Valentines Secret Message Gift

I came across this great idea for a Valentines gift to give your friends and family.
Inspired by the famous fortune cookies, these cute and chic meringue & chocolate cones are the perfect Valentines gift to give. You can never tell a friend or family member to many times how much they mean to you... why not write a small note and put that inside rather than a Valentines fortune? Just an idea....

So easy to do! All you need

ice cream waffle cones

meringues

melted chocolate

sprinkles (this is to put inside the cone, confetti surprise!)

note/fortune

This cute idea would ALSO be a fabulous addition to birthday parties, bridal showers, and baby showers :)

Ladybug Inspired Baby Shower

Have you heard the buzz? A little lady is on the way!

Miss Baby Brunk!

Welcome to a ladybug inspired pink and green couples baby shower hosted by my aunt Joy and cousin Jordann. They did a fabulous job for the new parents to be Rachel and Isaac Brunk :)

I have to get the recipe from aunt Joy (still to come) - she made these delish cookies topped with icing and fresh fruit. The longer they sat the yummier they got :)

Marinated cheese bites topped with sundried tomatoes and speared with fresh rosemary. Handmade edible ladybugs were made from cherry tomatoes, olives, chives and black gel icing. How cute!

Can you guess who brought the cupcakes?! Aunt Heidi did :) I made an orange infused vanilla cupcake with cream cheese frosting. Topped with cute lady bug stickers, sticked onto a toothpick.

Jordann did a great job building the diaper cake!

Brunch time

We ate a yummy assortment of marinated cheese, ham sandwiches, shrimp pasta salad, fresh fruit, chicken salad sandwiches, egg casseroles, cheesy grits and sausage and biscuits! Our family knows how to cook :)

Onto all the wonderful gifts the little lady got for her 2010 clothing line and baby room :)

The little lady (with the help from Grandma and Auntie Jordann) made take-home favors for each guest filled with a yummy danish. Too cute!



Onto the Games!

This one is for the gentlemen!

1. untie your shoes

2. blow up your balloon as big as you can!

3. When we say go... stuff your balloon under your shirt

4. tie your shoes as fast... I mean as fast as you can!

5. First to tie their shoes is the winner!

The winner is: Father to Be - Isaac Brunk

It's not that easy now, is it!?

Keepsake photo to show the little lady when she gets older :)



Next game:

This is a timed game. We have a mommy, daddy and baby that needs its diaper changed.

Each parents gives up 1 hand, so this is a process of working together in the fastest time to get the babies diaper changed and clothed. We had 3 different couple battle with the fastest time. Winner was Myself and hubby (with no experience at all, lol)!

My family

Father in law Darryl - Isaac - husband Darren - Myself - Mother to Be Rachel - Mother in Law Kelly

Congratulations Isaac and Rachel! Can't wait to meet the little Lady :)

aka Grace, Lily, Ellen, Jenny, Aubrey, Anne, Bethany, Elle, Carlee or Beyonce (LOL)

Inside joke since the babies name is a secret!

Pretty in Pink Punch

This photo caught my eye for its pretty pink color. Then the recipe sounded just as good as it looked. This Pretty in Pink Punch would be great for a Girls night dinner, Baby Girl Shower, Bridal Shower, Bridal Luncheon, Child's Birthday, Mother's day and more! (I did a similar punch at a Bridal shower, themed colored pink and brown) The recipe includes instructions for both non-alcoholic and alcoholic versions so you can please everyone.

Pretty in Pink Punch


Makes about 9 cups

Ingredients
1 (12-oz.) can frozen pink lemonade concentrate, thawed (photo from southernliving.com)
4 cups white cranberry juice cocktail
1 qt. club soda, chilled
Garnish: fresh mint sprigs

Preparation
Stir together lemonade concentrate and cranberry juice cocktail in a large pitcher. Cover and chill at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours. Stir in club soda just before serving. Garnish, if desired.

Champagne Punch: Substitute 1 (750-milliliter) bottle extra-dry Champagne or sparkling wine and 1/4 cup orange liqueur for club soda; proceed with recipe as directed

Pom Poms

Thought this a really cute decor idea for a baby or bridal shower. They're lightweight so you don't have to worry about them coming crashing down and are easy and inexpensive to make.
Over at marthastewart.com, there's instructions on how to make these tissue paper pom-poms with your own materials. Or, you can buy the kit with all materials included (at your local crafts store like Michaels or Joann fabrics).

Save the pom poms for the nursery of the Mommy to be.

Book Shower Templates

Book Shower Templates

I love the idea of a children's book-themed shower where guests are asked to bring a favorite childhood book of theirs as their gift. (or you can theme your Bridal shower to your preference and still ask each guest to bring a book). Sure, you may not end up with the bottle warmer you actually need, but you're certain to receive gifts that hold a certain amount of sentimental signficance from your guests.
A downside of the book shower? The person who will receive most pleasure from the books isn't yet born and will probably have a difficult time recalling who gave which book and why when thinking back on his or her in utero memories.
I found these Gifted Bookplates to go along with the books you'll receive as gifts. The bookplate serves both as a space to note who gave the book as well as a place for the gift-giver to leave a special message for the baby.
These bookplates can be printed on adhesive-backed or regular paper (try using colored paper) that you adhere with a glue-stick or double-stick tape.
If you're planning a book shower, you can choose to send off a bookplate or two as part of the invitation. Let the guest know that you'd love them to bring a favorite childhood book and for them to write out their message for the baby on the bookplate. Or, in the tradition of most showers, make the message-writing an activity during the event itself.
Not throwing or having a baby shower anytime soon? You can use these bookplates on any book you plan to give -- even ones directly from you to your little one.

The best Baby Shower Gift Ideas

Top 10 Baby Shower Gift ideas

Need to find the perfect shower gift that is most certain to be a "shower wower"?

1. Take a look at this awesome website How Fast They Grow - this is a site for new mommies to make their own 12x12 Scrapbooks for their little ones. Purchase a uniquely styled gift card from any amount of $25-$200 or a Gift set made in pink or blue (gift card included) for only $50.



2. Does the mommy-to-be own a Pandora bracelet? Buy the Pandora baby carriage to add to her bracelet for only $25.



3. Have you ever heard of Mommy Cards? Mommies work too, you know? Get these new mommies a business like card to hand out to fellow mommies for playdates and contact information about them and their little one. Starting at $35 buy a gift certificate worth 35 stylish cards.


4. Mix, match and personalize your favorite little uni tee or one-piece starting at $30 at Little Uni.



5. Personalize story time with original alphabet books that feature the childs name on the cover, starting at $29.95. Or buy a personalized print to hang in the babies bedroom for $9.95 made by Sweet Arts Design. (CMP for 10% off)


6. A baby needs their first spoon, take a look at these super sweet gift idea. Stainless steel personalized spoons starting at $20 made by Lisa Leonards Designs. (babyshower for 15% off).



7. These little ones grow fast. Purchase this charming, cute and stylish Growth Chart for the mommy to be to put in the babies room. Starting at only $16, choose the color of choice for a cute and cheap gift at Rag and Bone.



8. A fabulous new fix for fussy babies and “I want my pre-baby jeans back” mommies. Lullaby Exercises offers a new kind of workout for moms who want to take better care of themselves and their babes. This 35-minute DVD features a high-energy “groove” set and then slows is down as the “sleep” set sends the little one into slumberland. This dvd set is only $14.95.





9. A unique keepsake for mom and baby is this Personalized baby Block for $30. A handmade, hardwood block custom-made with baby's name, birthdate, and initial on three sides. The fourth side has a pull-toy graphic.



10. Be creative and make a Storybook basket. I made a basket (laundry wicker basket) for my friend where I bought about 20 different items, like baby bubble bath, creams, bibs, clothes, sugar daddy (candies) and more. From the items I made a storybook about the mommy to be and her baby. As she reads the story and comes to the numbered item, she finds it in the basket and opens it, filling in the blank of the story. Once she's done everyone will applaude and think how creative and cute this gift was, plus the mommy and baby have lots of gifts! You can go as cheap or expensive on this idea. For help email me.
    

Do you have a recommendation that would be the perfect Shower gift? Leave a comment and let me know :)

Oh baby BOY

One of my best friends Brittani was having a baby Boy in April 08. My friend Sheena and I hosted a shower for her. Here's the cute details :)

I bought Large wooden letters and painted them blue and white to put up for decor. After the shower I gave them to Brittani for Cade's room. A cute and memorable touch.

The Cake was designed as baby building blocks and spelled "BABY" (when looking at it from the front) I had a talented friend make the cake for the shower

We played 3 different games at the shower -

1st one: We had 2 Cabbage Patch dolls diapered and dressed in dresses, made 2 teams of 3 (make sure to include the Mother to be and grandmas). At the same time each team started by having one hand behind there back and had to undress the baby completey, next one up had to dress the baby and last one undressed the baby. First team to finish all got a prize!

2nd game: We bought 8 different jars of baby food, removed the labels and numbered each jar. Each guest received a piece of paper and pen and had to guess by the color and smell of the baby food what was in the jar. Whoever got all 8 correct won a prize. Believe me this game was not easy!

3rd game: Get the Mother to be, and Grandmas together. Put them in a circle and hand them each a real baby bottle filled with apple juice. Fill the bottle about a 1/4 full and each person must feed the one to their left. Whoever finishes the bottle first gets a prize. This is a good laugh!
The shower was a huge success, I think we had about 35 people at this shower. We had Mimosas for each guest in wine glasses decorated with ribbon and plenty of healthy snacks for the guests and Mother to be.