Christmas Wish List

I received this text today from my husband “I need a Xmas list”.  Well sweetheart, now that you ask, there are a few things I have had my eye on and I’ll blog about it for you.  As everyone is basting their Turkey and flipping through the Blackfriday ads, here are a few things you may want to be on the lookout for.

 

1)      Skinnytaste Cookbook – I love the blog and I am very excited that there are actually recipes in print version compiled into one book. 

2)      Casetify Cell Phone Case – I can’t just pick one case, I love them all!  My favorite are the transparent cases and of course the photo cases.  I just hope they are as awesome in person as they are online.  Oh and they also have Christmas and Snow Themed Transparent cases!

 

3)      Moscow Mule Copper Mug – 2 of these bad boys are very much needed.  I have a new found love of Moscow Mules by the pool. It is such a light and refreshing drinking paired with a copper mug.

 

4)      Lush Bath Bombs – Lush gets festive around the holidays and has an awesome line of bath bombs to help you decompress.  These are such a treat and leave your skin feeling silky smooth.

 

 

5)      Mad Men, The Final Season – According to the blogs, this goes on sale blackfriday at Target.  This is really a gift for him too since we typically watch it together with our glasses of Jameson.

 

6)      Pureology Hydrate Shampoo – I hate buying shampoo and I hate the cost of it but often times when I switch, I end up going through so many shampoos that I should have stuck with what I know works.  I love to ask for my favorite haircare and make up for Christmas and Birthdays.

7)      Labeler Cord – I still have no idea if my labeler actually came with a cord or not.  I received my labeler as a gift from my husband last year and have been labeling like crazy ever since but I am changing the battery VERY often and would love an adapter.  I also could use some refill tape at the rate I am going with labeling. 

 

8)      Jo Totes Camera Bag – I really hate carrying my camera bag and my purse to events.  What ends up happening is I try to stuff whatever I can into my camera bag which is your standard bag which means I can’t find stuff or stuff is falling out because that isn’t what the bag is intended for.  I would absolutely love a bag like this!

Monster Inc Birthday Party

My son wanted a Monster’s Inc Party and was clear that he didn’t want a Monster’s University Party.  That was a little challenging because everything that is out right now is Monster’s University.   I took to Pinterest to see what I could find.  He really loves pajamas and would stay in them all day if he could and could eat pancakes for every meal.  The theme was a Monster’s Inc. PJs and Pancakes.  I loved the cake.  We were lucky that the West Side Bakery could do this for us.  Mike and Sully eating pancakes were perfect and made him so happy!  He also picked out the filling which was cookies and cream!  They also made the cookies.  We had a family friend who started her own business make Monster cake pops which were perfect as well. 

Décor

I have found that for parties I like to buy the party colors instead of the party plates and tablecloths.  I can typically reuse the stuff and it is cheaper as well.  Target had the plates, tablecloths, napkins and silverware pretty cheap.  I also got the treat bags there as well.  I did buy Sulley paper cup for the kids.  I added the cupcake topper to the front of the bags and also to the front of some of the jars, glasses, bowls, etc.  I even used double sided tape to put them on the coffee cups.  I put the signs up around the house and also placed some inside of my favorite party frames, the Ikea $0.99 frames!  I also got a few tissue paper balls to hang in the windows.

Food

The yogurt bar was a big hit.  I included low-fat vanilla yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, chocolate chips, granola and yogurt covered raisins.  We made some breakfast casseroles, ham, bacon, sausage and pancakes for breakfast.  I also made pancake muffins.  My mom told me about these and they turned out really good.  I made some that were plain and others that had chocolate chips in there.  You can put anything you want in them, but that is what I thought everyone would like best. 

Special Touches

I love the milk jug look and though that would be perfect for the party.  I read somewhere that someone collected the Starbucks Frappuccino bottles and took the stickers off of the front.  It was much cheaper and very practical than ordering them from somewhere.

I also found Disney sticker books to use as placemats.  They were cute for the kids to play with and take home.  I also picked up some monster glasses which they loved playing with and got a cute group shot with everyone.  Of course the kids loved being in their PJs as well.

Invite – Gensquared (Etsy)

Cupcake Toppers and Signs – PetitePartyStudio (Etsy)

Cake and Cookies – The West Side Bakery

Cake Pops – Traci Kohl

Paper Party Supplies & Treat Bags – Target

Disney Sticker Book – Amazon

Sulley Cups – Amazon

Pink Pumpkin 1st Birthday Party

My little pumpkin arrived a month early a year ago.  I thought I would be having a fall/winter baby and little did I know our little pumpkin would arrive so early.  We have a boy and our house is filled with boy things and navy blue so I decided we needed some pink in our lives.  Had I realized that October is breast cancer awareness month, I would have absolutely incorporated that as well.  Hobby Lobby had pink pumpkins so I grabbed a few for her one year photos and had the picture added to an Etsy invite I found.  This is the first time I printed the invites from CVS and I was really pleased with the price and quality.  I bought a big box of envelopes from staples to put them in and will keep those for future parties. 

 

 

I really liked the fact that I could decorate for fall and use that as my decorations for the party.  I also was happy I figured out I could use craft paper to cover up my picture I have hanging in the morning room.  It is a red and black picture so it wouldn’t have gone well with the décor.  I think I am going to try this trick more often when having parties at places I can’t control what is on the walls or when I am unable to take something down.

 For the food we had a chili bar with white and red chili and I also had hot dogs incase anyone wanted a Coney.  I bought premade cornbread from GFS and ordered chicken and salad from Giant Eagle.  I had a bunch of toppings for the chili bar which included cheeses, peppers, sour cream, Fritos, crackers, etc. 

 

We had Almond, Pumpkin and PB Cup cupcakes along with vanilla pink pumpkin cake pops.  I also ordered some delicious sugar cookies that were pumpkins and pink and orange number 1s. 

 

 

I had some pink treat bags and napkins left over from my sister’s bridal shower.  The pink napkins were cloth so I placed them in baskets and bowls for an extra touch of pink. 

I used the burlap pennants across the fireplace for decoration and had a few left that didn’t quite fit so I cut them off and put them on the front of the high chair.  A tip I found online was to put Velcro on the back of the pennants when placing it on the high chair.  It stuck just fine and when I was ready to take it off it came off easily. 

 

 The kids painted pumpkins.  I bought some small pumpkins, paints and brushes.  I used egg crates to put the paint in for the kids and a mason jar for water. 

Invite – Littlebirdieprints (etsy shop)

 

Small Hay Bales – Hobby Lobby

ONE and 1 Letters & Scrapbook Paper– Hobby Lobby

Lace – JoAnn Fabrics

Burlap pennant – Hobby Lobby

Pumpkin Chalkboard – Hobby Lobby

Autumn Décor – Hobby Lobby

Plates and Paper Products – Party City

White pumpkins – Local Farmer’s Market (Shaffer’s)

Photo Books – Shutterfly

Paint Supplies – Hobby Lobby