Macho groom’s cake ideas are very current and trendy right now. Most are served up in real life at people’s weddings and were meant to be a source of humor and good fun.

 
The groom’s cake was always meant to be the wry answer to the frilly and often very feminine classic wedding cake. Nowadays you see a Groom’s cake at its most humorous extreme. On specialty cake websites you see cakes modeled after all kinds of different things including a dirty rubber boot, mugs of beers, roadkill (an armadillo run over by a truck, a set of barbells, a moose head and a giant electric guitar!

 

Groom cakes are tongue in cheek and can be related to any guy theme. You could have a cake in the shape of a cigar, like a fire engine or like a stripper. In fact if there is one kind of groom cake that most men enjoy it is one that is shaped like a sexy lady!

 

They say that beer and chocolate don’t go well together except when you are making a Guiness Cake. What is a Guiness cake? That is when you combine that dark frothy beer known as Guinness along with chocolate cake batter. The result is one of the hottest desserts to hit the web and the women’s magazines lately.

 
The great thing about Chocolate Guinness cake, which is also sometimes known as beer cake, is that is so masculine in flavor. It is also a dark color, which makes it ideal to be the look for a groomsman’s cake. Usually it is topped with a light cream cheese icing that has elements of cream cheese. This kind of cake is definitely a food for a special occasion as the Guinness beer in it give it a specific zingy taste that men love.

 

There are many different types of recipes for this cake online. You can find one on Oprah’s website and there is also a really great version of it at Everybody Likes Sandwiches. This is a great cake to decorate with booze filled chocolate candies as well!

 
It is also just more common in general to see cakes decorated with brown, grey or cream colored icings that are just more macho in look and style. Many of the more male cakes are very boozy with the flavors. Cakes made with hard liquors like Jack Daniels Bourbon Whiskey whereas cakes made with liquors such as grand marnier or Kahlua are more female in flair!

Feng Shui, the Chinese art of object placement in order to bring good energy into a home, is all the rage lately. If you are planning to go back to school and ace some exams or studying anything else you might want to follow these interesting tips.

 

Feng Shui, if you will recall is the ancient Chinese Art of object placement that was invented to invite clarity, good energy and great good fortune into your life. You don’t even have to fully understand the tips in this article but understand they will help bring good energy while decorating a study.

 

First of all make sure that your study area has many metal objects. In this ancient Chinese science metal brings the qualities of precision, clarity and efficiency in your work area.

 

You could hang metal wind chimes over your desk. Tubular bells are nice and add a charming decorative touch especially if hung near a window where they can make a little noise in the wind. Chimes are supposed to help bad energy and problems that could distract you from your focus on studying.

 

Decorating your office with metal sculpture or working on a metal desk or with metal implements of some kind can really help you focus and achieve a lightness and clarity of mind. You could have a brushed metal clock, pencil holder other decorative object there. A metal desk is best if your aim in life is to achieve a higher education.

 

Putting pictures of mentors or great thinkers that you admire in metal frames in your office can also help you aspire to bigger and better things.

 

Decorate your office in gray and white in hue as these are the colors that are symbolized by the Metal Element in Feng Shui. Your second best choice for colors are blue and black which symbolize Water but also aid in the accomplishment of concentration and mental clarity. Your fourth best choice would be purple as purple is a color that does symbolize wisdom but on the other hand it sometimes also symbolizes hedonism and such activities as surfing the internet. You don’t want to be surfing the internet instead of studying.

 

Locate your study area in the Northwest room or corner of your home which is the Learning sector in Feng Shui science. If this is not possible then you can try locating it to the West or Northwest sectors which are second best choices for areas of study.

 

Hematite is a stone that is used to help you focus and concentrate. Several pieces placed around your office can help ground your energy. The shining surface of this stone is a great study aid that can help you repel distractions so it is nice to have some chunks of that around.

Decorating to match your mood has been a mainstay part of floral arrangement for centuries. The idea is to use color and fragrance to create unique bouquets and color arrangements that can help convey a “feeling.”

 
For instance if you want to convey an air of serenity then it is best to stay away from big bright bouquests and instead decorate with large single buds like orchids, calla lilies or a big iris. Just one of these buds in a vase can look very majestic and add a peaceful quality to a room.

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If the feeling you want is more cozy and friendly try for a look that is more friendly in nature Little pots of wildflowers such as heather and buttercups also add to the Victorian look. Miniature roses wrapped with shiny ribbon is also very Victorian especially if they are placed in a white or pink ceramic tub. Yet another Victorian touch is to use fake furry bees to hold up plant stems or decorating with small ceramic animals.

 
If you want a cheerful but relaxed mood then arrange white daisies with bright red tulips and throw in a few dark blue or purple asters to add even more joy and eye appeal to the mix. For a really big cheerful look you might enjoy a cluster of giant sunflowers.

 
For a soft romantic atmosphere try making a bouquet out of big bunches of peonies or large nodding rose heads. The idea is that the blossoms look as if they are crushed together. It is also okay to have a few of these flower petals on the table in front of th vase. Crystal and light colored vases are the most romantic.

 
If you are in the mood for love then mix blood red roses with birds of paradise and calla lilies in the bedroom. These are all fragrant. They are very sexual flowers because they resemble human anatomy. Another very sexual flower is the orchid.

 
If you want to feel alert in a room is your thing then you will enjoy a big pot of peppery Chrysanthemums, a cluster of spicy smelling generaniums or a gorgeous bunch of freesias.

 
If you want a more new age, natural look try putting flowers together with herbs like rosemary or basil and fill your big pots with pussywillow fronds and tall exotic grasses. The great thing about this herbal bouquet is that it is very useful and you can cook with it too.

Not sure how to dress up your windows? Here are some creative window covering ideas that can help transform a window into a fantastic designer showpiece.

 

To make a living room window look more formal try adding layers. Start with sheer casement curtains that hang from the top part of the window. Over that overlay a thicker heavier drape in a heavier fabric such as velvet or damask that hang from a high valance. A nice touch is to have the thicker heavier drape lined with a fabric that compliments your sheers. From here on in you can add a dramatic piece of cloth that twists around the valance or a fabric covered swag. Other nice touches are thick corded tiebacks with heavy tassels.

 

To make a bathroom look clean and crisp consider installing vertical or horizontal blinds. Most of them are made of materials such as polyvinyl that make them very easy to clean. Polyvinyl is also able to withstand the high humidity levels that are found in a typical bathroom. The reason that blinds can work so well in a bathroom is that you can buy them so that they open only at the top instead of the bottom. This allows you to keep the top of the window open while obscuring the view inside.

 

For an unusual, dramatic look try installing Roman shades. Roman shades are made of flat slats that are covered with your choice of fabric. This means you can match your shades exactly to the fabrics on pillows, furniture or bedding. These beautiful shades can also be augmented by swags that drape down to soften the look of them.

 

Not all windows need a real curtain, especially if you live in the country and the window is high enough. However a window without a curtain can sometimes look a bit naked. In this case you might just consider decorating it with a colorful swag or simply draping a vivid fringed scarf that is folded in half over a curtain rod to perk up the look of it a bit.

 

If you have a complicated looking window, like an arch or a casement that needs covering then you can always dispense with the idea of shades, blinds or curtains altogether and consider affixing laminate translucent paper to the window instead. This not only strengthens the window in case it breaks but it also allows a nice white soft light inside the room while still maintaining your privacy.

If you want to completely change the look of your home then consider buying an arched doorway kit. These kits add a decorative curve over any entrance in your home. You don’t have to cut into the wall or anything invasive. Arched doorways are elegant, affordable and easy to install for most people because they are more tacked onto the door and covered with drywall. There is not a lot of altering of your home to do.

 

Until these archway kits appeared in our lives you would have found yourself paying a contractor to install this type of decorative touch in your home. The great thing is that enhancing the doorways like this really does make it appear like you have spent thousands on renovations when you really have not done anything of the kind. The really amazing thing is that you can get these arch kits for about thirty bucks and also install it in about half an hour. What a great way to add an architechtural touch that adds value to your home.

 

These arches have been associated with all kinds of classic architechture in the past including Spanish and Roman styles. You also seem them identified with more Gothic styles of décor.

 

Doorway arches have been associated churches and museums for many years. When you replace your square door frames with arched doorways you also get an architectural effect that is more Spanish or Graeco-Roman in effect. They are also associated with medieval buildings so if you are into a more Gothic style of décor you will love the look that doorway arches give your home.

 

There are several different styles of archways. The ones that arc up in a half circle are called “half rounds” and give a Spanish flair to a doorway, Elliptical shaped archway kits have a gentle raidius in the center with a tighter radius in the corners and are reminiscent of the Edwardian style of design. Eyebrow arches are square and sharper in appearance and have a more contemporary post-modern feel.’

 

If you like you can buy pre-fabricated doorway arches but these arch kits are the way to go if you really want to do things cheaply. Prefabricated doorway arches can cost anywhere from $60 to $500 depending on how decorative they are in style. The other thing to remember is to keep it simple! The simpler the arch the easier it will be to install by yourself!