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Decking An Outdoor Playhouse To Look Like A Present Brings Holiday Cheer

Whether or not your outdoor playhouse was a gift for your little one this holiday season, it can still be decorated to resemble one. Most playhouses are shaped in a way that will make fashioning it to look like a present a simple and fun activity. Not only is gift-giving a hallmark of the holidays, it’s also one of the parts that children love the most about the season. Decorating the playhouse to look like a gift could also convey the message that it’s better to give when people see the large “package”.

To create the look, use some of these easy techniques and your family’s outdoor playhouse is sure to look like one of the best “presents” on the planet:

Use lights to resemble ribbon along the side and across the top of the outdoor playhouse. One way to do that is to select a contrasting color, for example, if the playhouse is blue, select white or bright red lights. You can keep it simple with a double strand of lights or you can make a more intricate design with the addition of a third strand.

Wrap the outside of the outdoor playhouse with exterior grade ribbon. This type of ribbon can be used for applications such as wreaths. Using floral wire or hobby wire, affix lengths of ribbon to the wire with hot glue or tape. Shape the ribbon into huge bows of 2 to 3 feet each. Then, place them atop the playhouse roof. Another option is the have the look culminating with the front door of the outdoor playhouse being finished with a bow.

If wrapping the whole playhouse seems daunting, just wrap the front door with a plastic coated wrapping paper and bow. This will make the door look as if you are entering a much anticipated gift.

An outdoor playhouse makes a marvelous platform for creating the look of a huge gift. Complete the look by placing empty, gift-wrapped boxes along the outside of the playhouse or use smaller ones to create a path leading up to the playhouse. The real gift will be the look on your child’s face when they see their outdoor playhouse decked for the holidays!

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Buy A Hamper For a Birthday Present

A hamper is a great gift at any time of year although many people might expect them to be associated with Christmas. They work well as birthday presents because there’s a wide variety of them available. You can pick a hamper to suit perfectly the person you’re giving it to.

Hampers are packed with nice treats that can be used as a birthday feast. This makes them ideal for celebrating a special birthday and allows the recipient to have a really lovely time opening the hamper and them enjoying all the contents.

A hamper is a wonderful gift to get too. They arrive in a large package which is always exciting to get. They are packed in either boxes or nice wicker hampers that can be kept long after the contents have been eaten! The hampers are lovely to get and keep as a reminder of the gift, and they’re always useful to have for storing things in, and they’re always very decorative.

Buying the right hamper means looking through the available options and picking one which will really suit the birthday person. Of course any hamper with alcohol in must be bought by someone over 18, and should only be given as a gift to someone who is old enough to drink!

With different types of hamper including chocolate ones, cold food ones including cheese and salmon, as well as tradition food hampers, there’s a wide choice that should be enough to please anyone! If you know the recipient has a sweet tooth then pick one that will have lots of sweets and chocolate in! If you know they love red wine, pick one with a bottle of red wine in! It’s simple really – you know what they like so you just match this with the variety of hampers and pick the right one!

Celebrate a birthday by buying them a hamper! It’s a great idea that is a wonderful present to get, something different, unusual and something you know they can really enjoy!

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Negotiate Better and Win More Easily Using Influence

Have you considered how to negotiate better and win more negotiations by using influence? Are you aware how influence impacts a negotiation? Influence is both an elemental and intrinsic component that affects the flow and outcome of every negotiation. You can negotiate better and easily win more negotiations by considering the following when you negotiate.

  • Impact of Trust on Influence:

The degree that one negotiator trusts what the other negotiator says makes her words more believable. One way to enhance trust is by being consistent with what you say, and how you say it (e.g. you can trust me (while having hands open and a smile on your face)). The more consistent you are with the synchronization of your words and nonverbal gestures, the more believable you’ll be and the greater will be your influence and impact on the negotiation.

  • Negotiator Personality Type:

Depending on the opposing negotiator’s personality type (i.e. Hard, Easy, Closed, Open) the amount of influence you propose to inject into the negotiation can be easily accepted, or roughly rebuked. Thus, when attempting to gauge the degree of influence you wish to cast, you have to consider the personality type that you’re negotiating against. As an example, if you’re negotiating with a negotiator that has a hard nose demeanor (i.e. I win, you lose), your persuasiveness via influence may be rebuffed because he’s mentally locked into his position. Contrast that with a negotiator that’s easy going. It may be easier to gain influence with the latter because she’s open to suggestions and not locked into a mindset that says the only way for her to win is for you to lose.

  • Consider Alternate Options of Opposing Negotiator:

Always consider the options the other negotiator might have if she’s not successful negotiating with you. There will lie sources of additional leverage per how influential you’ll be in the negotiation. As an example, if you know she’s short on time per reaching an agreement and she has no additional sources from which to acquire what she seeks from you, her lack of time and other resources grant you influence in the form of additional leverage. Don’t be heavy-handed when you have such an advantage because the tables may be turned someday when the two of you negotiate again. You wouldn’t want her to take advantage of you given she had such an advantage.

  • Negotiator’s Perspective of Value:

To accurately assess how impactful your influence may be, you must understand what is of value and to what degree it impacts aspects of the negotiation. Some offers will be perceived as having more value. To the degree you have the power to acquiesce and not be impaired, you have more influence during such times. Without understanding value perspective, you lose your gauge per when you have an advantage to be more influential. Without such insight, you could erroneously employ strategies that are ineffective in your attempts to gain influence.

As you assess the degree you’re influencing the opposing negotiator, remember influence travels on a two-way street. While you’re attempting to be influential, the opposing negotiator is attempting to influence you. Understand to what degree she’s casting her influence and the effect it has per the concessions you make. Also, recognize to the degree that one negotiator has more influence over the other at different points in the negotiation, that negotiator has more of an advantage at that time in the negotiation… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!

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