"Not Me" Monday

Welcome to "Not Me" Monday, a blog carnival started by Mckmama. Go to her blog to read about all the embarassing things she & others didn't do.

I did not spend Saturday with my fiance at the miserably hot ECU vs. UNC football game... in the Pirate section. And, when Carolina won, I definitely did not snicker at all the ECU fans who drove 2 hours to sit in the stinkin' heat, squished together, just to see their team lose to the team they hate most. I would not make fun of their situation like that, that would be terrible.

I also did lots of homework and studying this weekend, which means I did not make these stinkin' cute invitations for Katherine's bachelorette party. I definitely made up that cute poem at the top, because I did not find a similar poem online that I could copy.

And since I did not make this invitation, I did not waste several hours playing around online finding cute fonts to download. And since I did not find any cute fonts, I did not waste more time adding some spice to my blog post and sidebar titles with said cute fonts.

Last Thursday night my roomates/neighbors and I did not spend the night in our PJs watching Tarzan and eating peanut butter and oreos. Hello? We're in college. We are way past Disney movies... we so go out on Thursday nights and do college student things.

And I definitely would not pictures of the fun we were having.

Because we're too cool for that.

What did you not do?

Green Punch

Because I've told a bunch of people that I'd let them know the punch recipe that I used at Candice's shower (pink & green themed) and Katherine's shower (purple & green themed)...

What you need:
2 packages of lemon-lime KoolAid mix
1 pound of sugar
2 quarts of water
1 large can of pineapple juice
1 bottle of Ginger Ale

What you do:
1. Boil the water in a large pot and dissolve the sugar. Then dissolve the KoolAid mix.
2. Add the large can of pineapple juice.
3. Freeze until slushy.
4. Add the Ginger Ale to punch bowl when serving.

*You could also make this the day of and put crushed ice in the bowl to cool it off if you need to

Serves: At least 40...

Enjoy!

Showers, Showers, Showers

When I made a New Year's Resolution to host showers, parties, etc, I did not know how many I would be hosting throughout the year! First, I started with my cousin Rebecca's baby shower. I "co-hosted" with my mom, cousin Amanda, and a friend of Rebecca's. It was HUGE - like 100 people huge (she was having triplets, she needed a lot).

We did "Three Peas in a Pod" theme as you can tell by the cake.

I did a fruit mound... the pineapple opened so you could yogurt dip.

Here is the new mom:

Then... I through my Dad a surpise birthday party, which I posted about here.

Then, I gave Candice a bridal shower with the help of a family friend. You saw her invitations here (which by the way, a friend of mine's mom used the tutorial to make shower invitations for a shower she was hosting! They looked so good! How cool is that?)

There's the fruit mound again... see what I mean about the dip in the pineapple?

Here is the cake... well part of it. There was a green square tier on top of the pink, but we cut it up before I got a picture. The daisy was on top. It was really cute!

Here is Mrs. Lydia (Parker's mom) and Mrs. Candy (co-host)

And of course... the bride, Candice with Mrs. Maxine from the river.

The most recent shower was at my apartment for my friend and former roomate, Katherine. You saw her invitations here (her mom is the one who used the tutorial!). Amanda, another friend and roomate and fellow bridesmaid co-hosted.

Here are Amanda and I guarding the gifts (ha, just kidding!)

And of course, the bride-to-be, Katherine!

I LOVE giving showers and making invitations and entertaining! I will be helping my Aunt Kay and Mom give my cousin Melissa an afternoon tea/bridal shower next month! How are your New Year's Resolutions turning out?

Invitations and Stockings

Remember when I made these invitations for my friend & sister-in-law-will-be-in-law, Candice's shower?

Well... I liked them so much that I made these for my friend & old roomate, Katherine's shower...

Cute huh? Katherine is so sweet! She's getting married to her high school sweetheart, Eric. They have been dating for over 6 years! (Yay for the "Six-Years") I'm so excited for them!

So, for the stocking I've been working on for my grandma... (How's that for a change of subject? I tried to come up with a transition, but I've got nothing.) I started it last November in hopes to give it to her at Christmas. Ha! What was I thinking? Cross-stitching takes forever. My grandma cross-stitched a stocking for each person in our whole family - except for herself. So, I thought I'd make her one. This is what it looked like after one WEEK of working on it:

Hahaha! That's garland, a snowflake, and part of an angel.

But this is what it looks like now in August (that's nine months later).

And, in my defense, I didn't work on it at all between the months of February and June. I've started back and think there is a decent chance I'll finish it by this Christmas.

Just in case you were wondering... I did wrap up what I had done at Christmas and I gave it to her with a picture of what it would eventually look like with a letter about how much I appreciated her hard work in all the stockings she had made.

So with that... I'm going to cross-stitch!

DIY Invitations

For Candice's wedding shower, I am making invitations. We decided to do the shower in her wedding colors (pink & green) and so I chose pink and green cardstock for the invitations. Are they seriously not the cutest invitations ever? Yes, I am totally bragging haha - I LOVE these invitations!

So, cause Candice said I should do a blog post on them... here it is: A Step-by step guide to DIY invitations!

First, pick out some cardstock and paper. I like to do pattern paper too because it adds a little sumthin' sumthin'. I also added a ribbon because it spices it up a bit. Here are my materials:

I typed up the info on the invitation and made her name and the date stand out in a different font and color.

Then, cut the cardstock to the size you want. I used a paper cutter because it's quicker.

Then, I cut the patterned paper to half the size of the back cardstock so not to overwhelm the invitation.

Then, I used double-sided tape to put it together...

Then, after taping the green paper down, its time to add the ribbon! Punch the holes (I just eyeballed it, but you can measure it out if you want).

Then, add the ribbon! The way I did it doesn't have to be the way you do it - you can tie a bow or knot or whatever tickles your fancy! I poked the ribbon through from front to back like so...

Then cross over the end pieces and poke them back through the opposite holes. Taa-daa...

A couple tips:

I like to do each step all at once, ie. cut all the pink pieces, cut all the pattern pieces, cut all the green pieces, cut all the white pieces, put the pattern pieces on the pink, put the green on that, punch all the holes, then do all the ribbons, and put the white pieces on. Here are the invitations before I put on the white pieces.

Also, fit your cardstock to your envelope, not vice versa. You don't want to put together these cute invitations and then have to search for an envelope that it will fit in!

And for an added touch, address the envelopes in colors that match the invitations.

There you have it! The cutest invitation, ever!

A special thanks to Ms. Lydia and Candice herself for helping me do these this weekend (I know, it must be breaking all kinds of Emily Post laws for a bride to help make her shower invitations... but she really wanted to!)

*Note: I blurred Ms. Stalling's address and my phone number for privacy purposes, just in case you know?

Surprise!

The surprise that I was so excited about was a 50th birthday party for my dad! We had a cookout (Parker cooked hamburgers & hotdogs) at the park and invited family, long-time friends, baseball buddies, and some of dad's long-time coworkers. He had a hunch of what was going on [he saw an email I had sent to his boss during a meeting - I didn't know until last night] but he didn't know when, where, what... It rained/thundered while we set up, but it cleared up by the time the party got started.

The kids and dads played wiffleball (see my dad playing 1st base)

We ate and had cake (its ugly because they did it in 15 minutes... It was SAMS CLUB! and I was supposed to pick it up at 3:30 and at 3:35 they started icing it...)

But at least it tasted good... as you can tell by Walker's face. HAHA He turned 2 yesterday (I can hardly believe it!) so he got to eat cake at his birthday party and my dad's! I bet he didn't sleep a wink last night!

The surprise party was a success and tons of fun! He had a good time and that's what I was hoping for! His birthday is actually tomorrow, and yes... he will be 50. Can you believe it? He does not look like a 50 year old to me!