Bachelorette Party

For those of you who know me well, know that I LOVE to host parties.  Recently, my best friend, Bailey got married.  I held her Bachelorette Party at my parents house.  Planning, decorating, and cleaning were all on my to-do list.  We planned the party for a Friday night in November.  I knew that I would be busy with finals during that time, so I planned quite a bit of it during the summer.  I'm very glad I did this.  I didn't have to worry about last minute games and decorations.

Together, Bailey and I made the plans and the guest list.  We decided to stick around home and go bar hopping to the local bars.  I found it was easiest to make an excel spreadsheet for EVERYTHING.  From the guest list to the items I needed to get.  Everything was color coded and strategically placed.  (I love excel).

After we made the guest list and the plans I started on the theme and invites.  With help from my friend, Kailee we decided on the theme, "Get out your Boots & Pearls."  Which fits Bailey so well.  I had another friend help with the invites, she's an AMAZING graphic designer.  See her work {here}.  She made two per page, therefore I could print out both on one piece of off white 8.5 x 11 paper. {purchased at Walmart}

LOVE her work!!

While Allie was working on the invites, I made a board that I wanted to have by the doorway.  I found this on pinterest {of course} 

I loved this, so I decided to make my own!

In the process....

 Bailey & I next to her sign!

After buying all of the supplies {bachelorette decorations, food, napkins, plates, table cloths etc} I needed to make a MILLION jello and pudding shots.  If you need the recipe for jello shots check out this {website}.  I found it extremely helpful, considering I don't like jello-shots.  Once those were made, it was time to start the decorating... here are a few pics of the decor and the party!

Since the house was decorated nice, I decided the bus would be full of condoms, balloons, streamers, and undies!  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it all, but the night FLEW by and I had no time to take a picture.

All of us girls who helped Bailey celebrate her last night as a single woman.  {I love the undies behind us!}

This was taken at Kegger's, singing Karaoke.  {I HATE KARAOKE}

I could not have gotten through any of this without the help of my dear friends Kailee & Meghan.  I'm so thankful that Kailee was there for me through it all, the phone calls, planning, games and decorating.  Meghan was an amazing helper with all the last minute decisions (choosing which underwear to buy for the games) and for helping me clean, make jell-o shots, and decorate!! I couldn't imagine what this party would have consisted of if it weren't for them!  Thanks girls!!

 ooh...sorry Meg finger slipped ;)

You two are sooo AMAZING!

Overall, it was a great night and I couldn't have asked for a better night and group of girls to spend it with.  Bailey has an amazing support system.  She is one lucky lady! I'm soooo happy for her and her new married life! Stay tuned for pics from her BIG day and my first time being a Maid of Honor!

I also need to thank my WONDERFUL parents.  They were there to help with all of the planning, cooking, and cleaning.  Thank-you for opening up your house to us girls for the night.  We all appreciate it.  You both are so amazing and I can not thank-you enough for everything that you do for me.  Love you!!!

-M

dad's birthday gift

Hello my people!! (If I still have followers...) I have been very busy working, studying to take my GRE :( and trying to get ready for school to start :(  I have had a very busy summer with weddings, events, being at the lake, and swimming lessons!  (tomorrow is my last day of swimming lessons for the year!!!) Anyways...yesterday was my dad's birthday.  Due to getting ready for school to start I am now broke and have no money to spend..so I decided for my dad's birthday I would make him something.  Of course I had no idea what to make him...I mean if my dad wants anything, he could probably make it himself.  So...I recently went to crafts direct with my best friend, Nichole and she showed me this cute quote that she put on an old piece of wood for her dad for father's day. It said, "Any man can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a dad."  I then knew I needed to do that for my dad.  Of course crafts direct had a sticker of it, but it was $15 which I was not spending considering I could just paint it myself.  I decided that I could just find a piece of wood in the garage and paint the quote on it.  It turned out great and my dad loved it.  I'm just curious where he decides to hang it.  I'm thinking he will hang it up in his garage...I'll post pictures later of where he decides to put it :). 

Its such a perfect quote for such an amazing father.  I'm truly blessed to have him in my life and could not have asked for a better father.  He's such a great man and I have learned so many valuable lessons from him. (I'm sure I have many more to learn as well)

wedding gift

A great friend of mine got married a few weeks ago and I wanted to make the perfect gift for her and her new husband. I don't have a huge budget so I needed to use the materials that I already had on hand.  I wasn't sure what to do so I did a little research on pinterest and found this:

 So I decided I was going to make my own, I started with the W for their last name. I just used a stencil and black paint on the burlap. {of course I got the burlap from my father's garage}

 I first decided I was going to put the lyrics of their first dance for the background, but once I got it all put together I hated it.. I also had a hard time cutting the wood my dad had on hand, so he of course helped me out by cutting it to the perfect size.

 So I decided to paint it red like I found on pinterest.  

I then added the burlap onto the wood using large thumb tacks. 

I hope they love it as much as I do, I can't wait to make one for myself!!

cork board part 1

I am obsessed with wine corks and always have been.  I have been saving them for awhile now and thinking of different projects to do with them.  My first idea was to make a bath mat or outdoor mat with them, but I figured if they got dirty they would be hard to clean and could start to smell if they never dried out completely.  So I decided on a cork board.  I'm planning on hanging it in my kitchen and using it as a bulletin board for bills and such.  Due to my great job, I have been able to receive much much more corks than I would if it were up to me drinking the wine.  So here it looks so far:

I used an old frame that we had laying around and had my Dad (again my Dad tends to help with basically all of my projects) put plywood behind it.  I used my glue pan to glue all the corks in place.  A glue gun would have taken too long and too much glue (so thanks Tesa for the pan!!) I also placed the corks on the board where I wanted them before glueing them down so I knew they would fit together they way I wanted them too.  I'll keep you all posted with this project-it may take some time.  I started saving corks in December and still cant get 1/4 of the board full!

mason jar organizer

I love mason jars and decided I needed to decorate more with them.  I love that they are easily used or organization (which I'm a freak about) and decided to have my lovely Dad help me make it!

What you need:

a great Dad or guy to help you --or at least I did :)

3 mason jars

a board

3 hose clamps (large enough to fit around the mason jar)

3 frame hooks-we used ones like this:

All you need to do is place the clamps on the board where you would like the jars to sit then you place the frame hook across the clamp vertically and nail it down.  Place your mason jars in the clamps after they are all set up on the board and cut the extra hose off.

You can fill it with anything you like, I chose cotton balls, make-up wedges, and q-tips (which are NOT to be used in ears!!)

I love the new look of the organizer in my bathroom.  The wood also matches my cute basket I put together!