Baby Shower...

It seems the *party du jour* to be hosting, the guest of honor, or otherwise a part of in the blogoshpere is the BABY SHOWER I, too, was part of this seeming phenomenon.

Saturday, February 5, 2011 I hosted a baby shower for my older brother & his girlfriend's bun in the oven: my soon-to-be-born brand-new nephew, Benjamin Richard. It was the mommy's wish that her family and mine work together to host this shindig and I was all for it! What a way to meet new people. Unfortunately, through no fault of anyone's, family's, mom's or baby's, the timing wasn't the best. With Christmas 3 months before the due date, it was difficult to pick a date within the "preferred" time-frame to have a shower (month 7 of pregnancy) while still bearing in mind that families have lots of stuff going on in December and expenses unrelated to baby showers during that time. I know my schedule was FULL in December. Hence the shower date of 2/5. 6 weeks after Christmas and 6 weeks before baby's scheduled arrival. First contact was made between families in September and luckily we were able to plan a lot before the holidays came, so it wasn't a huge hit on my pocket-book all at once.

Here are the details of the shower. Hosted by both Grandmas, and all four Aunts.

The invitations from Tinyprints.com

The final inspiration board. The colors were pale blue, lime/kiwi

green with accents of orange and gray.

The favors from beau-coup.com

The back-up favors. We had some issues with

UPS delivering the favors on time

(with expedited shipping no less)

so I had to throw something together last minute.

Game Prizes, also from beau-coup.com

the Benjamin banner...if you look really closely, you can make out his name.

The cake made by my mother-in-law (for free!) Love her!

Trying to tie in the invitations, the clothesline decorations.

All the outfits were gifts to mommy and baby from Auntie Jenny

"Guess Who?" A game we played. The object was to guess who was who!
Mom, Dad, Ben, or big sister!
(Mom's 16 year old daughter from a previous relationship)
Seemed tricky enough, the mom's mom got one wrong! :)


My DIY diaper cakes (tutorial found here)

The floral centerpieces. I don't know about you,

ut I LOVE me some fresh flowers at parties.

I think it livens and freshnens the whole place up!
Courtesy of Denise at FloralDecor in Palmyra

"Bet the Baby Stats"
Each guest guesses what Baby Ben's

birth date, weight, & height will be.

Entry fee was $1.00 per guess,

the prize is a 50% of the "pot." The rest goes to Ben's savings fund.

Activity of the day: Burp cloth & onesie decorating.

Using fabric markers or paints, each guest was able to decorate a onesie or a burp cloth

with various designs and words, creating a one of a kind wardrobe for baby Ben!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to participate...I still have mine to do :(

Gift table set up



Beverage station: iced tea, grape punch, water, hot beverages

The food was the only part of the shower, I didn't have to do!. Thankfully, the mommy-to-be's sisters were able to help out here and with the paper products. We had Beef Barbeque, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, lunch meat tray, and a veggie & fruit tray. I didn't get any good pics of the food, and very little of the shower in progress. I'm still learning to play photographer! :)

I had a ton of fun planning the shower, and hope that the mommy-to-be had a good time, and enjoyed the fruits of my labor, so that her labor might be all she need worry about when it's time for baby to arrive!

Baby Ben was due to arrive in mid-March, but he seems to want to come early. We're now looking at 1-3 weeks away for Mr. Benjamin's arrival!!! I can't wait to meet my new nephew and see the family name pass on. Have you hosted any parties lately? Share you tips and tricks. Happy Planning!

DIY Diaper Cakes...

In 3 weeks, I am hosting a baby shower for my brother's girlfriend and their first baby, Benjamin. Martha, mom-to-be is a 37 year old, new-again mom with a 16 year old daughter from a previous relationship. Having such a huge age gap between the two children, plus this child being my brother's first, I just had to throw the shower for them.

I've been planning off and on since October, and really had some great ideas and projects lined up. Then Christmas happened and I really forgot about everything. So time's a crunching and I was at a loss for what to use as centerpieces. Would flowers be enough? What flowers to get? Where to get the flowers without it costing more than the venue rental? Then my sister had a brilliant idea! Diaper Cakes!

We found these diaper cakes, here, here and here, and were immediately in love with the cuteness, practical-ness and seeming ease of assembly.

Here is a simple tutorial, with pictures to show you how easy these were to complete.

Items needed for assembly:

• diapers, of course - I bought a jumbo box of Pampers (combo size 1-2), 192 in total: I roughly estimated 24 diapers per cake, and I was able to make 8 cakes.
• rubber bands - many, many rubber bands. You can also use those clear hair elastics, but I couldn't find enough.
• pretty ribbon - to match your color scheme, you’ll need enough for each tier & the topper I bought roughly 18 yards of ribbon for the tiers, and 12 yards of topper ribbon.
• bases - I bought 10" cardboard cake bases from Michaels...they come in packs of 12.
• double sided tape
• scissors
• leftover toilet paper rolls (or paper towel rolls, cut in half) - one per cake.
• other items for the cake topper, if you want to use something other than ribbon: flowers, toys, stuffed animals, etc.

Steps of assembling a small, two-tiered diaper cake:

Roll all diapers and secure with rubber bands. When I rolled my diapers the colored part of the diaper decorations were clearly visible. This worked for me, since they seemed to match our color scheme. If you don’t like this, try to find diapers without any decoration, or roll in from the fold to make this less noticeable.

Using the TP roll as a base, begin stacking the rolled diapers around the base and securing with a rubber band.
Continue until you have one layer of diapers.
Begin adding diapers in the 2nd layer, secure with rubber band. I used one rubber band per layer, simply to make it easier for myself. If you wish to use only one rubber band per tier, I’m sure it could be done.
Total diapers for bottom tier = 17-18

Begin assembling the top tier by grouping several diapers together and securing with rubber band, add diapers until the tier is as large as you’d like it to be.
Total diapers for top tier = 6-7

Ribbon time.
Begin by measuring how much ribbon you’ll need and cut to length.

Using double sided tape, attach ribbon to itself around diaper tier (covering the rubber bands)pulling tightly to ensure the ribbon will stay in place. Be careful when taping the ribbon to the diapers, if the tape adheres to the diapers may tear the paper covering.

Repeat for second tier.


On to the topper. I created a bow from ribbon, simply as a cost-effective method and it seemed the easiest for me to accomplish.

Using my Bowdabra (I originally purchased for my wedding back in 2009) I created a mini-fold/mini-twist bow. If you don’t have a bow-making tool, simply fold the ribbon upon itself creating 1 ½” – 2” loops, twisting at each fold, make sure to leave enough ribbon to act as tails when you’re done.

Twist ribbon string around to back of bow or secure with a small rubber band, or twist tie.
Fluff the ribbon loops to your liking and arrange on top of cake.
I rolled the ribbon strings on my toppers into the center diaper roll of the top tier. to ensure that the bow stayed on the top of the cake during transport and set up.
You could use a bit of double sided tape to secure it to the top, be careful attaching it directly to the diapers, the paper backing of the diapers could tear.

You can use other items to create your topper, such as cute baby supplies, bottles, binkys, socks, shoes, etc. or something soft and cuddly, like stuffed animals, or rubber duckies, or fresh/faux flowers.
Put the diaper cake onto your base and voila! A small two-tiered diaper cake and the perfect decoration and gift for a baby shower!
These will act as centerpieces for the tables. It will be very cute, since our actual cake will match the diaper cakes, so as to tie everything together! Stay tuned for more DIY baby shower decorations and pics of the actual day.

Breakdown:
Diapers: 192 ct. jumbo pack: $29.88
Rubber bands: 2 packs @ $.49 each = $.98
Double sided tape: $3.49
Ribbon (6 spools, 30 yards): $27.93
cardboard base: $5.68
Total: $67.96

That breaks down to $8.50 per diaper cake (made 8 total). Online, a similar sized diaper cake pre-made could cost you $35.00. Total savings (for same number of cakes: $212.04!!
This project took me roughly 3 total hours to complete, mostly in front of the boob tube, and over several days.

Are you doing anything fun and exciting? Planning a party? Decorating a room? De-cluttering/organizing a space? Share!

Thanks for reading!

Family Christmas X2...

This year for some unexplained reason, I offered to host not one, but two family Christmas celebrations. One for Dh's mom's side of the family (F Family Christmast) and one for my mom, brother and sister (et al.) (aka. LGH Family Christmas) Oh...the grandiose thinking that was going on 6 months ago! UGH!

The first celebration is in T-minus 5 days. And the second on Christmas day (so 12 days.) I am kinda freaking out. Yes, I am a planner, but did I start planning months ago? HELLS NO! Ugh....I really don't know what I was thinking.

However, I have decided upon the menus for these two wonderful celebrations:
F Family Christmas:
(disclaimer: I am not making all this food. I was smart enough to suggest a pot luck and everyone is bringing at least one item. Such a lovely family! ))
Appetizers: Deviled Eggs
Shrimp w/cocktail sauce
A surprise app from Dh's aunt
Nacho Bean Dip
Entree:
Ham
Mashed Potatoes
Sugar Snap Peas
Corn
Broccoli
Sweet Potato Casserole
Macaroni and Cheese
Peppered Cabbage
Cranberry Sauce
Rolls
Desserts:
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Pie
Tapioca

LGH Family Christmas: This celebration is actually an overnight thing. I've invited my mom, brother and family and sister and family to come over Christmas Eve, sleep here and we can all open gifts together in the morning. So, breakfast is provided by moi and then we'll eat Christmas Lunch. So here's the plan:

Breakfast:
Breakfast Muffins (or Breakfast mini-quiches)
Cinnamon Rolls
Yogurt, fruit and granola

Lunch:
Turkey & Gravy
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Green Beans
Corn
Cranberry Sauce
Rolls
Dessert:
Christmas Cookies
MAYBE a pie of some sort.
This is NOT a pot-luck even though I tried to suggest it...my family is very cheap and won't put forth either effort or money unless required to, so therefore I am footing the entire cost. Oh well...I guess that's family for you. (Watch...no one will offer to clean up either! Anyone want to place a bet?)

All festivities will take place downstairs in our newly renovated basement, and it should be wonderfully cramped and cozy!

Bridal Shower...

Saturday, September 18, I hosted a bridal shower for my good friend Heather. She's getting married to her fiance (of 2 years, whom she's been dating for 10+ years) on October 2! Eeek, it's only a week away! Heather and her bridesmaids.

Our theme was based on the colors hot pink, black and white with a damask print at center stage, accented by beautiful and happy hot pink Gerbera Daisies. (found online at www.myflowerbuyer.com for less than $1.50 a stem)

As seen above in the plate/napkin/utensil set up on the food table.

Food table

Each bridesmaid was responsible for two dishes; served hors d'oeurves fashion. Lots of dip and veggies and crackers, (including homemade roasted red pepper hummus, crab and spinach dip, baked brie bread bowl, 3 different kinds of onion/garlic dip) stuffed mushrooms, cucumber tea sandwiches, and "texas caviar" (I do not have this recipe but it's super yummy. It's like a cross between a bean salad and salsa...a tad spicy, but full of nutritiousness and yummyness! and no there's no fish eggs in it!)

Gift table

Cake (from rosie's creative cakes out of Lancaster PA)

http://www.rosiescreativecakes.com/

wine bar set-up

Heather was a beautiful and gracious guest of honor, and seemed very happy by all the effort that went into the party. She received lots of great gifts for her home, and was genuinely pleased by everything. Next up is the bridesmaid's luncheon, the rehearsal and the wedding day!

I too was very pleased by everything and how it turned out. A lot of planning went into it, and I spent way more than I should have but it was perfect and Heather had a great time, so that's all that matters!

End of Week...

I have been battling a cold since Saturday morning. It started with a sore throat which moved to headaches and stuff/runny nose all day Sunday through, well, this morning. It hasn't been pleasant. I decided not to close, because, honestly, I wouldn't have sent any of the children home with these symptoms so I didn't feel it was fair to close. Needless to say, the children, save one, have caught whatever it is I have. I feel bad, especially since 2 of the parents have it now too. Hopefully, it is on it's way out. I felt more energetic yesterday, but back to the blah feeling this morning. We have a big weekend planned, so I best be on the mend! Hear that cold....GO.AWAY! hehe :)

So my schedule for the week has been a bit off. Therefore, today, tomorrow and Saturday, I have my work cut out for me...yay me! Thankfully, fingerscrossed, DH will be home on Friday (early) and can cut the grass, help me move one peice of furniture, take on some clean-up tasks and/or run out for last minute supplies. I'm including last night's TO DOS because, I didn't quite get everything accomplished.

DONE; NEEDS DONE

Wednesday TO DOS:

• Go to grocery store


• Go to dollar store


• Go to Target


• Go to Liquer store - wine


• move dresser upstairs to spare room


• move desk/office clutter to office


• move dc strategically in front of other desk :)


• move bar and stools to useful spot


• put liquer, glasses and accoutrement in bar -- clean bar, items and stools


• change cat box


• place felt pads on dining room chair legs


• Fold LDF -Colors

Thursday TO DOS:

• Everything orange from Wednesday
• Clean Kitchen (normal RDF for today) Hoover floor and wash cabinet surfaces
• Take out Trash -- DH is OOT so it's my job this week :(
• Clean UP bathroom
• Hoover hall floor, wipe walls, trim, doors and baseboards
• Hoover DC floor
• Vacuum basement carpet & stairs, bedroom, dc carpets
• Clean out fridge and organize foodstuffs...make list of last minutes grocery items
• LDF - Whites

Friday TO DOS: Dinner with friends

• Everything orange from Wednesday and Thursday
• Prep/Marinate pork chops
• Make shortcake
• Trim/Hull strawberries and sugar
• Tidy Kithen, UP bathroom, dc room & Hallway
• Clean DWN bathroom & Laundry room
• LDF - Sheets
• Dogs Nails Trimmed/Pets Mart shopping: dog food, cat litter, treats for dogs, Greenies teeth bones, pooper scooper
• Clear & Clean table
• Set Table
• Dinner with DH's friend & his wife;
  Dinner will be:
  Rosemary Pork Chops with parsely butter noodles, asparagus, salad, and strawberry shortcake
  

Saturday TO DOS:

• Farmer's Market (perhaps not...haven't decided...if I sleep in...not going)


• Menu Plan & Grocery shop; go to Pets Mart...dogs nails cut & dog food, cat litter, pooper scooper, greenies bones, and dog treats


• Get fresh flowers for Sunday lunch


• Get SMIL Mother's Day gift


• Make Family Project list for Front yard...go purchase/order supplies


• Tidy up rooms, dishes, LDF -daycare & RDF - daycare


• Dinner out with hubs
• Bed early...hopefully :)

Sunday TO DOS:

• Church 9:30
• Give/drop off SMIL's Mother's Day gift
• Home to tidy...prep for dinner
• Prep dinner
• Prep drinks
• Dinner @ 2:30pm
• MIL & SFIL, Mom arrive around 2pm
• Start with special *pink torpedo cocktail* & Fruit & Brie Quesadilla App
• Tour of basement
• Dinner @ 2:30
  Dinner is:
  Lemon Chicken with Sweet Pea Tortellini
  Herbed Quinoa
  Avacado & Citrus Salad
  Mango Napoleons for dessert
• Clean up and hang out for awhile
  

So busy weekend planned...hopefully the weather will hold out and it will be beautiful! Can't wait. I'll post and update on Monday. Hope your weekend is just as eventful, in a good way!

Christmas is coming...

Christmas is coming, and I am not ready AT ALL!

I had hoped to be better prepared, but once again I am procrastinating. I am also bummed because I can't decorate like I'd like 1) because the hubs has some weird phobia against decorations, and 2) the basement is NOT even started yet, therefore no holiday decorations for me!

I can not wait until this thing starts and is finished! I want my daycare room back and rid of the desk/computer, tv and giant chair that fill the space.

I did rearrange Sunday, cleaned the fish tank (finally). I needed to get rid of those pads that were on the floor. They were nice and cushiony, but sucked up dirt and water like no bodies business. So now it's just hardwoods (eek!) and I'm looking for carpets to lay down.

I have narrowed down my list of items to ask hubby for:
Kitchen Aid Mixer
Netbook
Hoover Floormate

Yep, I don't expect much at all...

I know he wants an immersion blender and a bread machine. But really, aren't both of those things for me to use??

This weekend, I hope to knock a good portion of our list out of the way. I have to get my dnc something extra special since I forgot to get her a birthday gift :(

Here is the menu plan for this week...we are again behind due to the holiday last week.

Wednesday:
Breakfast: breakfast burritos, peaches, milk
Lunch: Spaghetti & MBs; broccoli, oranges, milk
Dinner: Hamburgers on bun, roasted potatoes, corn, peaches
Snack: PB rice cake

Thursday:
Breakfast: poached eggs, toast, pears, milk
Lunch: hamburgers, roasted potatoes, corn, peaches, milk
Dinner: Baked Chicken Thighs, butter noodles, brussel sprouts, apples, milk
Snack: cheese & crackers

Friday:
Breakfast: oatmeal w/ raisins, milk
Lunch: baked chicken, noodles, brussel sprouts, apples, milk
Dinner: Haddock, brown rice, asparagus, salad, fruit.
Snack: yogurt & peaches

Saturday:
Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, maple sausage, toast, milk
Lunch: sandwiches, leftovers
Dinner: DATE NIGHT!
Snack: Nachos

PAST POST...The Wedding...

Date: June 20, 2009
The Bride & Groom:
Jennifer & AaronThe Location: Kevin's Place Restaurant, Lykens, PA

The Ballroom Before:

And After: Tables, table cloths & chair coverings provided by Kevin Jury, Owner.

We separated the room into the Ceremony room and the Reception room using the white lattice screens & faux potted trees Kevin had available.

The Inspiration & colors: Victorian Lilac, Champagne & Ivory

Bridal Attire: Dress from David's Bridal

Shoes from Zappos.com...they matched the feel and look of the dress perfectly!

Flower Girl's Dress: from MyGirlDress.com

The Jewelry:

My wedding band

My "something blue" earrings...that I actually forgot on the wedding day...OOPS! DH's wedding band~ more carats than my ring!

Our bands on WDay!

The Flowers: Champagne & Ivory Roses, Peach Cala Lillies, Purple Ranunculus, and White Stephanotis. I didn't have particular flowers that I 'had to have' I simply wanted them to match the theme and feel of the day...I was a little disapointed that there were carnations in my table centerpieces, but it's still worked.

My Bridal Bouquet: Featuring the past, present and future wedding bands of DH's family: In order from left to right: DH's maternal great grandmother's, DH's maternal grandmother's, DH's mothers, and mine.

Table Flowers
Bridesmaids' Bouquets

My Bouquet again.

The Cakes:
The Table Cakes stood as the centerpieces of the table. My MIL made the cake stands (yes DIY and ALL 18!) and we used to anchor the table numbers (that I DIY'd). The cakes were .chocolate and white cakes covered in ivory buttercream, made by my sister's MIL. I didn't get to try them, but Iwas told they were delicious, and everyone was fighting over chocolate!

Our Wedding Cake:
Two tiered white cake with raspberry filling covered in Champagne buttercream and purple buttercream accents. The Cake topper was made by yours truly...well I purchased the actuall topper, but decorated it myself! Glitzy...no?

Cutting the cake

Stationary~~ ALL DIY'd with spelling errors included at no additional charge, LOL!
Ceremony Programs, I still have 100 or so...so if anyone wants one...

Invitations: I ordered my paper from Southwestinvitations.com and printed them on my home computer and printer; the tan cardstock was a little too dark and the purple front I had to buy other cardstock to make, but the informals were perfect and all in all I think it turned out well.

On the front cover it says:
Two Lives, Two Hearts

Joined together in frienship,

United forever in Love

6.20.2009

with our names underneath

Jennifer & Aaron

The inside says:

It is with joy that we,
Jennifer

&

Aaron

Formally invite you to share our celebration of love

as we exchange marriage vows

Saturday, June 20, 2009

At 5 o'clock in the evening

Kevin's Place Restaurant

Address

Formal Reception immediately to follow

The Save the Dates: Mailed in December 2008; it says:

"So it is written in the stars

that we were meant to be...

So write it on your calendar

there's gonna [to lol] be a party!

Save the date,

June 20, 2009

to celebrate our marriage.

Formal invitation to follow.

Love,

Jennifer & Aaron

Please visit our wedding webpage:
www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JenniferLease&AaronHarman"

The table numbers~ made with cardboard, leftover cardstock from the invitations and the ceremony programs, my printer and some fancy scissors and a paper punch, wooden dowels, ribbon and glue.

The Card box I made from 4 8X10 photo frames I glued together painted purple, made a top for out for fabric, art board, batting and glue attached to the box with hinges and made mattings from leftover ceremony paper. I used a 'lazy susan' I already owned and placed it next to an antique candy dish borrowed from DH's mom on our gift table. I think it turned out well!

The handpainted Aisle Runner! I bought an inexpensive aisle runner from JoAnn Fabrics, acrylic paints and brushes from Michaels and created and printed the monogram myself at home using Microsoft Word! It took me a little while to get the sizing and outline right, but I had an extra 25 feet of runner...so I had plenty of extra space in case I messed up!

The monogram was under our feet as we said our vows...and on the stage for the photo guest book picture stage.

The work in progress.

The backdrop up close and personal...yes the 'J' broke.

I handpainted wooden letters I purchased from woodlandmanufacturing.com using the acrylics I used on the aisle runner...then attached ribbon and hung them from the ceiling in front of the backdrop fabric. I bought the fabric at fabrics.net (for the white drop fabric and the ivory organza; and the purple and champagne at JoAnn fabrics. I also got tulle in my exact colors at tullesource.com. FIL rigged a pvc piping and hook system suspended from the ceiling to hold the backdrop...yes we had permission and no we didn't cause any damage! Lol

A far shot of the backdrop completed.

A closer up shot.

And in use.

We reused the ceremony stage for the guest book 'photo stage.' That was a lot of fun...I had photo books that people could take their picture then insert it into the book and write a message to us in. Very cool! DH's Aunt & Uncle manned the camera table using their digital camera and their photo printer to print the 4X6 photos.

The tablescapes...although without the cakes it can be difficult to see how it all looks. The table numbers stood straight up out of the cakes and there was a little spray of faux hydrangea stems laid on top of the cake.

The fabric squares I purchased from JoAnn fabrics in the dark Victorian Lilac color, the Champagne and the Lavender. We alternated every table with Lilac and Champagne. There are 8-10 ivory votives on each table randomly placed around the cake stand in clear, frosted, and purple votive holders. Each setting received a glass coaster as a favor.

The table with the escort cards and candy favors. I spray painted little pails I purchased from the knot.com shop Purple and Champagne. I had to do some several times due to a boo boo from my brother's girlfriend's daughter, but I appreciated her effort. The escort cards were purchased from invitationpaper.com in dark purple and lavender cardstock with ivory name cards. I printed them using my home computer and affixed ribbons to the bases. The two colors indicated meal choice and the kiddos got ivory instead of purple ribbons.

The pails were filled with little baggies of purple and cream colored M&M's. I wanted to get our names, dates and/or "thank you" printed on them, but could NOT convince myself they were worth the cost (which was outrageous!!!)

Close UP!