a dry paper towel.

Home-made coloring books

Go online and download a dozen or so coloring book pages and collate them into a coloring book. Put this aside for rainy days or for long car/train/plane journeys. Little boys love images of cars and trucks while little girls prefer coloring book pictures of fairytales and princesses. At sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find many Pokemon coloring sheets

Cinnamon ornaments
3/4-1 cup applesauce
1 (4.12-oz.) bottle of ground cinnamon
Mix the applesauce with cinnamon to create a stiff dough. Roll out to 5mm thickness. Cut out a shape with the cookie cutter and make a hole for the ribbon using the end of a drinking straw. Carefully put aside to dry for several days – turning occasionally. This recipe makes 12 sweet smelling ornaments/drawer scenters.

Goop

2 packets of cornflour
2 cups of water
Several drops of food colouring

Place newspaper or plastic sheets on your work surface. Mix the ingredients in a large bowl. Children love goop’s squishy consistency. You can also use coloured or black paper to make goop paintings if you wish. To remove goop from carpets, allow it to dry, then brush vigorously or vacuum. The great thing about goop is that it may be re-used after it has dried out. Crumble it into a powder then restore it to its original consistency by adding water a tablespoonful at a time.

Funny putty
2 tablespoons of white glue
1 tablespoon of liquid starch
Food colouring
Mix glue and desired food colour. Pour starch over top. Swish so that all the glue is covered. Let set 5 minutes. Squeeze off extra starch and knead until mixed.

Bubbles
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon of sugar
1 teaspoon of glycerine
2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
Mix water, glycerine and soap. Pour in sugar. Add food colouring if desired.

Papier mâché

1 cup flour
1 cup warm water
1/2 inch strips of newspaper
Balloon/s

In a large bowl, mix flour and water – add more flour is mixture is too sloppy (dripping). Place newspaper strips into mixture, then smooth onto blown up balloon. Cover the balloon completely twice, letting it dry in between layers. Do not cover the balloon’s knot. Dry in a warm place for 2-3 days then hold the knot and pop the balloon with a pin. Paint, glitter and decorate the balloon as is or cut in half so you have a bowl/hat shape to embellish.

Modelling/play dough
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
water
food colouring

Mix the ingredients and knead to a dough consistency. To speed up the drying process, place the dough artwork in the oven on a low heat.

Soap crayons

1 3/4 cups of soap flakes

50 drops food colouring
1/4 cup water

Mix water and soap flakes together. Add food colouring and put mixture into an ice cube tray. When hardened, pop the ‘ice cubes’ out. These soap crayons are fun to write with on the tub and tiles during bath time. If grouting stains, spray with a weak solution of bleach.

Sand dye

Fine sand

Water

Food colouring

Paper cups

Plastic spoons

Fill paper cups half full with sand. Next, add water to cups to completely cover sand. Add food colouring until you get the desired colour. Stir with plastic spoon and let set for 15 minutes. Pour off water, spoon sand onto paper towels and spread the sand out to dry. Use sand to make pictures (spread glue on paper and sprinkle sand on top) or to fill pretty bottles in layers.

Cornstarch Art/Finger-paint

3 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/4 cup cold water

2 drops of dishwashing liquid

1 cup boiling water

Food colouring

Combine cornstarch and cold water – stir until smooth. Add dishwashing liquid. Pour boiling water into the bowl and stir until the mixture thickens. Add food colouring and let cool. Use this exactly as you would use store-bought finger paint.

Puffy Paint

Flour

Salt

Water

Tempera paint

Mix equal parts of flour, salt and water in a bowl. Add a small amount of tempera paint to the mixture and pour into a small plastic squeezy bottle. Repeat this over and over to make as many colours as you wish. Squeeze onto heavy paper or cardboard to make designs. Mixture will harden into puffy shapes.

Colourful Salt

1/2 cup salt

5 to 6 drops of food colouring

Add food colouring to salt. Stir well. Cook in the microwave for around 1-2 minutes or spread on waxed paper and let the salt air dry. Store in an airtight container and use as you would glitter.

There are many ways of trading in the futures commodity markets. One way is to trade commodity options. There are many strategies you can use in trading futures options. You can just buy an option or just sell an option. You can also put on what is called a spread using options. Spread options are when you buy and/or sell more than one option at a time in the same order.

You can buy 2 options or sell 2 options or you can buy one option and sell another option. The options you buy have to be in a different strike price to be considered a spread. If you just purchased two of the same options, that would not be a spread. The 2 options would have to be 2 different future option contracts. Let’s look at corn. These are not current prices but just an example. If I purchased 2 $3.00 corn options, that would not be a spread. If I purchased one $3.00 corn option and sold one $3.10 corn option, that would be a spread. I would put this trade on in one order.

Not all spreads have to be in the same contract month or even the same market. When putting on a spread in different months, you could put in an order to buy one option in one month and sell another option in another month at a certain price. These are called calendar spreads as they involve different months.

Now when putting on a spread, you will either have money coming into your account or going out. If your purchased options cost more than the sold options, you would state that you are putting it on for a debit. If you are taking in more with the sold options than you are paying with the purchased options, you are putting the spread on for a credit. I will discuss other types of options strategy using spreads in another article.

These are a few easy tips for building a storage shed and remember, you need no special skills to build one of these sheds.  But you will need good-quality storage shed plans or there is a good chance you will end up wasting much time and money and have a ramshackle building as well.

 

Consider, firstly, where you want to build your storage shed.  For instance, you will need good access for any large equipment such as a tractor that will be kept in the shed.  The size of the storage shed is very important, and it is better to err on the generous side – you will invariably find some big items that need to go in the shed, and that you had previously overlooked when you bought your storage shed plans!

 

Secondly, make a list of the larger items to be kept in the shed, and allocate a space for them. For example,will there be enough space for that tractor?  will there be places to store all your tools tidily?  Will you need to store items like paint out of sunlight?  If you think that a small 6 x 6 ft storage shed will be enough, go for the next size up.  You will be glad later.

 

Your storage shed plans will give you many combinations of shape, size and construction.  Apex, pent or Dutch style roof?  Wooden, metal or plastic construction?  It is really easy to adapt your storage shed to be exactly the way you want, and our recommended source
of storage shed plans will include complete lists of materials and tools required for assembly.

 

You could decide to construct your storage shed from metal or plastic, but wood is the preferred option for most sheds because it is a renewable resource, it is easy to use and it blends in well on any site.  It should be treated with chemical preserving agents or, even better, be pressure-treated during final production.

 

Your final decision is the type of foundation or base you require.  Many storage shed plans call for a wooden floor, made from exterior-grade ply or tongue-and-groove planks, and this will be satisfactory for light traffic.  They are not strong enough for storing heavy items, oil products or corrosive liquids.  A concrete base is much better.  It needs to be at least 4 inches deep and 2 or 3 inches wider than the shed external dimensions.  This will cost a bit more (perhaps $200 more than the wooden alternative, depending on the size) but will last the life of the shed, be immensely hard-wearing and be maintenance-free.

 

From our experience we have selected [a great~an excellent] source for all information and guidance on how to build a storage shed from the ground up, and we invite you to visit Build Things Direct to find out more.

If visiting a vineyard and going on a winery tour is something that sounds like fun to you, there are a few steps that you will need to take before you go. First and foremost you should be aware that there are thousands of different wineries in different wine regions worldwide, and many of them are open to visitors. Of the many different wine regions that you can select from for your winery tour, here are a few choices that you may find of interest.

Find Out What Your Wine Options Are

The first step, if you want to go on a winery tour~take a winery tour~tour a winery~take a tour of a winery, is for you to find out what your options are. Sure, the Napa Valley offers many winery tours that are very popular because it is such a well known region, but there are many other California winery tours that you may also be interested in. Within a short drive of Napa Valley you’ll also find Sonoma, Russian River and Petaluma. All of these wine areas have vineyards that are open to the public and many offer winery tours. The Benziger Family Winery at Glen Ellen, not far from the Sonoma Valley, offers an outstanding tour of their biodynamic vineyard and winery.

It is also worthwhile seeing if there are any wineries in your local area, or, if you are traveling, you can check to see which wineries are located in that specific area. When traveling in Europe it should be noted that many Italian and French vineyards and wineries are not generally open to the public but if you call in advance they may be very happy to welcome you.

It is important that you find a winery that allows visitors and that offers the types of wines that you enjoy or that you are interested in learning more about.

Do Your Winery Research

Next you will need to do your research on any winery tour that you may be considering. You will, for instance, need to find out which days of the week and at what times the winery tours are offered, so you can choose the one that is convenient for you.

For many winery tours you can simply find out what time they are conducted and then just show up, but for other winery tours you may need to call in advance and book a spot on the vineyard tour. It is usually worthwhile calling in advance to make sure that you can get on to your chosen tour without having to wait too long.

Most people will enjoy going on a winery tour. Even if you are not an enthusiastic wine lover, you may still enjoy learning about wine growing, the long history of wine, and about the different types of wine available and what makes each style unique and sets one apart from another.