Our new barbeque is a Weber Smokey Joe® which I bought about three weeks ago, but yesterday was the first time I had a chance to use it. This mini barbeque is great for us as we do a lot of camping and this one fits effortlessly in the back of the car.

Putting the barbeque together was easy and only took about 10 minutes, and then I filled it with coals and lit it, easy!

After about 20 minutes it was ready to cook on and although this is the smallest Weber barbeque it still has ample room to put enough food on for a family, and I have to admit that I do love a barbeque in the summer.

If you’re in the market for a small barbeque, then I would highly recommend the Weber Smokey Joe®, it has the iconic looks of the Weber brand and cooks better than any other barbeque I’ve ever owned.

One method that is available for T-shirt printing at home is stencilling, using special inks.  This can be fun, but it can also be very time consuming.

Another, less time consuming, method is screen printing.  This method requires screen printing fabric ink (ensure that your chosen ink is washable), a screen (which can be bought readymade, or can be made by stretching mesh over a cheap canvas stretcher frame and stapling it so that it is taut), a squeegee, plain paper, a craft knife, masking tape, and a basic cotton T-shirt.  This method offers a fairly good value for money as the equipment can be used again and again.

It is also possible to print T-shirts using transfers.  Special transfer paper for inkjet printers can be purchased from computer or craft shops.  The design can be printed on the paper, and then applied to the T-shirt using a heat press such as an iron.  This is an effective method for transferring images such as full colour photographs.  However, the transfer paper can be quite expensive, and eventually the transfer may wear out or crack.

I also ordered a set of Turtle Beach X12 headphone to go with it and have been trying them out today. Here are my first impression of both the DSS and X12 together.

Set Up

The DSS is easy to set up, simply plug the optical cable from your Xbox to the processor and plug the headphones 3.5mm jack and USB into the front and its ready. You can control the volume and bass from the DSS as well as turn the surround sound processor on and off. The X12’s also have a bass boost as well as game volume and chat volume and a mic on/off switch.

Sound

The sound is amazing, in Battlefield 3 I can now hear where different sounds are coming from and whether someone is sneaking up behind me and the crowd chats in Fifa also sound great.

I turned the bass boost down on my headphones and used the bass from the processor as having both on is a bit overpowering.

I also tried the DSS with my old XLC headphones and it still sound good, but to be honest the X12’s are far better.

I would definitely recommend the Turtle Beach DSS for anyone who wants to experience surround sound without annoying the neighbours and although it sounds good even with a set of cheap headphones I’d also recommend getting a decent pair to begin with.

You will need:
Scissors
Safety pins
Ruler
Clothespin or binder clip
Tapestry needle
Upholstery thread
Old clothing scraps

Begin by cutting up the old clothes into one inch wide strips that are at least a foot long.  Select three strips of cloth, pair them together at one end and secure them with a safety pin.  Using another safety pin secure the fabric pieces an inch away from the end of the fabric.  Begin braiding the fabric together and after braiding a foot long section secure it with the clothespin or binder clip to hold your position.  Continue braiding and move the clip up every foot.

Stop braiding and move the clip forward when you are approximately four inches from the end of the shortest strip.  Take a new strip of fabric and lay it over the end of the shortest strip.  Ensure that both pieces overlap and are secure.  Continue braiding until you have used all the fabric.

An inch or so before the end of your braid turn the ends of the cloth under the braid and sew them tightly to the braid.  Repeat this process with the other end of the braid.

The next phase requires you to tightly coil the braid to form a circle or oblong shape.  Using a zigzag stitch, and starting from the centre, sew the side-by-side portions of the braid together.  Repeat until the entire rug is sewn together, flip it over and place it where you want.

You will be dealt one card, and one card only, and then your turn will be complete.  It is most common and advantageous to make this move when your two cards total ten or eleven.  Many find it not to their advantage, however, if the dealer is showing a face card and you are only holding ten.  There are many books you can research to calculate the exact percentages of this play, but knowing how and when to double down is an important piece of the puzzle when trying to win at Blackjack.

After doing a search on the internet I came across a website called razorlab.co.uk, they offer laser cutting services in a range of different materials and software that you can upload you files, get an instant quote and order with a couple of clicks of the mouse.

To upload your design, a couple of steps must be taken so that the Razorlab software can recognise the parts, the website has a number of handy tutorials to help you get your design right including design tips for Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw and Inkscape.

Once you have your design how you want it, simply upload it onto the website, choose the material that you want to use and how thick and the software will give you an instant quote.

The router templates that I uploaded worked out a just over £50 on 5mm thick acrylic which isn’t that bad as I’ll be making lots of these unusually shaped boxes in the future.

Why not check out razorlab.co.uk today and get designing your own stuff today.

I’m going to re-tile the walls with some mosaic tiles, add a new bathroom cabinet and some matching bathroom accessories to finish off the look.

The bathroom cabinet I quite like is the HIB Alta 3 Door Mirror Cabinet which comes complete with two halogen lights and a shaver socket. The cabinet is around £300 and will finish off the look I’m going for.

A set of chrome bathroom accessories will also tie in with the showerhead and bathroom mixers.

I’m also toying with the idea of fitting some down lighters in the bathroom instead of the art deco style light that is in there at the moment, but I think that might need a bit more planning.

One of the first things that Blackjack players must do is to think about the probability of possible decisions. For example, players should think about the probability of going bust if they hit when they have a total of 20, which is rather high. On the other hand, the probability of going bust when they have a total of 11 is very small. When deciding whether to hit, stand or surrender, players should think about the possible outcomes, and whether making a particular decision is worth the risk or not.

Basic strategy comes to play here. There are certain combinations where players should hit, players should stand, split, or surrender. These numbers are dependent on whether a player has a hard hand or a soft hand.  A hard hand refers to when a player does not have an ace in his/her hand, and a soft hand refers to when a player does have an ace in his/her hand.

When it comes to soft hands, players should always stand when the value of their cards is 19 and above, and hit when the value of their cards is below 15. 

For hard hands, players should always hit when the value of their cards is below 8, and stand if the value of the cards is 17 and above.

888 Charity weekend – 888Laides is supporting three charities on the weekend of the 9 -11 of December. 888 will donate 8% of its revenue made over the weekend to Breast Cancer Car, Sport Relief and Bliss. So why not play a few games on that weekend and help some worthy causes.

The Jolly Big £3,000 Jackpot – This massive jackpot game will be available on Christmas Day at 9pm; tickets will be 50p each and what’s more, anyone with 1tg on this game will also share a £250 cash prize.

£4,000 New Year’s Day Prize – Start 2012 on a high and win up to £4,000 of holiday vouchers; tickets cost £1 each and can be pre-bought.

Together with their free online bingo games and 200% deposit bonus, 888Ladies is a great place to play this Christmas.

I searched on the internet through various DIY websites and decided on the Draper 53120 Carpenters Workbench because it had good reviews and only cost £130. It got delivered yesterday and I spent this morning putting it together. The instructions are pretty limited and not very, well instructional but luckily it’s pretty straight forward to put together as most of it come pre-assembled.

Once together the workbench is solid and the two vices seem very strong and sturdy; the draw also seems pretty strong but I will only be using that to store small items like nails and screws.

For £130 I can’t complain and it’ll do the job for me, guess what everyone will be getting for Christmas now? That’s right a wooden box made by me