Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Haters gunna hate...

Sometimes...you just gotta be a hater.
Today I'm a hater.
And I just happened to come across the greatest shit ever.
The haters guide to the Willams Sonoma catalog.
Read and enjoy.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Dump Everything!

...and join us for Jenn's baby shower!

About a month ago I threw a little baby shower for my friend and co-worker, Jennifer. Her little guy is due ANY day now, and I was a little crunched on time, but I made it work! Jenn is such a good sport and just rolled with all of my crazy ideas, which is why I love her! =)
 
 I have zero dollars in my Mighty Mouse piggy bank, Ladies and Gentleman.  Because I was expecting help, but didn't ASK for it, I can only blame myself. So here is how I went about throwing a cute baby shower ON A BUDGET!!!

 So if you remember correctly, I'm like Charlie Sheen at baby showers...WINNING!!! You can see some previous posts here:

Diaper cakes made by me =)
Diaper cake tutorial
Diaper cake supplies
Congrats Mike and Mandy!

 All of the places around here to have a party, like the Fire Departments, Moose Lodge, Knights of Columbus etc wanted at least $400, all the way up $900 just for a few hours! Times like this, I wish my firehouse wasn't SOO far away!! No one else volunteered their homes, and I live with my parents and six dogs, plus I live the furthest away, so that wasn't going to work. The ONLY person who offered to help and have it at their house was Jenn, and NO WAY was I going to make her clean her house and everything to have company over!!!

So, I called the local Ledo's Pizza and I asked how much their party room was, and they said it was FREE!! As long as you order $50 w0rth of food! Perfect. I ordered 2 pizzas for myself, Jenn, and anyone else who waned a few pieces, and a pitcher of sweet tea, and they everyone else figured out their own lunch and paid for it. Sweet! They have delicious food and amazing sweet tea, which seems to be hard to do in Culpeper!

Think outside the box on your location! It doesn't HAVE to be a "fancy" restaurant, or someones house. Ledo's is a pretty inexpensive place, but it was nice not to have to clean up before OR after aside from what we brought in!

I did all of the invitations, naturally, that's my favorite part. I went with a construction/dump truck theme because she already had a "traditional" blue/teddy bear shower when she had Ryan, and a "typical" pink and purple one for Alayna...so I wanted something fun, playful and 100% boy for this one!! I put one invitation on a large white mat and had all the guests sign it for baby Chase :)
As far as decorations went, I would have liked to do a little more, including banners and lots of yellow and orange balloons, but the ceilings in there were around 12 feet...so that made it difficult. I also had to get everything in my car in one trip. You have to think about these things, especially when you are going at it alone =)
The Decorations that I DID included CAUTION tape around each table, a CAUTION tape bow on the back of Jenn's chair, and some cardboard construction signs that I got on Amazon.com. They were 4/$6. I got 2 packages and put them standing on the tables. I also used toy Tonka trucks on the tables to hold favors, cards and other small items.


As for favors, I used the orange swirly lollipops purchased at Oriental Trading. They came with Stickers, which I had them print with "Jennifer's Baby Shower!" I spray painted a foam block and set it down into a Tonka truck to look like it was hauling it.

 The second favor was a game really. I bought these 24 ducks on Oriental Trading as well. They have little construction helmets on! So cute! I put them on the table, spilling out of the bull dozer. One of the duckies had a dot on the bottom. When everyone was done eating, I had them grab a duck. The one with the little dot was a 10 year old, she was SO excited!

The "real" favors are the Hershey's HE bars. I saw them a LONG time ago at a wedding where they made HE & SHE bars with their wedding date. These took a little time  to come up with a pattern, but once I did, easy peasy lemon squeasy. Orange card stock, with a black card stock dump truck cut out on my cricut, and one yellow ribbon. Cute and easy!

Jenn's sister in law made a cake and cupcakes


Momma opening presents
Decorate a bib for baby Chase! Hmmm, lets see who can spot mine!






 Hmm, I don't think she will be naming her baby after Dr. Roshandel!!

So thats it! You CAN throw a baby shower by yourself! And inexpensively!! Anyone else tried to do this recently?

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Launch me!

So, I've officially launched with Initials, Inc....

Initials is a company that sells amazing purses, bags, backpacks, diaper bags, etc. that are personalized/monogrammed. They're beautiful, and I want the whole catalog...but I'll restrain myself for the time being.

I've been thinking about direct sales for a while now, not only to supplement my income, but to get out of the house, and be more productive, and meet people as well. I just hadn't come across a company that really grabbed my attention yet. I knew I didn't want to do anything with food, so that ruled out Tupperware and Pampered Chef, and I don't do candles, and I'm not so much into talking about sex toys.

Then I saw something on the internet about Initials, Inc. I saw that it was similar to another company that is very popular around here. The patterns, and textures of the Initials bags were much more appealing though, and the quality just seemed better was well. I took a shot and sent an email. When I got an email back from the recruiter, I was very impressed with how welcoming she was, and how interested she was in my schedule, and what she could do to help me make Initials work out for ME, not just getting me to sign on so that it worked for her.

So anyway, long story short, I thought about it for about a week, spoke with the recruier, who is now in my upline, and awesome :) and I signed with Initials, Inc yesterday as an Independent Creative Partner. I should be getting my starter kit this week. I've already booked my first catalog party and possibly another one with my friend's Laura and Kerrin, because they're awesome!

If anyone out there reading this needs anything, wants to book a party, or just wants to check out Initials, inc, here is my website :)

http://www.myinitials-inc.com/Emily/