Bunco Party

I'm part of a Bunco group with ladies from work.  This last week was my turn to host and I wanted to share some of my ideas with you.

I decided to have a theme for my party, sometimes we do and sometimes we don't.  I chose to have a Pajama Party theme since it was a Friday night and most people would be coming from work.  And what is better on a Friday evening than putting on your P.J's?

I went easy on the decorations since they aren't necessary for a Bunco night, but I kept everything girly like things were for sleepover parties as a kid.  So I used lots of pinks with splashes of blues and greens.



For gifts I tried to stick with things that went with the theme of the night.  (And I'm sorry, I forgot to take pictures of all the gifts.)

For the Bunco winner I got a gift certificate for a massage.

For high game, I got a bottle of pink bubble bath, rose champagne, and a pink candle.

For second high game I got vanilla bath salts, vanilla lotion, and a vanilla candle.
For low game I got a make-up brush set.
For snakes I got a hand soap and lotion set.

 For the Hostess gift I got vanilla cinnamon bath salts.
For Bunco Baby I got a mug and hot chocolate packets.
For the Better Luck Next Time gifts I got sleep masks.

And for the first time in my Bunco history I won something other than the Better Luck Next Time gift!  Yay me!!!

We ordered pizza so no one had to worry about making something to bring.  And I made some cupcake.

We had 80's music playing in the background.  Husband spent the evening over at this parents house playing Shanghai.  I had a great time hanging out with the girls and can't wait for next time (but I'm kinda glad I'm not hosting again!).

Super Late Valentine's Post

And over a week later, I'm telling you about our Valentine's day.  Oops!  But it was super great!
Husband had these delivered to work.

These are the same flowers from my wedding bouquet as well as my sorority's flower.  I think they are beautiful and are so special to me.

 This was my gift to Husband. 

  

The tag says "I'll love you to a galaxy far far away and back".  Anyone wanna guess the movie that's from? ;-)

This was his card.

 

It was originally for a grandson.  Apparently Hallmark doesn't think that big boys would like a Valentine's card from their wives.  So I did some modifications to it.  

 These are the goodies that were inside his basket.

  

A Darth Vader pen and R2-D2 key chain both from the Lego store.

 And outer-space themed candy and goodies.

Milky Ways- our galaxy

Orbit gum- like planets orbit

Zero bar- zero gravity

Starbursts- stars are in outer space

Sky bar- Luke Skywalker

Here's last year's V-day gift for the Hubs with more detail on assembling and wrapping the gift.

Got any cool gift ideas to share?

Lesson 128- Hakuna Matata

Last weekend Husband and I went to Las Vegas, which you may remember was my anniversary present.  We got it late-ish Friday night.  Saturday morning we headed to "The Strip" first visiting Caeser's Palace where I finally found the Ugg boots I've been craving for about a year.

We feasted at the Paris Hotel's buffet--after waiting in line for about 2 hours.  Silly, I know, but I really wanted to eat there.  And I'm blessed enough to have a husband who will indulge me. 

We had fun taking silly pictures with people on the The Strip.

That night it was time to go see "Lion King" at Mandalay Bay.  It was phenomenal!  Amazing!  I loved every second and look forward to when I get to see it again (for a third time!).

The next morning we packed up and headed out.  And oh my gosh!  It took us forever to get home.  There was major traffic getting across the Hoover Dam and what should have taken us about 4 hours took us closer to 7.5.  It was brutal!  But we saw a pretty rainbow!

What a super anniversary present I got!!!  And what a super husband I have!!!

Lesson 108- His Anniversary Present

So you may remember I was having a hard time deciding on an anniversary present after I accidentally (on purpose) discovered what Husband got me.  I came up with a couple of good ideas and then really struggled finalizing on one.  But I did.  And the very next day I called to cancel.  Although it was a super idea, it just didn't feel right.  So I bought him something else.  This felt right.

I bought him a football scrapbook.

Ok I know that doesn't sound super fantastic.  I made a couple of scrapbook pages ready to have pictures of us at football games added later.

Still doesn't sound super fantastic?  The first page had an envelope in his team's colors.  And in the envelope...




wait for it...




wait for it...



In the envelope were two tickets for the 49ers playing in Phoenix.

Seventh row right off the 50 yard line on the visiting team's side.  Which is perfect since the visiting team that day is the 49ers, his fave team.  Oh, and did I mention they're for Monday Night Football?  Yeah.  It's a super fantastic gift.

Sorry for the camera phone pics...I was trying to be sly about taking the pics.

Lesson 100-It Was Accidentally on Purpose

Confession: I'm a present snooper.  But he makes me do it!!!

Our One-Year-Aversary is later this month.  I had been thinking about what to get Husband as a gift for some time, trying to get something that falls in the tradition of a 'paper' gift for the first year.  I casually mentioned it to Husband one afternoon, but I didn't have any suggestions for a present for myself.  I guess it wasn't really a productive conversation at all.

Anyways...over Labor Day weekend, Husband told me he had bought my anniversary gift.  My immediate response was "What is it?".  Come on, why even bring it up if we're not going to have a conversation about it?!?!  Then later that same week he told me that we would be getting a UPS package soon and when we do, don't open it.  Why does he do this to me?!?!  Had he said nothing, I never would have thought twice about a package being delivered to the house in his name.  But warning me, taunting me, torturing me like that.  I can't handle it!!!!

That same afternoon as I was pulling into the garage I see it--a UPS envelope sitting in front of the door.  I picked it up and brought it inside.  I set it on the counter in the kitchen.  All the while the darn envelope was taunting me.  So I took a peek at the return address.  It was a website.  Websites can be Googled.  Google loves me.  I love Google.  But I have to be sly about it.  Google from my Blackberry.  That way there is no trace on the computer of my snooping.  Ah ha!!!  Found it!

It's a REALLY good gift.  I'm quite impressed.  And I have the best Husband.  Hands down.  And it even fits in the tradition of a 'paper gift'.  But the bummer is, it makes all my gift ideas beyond lame.  So now I have no idea what to get him!  And it's all Husband's fault for making me snoop.

Friends: if you have any suggestions, please help me out.  The Wife isn't supposed to be the one with the lame anniversary gifts!  And someday I'll tell you how he tortured me with Christmas presents.  Oh, and I'll share with you what he got me...after the One-Year-Aversary.  Hey, somebody's got to be surprised, right?

Lesson 99-Luggage Tags

Remember I mentioned that Husband recently got an awesome promotion?  Well said promotion involves a lot of traveling.  I wanted to get him a little congratulatory gift that was travel related.  I thought it would be cool to make him some personalized luggage tags.  Which is actually more difficult than I thought it would be.  There are packages you can purchase online.  But the cons were: 1)  I didn't want to wait for them to be shipped; 2) They only came in packages of 10 or more, I only needed 2.  Office supply stores had nothing of the sort.  So I improvised.

1.  I made the text in a Word document and printed on regular printer paper.  One side was going to have Husband's favorite football team's logo.  The other side has all the important info.

2.  Using the insert for a luggage tag we already had as a stencil I traced around each side on the paper and then cut each out.  I then glued each side to a piece of cardstock, same size and shape.  In retrospect, this was probably not necassary.  The lady at the office supply store told me it was a little thick for lamination.  Which brings me to...
3.  I took each piece to the local office supply store to be laminated.  They fit inside a business card pouch which only cost .99 for each one.
4.  After I got home with the laminated pieces, I punched a whole on the end wide enough to fit the straps through.  I just took the straps from luggage tags we already had.

5.  I made a little envelope with some left-over card stock and put the tags in there with a little message.

They are now residing in my dresser until we go to our congratulatory dinner tomorrow night.  I hope he likes 'em!

Happy Friday!  Hope your weekend is filled with all things fun!

Lesson 82- Baby Spa Treatment

Remember last week I showed you the letters I made for Baby Logan's nursery?  If not here's the post.  Ok, now remember I promised to be back with more presents?  Well now is that time!  Hurray!  I decided that I would make a baby spa treatment basket.  Husband and I set off to Target to purchase bathtime necessities:

• baby oil
• baby powder
• Butt Paste (yes, that's really what it's called!)
• baby bath wash
• baby lotion
• wash cloths

Then we walked over the Dollar Store and bought a 

• little basket
• basket filler paper stuff
• shrink wrap
• pre-curled ribbon 

When we got home I put the filler at the bottom of the basket then started arranging all the baby bath stuff.  

Once I had everything the way I wanted, Husband helped me put the shrink wrap around the basket and brought me my hair dryer.  He's such a good husband! 

I tied the top with a little bit of raffia and then started the dryer to shrink around the basket.  Once everything was nice and snug I stuck the ribbon to cover the raffia.

And it top it all off we placed this basket inside a baby bath tub.  Hope Logan enjoys his spa time!  Aside from the goodies inside the basket, the wrapping only cost $5.  Gotta love the Dollar Store! 

And if you'd like to see my first ever shrink wrap gift basket click here!

Lesson 80-Letters to Baby

Our friends H & C have been super blessed this week and adopted a newborn baby boy. Husband and I had our 'Last Dinner' with them this past weekend complete with presents.  Here is the part the I crafted for his nursery.  But first I'll share the nursery decor, which obviously was my inspiration.

Ahoy Matey Bedding

With those colors in mind I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up my necessities.  Here's what I purchased:

• wooden letters
• blue paint
• coordinating scrapbook papers
• ribbon

And here's what I already had at home:

• Mod Podge
• paint brushes
• staple gun with staples

My first step was painting the back and the sides with the navy blue.  I knew that since the edges were kinda beveled it would be difficult to the the paper to cover the edges nicely so the paint would tie the whole thing together.

Once the paint was dry I traced the letters on to my scrapbook paper.  I kept the letters face up thinking it would provide a little extra paper to cover part of the edges.  I was right!  Once the letters were cut I covered the front of the letters with Mod Podge and smoothes paper on top.  I then smoothed the extra paper over the sides of the letters.  Once the paper was successfully on the letter the top was covered with Mod Podge and left to dry.

 

Once the front was dry, I flipped the letters over and covered the back with Mod Podge as well, one to give it a glossier finish, two to make it a smoother texture.  Finally after the fronts and backs were completely dry I attached the ribbon loops to the back center of each letter with a staple gun.  To make the loops, I took 4 inch pieces of ribbon and folded it into a loop.  Here's the final product.

 

I hope H & C and baby Logan enjoy the letters as much as I do!

I hope you all enjoy your weekend!  I'll be back next week with more Baby Logan gifts!

Linking to these Friday fun parties!  Go check em out and get inspired!

Lesson 19- Why Shrink Wrap is my New Favorite!

This post could also be titled "How to Make a Cheap and Cheesy Valentine Present"

I'm posting this before Sunday cause I'm hoping that the Husband won't look--and chances are he won't. But I'm also excited about the way my present turned out and wanted to publish it before Valentime's [sic] in case some of you are still in need of a pressie. And don't feel bad, this is the first year I've actually been on top of things!

For starters, Husband is a HUGE fan of spicy things. And I mean HUGE!!!! He'll put hot sauce on just about anything and everything. So I gathered some yummy spicy things:

*Hot Cheetos
*Hot Cheetos with Lime
*cinnamon gum
*Hot Tamales
*Spicy Nacho Doritos
*Salsa Verde Doritos
*spicy beef jerkey
*Pace's picante sauce
*Louisiana hot sauce
Okay, so it's not a healthy present. But a gigantic box of chocolate is?
And then I threw this in, just cause the Husband really wants it. See, aren't I already becoming such a good wife?!



I placed it all in a basket from the $1 Store with some red filler and shrink wrap around it. This was my first time using shrink wrap. And it is now my favorite! Hence the title of this post. You put it around your basket and tie it shut. And it looks loose and sloppy. Like this:



Then I took my handy-dandy hair dryer and shrunk the shrink wrap so it formed nicely around the goodies in the basket. Then it looked like this:


Much better don't you think?

Now you may be wondering where I'm going with all the spicy stuff for Valentine's day when the tradition is candies and chocolate. Well for starters it's a little more personalized for my Valentine. But to tie everything together and make it more themed for Valentine's Day, I added this tag to it:



Get it?!?! Spicy snacks=I'm hot for you I thought it was clever and I love it!!! Hopefully the Husband will love it as much as I do!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!! Hope you share the day with someone special!

Lesson 7- Last Minute Christmas Gifts

We learned today that Christmas morning will not only be spent with my in-laws but some of their friends from church. While we are in the spirit of giving, our checking account is no longer willing to give us too much more for gifts. Not a problem, just gives me an excuse to get crafty! We decided for each family to do hot cocoa in a jar. since they all have young children we figured it's a great holiday treat.

Hot Cocoa Recipe:
* 1 1/2 C. skim milk powder
* 1 1/2 C. white sugar
* 3/4 C. unsweetened cocoa
* 3/4 C. non-dairy creamer
* mini marshmallows

1. Place all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir well. For a finer mix, combine all ingredients in a blender or food processor and mix well.

2. Transfer cocoa mix into canning jars (about 32-36 oz). Fill remaining space in jar with mini marshmallows. I used the seasonal French Vanilla ones that were in the shape of snowmen--very festive!


3. Cut fabric in square pieces with pinking shears one inch larger than lid diameter.



4. Place lid on jar, then fabric square, then ring onto jar.

5. With ribbon, yarn, or rafia, attach directions:
"Place 2 or 3 tablespoons in a mug and add boiling water"



Happy Gift-Giving and Merry Christmas!