The better side of Orkut

The better side of Orkut

Networking sites has been in news for all the wrong reasons. It is strange why these news makers don’t see what so many millions of people see and understand. I am a big fan of networking sites, particularly Orkut.

It has only made me happier, found long lost friends, got jobs and a chance to re-discover myself. But of course the golden rule of Orkut, ‘Discover more than you disclose’ should always be followed.


The kind of benefits I have mentioned above, many people must have experienced, however apart from it there are some other lesser known advantages too. Like the following;

1. Attain the Celebrity status, by making your own videos and uploading them in orkut. Let the world see your entertaining skills. Who knows, soon you too will grow popular like the movie actors.
2. Write testimonials for your friends and hone your writing skills.
3. Check out the albums of frequent travelers and see the beautiful places around the world without spending for it.
4. Regularly read scraps by people good with the English language to improve your vocabulary and verbal communication.

I’m not sure if this post belongs to the hobbies category, but to think of it I know so many people who knowingly or unknowingly have made orkut as their favorite hobby. So I guess Orkut should come under the Hobbies section.:)

How to put to good use embroidery items

Some months back I had got a silver thread spool for embroidering. When I saw it in the shop I liked it, but when I tried using them they were kind of stiff and not moving like ordinary thread does. And it was there lying almost unused all this time.

I was thinking of ways to use them as they looked great, just then my eyes went to on some unused beads and golden lace. Now I will tell you how I used these three to give a new look to my plain footwear.

I took the silver string, tied a knot, put the white tiny bead into the string again tied a knot. Repeated this procedure till, I got the required length. Next, I glued this string and bead combination, on the middle strap of the scandal. For those with more time in hand can cover the top and bottom strap similarly with the string. Cover the center vertical bit with the golden lace.

With a little creativity you can give a designer look to any of your accessories or outfits with items left unused in your embroidery kit.

Final touch...!

Free greeting cards

Make your own greetings cards with Microsoft Powerpoint.

I have discovered a very easy and fun way of preparing greeting cards with the help of Powerpoint. All you need is creativity, colour and placement sense. To start with open a New slide and select a blank layout. Think of an occasion on which you would like to create the card eg Birthdays, festival etc. On the bottom there is a horizontal tool bar from which you can pick a specific shape and begin. I will now demonstrate how I prepared this card.

METHOD

First choose the rectangle shape and cover the white area with an attractive colour. Double click on it and you will have the colouring option open. Select a suitable colour, here I have settled on a combination.

I got the heart shape background for V-Day card from Clipart in Powerpoint. I have used some images; can use your own pics too, to add that personal touch. You can insert some texts and add them vertically, horizontally or just slant them.

Once it’s ready, do a CTRL+A and paste it on a New page of Paint, save it using the .jpg extension.

It’s that simple. A quick and easy way to test your creativity and to add personal touch to your cards

Cooking Craft

Progress of women in today’s fast world is limited not only to her career but has also extended to her handling kitchen issues more efficiently. Her cooking task may have shifted to the domestic help however the supervision still remains her responsibility.

I remember once my senior at my previous office, was telling us how she used her brilliant presence of mind to save from sending the over cooked vegetables to garbage. She made her maid to fry some onions, tomatoes, Pav bhaji masala powder, coriander leaves and added the vegetables into it; and served it with Pau (Bread).

To save food without compromising on the taste is an art by itself. All it takes is some creative --- out of box thinking. I have found some ways to save food from getting wasted and am sure there will be many more such tricks that needs to be explored.
If there are excess vegetables with gravy of the previous day, one can keep only the vegetable and throw the gravy. Mix these vegetables with Maggi noodles and it would taste good too. Fry some onions till they are golden brown. Add maggi noodles, taste maker and water. Let it boil then add the leftover vegetables and a pinch of salt.

If you are wondering why to throw away the gravy and not add them as well, it’s because sometimes spices used to prepare the gravy may not go well with the ready made noodles taste-maker.