I wanted to give out good prizes at Shannon G’s baby shower while staying on a budget. Most baby shower planning sites said just go to the Dollar Store and grab some things and throw them in a bag. I don’t want stuff from the Dollar Store (unless I need something specific) so why would I give Dollar Store stuff out as prizes? I knew my friend Christina would have a great idea for me and sure enough she came through. She told me about these really cute things at Bath and Body Works called PocketBacs. 
Tiny little anti-bacterial gel bottles. She told me they have cute little holders too. 
So I bought a bunch of the PocketBacs and holders in various flavors and colors. They also have these adorable tiny candles- bigger than a tealight and maybe votive sized, but in its own container. I bought a bunch of those in various scents to go with the PocketBacs. 
Island Margarita is especially yummy smelling. I lucked out with a coupon and free shipping and of course I went through Ebates so I made 3% back on the purchase. So for the same amount I would have spent for Dollar Store variety bags I was able to give adorable, useful prizes. When the box arrived everything smelled so good I had a hard time giving them up! I went ahead and put the gels into their little holders and paired them up with a candle then put it all in a themed goody bag and tied it with pink ribbon. Everyone seemed to really like the prizes. I was very pleased!
Bless Your Heart
Living out loud in the Carolinas
recent posts
Vacation Consultant 🛳️ Color Street Stylist 💅
Mom to 3 pups 🐾
Lover of all things sparkly🪩 Ally 🌈
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
-
-
For Shannon G’s shower I wanted to find some fun shower games. She was not into the whole “let’s measure the Mommy’s belly” thing or the melted candy bars in diaper game (thank goodness- that just seems gross to me!). So I looked around online and found the Don’t Say Baby Game. As guests arrived I gave them all a hot pink Mardi Gras bead necklace to wear. Once everyone arrived I explained the rules of the game. You can’t say “Baby”. If you do and are caught then you give up your beads to the person who caught you. The guest at the end of the shower with the most beads wins a fabulous prize. I was the first person to lose my beads when I called Kiki “Baby”. Doh! It was really fun, especially because we all got a little competitive and MAN is it hard to not say baby at a baby shower!
The other game we played was baby pictionary. I borrowed a giant dry erase board from Gigi that’s on an easel. That made it super easy to play. Susan brought some dry erase markers for us. A few weeks prior to the shower I compiled the list of word clues for the game. I came up with a few on my own but then turned to Google. You would not believe what some people suggested! Pablum? Dilation? Crowning? Ok, I don’t even know what pablum is but it doesn’t sound good. And I sure did not want a bunch of ladies trying to draw a baby’s head crowning or any other anatomy class pictures! I finally came up with a good list: (more…)
-
While planning Shannon G’s mustache themed baby shower I had to decide on a traditional cake or go with cupcakes. Her favorite flavor of cake is almond (like me), so I knew I could pull that off. But making a cake that would reflect both the mustache and baby girl theme was proving daunting. Plus, I have this fabulous 3 tiered hot pink server that I’ve been dying to use. So cupcakes it is! I knew I wanted the icing to be pink but I needed a mustache in there…enter mustache on a stick! I Googled mustache on a stick and found a ton of them at Etsy. LOVE Etsy. I found quite a few sellers with mustaches on sticks but the quality just wasn’t all that great. I was thinking maybe I could make them myself but then I saw MaroDesigns and everything changed. Their attention to detail is incredible and more importantly they are affordable. I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy all the supplies and make my own mustaches on sticks for near the same price or quality. I messaged them and told them I needed 20 mustaches on sticks for cupcakes and would that be possible? Sure enough they were able to create adorable little staches that were perfect for my cupcakes! The tiny mustaches were delicate and fragile but they were packed with such care that they arrived in perfect condition. I could not wait to use them!
They were the perfect size for cupcake picks AND for holding up to your face to be your mustache for photo ops! Be sure to go check out MaroDesigns for all your things on a stick needs!I made almond flavored cupcakes and homemade almond buttercream icing. I couldn’t find hot pink cupcake liners that I liked so I used silver foil. They reflected the hot pink of the server so they appeared pink until you took them off. Genius!
I added tiny little white sugar pearls to girl them up a bit. I was very pleased with how they turned out! 
-
As soon as Shannon G told me she was pregnant I started mentally planning her baby shower. I knew instantly I wanted it to be Mustache themed as she’s married to Senor Mustachio. I started looking for invitations and party goods right away. You’d be surprised at how slim the pickings are when you’re looking for mustached themed party goods. I turned to Etsy and found B. Nute Productions. Betsy was incredible to work with. She had a blue mustache themed party invitation that was masculine but had some elements I was looking for. I really liked her style so I messaged her and asked could she do a custom invite for me. I told her what I wanted (vintage feel, pink, woman and baby wearing mustaches, etc.). We went back and forth via email as she created the invitation. I think she was a bit thrown off that I wanted a mustache themed baby shower invite for a girl. But she totally delivered. I blurred out the identifying information but here’s the final result (click to enlarge):
I was THRILLED when they arrived! They are big- 5×7 and printed on heavy card stock. Great quality! I couldn’t wait to show Shannon G. She loved them too. I’m a firm believer that your invitation sets the tone of the party and this was just perfect! Betsy at B. Nute Productions makes all sorts of invitations, announcements, etc. I’ll be sure to use her again- you should too! -
I have had a Google Voice Phone Number for a good while now, almost 2 years I think. I love it. We’ve used it a lot and it totally saved us when my Blackberry died in Vegas. I was able to get on a hotel computer and text CSP’s dad using my Google voice number. Now that I have my iPhone (replaced that Crackberry as soon as we got back to CLT with the iPhone) I use my Google Voice number to text for free. I get 200 texts for $5 with my plan. But with my Google Voice App I can text all I want for free! Woot! I just sent out a message letting everyone know it’s me. Your Google voice number is a regular phone number. It’s a great number to have if you need to give out a contact number but you don’t want to give out a personal number. Win win! -
If you are a Starbucks fan you need to download the Starbucks mobile app. It makes it so easy to reload your card and now you can even pay with your phone! The other day CSP & I were in the drive thru at our local Starbucks. Before we left the house I reloaded my card via the app but when I handed the card to the drive thru dude he said there wasn’t enough money on the card, the reload hadn’t gone through yet. He asked did I have the mobile app and just scanned my phone! So cool! I also like how I can keep track of how many stars I’ve earned and how long til my next free drink! 
-
Catalogs are starting to appear in my mail box selling gorgeous outdoor furniture collections. Pricey, upholstered furniture. I don’t understand this. I don’t know where you have to live to be able to use this furniture. Where I live, in North Carolina, we have things like : rain, pollen, dirt, bugs, and the fading powers of the sun. All of this means that any outdoor furniture we own must be hose downable. Crate and Barrel sent their catalog and it has this beautiful purple and gray collection that costs more than some mortgage payments. I do heart the pillows though. If we ever could afford to bring home furniture like this we’d have to spend a half hour each night bringing it in from the outside! What’s the point? 
-
- Alone by Lisa Gardner
That’s it. We’re almost finished with the first quarter of 2011 and I’ve read one book. Pitiful! It was a good book but it wasn’t even in book form. It was via the Kindle app on my iPhone. I blame it on how busy I’ve been and the absurd amount of magazines that arrive in my mail box every week. Last Spring I had some airline miles I needed to get rid of (not enough for a ticket) so I used them to get magazines. I ordered everything they had that was in English. We get Dog Fancy, Cigar Afficianado, the Wall Street Journal, Time, Glamour, Lucky, and on and on. We get FOUR different Golf magazines! CSP hasn’t played golf in like a year! I pass on a lot of our magazines and CSP & I race to read the rest. We’re only renewing one subscription for him (Bloomburg Business Week) and one for me (Real Simple) so I’ll be back on the book reading bandwagon soon!
- Alone by Lisa Gardner
-
They SPROINNNGGGG!!! -
Cause I’m on a roll! Ha! I have one more prize to tell you about. There was a contest on Facebook to win a 4 piece skin care set and I won! It’s from Budhi which is technically a teen skin care line but hey, I’m about 15 on the inside so that counts right? It came with a cute drawstring bag and a sticker. The little bottles are perfect for travel, reusable and it’s all fragrance free and good for sensitive skin (which is a plus for me). Thanks Budhi!
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | ||
Bless Your Heart 