A Glow In The Dark Throw Blanket - A Magical Gift for All Ages

I recently purchased a Glow in the Dark Blanket as a gift, and I couldn't be happier with the recipient's reaction. This enchanting blanket exceeded my expectations.

Why I Love Giving Glow In The Dark Throw Blankets as a Gift:

Glows Perfectly: The standout feature of this blanket (which I purchased from the Amazon Canada site) is its mesmerizing glow-in-the-dark design. Adorned with stars and uplifting words like Grateful, Harmony, Happy, Peace, Comfort, Relaxing, Hope, and Love, this blanket transforms into a radiant masterpiece when exposed to light. Turning off the lights reveals a soft, calming glow, creating a magical atmosphere that delights the recipient.

Note: I have yet to find the brand I purchased from Amazon Canada on the Amazon USA site, however, here's another one that is quite similar, and also features inspirational sayings.

Perfect for All Ages: 

It offers a sense of security and comfort for individuals of all ages. Children and seniors will especially love falling asleep wrapped up in the plush, furry fabric. The little bit of glow light on the blanket is handy as well. The blanket is ideal for any age group since the inspirational sayings apply to everyone.

Cozy and Practical: 

Crafted from velvety microfiber fleece, this throw blanket epitomizes coziness. It doesn't wrinkle, fade, or shed, making it perfect for lounging on the bed, couch, or even out on the porch. Whether looking for warmth during chilly nights or a comforting presence during daytime naps, this blanket delivers on all fronts.

Versatile Gift for Every Occasion: 

A Glow in the Dark Blanket is the perfect gift for any occasion. Whether it's a Birthday, Christmas, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine's Day, or just a random act of kindness, this blanket is a thoughtful and unique present. 

The Ultimate Valentine's Day Surprise: 

With the added touch of being gift-wrapped, this blanket is the perfect Valentine's Day surprise. Its luminous and comforting features make it an ideal expression of love and warmth for family and friends throughout the year. 

In conclusion, a Glow-in-the-Dark Blanket is not just a gift; it's an experience that brings joy, comfort, and a touch of magic to anyone lucky enough to receive it. Whether you're searching for a unique present for kids, seniors, or someone looking for something different, this blanket will leave a lasting impression. 

Valentine Gift Idea: The Glow-in-the-Dark Throw and this Fun Valentine Word Scramble Activity Book

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Review of National Pizza Day

February 9 is National Pizza Day.

A Brief History of Pizza

The word “Pizza” is from the old Italian word meaning “A Point”. This popular dish began in Italy, but pizza's original American home is New York City. 

Fun Facts About Pizza

Pizza is an American standard. The most popular pizza toppings are pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms, with Pepperoni Pizza topping the list of favorites. 

A poll showed that people eat pizza on the average of three times a  month.  The most often times are Friday nights and Movie nights. 

The days most popular for ordering pizza are:

• Super Bowl Sunday
• Halloween
• Thanksgiving Eve
• New Year's Eve and New Year's Day

Pizza Days

Other days throughout the year celebrate various kinds of pizzas.

• February 9 – National Pizza Day
• May 17 – National Pizza Party Day
• September 5 – National Cheese Pizza Day ('Hold the Toppings')
• September 20 – National Pepperoni Pizza Day
• November 12 – National Pizza with the works, except anchovies Day

AND - October is known as National Pizza MONTH

Pizza Places

The top rated pizza fast-food places find Domino's Pizza in first place, followed in order by Pizza Hut, Papa Johns and Little Caesars. 

Many pizza fans insist that their regional type is the best. Whether it's thin or thick crust, deep dish, kinds of cheeses, or sauce, or toppings, certain regions insist it is the only way to eat pizza! These include Buffalo, California, Chicago, Detroit, Greek, New York and St. Louis styles. For a complete list of these regional favorites, check out the Wikipedia article here on Pizza in the United States.

More About Pizza

Many of the writers on Review This Reviews have written reviews about pizza recipes, and the products and supplies, such as pizza pans, which aid in creating your favorite pizza.  Click HERE for a list of reviews related to PIZZA. 

Summary

So, enjoy your favorite pizza on National Pizza Day this February 9th, or on any of the other Pizza Days throughout the year. Actually, probably no one needs a special day to eat pizza; any day will do! 

Happy Pizza Day! 

*Review of National Pizza Day is written by Wednesday Elf

+All images in this review are from Pixabay

365 by Whole Foods Market, Pizza Rising Crust Uncured Pepperoni, 17.8 Ounce

365 By Whole Foods Market, Frozen, Pizza Cheese 2 Pack, 25 Ounce

365 by Whole Foods Market, Pizza Supreme, 14.5 Ounce

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Reviewing my 2023 Photography Journey

 

I consider every year to be part of my photography journey, where I learn some new techniques, enjoy new photographic opportunities, and hopefully increase my knowledge and skills.  2023 was no exception.  During the past year, I got out of my comfort zone and photographed four big events, I attended a photoshop summit where I learned a lot of new techniques and I even went back and reedited some old photos using what I have learned in the past 17 years since I started this journey.  The photo above is one of my past photos taken in 2010 and reedited this year.

Education

I always try to take a class each year either in person or online.  There are so many available, along with many You- tube instructional videos.  This year I listened to many free videos I found online and this fall I attended a Photoshop Summit online that had five days full of speakers all instructing us on various aspects of Photoshop.  They were very interesting and informative.  One of the subjects I found most interesting was about the new "generative fill" feature in Photoshop.  By just circling an area in a photo, you can remove an item or add something new.  Here is an example of a Halloween photo where I used this feature.  The first photo is my original photo.

In the next photo you will see that I first used generative fill to remove the mailbox and then added several additional items to the photo.  See if you can find all the additions.

I also used what I learned in the seminars to redo some older photos.  In this one the original photo had lots of people on the sidewalk leading to the lighthouse.  I used generative fill to remove them.

Special Events

Sometimes I find I learn more when I take myself out of my comfort zone.  This year I was asked to photograph four major events.  Two of them were weddings of family members and two were events at church.

Both of the weddings were casual.  The first was held completely outdoors at my brother's home and the second was held at a small historic chapel with the reception being an outdoor event.  I was a little apprehensive at first, but the casual settings helped to put me at ease.  I carried two different cameras each with a different type of lens and settings and I was pretty pleased with the results.  Here is a photo from each of the weddings.

The church events included the ordination of our newest pastor and a 20 year celebration of our senior pastor.  For these occasions I sat in the balcony and was able to photograph the ceremonies from above.  I used my camera that is a Sony mirrorless one that does great with lower light and inside photos without using a flash.  Here are two photos from those events.

 

Group Support

I find photography groups to be a great way to meet people with similar interests and share ideas.  I belong to two different groups; one Create 52 is an online Facebook group and the second is an in-person photography club in our town.  

    Create 52

This online group challenges us to be creative in both our photography and in our post processing.  We are given a topic each week and then we create a photograph to match the topic.  An example of this is during the week before Christmas our topic was Christmas card.  For this topic, I took a photo of our Christmas tree and then took it into Photoshop.  In Photoshop, I added an artist filter and placed it on a textured background.  I then added lettering and finally used generative fill to add stars around the lettering.  Here is my result.

    O'Fallon Photo Club

Our in-person photography club meets once a month.  In this group we share ideas with other photographers, and we also bring photo files to get constructive criticism.  We share ideas for places to go for photography and we take a few field trips each year.  At the end of each meeting, we are given a topic for the month, and we post photos of that topic in the clubs Facebook page.  This fall several of the club members met at our local botanical gardens on an evening photographer's night, where we were able to bring in our tripods and capture some low light photography. There was a Chihuly exhibit going on at the gardens so there were lots of great opportunities for nighttime photography.  Here are a couple of photos I took.

Mentoring

I volunteer with a group called Willows Way that provides support for challenged adults.  This group has a photography club and I serve as one of the mentors for the group.  Each month we take several of the participants and their aids to a different locale to photograph.  We have gone to local parks, museums, and farmers markets.  I love to work with these wonderful people and find I get as much from them as I give.  It is a wonderful opportunity.  This summer we went to a farmers market that also had a sunflower field.  We talked about unique ways to capture the sunflowers.  Here are two of my photos.

As I close, I Wish You and Yours a Very Happy New Year.  May your year be filled with joy and peace and lots of new things to learn.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos this past year.

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Celebrate Halloweens Links To Nature Reviewed.

 

 

Happy Halloween!! Wishing everyone a fun and happy time! Halloween can be a fun celebration for those who participate.

On the very cusp of saying goodbye to summer and hello to winter time it is an important time in the calendar. 

Today we find many ways to celebrate this season and the Halloween festival. We decorate our homes with orange and black, spiders and ghosts and ghouls, or a display of gorgeous squashes outside the front door.  We might go trick or treating with young children dressed in amazing inventive fancy dress or go to parties dressed in Halloween costumes. 

Some of us buy decorations for our homes, others craft their own and some even become family traditions. Even if you don't decorate or do anything yourself it can be fun driving or walking around the neighbourhood looking at all the inventive decoration. It is a festival that everyone can be involved in if they wish.

  

Nature Relating to Halloween, Festival Of Samhain

With all this going on I was reflecting on the origins of Halloween and how it relates and links to nature. Halloween has a strong connection to nature through its ancient origins and the season of this celebration. 

Halloween developed from the ancient Celtic pagan festival of Samhain pronounced sow win. This festival has deep roots in nature and marks the point of transition between summer and winter or from the new life, growth, light and warmth of the summer time to the lower light levels , slowing down of plants and leaf loss, darkness and colder days throughout the winter months. So this festival marked the change of seasons as seen in nature and the constant rhythm of life and death.

During Samhain, and as the nights drew in and became much colder, people would naturally gather around warm bonfires. These fires symbolised the warmth and light of the sun and of course provided physical warmth so crucial in the cold nights. In addition they were a spiritual beacon, with the belief that they were guiding the spirits of the departed back to the Otherworld. 

People believed at this time of year that the barriers between this world and the other world were broken down and that meant the living could interact with the other world more easily. 

To disguise themselves they dressed as monsters and various animals so that the fairies would ignore them and thus avoid being kidnapped to the other world.

The costumes worn by people during Samhain often included elements of nature such as leaves, animal skins, or masks made from a range of already harvested crops from the fields. In this history, we can see the origins of where our current costumes enjoyed at Halloween may have originated. 

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Gathering Crops And The Pumpkin

The close connection between the time of Halloween and the harvest season reflects the importance of nature and its crucial link to our lives.

This time of year is traditionally associated with the gathering of crops in from the fields. This is undertaken in order to have food to sustain us and stave off hunger during the long cold winter time, with a good crop ensuring our wellbeing in the worst harsh winter months. 

It is also important to prepare our homes and gardens for the cold sometimes harsh winter months and for us to adjust from the long easier summer days and warmth to the often harsher, colder and darker winter.

 Pumpkins are a prominent symbol of Halloween frequently used as decoration inside and outside our homes, with talented artistic carvings, fun lighted carvings and sometimes competitions. In addition delicious Pumpkin recipes abound at this time of year.

Pumpkins and squashes represent the bountiful harvest and the abundance provided by nature. I love to see the pumpkins and squashes growing in the fields and they are satisfying and wonderful to eat. Originally turnips were used filled with coal for displays but this later switched to pumpkins.

 I really enjoy seeing all the amazing carvings and abundant displays in homes and gardens at this time of year. It certainly brightens up the often dull, low light afternoons and evenings.

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Overall, Halloween's origins in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and its association with the changing seasons and harvest demonstrate its innate connection to nature and the natural rhythms of life. 

This is just a brief look at the ancient festival and its relation to nature and how we celebrate today. There is certainly much more to its fascinating history, but here is just a glimpse of how it relates to nature.  

 So enjoy and celebrate Halloween and this change of the seasons and spare a thought for our ancestors with their beliefs and connections to the natural world. 

Here are amazing and fascinating articles about Halloween from recipes to decor and more written by the talented contributors on Review This Reviews 

Halloween Articles By Contributors On Review This Reviews

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2023 Halloween Riddles: Unveiling the Spooktacular Update!

Hey there, Halloween enthusiasts! Are you ready for some spooky, fun, and brain-teasing riddles that'll have you scratching your head in delight? 🕷️

Updated in 2023: Halloween Riddles - The Original Book with a Fresh, Spooky and Fun Interior

This is the very Halloween Riddle Book you're familiar with! But, I've given it a thrilling makeover – now, every page features spooky black and white background art inspired by Halloween. This means that as you tackle each riddle, you'll also get to enjoy the cool visuals!"🎃📖🖌️

As a reminder, this book is Volume 5 of 7 of my personally written riddle book series.

Here is a Sample of the New Interior Look for Halloween Riddles:

The New Interior Look for Halloween Riddles - Available via StumpedRiddles or Amazon

Here's Another Page to Preview! Each Chapter Features a Different Photo Background:

New Look Interior for Halloween Riddles - Available Via StumpedRiddles or Amazon

Were you able to solve the riddles featured above?

🎮 This isn't just a book; it's a game, an adventure, your own personal Halloween-themed mind exercise book. 

📜 Here's What You Get with Halloween Riddles:

🎃 Only original, uniquely crafted riddles – no cobwebs here! 

📚 Eight spine-chilling chapter topics to sink your teeth into. 

📷 Riddles served in photo format for an eerie visual twist – no boring text for you! 

🕸️ Use these riddles for games, as teacher aids, party starters, creepy stocking stuffers, or your personal challenge if you're up for it. 

🧟 All riddles follow the thrilling "What Am I" format. 

👪 Family-friendly and fang-tastically fun! 

🔑 Answers are neatly tucked away at the back of the book.

🕯️ Why should you pick up this book? Well, here's the lowdown: These riddles are one-of-a-kind, each designed to make you smile and scratch your head simultaneously.

They're easy to read; you won't need a cauldron full of magic to understand them. This book is the perfect addition to your Halloween celebrations and family gatherings. 

Imagine the laughter and friendly competition around the table as you try to outsmart your friends and family with these bewitching brain teasers!

🎃 So, what are you waiting for? Grab your copy of Halloween Riddles and prepare for a spine-tingling, brain-teasing adventure that'll delightfully leave you howling! 🦇🌙

Halloween Riddles, Available on Amazon - Also in eBook Format

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Wear a Barbie Apron Over Your Outfit!

The world first met Barbie in 1959 and here we are, sixty-four years later, having been reintroduced to her in a big way. I reckon only those who are totally oblivious to the movie world could have missed Barbie this year. She had her very own movie which was the highest grossing film in Warner Brothers’ 100-year history. Such success in the year 2023 brings fans a lot of merchandise choices with which to declare our love of the iconic fashion doll and of the movie. 

Join us today as we review a couple of fun Barbie aprons. Every fan of Barbie needs an apron on in the kitchen to protect the outfit she wears! I also think a Barbie apron would make the basis of a great Barbie costume for Halloween because over the years Barbie has, of course, spent a lot of time in the kitchen. She has had multiple kitchens in varying styles and she has been both a chef and a waitress. In the 1960s there was even a Barbie Learns to Cook doll, which has since been reproduced. (Look for both the vintage and reproduction Barbie Learns to Cook dolls and accessories here on eBay.) 

Anyway, in celebration of Barbie and her movie, here are a couple of my favorite Barbie-themed aprons from Etsy. Aprons, that is for the individual who wants to wear a Barbie-themed apron as opposed to someone who is looking for an apron for a Barbie doll! (Yes, they made those, too.) You could use any of these aprons to recreate the Barbie apron outfit that you saw on Margot Robbie in the movie.

CURSIVE LETTER B APRON

This first apron features the characteristic big pink cursive letter B that represents Barbie. It is a poly twill apron that is lightweight, stylish and durable and will have you looking great in the kitchen and in the backyard. Find it in Inspire Studio Me's store here on Etsy. 

BARBIE-Q GRILLING APRON

Next up is another fun apron, this one for the backyard. It features Barbie’s iconic pigtailed profile with Barbie wearing her chef’s hat. I love the image and the gingham fabric, too! Find it in Abigail Road Design's store here on Etsy. 

PINK GINGHAM APRON

Finally, I share this simple pink gingham apron, which reminds me of the pink gingham apron dress that Margot Robbie wore in the movie. It is a one-sided polyester print, definitely reminiscent of the movie. Find it in Retro and Whimsical's store here on Etsy.

Are you a Barbie fan? Will you be strapping on a Barbie apron?

See you
in the kitchen!
Brenda
Treasures By Brenda

MORE BARBIE & APRONS

Aprons for Cooking and Entertaining, A Resource Page

My Barbie Doll Memories

Cooking for the Holidays? Tie on a Christmas Apron!

Barbie is in my eBay store. See what's in store here!

The Andy Warhol Barbie Doll

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Dessert Reviews for National Dessert Day

National Dessert Day is celebrated each year on October 14th in the middle of National Dessert Month (October).  October is known as the month of sweets (think Halloween Candy!), so having a dessert month & day fits right in.

The contributors to Review This Reviews have written many reviews of various types of desserts, any one of which would be a tasty treat for after dinner, an after school snack or a bedtime snack. Whether you are partial to cakes, cupcakes, pies, cookies, or ice cream ~ or perhaps a taste of chocolate candy ~ you will find reviews of many special desserts and dessert days (some with recipes) as you read down the page.

Let Them Eat Cake!

The well-known French saying Let Them Eat Cake! can be taken to heart on many cake ~ and cupcake ~ days throughout the year.  The exact dates we love to celebrate particular kinds of cakes/cupcakes can be found in this fun review: Cakes and Cupcakes Special Days 

A recipe for very tasty Carrot Cake Cupcakes can be found here.

If regular cakes are not your 'thing', how about a tasty cheesecake recipe? 

Pies Galore!

If you prefer pie, there are many Pie Days to celebrate throughout the year, one of which may be your favorite.  Mine is chocolate, which does not appear to have it's own special day ~ but should! :) The list of many special pie days can be found in this review of National Pie Day celebrated on January 23rd. 

Another Pie review is for National Cherry Pie Day celebrated around President's Day each February. 

Or a favorite of mine, a Key-Lime Pie recipe.

Cookie Monster!

If 'cookies' are your thing, you are in exactly the right month, as October is National Cookie Month! 

If Brownies are your favorite type of cookie, here's a delicious recipe for celebrating National Brownie Day on December 8th. 

Chocoholics Rejoice!

If you love chocolate, you are in for a treat with this list of Chocolate Days in July!

Fruits for Dessert

If fruits are your preferred dessert of choice, check out Pineapple Day on June 27th.

There's also Watermelon Day on August 3rd. 

And Banana Day on April 20th

Plus, the ever popular Chocolate Covered Fruit recipes.

Keto-Friendly Desserts

And last, but certainly not least, before you despair because your dietary restrictions won't allow you celebrate National Dessert Day, here is a list of Keto-Friendly dessert recipes. 

Dessert Day Summary

One of my favorite online blogs is the website Dinner, Then Dessert, where you will find a whole bunch of yummy dessert recipes. Read the review of Dinner, Then Dessert here. 

Remember, calories don't count on Dessert Day, so indulge with your favorite choice.

A Delicious Dessert Cookbook
Found on Amazon

Happy Dessert Day!

October 14

*National Dessert Day review is written by Wednesday Elf

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN) and/or Esty (Awin) Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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