Some simple fire safety measures are therefore well worth a bit of effort, in order to protect your business in the long term. Identifying fire hazards is the first step in carrying out a Fire Risk Assessment, which is now a legal requirement for all UK Businesses.

To identify fire hazards, you first need to understand what is required for a fire to start. This can be summarised as follows:

A source of ignition
Fuel
Oxygen

Sources of ignition:

The nature of your business will dictate the nature and extent of possible ignition sources in your workplace. These will vary from the obvious naked flames (welding and other ‘hot works’) to the less obvious, such as electrical equipment which could get hot if a fault develops.

Consider the following:

Gas cookers, candles or any equipment using a naked flame
Any type of heater, but particularly gas fired with an open flame
Anything involving heat or sparks, such as shrink-wrapping, welding, etc
Smoking areas and disposal of cigarettes and matches
Electrical equipment – get portable appliances (link) checked regularly
All lighting equipment – ensure materials are not stored close to any lights that get hot

Fuel:

Fuel is basically anything that will burn. Concentrate on combustible materials that are present in sufficient quantity to allow a fire to spread. Consider the following:

All paper including letterheads, envelopes and archived files
Printed materials and empty boxes
Flammable liquids such as paint, varnishes, thinners, etc
Soft furnishings such as curtains, blinds and other textiles
Any flammable gases stored on the premises
Plastic materials including foam filled furniture, plastic point of sale displays, etc

Oxygen:

This is essentially the air around us. Think about the ways in which air can move around your premises. For small premises this may just be a few doors and windows, but in more complex spaces there could be several ventilation, cooling and heating systems, with extensive ducting around the building.

Pay particular attention to fire doors. A wedged open fire door may as well not be there, as it does nothing to cut off the supply of oxygen to a fire.

If you consider all the above, you have completed the first step in carrying out your own Fire Risk Assessment (link). Even if we were not required by law to carry out Fire Risk Assessments, the process it involves makes good business sense anyway.

K Garrow has managed large public buildings for the last twenty years. He shares some of his extensive experience of fire safety and other health and safety on his website Fire-RiskAssessment.com, offering detailed guidance on carrying out Fire Risk Assessments, etc.

Article Source: Fire Hazards – How To Identify Them And Protect Your Business

Online promoters can give artists like you great number of MySpace song plays. The lowest number of MySpace music plays is at one thousand for a day. Think of how much exposure you can get with that kind of MySpace music plays. Your music will be heard by tons of people as indicated by the great number of MySpace music plays that these promoters can give you. You can increase your chances of getting offered record contracts when you become more popular through greater MySpace music plays.

Online promoters offer various rates and services for improved MySpace song plays of their clients. The lowest priced services can provide artists with at least one thousand views and MySpace song plays in a day, while the higher ones can give more than five thousand MySpace music plays daily. With the amount of MySpace music plays that an artist gets, paying for these services is really worth the price. Some online promoters even give out a money back guarantee to those who are not impressed with the number of MySpace music plays they get.

And even if you do not get a record deal, increased MySpace music plays on your profile page still means greater exposure for you. You and your band can be invited to gigs because the amount MySpace music plays on your site caught the attention of a show organizer, for instance. The number of MySpace music plays on your profile page can help you gain a more sizeable following. You might even get to sell more merchandise if you get a sizeable number of MySpace music plays.

Indeed, having an massive number of MySpace music plays on your profile page can do a lot of good for you and your band. The number of MySpace song plays on your profile page means a lot of exposure on your part. With the impressive number of MySpace music plays that you have, you can increase your chances of getting your music to the mainstream. Even better, the increased amount of MySpace song plays on your profile page means you are sharing your music to more people. So look for an online promoter to help you get more MySpace music plays.

Brian is the director of a online promoter site http://www.dj-express.com where musicians can increase myspace music plays.. Visit Why It Pays To Increase Your MySpace Music Plays.

Article Source: Why It Pays To Increase Your MySpace Music Plays

Do you keep telling them how important it is, how it’s essential to high performance, but they still don’t care?

It’s time to get good at something that, as someone who values objective information and informed decision making, you may not like.
You have to become a good marketer.

If your executives, managers and colleagues aren’t convinced that measuring performance is a fabulous idea, then your getting better measurement skills isn’t the priority right now. You need a quick course in Marketing 101, and it’s here in the form of “the five Ps” of marketing:

PEOPLE — Who *exactly* are you trying convince that measuring is a good idea?

Knowing and understanding who you want to have embrace performance measurement is your first step. That’s because how and when and what you do to get the attention of a Senior Executive is going to be very different from a front-line worker.

Name each “target market” of stakeholders who you know need a better appreciation of the value of measuring performance.

Then write a story about each one, describing their pains, their visions, their priorities, their biases — so you can start your campaign from a respectful appreciation of where they currently stand.

PRODUCT — What *exactly* do you want them to do about measuring?
If you’re starting from ground zero, where your executives, managers or colleagues really don’t have any interest in measurement, then don’t expect them to suddenly sign up for a year-long, six-figure investment in transforming the measurement system for your organisation! At least not after one interaction with you, however inspiring that might be.

Decide what is a fantastic step forward for them to make, what it is you want each target market to “buy” from you. Perhaps it’s to let you lead them through pilot to measure just one performance result or problem. Or maybe it’s to have them summon up the curiosity to hear how other organisations have flourished by measuring what matters.

PRICE — What must they “pay” to get the benefits of measuring?

Everything has a price! And a big part of what’s probably holding back your executive, manager or colleague is their perception of what they have to give up to embark on measuring performance.

The price they have to pay is certainly more than a slice of their budget. It’s their time, their staff’s time, their perceived risk of it failing or being a complete bore, a project that to them is a lot more exciting or valuable. Understand this perceived price for each target market, and you’re half way to being able to clearly lay out the return on investment of performance measurement.

PROMOTION — What’s the message that will get their attention?

Be very clear about the benefits of measuring performance, not the features. Your message has to be almost entirely about the “why” of measuring performance, not the steps, not the technology, not the methodology. And this will vary for each target market. If you can describe the sparkling benefits of measuring performance, you’ve got the other half of a clear return on investment of performance measurement.

Knowing rather than assuming or guessing. Reaching goals faster.
Improving performance with less wasted effort. Making strategy tangible and actionable for staff. Create your list of benefits as the basis of the message you want at the centre of your Performance Measurement Marketing Campaign.

PLACEMENT — How can you reach the people you want to convince?

When, where and how you’ll deliver your message to your target market needs some careful thought. You’re competing with a gazillion other things screaming for the attention of your executives, managers or colleagues. The quicker and more conveniently you can communicate your measurement message to your target market, the higher the chances they’ll hear it.

Think about opportunities like upcoming meetings, your company newsletter, a well-crafted email or memo, even brief moments where paths cross in corridors and elevators. And a word of advice: deliver your measurement message authentically, naturally and with your honest passion, so you won’t sound salesy.

Now go DELIVER your measurement message!

There are various versions of the marketing Ps, but these five make fine bones for you to flesh out with your tailor-made Performance Measurement Marketing Campaign. Sure, you’ll need to practice and hone and practice some more. But action learning like that is the fastest way to go.

Go get ‘em, tiger!

Stacey Barr is a specialist in organisational performance measurement, helping corporate planners, business analysts and performance measurement officers confidently facilitate their organisation to create and use meaningful performance measures with lots of buy-in. Sign up for Stacey’s free email tips at www.staceybarr.com/facilitators and receive a complimentary copy of her renowned e-book “202 Tips for Performance Measurement”.

Article Source: Selling The Value Of Measuring Performance

The basic purpose of marketing is to get leads into your product or service funnel. In other words, it’s to create opportunities for you to offer your products and services to potential customers. So a good marketing process will at the very least send you lots of new leads, send you leads relatively inexpensively, and send you leads that do in fact want to become your customers.

So with these three basic marketing results in mind, consider starting with these three essential marketing measures:

MARKETING MEASURE 1: Number of New Leads

You have to know what the actual output of your marketing activities is.
All you’re doing here is counting the new leads that present themselves to you. It might be phone calls, emails or signups for your newsletters.
But be careful - to qualify as a lead, the person must knowingly supply their contact details to you.

MARKETING MEASURE 2: Cost Per New Lead

Marketing costs money, and you want to be sure you’re getting as much as you can for that money. So find out how much each lead is costing you, by adding all your marketing expenses - like advertising, yellow pages listings, list renting and so on - and dividing into this amount the number of new leads these methods delivered to you. When you get better with your data capture, you can even calculate this for each method of marketing, but you do need to have a way to identify which method each lead came via.

MARKETING MEASURE 3: Lead to Customer Conversion Rate

If your marketing efforts are finding you the right leads, then these leads will easily convert to customers. To calculate your lead conversion rate, the simplest way is to add up your total number of active customers and divide this by the total number of leads you currently have. It’s not a perfect measure, because it’s difficult to account for the fact that some leads will convert within a week of first contact, and other leads will take months. But tracking this proxy measure of lead conversion over time is still very revealing!

Sure, you can measure your marketing results in different ways, and in finer detail. But just get started measuring these basics on a regular basis - even as often as weekly, and you can build the sophistication later on.

Stacey Barr is a specialist in performance measurement, helping micro and small business owners to move their business results from where they are, to where they want them to be, using powerful, transformational measures. To grab your free copy of Stacey’s Special Report “7 Clues to Measure What Matters In Micro & Small Business”, visit www.staceybarr.com/smallbusiness.

Article Source: 3 Marketing Measures You Can’t Live Without

The first thing you should do when trying to figure out which career path you’d like to choose is make a list. Take a moment to think of all the things that interest you. This might not necessarily mean you choose things that you excel in. Many skills can be learned as you go through school or start on-the-job training. Next, think about those things that you do not like – things that you would never want to incorporate into a job. This might be important if you end up picking a career track that has a lot of classes in areas you can’t stand.

If you don’t have the time, energy, motivation or money to embark upon getting your bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or PhD then an associate’s or certification may be for you. There are tremendous opportunities out there for people of all walks of life. If you decide to get a certification in something make sure that it is something you are interested in and could see yourself doing. If you decide not to get any additional education your certification may be the driving force for employers to hire you. You don’t want to get stuck in a career you thought you’d like only to find out it is not a fit for you.

If that does happen to you then take a moment to start over again. Make another list – both good and bad things you want to do. Then, see if school is now an option or perhaps another certification will help you on your way. You might think about night classes or getting a night job and going to school during the day. There are adult programs, community education programs – there is something for every schedule. With the age of technology came online classes so you won’t even need to leave the comfort of your own home. However, remember that it might be difficult to learn certain subjects on your own or over the computer, keep this in mind when scheduling online courses.

It is a difficult task choosing a school and a career path. However, there are many options. Take a moment to look through a book or catalog on some of the things you might do if you did attain a degree or certification in a certain area. This might help you make your final decision.

Don’t give up. When the decisions get difficult it is not uncommon for people to run the other direction. But, your future and career goals are important. Take the time to make the right decision so that you can find a career that is fulfilling.

About the Author: Rebecca Beckett is a freelance writer for Innuity. If you would like more information about laser schools or Restylane Training go to Canyon State Laser

Article Source: Choosing the Right School, Career for You

Credit institutions lend their funds to projects on trust that the individuals who promote or manage them have the character and integrity and would be able to manage the credit funds well. They ensure that project managers have a good objective, structure, human resource capabilities, and experience and that the key personnel of the borrowing institution have the integrity to invest the funds well and would repay as and when due.

Financial Analysis

This is concerned with project of cost and revenues and the matching of cost and revenue in order to determine the profitability and viability of the investment project.

Project (Capital) Cost

This should follow from a good technical analysis, cost of all items, including machnery, equipment, facilities, furniture and fittings and motor vehicles (if required) should be determined. This cost also covers working capital and contingencies. If the project cost is underestimated, the project may have cost over-run and may be abandoned halfway because there is no guarantee that additional funds can be obtained. If it is over estimated, there are a number of negative implications.

Project Funding

The funding plan indicates the level of funding that will be provided by the project promoters and the level of funding that may be required from external sources. Success in external funding usually depend on the financial commitment of the promoters and expected finacial returns from the project.

Estimate Of Operating Cost

The cost estimate here usually include raw materials, fuel, labour, maintenance, marketing and distribution, administrative overheads. Operating cost also include insurance, depreciation charges and interest on loans. Accurate cost estimate is particularly important for credit projects and funds as they are expected to be self-sustaining.

Revenue Estimates

Revenues come mainly from sales of products and charges for services.

Revenue should be sufficient to cover:

. Cost of operation

. interest on debit funds

. Loan repayment

. Maintenance of capital assets

. Expected profits on investments.

Revenue estimates needless to say, should be realistic.

Financial Statements

The financial analysis of the investment project entails the preparation of projected financial statements, as follows

. Pro forma cash flow statements

. Pro forma profit and loss (income) statements

. Pro forma Balance sheets

Types of Financial Analysis

. Turnover

. Break-even point

. Liquidity

. Profitability

. Cost benefit

. Sensitivity

Appraisal Criteria

. Pay Back Period PBP)

. Accounting Rate Of Return (ARR)

. Internal Rate Of Return (IRR)

. Net Present Value (NPV)

Conclusion

The project decision can be considerably enhanced by undertaking a feasibility study. It forms the basis of systematic gathering and analysis of data and provides an informed, independent and objective opinion on the new project. Feasibility studies is not a full proof guarantee that a particular project or investment venture will succeed.

Martins W Okosina is a Professional Administrator by Profession with over 5years of experience. Find out how effective business consulting can help you. http://www.naijaconsultingpower.com
http://www.utimatejobsonline.blogspot.com

Article Source: Organisation and Management - Feasibility Report on Investment Projects

When exhaust fans are used to provide ventilation, both for industrial and process exhaust and personnel comfort, a negative air pressure is created within the building. This negative pressure causes several problems:

- Process exhaust systems are less efficient and may not work properly.
- Down flow can occur through gravity vents and result in the back venting of products of combustionfrom flues and stacks of heaters and process equipment.
- Drafts are created that are a dsicomfort to employees. Safe operating of outside doors may even be impaired.

Our Power Tube Fan Make-Up Air System solves all of these problems economically, even on the coldest winter day.

In the winter, conventional make-up air systems have to heat the cold outside air prior to introduction into the building. This is an expensive process in both equipment and continuing energy cost. The Power Tube Fan Make-Up Air System is a simplier system that utilizes wasted building heat and basic aerodynamic principles for supplying, tempering and distributing make-up air. And that makes it less expensive than conventional make-up air systems to purchase, to install and to operate.

PT Power Tube Fan Make-Up Air System uses a special propeller fan with straightening vanes and fan housing mounted to an opening in a building sidewall near the ceiling (an optional roof mounting model is available). A motor operated wall shutter is attached to the outside wall opening under a protective weather hood. A long specially constructed reinforced polyethylene tube is connected to the fan discharge orifice to carry fresh outside air throughout the building and temper it by mixing cold outside air with warm inside air near the plant ceiling before it reaches floor level.

Specially sized and spaced discharge holes in the polyethylene tube produce relatively high velocity turbulent jets of air. This turbulent jet flow swirls and mixes surrounding air particles resulting in the entrinment of the warm ceiling air and the complete tempering of very cold outside air within a relatively short distance. The result is heated make-up air at the price of unheated make-up air.

Power Tube Make-Up Air Fans are available in Sizes 18 to 48 for for air flows up to 40,000 CFM.

PT Power Tube Make-Up Air System tube is constructed of thick woven high density polyethylene fiber(8 x laminated with poly coating to a thickness of 6 Mils. It is 3.8 oz. per square yeard material. Burst strength is 118 Lbs per square inch. The material is flame retardant and complied with NFPA Standard 701. Tubes are available in two colors: blue and white. One end of the polyethylen tube is factory dealed.

Sufficient make-up air should be provided to balance exhaust from general ventilation and process ventilation. Usually several Power Tube Fans will be required, located to distribute air throughout the plant. If additional tempering of make-up air in specific plant areas becomes necessary, unit heaters can be added.

Additional information can be found at the Canada Blower company web site http://www.tenderall.com/ahu/index.html.

Oleg Chetchel
Air Systems Engineer
Tenderall Fan Co.
http://www.tenderall.com/inquiry/index.html
http://www.tenderall.com/airhandler/index.html

Article Source: Make-Up Air System - PT Power-Tube Fan

In PRINCE2TM terminology, the Business Case is the ‘driver’ of the project. Senior Project Management review the Business Case before authorising the initiation, and each subsequent stage, of the project. The Business Case is used as a yardstick to measure project progress. Before allowing any change to the Project Plan, the Executive must consider the impact that this change will have on the Business Case.

In other words, without a Business Case, no project would ever get off the ground.

The Business Case justifies the investment of time, money and resources into a project by outlining the benefits that the project will bring. It is made up of eight key sections:

• Reasons

Why is the project necessary?
The reasons you give must conform to corporate/programme strategy. You’d have a hard job convincing a clothing manufacturer that an advertising campaign persuading people to recycle last year’s clothes instead of buying new ones would be an appropriate project to undertake.
Another way of thinking about the reasons for a project is to consider what need the project will address. Is customer satisfaction low? Do your profit margins need a boost? Are you still using the same, snail-paced computers you acquired in 1983?

• Options

What different options are available for addressing the identified need? Why is the option you have chosen (the project) the best of the bunch?
Showing that you have seriously considered all the possibilities will strengthen your Business Case. Providing Senior Management with all the available information will also maximise the chances for somebody to suggest an improvement. It is much better to change your Project Plan now than to watch it all collapse halfway through.

• Benefits

This is where you persuade your audience that your project is worthwhile. Every possible benefit can be considered, tangible and intangible. Just make sure that you justify the benefits that you project.

If your project will increase profit, then present detailed figures as evidence. If the primary benefit is improved customer care or staff efficiency, then explain how this will happen and what the effects will be.

• Risks
What are the main risks to project success? Be frank. Transparency will gain the confidence of Senior Managers and will demonstrate your foresight, realism and capability.

• Cost
The Senior Project Managers need to know the total projected cost before they can authorise the project. Justify each area of expenditure, so that nobody is in any doubt that the budget you have forecast is as accurate as possible.

• Timescale
How long will the project take? Detail the activities and goals of each stage, and explain why the specified length of time is needed.

• Investment Appraisal
This is where you pit the cost and beneits against one another in order to demonstrate once and for all that your project is a worthwhile investment. Before Senior Management can authorise your project, they need to know what they are getting for their money.

The Investment Appraisal, by detailing the costs and benefits over a fixed period of time, is the most direct way of quantifying ‘value for money’.

• Evaluation
Consider your own Business Case in an objective light. What are the strongest and surest benefits that you have promised? Why are they necessary? Why is your project the best way of achieving them?

PRINCE2™ is a trademark of the Office of Government Commerce

Simon Buehring is a project manager, consultant and trainer. He works for KnowledgeTrain which offers training in PRINCE2 project management and PRINCE2 trainingin the UK and overseas. Simon has extensive experience within the IT industry. Contact him via the KnowledgeTrain project management training website.

Article Source: Writing an Unbeatable Business Case

Supplier Relationship Management means different things to different people.

For example, type the phrase into a search engine such as Google and you will get more than two million hits, many of which relate to software applications for recording and analysing supplier data.

Others think of SRM as a means of monitoring, measuring and reporting supplier performance.

What we do in our supplier relationship management programme is to use a process with which you can systematically find and deliver opportunities for delivering cost and service benefits (both immediate and longer term) and for initiating innovation and continuous improvement.

A selection of benefits from SRM can include the following, depending on the industry you are in.

Service related benefits
• Early supplier involvement helps to shape the question that their product or service aims to answer for you and so gives a more effective solution
• Captures and shares IPR
• Provides a better balance between technical and purchasing requirements
• Reduces the supplier learning curve
• Acts as a free source for “hot housing” and incubating new ideas and problem solving

Commercial related benefits
• Lower cost of bidding and engagement
• Marginal costs from account planning
• Lower costs from target costing and benchmarking
• Reduced costs from supply chain management i.e. suppliers’ suppliers
• Better ”lock in” of suppliers if demand outstrips supply
• Shared risk

People related benefits
• Continuity of work allows suppliers to have a career path for their people (if you are buying a professional service such as consulting) and ”refreshes” ideas and lowers costs
• Enhanced skills from problem-solving with suppliers
• Improved communications and collaboration (if your organisation has multiple sites)

Process related benefits
• Reduced non-value adding tasks
• Capture and use knowledge and learning for use in future work
• Faster response to your needs from improved processes
• A more consistent pool of people (if a service related purchase) who will build a knowledge bank of your organisation

Why do you need supplier relationships at all?

“No firm is an island. Your customers depend on the excellence of your suppliers … Top firms create supplier alliances to ensure that their customers return”. Prof. Daniel T. Jones

The quote from Professor Jones succinctly demonstrates that organisations can no longer operate in isolation, if indeed they ever could. The question is who should be your alliance partners.

Even with initiatives such as supplier base consolidation, large organisations in particular typically will still have several thousand suppliers. Obviously, you can’t form alliances with all of them. You will need to segment your suppliers in order to identify the ‘critical few’ that merit some form of alliance or partnership working.

Even without this kind of analysis, some suppliers will immediately stand out as worthy of some kind of closer working relationship. These include:-

• Suppliers to whom you have outsourced part of your organisation
• Joint ventures in which you share assets and resources to create value
• Critical services or materials without which your organisation cannot function.

The implications of poor performance from these types of supplier can be devastating.

Supplier Relationship Management – is your organisation ready for it?

The next question you need to answer is whether as an organisation you are ready for SRM? There are a number of factors that you need to consider.

These include:-
• The availability of senior members of staff who are willing to be sponsors of your key supplier relationships. The issue here is that sponsors are needed not only to drive the pace of the SRM programme and ensure a quality output but may be needed to unblock barriers to you achieving your SRM objectives.
• The perception and reality of the value that your SRM suppliers are currently delivering. If there is widespread agreement that they are not translating their capability into effective delivery and value for money then you are more likely to get support for your programme.
• The maturity of your organisation in terms of its approach to problem solving. SRM is largely about identifying and solving problems and this is made easier if there is already a culture of continuous improvement in your organisation supported by appropriate processes and toolkits.
• The strength of procurement leadership in your organisation. If there is a central group of high calibre people who are well connected to and supported by local procurement people within the business units of your organisation then SRM becomes easier to drive and coordinate.

For your free copy of our book “Do Something Different – 137 ways to build the leadership, vision, culture and process you need for effective supplier relationships” write to offer@on-demand-skills.com.

For details of our e-learning programme on supplier relationship management visit www.on-demand-skills.com

Article Source: Supplier Relationship Management: How to do it effectively

A lot of celebrations are coming up in the following weeks. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Gregorian New Year are fun days to look pretty in costumes. To welcome the Chinese New Year is the best day in the entire year to dress up in a pretty Chinese costume.

You and your little one can dress up in a luxurious national Chinese costume, but why not take it a step further by dressing in a favorite Chinese character? Be a Chinese princess or a Chinese girl-warrior. Boys can be Bruce Lee, the Monkey King or be an animal in the Zodiac.

The Basics

The Chinese national costume is pretty and festive used on its own. However, for those who want to celebrate in their favorite Chinese story personalities, handy things around the house can be added to the basic Chinese costume.

1. Chinese Dress – Qi Pao

Qi Pao – This Chinese Dress is elegant and festive in its own right. Qi Pao means banner dress when translated. It usually has a high neck and slits on the sides. Designs can vary to flatter the woman’s good features and hide the less than perfect features. Qi Pao for young girls can also be gotten in different colors and materials. For active young girls a Qi Pao dress-pants is a good idea.

2. Chinese pants set for boys

For boys, the traditional costume pants set is a must-have set. The top has a mandarin collar with long sleeves. Pants are loose and flowing. Some costume sets include hats with pigtails or hoods.

Dressing up

It is a good idea to gather the following from around the house before starting to mix and match.

Getting sequined Chinese slippers or kung fu shoes from a nearby department store can be a good idea. It can be worn several times if you like wearing costumes for every event (or regularly, since they are comfortable). These can also be ordered online.
Mom’s silk skirts in shiny fabrics, dad’s silk robes may also be looted. If your family has wigs lying around the house, keep those. It may turn out useful for completing your desired look. Beautiful fabrics, scarves, bead necklaces, even table runners can be added to your collection of materials. Craft flowers, satin ribbons can also be added to the hair.

Chinese Princess

Do this with : girl’s empire cut long dress/ other long dresses in plain design,
A girl’s sleeveless long dress in shiny fabric and plain design can also be used as a base garment when dressing up as a Chinese princess. An empire cut spaghetti strap will also do nicely.

This can be topped over by a long robe/ blouse with butterfly sleeves (These tunic blouses were in fashion 3? 4? Years ago so mom may still have one in her closet. )

Hair can be fixed in a double bun, one on each side of the head, or let some of the hair flow. Beads can also be strung through the hair.

Sashes can be tied around the waist, or can be used as hang down designs for the belt.

2. Lady White Snake

Similar to the Chinese Princess, although wear a white costume. May also bring a toy snake and put a pillow by the tummy to look pregnant.

3. Chinese Girl-Warrior
Like Mulan or Yu Shu Lien/ Jen Yu in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Do this with : Cheongsam dress-pants set
Toy Sword or toy bows and arrows
Kungfu shoes/ other shoes

Wear the pants set and shoes, sling over the toy weapons and youre done. Mom may also fix Warrior’s hair into a neat hair style fit for battle.

4. Bruce Lee

Do this with : pants of your national costume
Kung fu shoes/ other shoes
Sash, use as belt
Vest as top, or go topless (if the weather is warm)

5. Monkey King

Do this with : Boys Traditional Black Kung Fu pants set
Monkey mask or face crayons
Stick
Soft boot/ kung fu shoes/ other shoes
Scarf or cape
Assorted armor pieces, homemade or bought in toy stores : breastplate, shoulder guards, arm guards

Wear the costume and shoes. Attach the armor accessories and cape. Wear the mask, or if there are none, mom can use face crayons to simulate the hairy face of Monkey. Bring the stick (Ruyi) before heading out the door.

6. Zodiac animal

See if you have any animal mask lying around the house that is any one of the 12 zodiac animals.

Wear your national Chinese costume and put on your mask.
For this year 2009, it would be nice to wear an ox mask with your Chinese costume.

Have fun; remember to bring out these Chinese costumes each time to spread more cheer for every occasion!

Shop beautiful girls’ dresses online at Elitedresses.com and get really cheap and discounted Chinese dresses like qipao, cheongsam and flower girl dresses.

Article Source: More Cheer during Holidays with Chinese Costumes