The holiday had its beginnings three years earlier when local observances took place throughout the country to honor the dead of the Civil War. General Garfield presided over the first national celebration at Arlington National Cemetery, in which the graves of over 20,000 Confederate and Union soldiers were decorated by over 5,000 participants. More communities and cities began to recognize Memorial Day, towards the end of the 19th century and by the time World War I was over, it had become a nationally observed occasion for the dead of all wars.

Today, around 5,000 people attend the celebrations at Arlington National Cemetery every May, in which the graves of each dead soldier is decorated with a small American flag. In addition, a wreath is placed at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier by the Vice President.

The last Monday in May was declared to be a national holiday by Congress, in 1971. Although, the dead from all wars are remembered, a separate day for honoring the Confederate war dead is observed by several of the southern states; Texas celebrates on January 19, Mississippi, Georgia, Alabama and Florida on April 26, May 10 in South Carolina and Tennessee and Louisiana remember their Confederate dead on June 3rd.

In 1907 Anna Jarvis, a woman from Philadelphia, started a campaign to establish what would be a national Mother’s Day. Jarvis asked her mother’s church in Grafton to celebrate the day on the second anniversary of her own mother’s death. This would be the second Sunday of May. This day was, by the next year, celebrated also in Philadelphia.

Anna Jarvis and her supporters started writing to businessmen, politicians and ministers for the establishment of a national Mother’s Day. By 1910, the governor of West Virginia stated that the second Sunday in May was Mother’s Day, and every state would celebrate it. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson officially announced that Mother’s Day would be a national holiday. From then on it was made official, and has been celebrated not only in the United States, but all over the world as well.

Mothers Day eventually became so commercialized that many, including its founder, Anna Jarvis, considered it a “Hallmark holiday“, purpose of the holiday is to sell Hallmark-style products.  In the United States, Mother’s Day remains one of the biggest days for sales of flowers, greeting cards, and other mementos.  It is also the one of the biggest holidays for long-distance calls.  Moreover, churchgoing is also popular, yielding the highest church attendance after Christmas Eve and Easter.

Over the years, carnations have been used to celebrate Mother’s Day.  Commonly, white ones are for remembrance of  deceased mothers  and colored creations, arranged in a spring-styled bouquet.

The recipe is similar to Braised Fish Filets with Tomato Sauce. It is excellent when served over pasta. Add a side salad and you have a home cooked meal that seems special but requires little time to prepare.

Simply drop scallops in flour and brown quickly on each side using high heat.

When the scallops are browned, remove them from the pan and add some garlic and onions along with a bit of white wine. Finally add a can of tomatoes. If you prefer, take my approach and add pre-made tomato sauce. Even sauce from a jar would probably work, but adding canned crushed tomatoes is probably just as easy. Once the sauce is hot, turn the heat down a bit and return the scallops to the pan until they are just done.  Be careful you do not overcook them. Garnish using fresh basil if available. Otherwise, choose a scallion or parsley for garnish. Spoon the scallops along with some sauce over the pasta in a bowl for a classy meal that can be prepared in practically no time.

So for this year,  I will be looking for a meal that is quick to prepare yet offers a memorable dinner.

Choosing the covers for the windows in a living room is not always easy. The style of furniture and even the color of flooring will take its toll on how best to deal with the windows. Window blinds and shades are very nice choices and each has plenty of unique qualities to offer of their own. Both are fairly durable depending on what variation is purchased. Materials and color and design all are choices that will need to be made. There are wood, faux wood, fabric and even PVC that these wonderful items are made of.

Choosing blinds can be the right choice. If wood grain is not the style desired then one would move into fabric or PVC options. Both of these are sturdy and can last a long time. The PVC is colored before the slats are made so their color does not fade. It also is nice to put up blinds because they block out a lot of sunlight making it cooler in the house during the summer months. There are hundreds of colors like denim, lime, burgundy, black and of course several shades of white to match any decor.

Fabric blinds are nice too. The variations of patterns for these are too high to number. They can be made in standard horizontal window blinds and shades or in the vertical design. Both are lovely additions to any room and can be great for keeping the heating and cooling bill down to a decent level. Each slat is placed at just the right angle so that it closes completely either in the up or down positions. They also can be turned to either black out a room or to filter the light coming in. With this comes a lower energy bill which helps out in a couple of ways, not just in beauty.

Vertical blinds began their entry into the material world a few decades ago. They became very popular almost over night. Not only do they have their own uniqueness about them but they are also harder to damage if the window is left open during a harsh wind. They are great insulators and can keep most of the furniture and floor damaging UV rays out of the house during times of the day the sun hits that side of the house. Bamboo, wood, PVC, fabric and even faux wood are the materials to choose from. They are an elegant addition to the home regardless of what they are made with. The angle of the louvers means they gather less dust than horizontal kinds. Plus, some of them are motorized so there are no strings attached. If having it all is the goal there are even some that are automatic and adjust with the time of day so the least amount of unwanted temperature is beaming into the home.

Shades also come in many varieties. Bamboo roller style, fabric, wood, Roman shades and more are available in this market. Shades come in sizes from about twenty four inches to up to a few feet long depending on the company that makes them. There are a lot of uses for roller style shades. Some people use them on their front porch so they can enjoy the evening air while the sun is going down. Others want to use them in their home to spruce up the place.

Many styles and designs can be found. Shades can be made of honeycomb fabric or with natural materials instead. All of them can be found at a favorite department store or interior shop nearby. Import shops are another place that carry beautiful designer shades and blinds to bring new life to any home or dorm.

One thing that an individual can make different when it involves windows are the window shades. There are many different options that an individual has to choose from when it comes to window shades and they can come in different colors, different materials, and even different types of window coverings that an individual can choose from. One type of window shade that an individual can choose from is window valances which come in scarf like materials. There are many different options that an individual can choose from when it comes to window treatments as well. An individual can choose from window shades as well if they find some that match their interior decorating. All of these shades for windows can come in a variety of colors so an individual can find one that matches their interior design. If done perfectly it will only help to enhance a room.

Redecorating can be fun but a big deal at the same time. If one redecorates correctly the beauty of a room as well as a home can come out but if done incorrectly that particular room can look like a big mess. An individual will want to take their time and find the perfect pieces that will fit that rooms personality.

What You Need:

• Halloween tablecloth for each window
• Hook and loop fasteners – use circles or strips
• Felt pieces. Scraps are okay, in black, orange, white and yellow
• Scissors
• Regular curtain rod
• One stick of chalk

Instructions:

1. Take existing curtains and valances and curtain rod off window. Lay Halloween tablecloth on a table or other flat surface. Place curtain rod at top. Fold six to eight inches of the tablecloth over the curtain rod. With chalk, mark where the top edge of fold meets the tablecloth, then remove the rod.
2. To make two curtain panels, cut the tablecloth in half evenly. Lay each half on table. Fasten the hook parts of the Velcro or generic fasteners at the top of each half of tablecloth. Fasten tightly.
3. Using the chalk line as a guide, place the loop fasteners on each half of the tablecloth. When folded down, hook and loop fasteners should meet, making an even pocket for the curtain rod to slip through.
4. With the chalk, draw Halloween shapes on the felt pieces. Make candles, ghosts, black cats, pumpkins, or whatever you like. Make as many as you want to fasten to the curtains.
5. Cut the shapes out of the felt with scissors. To each shape, attach a hook fastener to the back. Take the loop fasteners and attach them to the Halloween curtains you made. Place them randomly to create an interesting pattern. Now take the felt shape with the hook fastened to it, and place on the loop fastener you have on the curtains. Rearrange or make more shapes as necessary, until you like the look of your new window treatments.
6. Slide the curtain rod through the pocket you made on top of each curtain panel. Hang the rod with the curtains back on the window. Take a long sturdy piece of felt to make tiebacks for each panel.

Other fun things to do:

Create a fake window in the basement or anywhere on a windowless wall by fastening the window treatments on the wall.

Use a plain white tablecloth or an old white sheet to cut into window treatments and decorate with shapes or felt markers. Using hook and loop fasteners will mean no sewing will be necessary. Let children help to draw pictures and images on the material. Make Halloween curtains for their bedroom or any window in the home.

When hanging your Halloween window creations, leave the regular window shades on the windows for privacy.

Use whatever material and supplies you have on hand. It is not necessary to spend money buying fabric. If something is torn or ragged, work it into the display to look more like Halloween decorations.
If you do not have enough material for curtains, make spooky valances for Halloween window treatments.

Decorating for Halloween does not have to be expensive. Many nice items can be found at the dollar store or department stores that sell holiday items.

This task is much like decorating for Christmas. If you have Halloween ornaments, the perfect display for them would be an orange “tree”. Halloween tree ornaments might not be as readily available as those for Christmas. However, by making ornaments from Play-Doh your family can have a variety of colors on your “tree”. Rolled cookies cut into shapes that have been a little over cooked are also an excellent decoration idea. Especially when decorating the cookies with glitter.

To set the Halloween mood for your party, you might consider placing a spooky or fall themed wreath on your door to welcome your guests.

Using a similar style of wreath as a table centerpiece will help to bring your theme altogether. So that your table does not get scratched, it is suggested that the wreath have a backing placed on it. Once it is on the table, placing a spooky statue in the middle of the wreath will complete the centerpiece.

If having a costume party, decorating with plastic window coverings that are covered with spooky pictures will defiantly help to set the mood. Not only will these window coverings be used for decorative purposes, they will also serve to block out any extra light which will make your party even scarier.

Many decoration ideas are available and are just a click away by searching for Halloween decorating ideas on the internet.

Have fun and be safe this Halloween!

At Christmas, there is many fun ways to decorate a kitchen window and bring some cheer into the room. Draping colored lights around it is always festive. A person can place them on the border of the window or taped in a design on the window itself.

A person can purchase special flashing light ornaments that stick on the window as well. Hanging a wreath from the curtain rail as a centerpiece for the middle of the window will look nice as well.

An economical window treatment idea for decorating is to use a snow spray to create Christmas shapes on the inside of the window. They truly add Christmas cheer. A person could also hang snowflake ornaments from the curtain rod at different heights.

At Halloween, a person could place some owls, pumpkins, or ghost decals in the window. Children can be involved making paper or felt cut outs of Halloween objects. These can be hung from the curtain rod as well.

Festive orange lights can be hung around the kitchen window or chunky orange candles can be sat on the sill. It is wise not to light them, just use them for decorative appeal.

Nothing says Halloween like a carved pumpkin. With a wide enough window, anyone can place one in the window with a small tea candle inside. To be even safer, a person could use one of those battery powered lights that flicker just as candles do. This will allow the pumpkin to glow and be seen from the outside.

Another good window treatment decorating idea for Halloween is to put a small branch across the window with a felt cut silhouette of a witch sitting on it. Adding some other felt decal owls or moon would enhance the effect further.

Only the imagination can limit the window treatments that can be made. They do not need to be just for a holiday. They can be seasonal or made to celebrate a special occasion. It is always nice to change the room’s decor without spending a lot of time or money. Window treatments are the easiest and fastest way to accomplish this.

Level of Difficulty:
Easy

Directions And the Items Required:

* Construction Paper
* Glue
* Suction Cups
* Scissors

1. Cut the construction paper using scissors in shapes of bats, pumpkins, or skeletons, for example. The shapes are easy to draw or outline. Each of the shapes can be embellished with designs or decorations. Cut out eyes and other facial features of different colored construction paper and simply glue them onto the shapes.

2. Simply glue on the suction cups to make funny faces. They can be used as eyes on any of the shapes. They can also be used to attach the shapes to the windows.

3. Remember to attach the shapes and the decorations in a way so that they can be viewed from the exterior. In other words, the right side of the design should be facing the outdoors.

Below are some great websites to help you complete designs and make the decorations from scratch, as well as providing the consumer with all the materials they need for the various crafts.

* Halloween Invitationsallfamily.com for great invitations

* Pumpkin Decorationswww.potterybarnkids.com and enjoy up to 20% in savings

* Kids Halloween CraftsPebble.com for Halloween crafts for kids

* Kidswww.eBay.com/Halloween for great Halloween costumes made available to consumers through eBay.

Tips on Making Halloween Decorations

One great tips to make fabulous decorations without any errors is to use cookie cutters as stencils. These can help people who are not artistically gifted, and especially recommended for young children, so that they can get involved in the project.