Party Time! Library Baby Shower!

Earlier this year (yes I am aware that it is only March but this party took place in January so give me a break!) I helped plan a party to celebrate that Best Friend is expecting her first baby!

As a little background on Best Friend and her Hubby I should tell you that they are both post secondary teachers, they are both supper geeky and supper fun! But most of all they love love love books! I mean LOVE books, Best Friend got encyclopedias for Christmas last year and she was so excited, I mean thrilled... that's how much they love books!

So when planning a shower for their little bundle that is soon to arrive what else could I do other than a library theme!


Best Friends mom provided a lot of the decor as she had picked up most of it at a big party store in Florida during her last trip down south! (It is my dream after seeing what was brought back and hearing about this store to go there and shop for every party I will ever plan!)

So here you have it the Library Baby Shower!

 These super simple centerpieces are simply my kids books straight from their bookshelves at home, I stacked them and used a bull dog clip to put the quote on top written on a library card!

I added the expectant parents as the authors on the library cards and made the due date the babies due date of course and then I used them for everything from the centerpiece toppers to the game cards. (we played Baby item Price is right! Daddy Knows best and the more traditional games like guess the baby's birth time and weight)

 I knew exactly what kind of cake I wanted to use for this shower and after trying to make it perfect and with only fondant I resigned to the fact that well... it wasn't going to happen, but I still got the look I was going for. (hardest part of this cake was trying to make sure that one breast wasn't too much bigger than the other... it was a riot!)

Best Friend and her fabulous Momma did up the favors and the poem from one that I had posted on my Pinterest party idea board and it came out so cute! I love the tiny Chinese food boxes and I think that the poem on the scroll really worked with the theme.

We also had the guest fill out wishes for baby cards (see link below) which I think was the sweetest part there are so many nice comments on them for both Best Friend and Baby J to read and re-read over the years!

To top this off I had written a poem for the invites which let the invited guests know that rather than bring a card we wanted to build a library for the baby and to bring a book! (so not my original idea but it worked for us!) I just have to share... (please if you like it use it but be sure to credit me or at least don't say that you came up with it in your brilliant little head... thanks!) We did most of our inviting on Facebook, which I know to some is considered tacky but hey it worked for us, so I don't have any photos of the invites to share.

Our favorite stories stay with us as we grow,
Both ____ and ______ love to read as we know!
So when planning a shower to greet Baby _____
There was no better theme for us to go with!

Lets build a library fit for this girl,
bring a book in place of a card, lets give it a whirl!
Write your message just inside of the cover
for Baby _____ to read and discover.

In just a short time she will learn how to read!
What a smart little girl and you helped plant the seed!
Join us for a game or two or three
and if a treat you'd like to bring please do check with me...

Were inviting you to share in the baby shower joy
Help us shower this baby and remember its NOT A BOY!
Meet us at the Hotel from 1 until 3
The beautiful Momma to be you will see!

Need help with a gift well that is just a snap!
If you prefer give your computer keys just a tap...
Online number: (fill in info here!)

Or if you are one to shop till you drop
At Toys-R-Us is where you should stop!
(fill in info here!)

We hope you will join us at this her first party
We will have lots to do so please don't be tardy!

Find the items that I used through the links below!
Library Cards
Wishes for Baby

If you would like the printable for the games that I used please email me or leave a comment and I will gladly email you the word document to personalize and print for your showers!

Our little shower went over very well everyone had a great time, complimented the theme and asked where did you get the library cards!

Hope this gives you some inspiration for your parties in the future!

Sesame Street Party! Loot Bags!

I love a good kids party... heck I love a good party!

I also love when you can make your Loot Bags and make them fun for the kids without breaking the bank and filling them with junk toys and junk food!

I didn't DIY all of the Loot Bag fillers this year like I have done in the past (click here to see those ones) but I did make sure that there wasn't too much candy filling up the kiddos after cake, cupcakes and lots of cookies... I put in a fruit snack and a candy skewer, and then rounded it out with Sesame Street Stickers, bubbles, a glow stick and a thank you photo of my boy!

For Max's Loot Bags I knew that as one of our kiddos favorite characters Cookie Monster would be the star and I wanted them to be easy to make as well so I set out with my trusty scalloped edge circle cutter and a few brown paper bags to make my own Loot Bags as I have before! This was beyond EASY! I punched out a few Cookie Monster Blue scalloped edge circles and added a few crazy eyes, and a huge black smile then it was as easy as gluing Cookie to the the bag and filling them up...

I made the candy skewers myself and picked up the candy at the bulk store for about $8.00 and had enough for  9 skewers and some extra (ok a lot extra) for snaking at the house and on a quick road trip to visit family....

The skewers them selves were $1 at the dollarama (the bag had about 100 in it and while about 4 or 5 were cracked or split and unusable I guarantee I wont ever use the whole bag!)

To make the skewers I just threaded the candy on the skewer in a pattern and covered it with a sandwich bag (you know the type, the ones that fold over that you pick up by mistake when you are reaching for the zip up kind but not paying enough attention at the store...) then add a ribbon around and you have a quick easy Loot Bag filler!

As for the Photo I edited a snap of my boy in Picasa (It's my preferred editor) or you can do it in any of the online editors you use, then email to Walmart! I usually just add Thanks for celebrating my __ birthday with me... or Thanks for making my __ birthday special... or any cute saying I like to include the year so that it becomes more of a keepsake then just a thank you note. Now this where it can get a little expensive. I usually print about 30 photos as I want to have enough to put in the Loot Bags and you need a few extra for the adults at the party too... goodness knows that Nanny and Poppy need one and so does great aunt whats-her-name, and what about that old friend so-and-so. But at 19 cents a print its still not too bad, at just $5.70 (plus taxes) its a nice gesture to say thanks to kids and grown ups alike that attended your party and brought a gift.

So the price break down for each Loot Bag....

Paper bag: 0.02 (packaged 50/$1)

Photo:  0.19 (each)

Bubbles: 0.25 (packaged 4/$1)

Glow Stick: 0.19 (packaged 6/$1)

Stickers: 0.33 (packaged 6 sheets/$2)

Fruit snacks:0.33 (packaged 12 packets/$4)

Candy Skewers: 0.51 (Skewers 100/$1 Candy Bulk 8.00 for WAY more than enough!)

This years Loot Bags came in at roughly $1.79 per bag.... not to shabby if you ask me! 

Now you may look at this and say that's all you put in your Loot Bags? But keep in mind that you just loaded those kids down with not only cake, cupcakes, cookies and lunch but also a prize for the lucky cup and plate, a prize for each game, and a pinata! Trust me its ENOUGH!


What do you put in your Loot Bags? Do you skip them all together? I'd love to hear about your party and your Loot Bags in the comments!

Sesame Street Party! DIY Balloon Wreath!

So as you likely already know Max celebrated his BIG FIRST BIRTHDAY this past weekend if you follow Momma Made It on Facebook you may also know that Max had a party on Sunday that was Sesame Street Themed! (Yes I like theme parties and yes I start them young!)

So as with all parties (which you can see here, and here) I like to make some if not all the decorations as well as the cake and the food and the invites and the list goes on... so since both our kids have August birthdays I have been crafting and DIYing for months trying to get everything just right...

One of the first things that I wanted to make was one of those cool Balloon Wreaths, with the logic that 1)It looks awesome and 2)I can reuse it every year no matter the theme.

So I pinned one (similar to the one above) on Pinterest and thought nothing of it until it was time to get crafting.

However when you click HERE to check out the cool project and start to DIY it wasn't quite what I thought.... you actually buy a straw wreath and floral pins then pin the balloons into the wreath....

Well since I couldn't find a straw wreath in my budget (yeah that means at the dollarama) I bought this ugly thing that apparently keeps up flowers that you plant in your garden... I have a black thumb and don't plant so clearly I needed to find a new use for it.

So away I went with bags and bags of assorted sized of balloons, this interesting thing and an IDEA!

Once home I (and by I, I mean Robyn) sorted all the assorted balloons into color groups.

 Then I actually tied each balloon around the wire hoop....

From there you just alternate colors and and keep tying... I watched a whole episode of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe while doing this, it goes quick and doesn't take any more skill then tying a knot... I found that the assorted sizes made for more interesting texture on the wreath, some are large and some are flat and some are the twisting balloons... its just more FUN!

Soon you end up with this... and you can jazz it up a little by wrapping a pipe cleaner around the wreath and twisting the end so that it is a bit more forward than your balloons...

Then it's just hang it at your party and enjoy how pretty it is and all the complements on it when you tell friends, family and other adoring mothers that "Yes I made it and it was so easy!"

So even though its not your traditional balloon wreath I think it looks good and will as I hoped suit any party we have for Max in the future... I can see it now.... Lego, or Rainbow, or The Very hungry Caterpillar or Pirates or, or, oh man do I dread the day when the kids don't want to have theme parties anymore....

Do you DIY your party decor? or do you DIY/ make it your own other DIY projects for your kids parties? Share your party ideas in the comments I'd love to hear all about your theme parties!

PS Look for a full over view of the party before the Weekend and then more DIY projects next week!

Halloween highlights! Halloween Party!

Last year I planned and help host a Halloween party with Best Friend!

We had so much fun, baking and decorating and getting all dressed up and of course I forgot to take pictures... so what your seeing here are her pictures... 

Yep here is our Halloween party as stolen from Best Friend!

 all the food ready to go!

 Some of our decorations! 

We added spider webs to everything, and I framed up pictures of skeletons to mix in with the regular pictures on display.

 I got the table cloth at the Dollarstore (knowing it would likely get ruined)

 I made these labels for each of the items on the table, like "Mummy's shortbread" for the cookies, "Vampire Vomit" for the cheese dip "Bat Bites" for for the chocolate cupcakes and "Zombie Brains" for the chip dip

 for the sides of the glass bowls we mixed red food coloring and light corn syrup and then drizzled it down the outsides of the bowls to make it look like blood dripping down them!

Not to mention their great pumpkin... Best Friends Hubby (then fiance) carved it with the Auto-bots symbol from the Transformers... needless to say it was the talk of the party! (yep were all nerds)

Do you host a Halloween party? What are your favorite things to do and make for your party? I'd love some new ideas for this year if you'd like to share in the comments!

Birthday Party Loot Bags

This post about loot bags for toddlers got me thinking when I read it last week... 

Basically the mom who wrote it was saying that it is impossible to make up loot bags for parties that aren't all junk food or junk toys and that they can get kinda costly if your not careful... and I have to agree for the most part. 

I hate that most parties send kids home with lots of junk too... that's why I don't do it because it bugs me... I do however feel that you can certainly tell your kids (you know cause your the grown up and the boss of them...) that they cant have whats in the bag because they just left a party that pumped them full of sweets and cake. Its even OK to toss the toys or give them away when the kids aren't looking (as long of course as they aren't the child's new favorite toy... ) especially if the toys are indeed junk...  

but that is just my 2 cents... 

I do also believe that if you are the parent throwing the birthday party you control what goes into the loot bags and if your willing to put in a bit of time you can save yourself a little money and even make a few other parents happy as well.

In the blog post referred to above the mom suggests a gift card to the book store or a potted plant or musical instruments as alternative to the loot bag, however I feel that the gift cards may get pricey, the potted plant needs looking after and lord knows this Momma has a black thumb! and the instrument could get you in just as much hot water with other parents as the junk food and toys... but if you have a scroll down you can see how I made loot bags for Delaney's 2nd birthday (which was Playhouse Disney themed) for less than $2 each!

 

I started with a brown paper bag, simple and cheap enough at $1 for 50 then I added a cut out of Mickey Mouse made out of black scrapbook paper.

Then I baked up some shortbread cookies cut them out with a Mickey Mouse shaped cutter and drizzled with semi sweet chocolate melted in the microwave.

I made matchbook style notebooks out of colored printer paper, scrapbooking card stock and glitter glue. They were made to represent the Imagination Movers coming up with great ideas!

I picked up a box of (Winnie the Pooh of My Friends Tigger and Pooh) crayons at the dollar store and wrapped 4 different colors in ribbon. (I did this rather than purchase the little boxes of crayons at 3 for $1)

I found Mickey Mouse stickers and cut down the sheets so that each kid got 2-4 stickers.

I made these coloring books out of scrap booking card stock, and then printed the coloring sheets off of the Playhouse Disney website then I stapled them together.

And that was that!

Each loot bag was plenty full and had only one sweet in it! 

I did also print off a current picture of Delaney with the wording "Thanks for celebrating my 2nd birthday with me!" and added that to the loot bags (I had a print credit so that was free but at 19 cents a print it wouldn't have broken the bank anyway...)

It's simple and thoughtful and will likely go over well with the kids and the parents! 

What are your typical party loot bags like? Are you a lover or a hater of the loot bag its self? Leave your 2 cents and start a discussion in the comments (I'd love to hear other mom's opinions!)

Make it Monday! Apples Malloy!

As you know if you have been reading for a while my best friend is getting married this month, and a few weekends ago we through her a Bachelorette Party, and in preparation for the party I scoured the internet for recipes that I could make!

And where else would you go really but to the link parties and blog hops as they really are the best places to find tried and true recipes that people love and use over and over!

So as a result of that search I found this on one of the link parties!

(This is Vivienne's)

It's from The V Spot!

The recipe is simple and ingredients are few!

You need:

Apples (granny smith)

Caramel Sauce

Mini Chocolate Chips

Cream Cheese

Heath Bars (or in Canada Skor Bars)

Spread your cream cheese on your platter, drizzle with caramel sauce, sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and chopped Skor or Heath bar, add apples to the outside rim (be pretty about it) and serve!

(This one is mine)

This went over so well that us Bridesmaids were eating it before the party even started! (good thing I made two)

Give it a try... I promise you will like it! but if your making for a party you might want to make two as well!

Bachelorette Party fun! Part 2

I showed you yesterday some of the fun things I did for the Bachelorette Party we held this past weekend and here is more....

I made each party goer one these survival bags....

These were planned as a way to give the attendees everything they needed for the night in one neat package rather than passing out the few game cards and such throughout the night as needed.

I used the same label on the outside of the bag as I did for the cupcake toppers and I just glued them with a regular glue stick to the front of the bag.

Inside they each found, one pair of Mardi Gras beads (this was for the don't say his name game, no one was to say the name of the groom to-be all night), a ring pop (cause they're fun), a glow stick (to easily identify each other when they went out to the clubs dancing), a party goers pledge (see below), a card with the phone numbers and names of the DD's and the bridesmaids in case anyone got lost in the clubs and the two game cards they would need (see below).

The survival bags were such a hit! 

Everyone loved them! 

And they made things flow a lot better too as all we had to say was in you survival bag is... and they all just pulled the item out and were ready for the next game.

I made up this party pledge based on one I found online and I just changed it up and re-worded it to suit our party!

 Basically I wanted to make sure they all knew that we had DD's available so drinking and driving was completely eliminated and that this was a night of fun, giggling and being silly!

The games we played were Guess the Name of the Dirty Drink, and Well I've Never. 

The Dirty Drink names were easy to find online and I just made a fill in the blank page for that game and did up a poster board to give them the names for the drinks. 

(I wont post them here due to ADULT CONTENT but if you Google it trust me there are many to be found!)

The Well I've Never game is loosely based on two other games, Never Have I Ever where you tell the group out loud something you have done that was naughty and anyone else that has done it has to drink with you, and the other game I think... (can't be sure because there was alcohol consumed when we played it) is called WHAT its a board game where you write down your answer and everyone has to guess who said what when they are read out loud. So I did up little sheets so that each lady could write down their answer and play that way but as things tend to do when alcohol is involved it deteriorated and just became Never Have I Ever.... but I must say that it was very interesting to hear what all these ladies had written down!

And besides that we had the typical  Brides scavenger hunt and pin the parts on the hunky fireman... (priceless) 

A lot of these ideas can be adapted to other parties, I plan on doing the cupcake toppers for Delaney's Birthday Party (which is approaching faster than I keep up with) and the labels on the bags make for cheap frugal loot bags too!

PS. if you'd like a copy of the game cards or the pledge leave me a comment or email me and I will certainly send it pack for you to print at home! 

Make it monday! MeatBalls and Dipping sauces!

This past weekend myself and a few girlfriends held a Bachelorette party for our Best Friend! 

It was so much fun and there was so much food!

SEE! 

I told you lots of food!

For the party I made, the cake and cupcakes (see more on this tomorrow) , meatballs with two dipping sauces and apple dip (more on this next Make it Monday!)

Today I share the meatballs unfortunately without pictures but I'm sure you can imagine what a meatball looks like...

Easy Party Meatballs

Ingredients:

2 lbs of Lean or Extra Lean Ground Beef

1/2 of 1 Small Onion

1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs

1/4 Cup Milk

1 Large Egg

1 Tbsp Ketchup or BBQ Sauce

Steak Seasoning (I like the Keg Steak Spice)

BBQ rub ( I use one that the Chef at Robyn's work makes but you can pick them up in the supermarket or make your own...)

Start by dicing your onion as small as you can (I sometimes grate it into the mix rather than leaving bigger pieces in there). In a large bowl mix all of your ingredients together, be careful not to over mix the meat! Then roll into balls that measure about 1 tsp each, and bake on a sheet pan (I cover mine with foil so that its easier to clean up!) at 350 for about 10 min then flip them over and bake for another 10 mins. 

These are great as an appetizer or add them to a week night supper, you can even put them in marinara sauce and put them over pasta! 

(They freeze very well too)

I got so many compliments on these meatballs but not as many as the dipping sauces.... so here they are!

I used the same basic recipe (that I made up as I went) for both but used two different salad dressings for flavor... I used Ranch for one and the new Kraft Mango Chipotle dressing for the other.

Creamy Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 pkg of cream cheese

2 Tbsp of mayonnaise

2-3 tbsp of salad dressing of your choice

Mix the cream cheese with your electric mixer until it is smooth, add your mayonnaise and then your salad dressing, you may need more dressing than I used to thin it out so its a good dipping constancy. 

Both of these sauces worked out great! 

They were enjoyed by all and I was asked for the recipe several times.... 

(don't you love when that happens!)

PS. don't worry about the mango chipotle being too spicy its really not that spicy but does have a bit of a kick in the after taste! 

What is your go to party recipe, is there a recipe that your family love that you modify for parties....

Hope you give these meatballs a try! You might just love them!

Bachelorette Party Fun! Part 1

This past weekend, myself and my girlfriends held a Bachelorette Party for our Best Friend... (Her name is on a few of the things I made for the party so you will learn very shortly that her real name is Erika... I guess her anonymity is gone for good now!)

Of course I made her cake but I wont be posting that due to ummm ADULT CONTENT.... but I also made a few other very fun things!

As well We all made a few things to contribute to the snacks for the evening.

As you can see we didn't go hungry!

We didn't really have a theme to the night but one running joke was that We're Team Edward! as Our friend is marring a man named Edward and she is a bit of a Twi-hard (like me.... )!

I made some very yummy cupcakes that went over very well!

I used the same recipe that I used here for the Easter cupcakes... and of course I use my recipe for butter cream icing found here. Then I just dyed it teal which is the main color for the wedding it's self, I did that with the Wilton teal icing color. (gives such a rich color and doesn't water your icing down! highly recommend it if you haven't used it before!)

I also made the cupcake toppers as well I used them for the survival bags for the guests! You can see them above but here is a close up...

(Sorry its a bit dark had to turn off the flash so you can read it!)

To make these I used Microsoft Word, I made a circle then typed the wording in the circle. Then I printed and cut them (you could do this with a circle punch) then I cut out a circle of the black or teal card-stock that was just a bit larger than the paper circle.Than I hot glued a toothpick to the back!

More on the Bachelorette Party tomorrow!

Here's a sneak peak at the survival bags I made up too!