Problem: Article: A backing track includes a single note or chord played over a drumbeat or other rhythm. The backing track helps focus your improvisation. Backing tracks are available online for free. Check YouTube or guitar websites.   Start with a backing track for a scale progression you know. For example, if you know G Major, look for a backing track with the G Major chord. If you're just starting out with improvisation, choose a rhythm that you like and are familiar with. For example, if you usually listen to heavy metal music, you might find yourself confused by when or how to improvise to a backing track with a bossa nova rhythm. You don't need to know every note and every scale on your guitar before you start improvising. Once you have one scale progression memorized, you can start doing simple improvisations with just the notes in that scale.  Improvising on a single scale is also a good way to solidify your muscle memory of that scale progression. In general, you always want to return to the root note of the scale. If you end on another note of the scale, you introduce suspense or tension. Try moving the scale progression up or down your fretboard and improvise from that spot. You may find new possibilities simply from moving your hand, or you may find that one position on the fretboard is more comfortable for you than others. Play a recording of a song and follow the chord progression, simply strumming the chords. Then, start to improvise by arpeggiating the chord or adding phrases from scales.  Following the chord progression of the song may also give you room to mix phrases from the melody of the song into your solo. Matching your pattern to the song's chord progression gives your improvisation a strong connection to the song itself. Now when you improvise, you're playing with the song, not over top of it.
Summary: Find a backing track to practice improvising over. Start improvising using the notes of a single scale. Match your pentatonic pattern to the song's chord progression.

Problem: Article: These pretty ornaments are surprisingly easy to make at home with some plain, natural pine cones. Pick out nice, even pine cones with a pleasing shape and lay them out on newspaper. Next, take white spray paint (such as Frost White) and spray one side of the pine cones. Let the paint dry for a few minutes, then turn the cones over and spray the other side. Finish the ornaments by hot gluing short loops of white satin ribbon to the base of each cone, so that they hang point-down. You can spray more thoroughly for a bright white look, or at an angle from the bottom to give the appearance of snow on the edges of the pine cone eaves. You can make old-fashioned looking ornaments to add a bit of Victorian class to your Christmas tree by hot gluing ribbon loops to old baking molds, commonly found at antique malls and retro shops. Make several using different, ornate shapes, and hang them at different points all around the tree. For even more variety, tie ribbon loops to old iron and bronze skeleton keys and hang them, too. Skeleton keys can be spray painted white or finished with cheap clip-on holiday brooches to make them stand out more, if you wish. Cheap, small nickel frames are a great choice, since the metal has a nice, lustrous finish. Buy a few frames suitable for wallet-size pictures, and collect scraps of festive cloth. Open the back of each frame and stretch a piece of fabric across the backing board. Pin, stitch, or hot glue it in place on the back, and then hot glue a ribbon to one corner of the frame and hang it diagonally. If you have plain white fabric and markers, you and your children can make a fun project out of stretching the cloth and then decorating each ornament with drawings and words, before closing and hanging them. Clear, thin glass globe ornaments are cheap to buy, and though they look pretty on their own, they're also ideal for customizing at home. Throw a pretty object, like a peacock feather or a piece of petrified wood, inside each one, and then hot glue the top shut.  Adding a single object is only the beginning for these versatile ornaments. You can add craft snow and a miniature model tree or snowman to make a tiny winter scene, or paint glitter onto the walls of the ornament to make it sparkle. Be creative! For a truly dramatic effect, use a small rubber band and a round or oval-shaped piece of paper or other blocking material. Strap the oval smoothly to one side of the ornament, using the rubber band to hold it in place across the “equator” of the ornament. Suspend it from a hook, and apply a coat or two of glass frosting spray paint. Once the paint is dry, remove the band and oval for a picture window effect with a thin clear band bisecting the rest of the frosted orb. Festive little drums are a classic holiday motif. Make your own cheaply and quickly by buying small, round wooden (or cardboard) boxes from your local craft store and decorating them with a band of thick ribbon around the body, or thin ribbon around the outer edge of the lid. Hang them by gluing a thin piece of ribbon underneath the lip of the lid at either end. Vary drum sizes and ribbon colors and patterns to make a festive little set of unique drums. Seashells are great as ornaments on their own – just hot glue some gold or silver cord to them to make a hanging loop – but they're easy to dress up, as well. Try painting one or both sides of a shell with thin glue, and then thoroughly coating it in colored glitter to make an iridescent shell. Paint glue on in separate stages to create different areas of colored glitter for a two-tone effect, or paint a thin line of glue to make a glittery edging effect that's great for spiral-shaped shells. If you have a sea urchin shell, try gluing a bundle of tinsel underneath it once it's been dressed in glitter, to make a “jellyfish.” Hang it from the top and center so the “tentacles” hang down.
Summary:
Make frosted pine cones. Make vintage ornaments from old metal pieces. Hang metal frame fabric ornaments. Fill clear globe ornaments. Make custom drum ornaments. Turn seashells into fanciful ornaments.