When it comes to traditional garnishes cocktails, the maraschino cherry is just as famous as the olive. The maraschino cherry is made from marac or Queen Ann cherries that have had the color leached out of them. The two most readily available are, of course, the red almond-flavored ones and also green, which are sometimes mint-flavored.

However in the old days, pickled Queen Ann cherries, both the white and red kind were dropped at the bottom of Old Fashioned and Manhattan cocktails to give them a bit of kick. There is a trend to using sour and fresh Bing cherries in the swanky bars in New York. You can easily make your own “specialty” cherry by simply soaking your favorite type of cherry in some kind of brandy.

The most traditional and simple of garnishes is the orange, lemon or lime twist. This is a wedge of citrus fruit that is simply squished and then dropped in the drink.

A variation of this is the squeeze, in which a lemon or a lime is squeezed gently and then also speared with other fruit such as pineapple on a pick to use as a garnish for the drink. This is a standard garnish for drinks such as the Daiquiri, the gin and tonic or the Cuba Libre.

The green olive stuffed with red pimento is the stand-by garnish for a martini however nowadays you can find stuffed olives and black olives sitting on the rim of the drink. A very traditional garnish for a martini, which is enjoying a comeback, is the black olive that is stuffed with blue cheese and dropped to the bottom of the glass.

Skewering different fruits or condiments on a cocktail spear is only one way to garnish a drink. Another method is called frosting. This is where the rim of the glass is wetted and then dipped into crystalline or powdered substance of some kind. The traditional frostings are salt, sugar and powdered sour mix. However as cocktails have evolved both in terms of their presentation and their taste, new and unusual frostings for the rims of glasses have evolved such as cocoa, Jell-O powder and flaked coconut.

One of the easiest ways to fill a room with light and make sure a space is larger with mirrors. Reflective surfaces will help bounce light around a room, so they’re great for making spaces seem brighter and more full of light. Because they reflect light and color, mirrors are also a great way to make smaller rooms seem larger. So make your home brilliant and bright by adding some reflective surfaces.

You can think of mirrors as art. Try to hang them like you would paintings. For large walls, hang several matching mirrors side by side. Or opt for several different sizes and shapes-a collection of different vintage mirrors hung from ribbons can look quite nifty clustered together on a wall.

If you can’t find mirrors in the shape or size that you want, you can also make your own by framing pieces of mirrored glass. Most framing stores can make these for you quite easily.

Don’t forget that mirrors aren’t just for walls; mirrored furniture can be very chic, and very practical, because it works with so many different decorating styles. Try a mirrored bedside table, chest of drawers or coffee table. You can also apply a mirror to the top of a coffee table using mirrored tiles.

To pick up on the reflective look of your mirrored furniture , add shine with other reflective accessories, like mirrored trays and candlestick holders. If you do use tiled mirrors make sure that they are glued securely to the surface, especially in humid rooms like steamy bathrooms.

Remember, mirrors double the effect of whatever they are opposite-hang them opposite a window to double the view and the light in the room. If you have a colorful accent wall, you can hang a mirror on the opposite wall and the accent will be complimentary and reflect the color combination in a decorative way again.

Remember too that mirrors come in different tints and colors. Rows of pink mirrors give a rich yet girly look to a room. Rows of green mirrors have a post-modern or forties retro feel to them. Rows of gold tinted mirrors make you look wealthy. Perhaps the most flattering color of mirror is pink as it makes the skin look younger! Photography experts say reflected light from a pink mirror can help you look rosy and erase wrinkles. Perhaps that is why pink mirrors are perfect for the bedroom.

If your wedding has a floral motif there is absolutely no reason that you shouldn’t have those flowers decorating your wedding cake as well. According to Buckhead Wedding Cakes a bride can have the flowers in her bouquet replicated in butter icing or fondant on her wedding cake too.

Many pastry chefs nowadays specialize in making quite realistic (and tasty) looking flowers out of sugar candy. These flower decorations are usually hand made and more expensive then flowers squished out of a tube but they are worth it because they are so elegant looking. A good pastry chef can replicate almost any type of blossom including orchids, roses and calla lilies.

You can decorate a cake with all kinds of edible flowers. Here is a look at what is edible
* Artichoke (flower bud)
* Broccoli (flower buds)
* Cauliflower (flower buds)
* Chamomile (for tea)
* Chives (flowers or buds)
* Chrysanthemum (flower)
* Citrus blossoms (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit)
* Clover
* Daisies (Bellis perennis quills)
* Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale leaves, roots, flowers, petals, buds)
* Daylilies (Hemerocallis buds, flowers, petals)
* Elderflower (blossoms for drink)
* Hibiscus
* Honeysuckle
* Jasmine (for tea)
* Lilac (salads)
* Moringa oleifera
* Nasturtium (blossoms and seeds)
* Osmanthus fragrans (flower)
* Pansies (Viola x Wittrockiana flowers, petals)
* Pot Marigolds (Calendula officinalis petals with white heel removed)
* Roses (Rosa petals with white heel removed, rose hips)
* Sesbania grandiflora (flower)
* Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus buds, petals, seeds)
* Violet (‘leaf and flowers in salads, candied flowers for pastry decoration’)
* Zucchini blossoms (blossoms)
Decorating your cake with edible flowers is a popular contemporary trend. However there is also a not so popular trend to place inedible flowers around a cake as a decoration or a garnish. For instance pink lilies, which are not edible could flatter a pink and gold themed cake. However some people could have reactions to the pollen in them.

Recently the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) had to put out a warning about the flower Ranunculus. Ranunculus blossoms are so beautiful that they look like sheaves of tightly wrapped tissue paper. They have tightly wrapped buds that come in beautiful weathered shades of pink that you think would make them a perfect choice for a flower centerpiece or even as a topper for a wedding cake. However as good as they look they are poisonous. They should not be placed anywhere near food or even on a food table!

Hand tied table bouquets are the funkiest and most creative ways to display flowers at a wedding. There are lots of creative ideas for this type of centerpiece. They were first seen decorating tables at weddings. The fact that they are hand tied together already is a big plus because it means that party guests can bring them home with them after the celebration is over. They simply lift the flowers , pre-bundled at the stems, out of the vase.

In fact a popular centerpiece that can bring you good luck is a hand tied bouquet of sunflowers. You can hand tie them with a yellow satin ribbon or a nice purple and beige winding of hemp. These are flowers that symbolize the sun and also prosperity. They are also large and sturdy enough that your guests can take them home with them. Sunflowers are also great because they last a long time. They can be used for any type of celebration as well –including birthdays.

If you want the most elegant of white wedding table centerpieces consider a mix of cream and snow colored roses, lilies and hydrangeas punctuated with a cooling touch of green ivy. In the winter these flowers also look good with sprigs of evergreen and white berries like mistletoe.

You also can’t go wrong with little sweetheart roses. These are great at a baby shower or wedding shower. You can have bundles of flowers that are pink or blue in color depending on the sex of the baby. If you do not know the sex of the baby, bundle yellow sweetheart roses with a bright yellow or white ribbon.

The hippest hand tied bouquet still has to be the green bouquet, which consists of green callas, green tinged roses and carnations and hydraganeas. The idea here is that everything is that supernatural but very fresh looking combination of ivory and green.

If your wedding is a spring pine then don’t underestimate the seasonal value as well as beauty of a bouquets of hand tied tulips on your reception tables. Double tulips nowadays are so luscious they practically look like peonies!

For a fall and winter celebration bundle together groups of mums. These are very sturdy flowers that also last a long time. They also come in just about every color imaginable including blue and burgundy.

The key is to use your imagination and tie the flowers creatively with ribbons in a way that truly compliments the shape of the flower and also it’s color. Another nice touch is to make sure the flowers are presented in glass vases.

If you want to enhance the energy in your space then consider decorating with chunks of semi-precious rocks.

Here is the meaning of several popular stones used to create good vibes –

Yellow Topaz: This clear yellow gem is the ‘problem-solving stone’. This stone is also good for those who feel ‘numbed by disappointment’. It allows codependents to release drunken or abusive partners. It can also help obsessive people learn to let go. It helps you recognize your patterns and see the ‘big picture’ in life.

Rose Quartz: This light pink crystal heals the heart and promotes a sense of self-appreciation, and self-love. It also helps you open your heart’s center so that you can give love, unconditionally without any expectation of a reward in return. It improves your mood and enhances feelings of joy. It is also supposed to heal the skin.

Amethyst: This beautiful purple stone that helps you let go of past hurts and relationships. It will help you access the truth that will set you free. This stone can help free you of obsessions and addictions.

Aquamarine: You can only get this stone in smaller chunks. It is a powerful activator of positive energies. It also activates memories of past lives we have had so that we do not make the same mistakes twice.

Agate: This rock comes in all different colors. It strengthens your insight and promotes fidelity.

Carnelian: You can only get smaller carnelians but they dispel laziness, rage, jealousy, envy and fear

Garnet: You won’t be able to get a large chunk of garnet but even the smallest stone can help create an atmosphere of love, devotion and commitment. It is especially recommended for those who are trying to get over a break up.

Hematite: This shiny black rock negative energy to the positive. It is also used to attract love. \

Jade: This forest green stone symbolizes fidelity, devotion, lucid dreaming, intuition and psychic ability. You can also get statues made out of jade.

Mica: A big chunk of shiny and flaky mica in your place is said to enhance your natural beauty. It makes your hair gleam and your eyes sparkle.

Quartz: A chunk of clear quartz balances your energy field and restores harmony and peace to a home.

Smoky Quartz: The energies of this stone dissolve negative energies and resentments and also enhance your self-esteem.

All you need to do is place the rock in a prominent place in your stone. Make sure that the space around it is free of clutter.

If you want to create a web site for your business your primary goal should be to attract as many targeted prospects to it as possible. Once you have attracted people to your site your next mission is to keep them and a great way to do that is to actually decorate the site. Visitors who leave your site after just a few clicks aren’t buyers. You need to keep them on your pages and you need to entice them to buy.

One way to persuade them to stick with you is to write content. The graphics are supporting elements that add visual interest as well as support your main advertising message. If you have the right graphics you can even use them to help make the navigation of your site easier.

Usually the best graphics are those created by professional illustrators. However not everyone can afford to hire a professional. If you are in this position then you might want to consider finding some free graphics.

There are many sites online that offer website graphics without charging any type of fee at all. All you have to do is to download the images and then incorporate them in your site.

Here is a list of the graphics that most webmasters have on their s web sites -
Backgrounds. These create the overall theme of your site and can be light, dark or decorative depending on your preference. The brighter the colors are the more likely they are to attract attention.

Bullets and Buttons. These tiny graphics enhance your navigation in and can also help organize the presentation of your content. These can be miniscule but amusing.

Bars and Borders. These are the decorative graphics vertically or horizontally decorate your site. You can use one to frame anything…information, a picture or a graphic!

Clip Art. These are illustrations graphics related to your content that you can incorporate in your page to help readers better understand your message better and to enhance your site’s overall look.

If you do download graphics there might be some terms and conditions to do with their use. Very often the owner of the copyright on the graphic allows you to have it for free as long as you give credit to the owner or provide a link back to their website. So, go ahead and find free web site graphics to add visual appeal to your page!

Sportser choppers are characterized by their sleek long length and lighter frame. They are a slim, light and speedy motorcycle. Some are so ethereal looking that they resemble souped up bicycles. However these are not just pretty bikes even though many of them do end up in exhibits. Many of them are lean, mean speeding machines. In a way you could say this type of motorbike is the perfect combination of sports and art.

Chopper enthusiasts say that sportser motorcycles are the easiest bikes to transform into a full blown new style chopper. This is simply because all you need to do to customize it is extend the front forks to get that distinctive low-riding chopper look. Two of the easiest sportser motorcycles to transform into choppers are the Harley 883e or the 1200S Sport.

The used chopper parts business is so big that you can find practically anything you want on the auction or aftermarket sites nowadays. Another bike that is considered to be a near antique but apparently transforms very easily into a very classy and mod looking light weight chopper is the American made Buell Blast. This is the bike that many professional bike customization experts use as a template upon which to create a more elaborate bike.

However, apparently the Harley Davidson Sportier is the first choice of custom chopper builders when it comes to creating a unique and powerful looking work of art that can also be used in racing competitions. It is traditional, edgy and glamorous all at the same time. Experienced motorcyclists often comment on how the Harley Davidson sportser looks like a chopper should look and makes the loud purring and putting sounds that one associates with a well-made and efficient machine.

Many chopper riders refer to bikes that have not been customized with aftermarket parts and accessories as “billet barges.” A bike bought off the show room floor might be sleek and attractive but it is just not distinctive. A great chopper is stripped, deconstructed and then cluttered with bolt-on chrome parts. Superfluous parts are often removed to give the bike a streamlined look.

Sportsers can also be easily modified into choppers by replacing factory supplied parts with older or cloned parts, outfitting it with wider or white wall wheels and blowing out its chassis so that it makes a fine canvas for airbrush paintings.

The beautiful thing about choppers is that you rarely see two that are exactly alike. Pardon the pun but when it comes to customizing your motorcycle, the sportser chopper is the perfect vehicle for self-expression.

Soft window coverings include any type of window covering treatment that is soft enough to twist, drape or tie back. These types of window treatments can be made out of almost any type of material as long as it is fluid and can be arranged in a decorative fashion from a curtain rod or swag.

Curtains and drapes are available in all kinds of different fabrics including tapestries, damasks, velvets, sheers, cottons, silks, satins, chenille, linen, polyester, polyvinyl, chiffons – you name it you can either buy or make a soft curtain from it.

The considerations when choosing these types of window coverings are mainly 1) what room is it going in 2) how much coverage does the window need to protect from sunlight and prying eyes and 3) will it go with the décor.

Window shades can also qualify as being one of the soft window coverings especially if they are made out of fabric and not a rigid paper or vinyl based materials. However technically they are not because they cannot be tied or draped in the same way as curtains and drapes.

Valances also qualify as soft window coverings. These are long strips of material, usually two types or two colors, twined together that are wrapped around a curtain rod in an asymmetrical fashion in order to decorate a window.

You can also buy soft swags. Swags are like fabric crowns for your window treatment that sit above the curtain rods. The fabric type is usually used in more formal window treatments. You can also buy swags that are made of wrought iron and other decorative materials that don’t have any material at all to them. Other types of swags are made of wood that has been covered in fabric that matches the valance or drapery. Sometimes you can get a swag, valance and drapery as part of an elegant three-in-one package so that all three components of your formal curtain set match.

Yet another simple type of window covering is the woman’s large scarf. This type of window covering is classic and easy. You simply take a beautiful scarf, preferably one with a fringe and fold it in half so that it makes a triangular shape. You then simply hang this in an attractive manner from a curtain rod. Some people have also made window coverings by attaching several attractive scarves to “pinch style” curtain hooks. Keep in mind that this is a more casual window treatment and that if you are simply going to fold the scarf and throw it over the curtain rod that you should locate it in a window that does not have the kind of traffic that can be pulled down.

Wooden Venetian Blinds look best in the windows of houses that are also made of wood. They are also well suited to brick and stone homes. Stone homes look particularly quaint and European with stone shutters. They can also spruce up the look of a home that has aluminum siding, adding some class to its look as well as some value. The darker the color of wood on a venetian blind the richer and more expensive the effect usually is.

Wooden blinds add charm where the plastic or metal slatted kind can’t. There is simply an old fashioned charm to them that cannot be rivaled by the green or cream colored institutional type blinds. However those fifties type blinds do suit some office decors that are based on retro furniture and fabric designs from the middle of the last century.

Wooden venetian blinds are also the ideal compliment to decors that have a rustic, antique or prairie theme to them. They also suit some areas of a home that is Victorian, such as a closed porch, especially if they are painted a dark color.

Cottages are also very well suited for wooden venetian blinds. They help keep out the heat in the middle of the summer and they also smell nice if they do heat up in the sun. Another benefit is that they can be completely closed at night to prevent your family from being spied on by curious bears. Wooden venetian blinds are a nice choice for a vacation home because they go with everything and are easy to care for.

There are also some Asian style decors that also suit wooden venetian blinds especially if the blinds are very spare and square in shape. Vertical wooden blinds also suit Asian styles of décor. Dark red woods, and woods that are painted black or bright cherry red are good choices for a home that has a spare Chinese or Japanese flair.

Country wood blinds also make the ideal décor for a farmhouse or a country house especially if it is decorated in the traditional old-fashioned country or rustic design schemes, which can include elements such as floral or checkered fabrics, stuffed couches and tables and wooden coffee tables. It is a good idea to match the color of the wood in the venetian blinds to another design element in your home such as the floor or the furniture. Therefore if your floor is pine, try to buy wooden venetian blinds that are made of blinds as well.

Bonsai is a Japanese word that means “container planted.” It is the art of aesthetic miniaturization. Like Feng Shui, the art of Bonsai originated in China where it was called penjing. In Western culture, the word “bonsai” is used as an umbrella term to describe most forms of bonsai.

In Japan, bonsai began thousands of years ago when growing miniature azalea and maple trees was a pastime of the wealthy. The Japanese bonsai aesthetic is centered on the principle of “heaven and earth in one container.” A bonsai is also not a true work of art unless it has been trained to grown in a way that symbolizes the virtues of truth, essence and beauty. Furthermore Japanese bonsai must look natural and as if human hands have not touched it.

Plants that are traditionally used for bonsai include pine, maple, elm, flowering apricot, Japanese wisteria, juniper, flowering cherry, azalea and larch. The plants are grown outdoors and put on display during special occasions to evoke the spiritual blessings from the forces of nature that govern the current season.

There are many different styles of bonsai cultivation –

A miniaturized tree with a straight, upright tapering trunk and the body of the foliage is always located directly over the roots, characterizes the formal style.

Slanted bonsai features a trunk that emerges from the soil at an angle.
Cascade style bonsai are modeled after trees that grow over water or on the sides of mountains and cascade over the side of the pot.
Raft style bonsai imitates a natural phenomenon that occurs when a tree that has been toppled (typically due to erosion or another natural force) forms new trunks. The roots are exposed. These all give the illusion of a group of trees, but are actually the branches of a tree planted on its side.

The literati bonsai style is characterized by an emphasis on the bare trunk line, with branches reduced to a minimum, typically placed higher up on a long, contorted trunk.

The forest bonsai style comprises a number of trees (typically an odd number if you want to be truly Japanese) planted together in a pot. The trees are usually the same species, but a variety of heights are employed to add visual interest and to reflect the age differences encountered in mature forests.

Remember that to be truly Japanese, bonsai trees should be planted in odd numbers and you should also not be afraid of the beauty of bare branches.