I finally finished it!

About a year ago my sister-in-law Wendy introduced me to the paper rose wreath. Rather than purchasing paper she used pages out of an old book, brilliant. I was dumbfounded at how easy it looked and had to make one for myself. I went out and bought a Styrofoam wreath, a low temp hot glue gun, and some aged books at the DI. I chose three books that were different sizes and tones to add variety.

I would sit down to watch a movie with Sam and curl about 20-25 roses. Yes... this is a very time consuming project. Sam actually curled most of the large roses and quite a few of the small ones, sadly he was much better at it than I was. For months it seemed to mock me, only needing about 30 more roses and a ribbon.

 

 

About a week ago I couldn't stand letting the finished wreath just lay flat collecting dust on a shelf. I found a ribbon in my recycled Christmas ribbon that matched my living room perfectly and finally hung it on the wall.

 If you are interested in making your own here is a tutorial.

It's a Fiesta!!!

We had quite the fiesta a couple weeks ago when I threw a baby shower for my sister-in-law Heather. I came up with this unorthodox baby shower theme and luckily she let me go wild and crazy.

1. Invites: I was able to use my typography skills in designing the festive invitation. Then all it took was adding a little tissue paper fringe, a bow and stuffing it in a bright pink envelope.
2. Banners: I fringed some tissue paper, added some embellishments and finished it off with matching tissue paper flowers at each end. Luckily there was a beautiful mantel to hang it on. I also created some small banners to hang about and add to the ambiance. (Had a little inspiration from Babble & Martha Stewart)
3. General Decor: Thank heavens for bright, beautiful tissue paper. We created lots and lots of flowers and spheres to decorate anywhere and everywhere we could think of.
4. Party Favors: No shower is complete without ridiculous over-the-top party favors. I found the idea to make my pinatas on a site called One Charming Party. They also doubled as decorations.
5. Table Decor: My true inspiration for the entire theme came from a DIY on Hostess with the Mostess. Rather than potting my topiaries I put them in clear vases filled with limes. (I know, I am a genius)
6. Food: What else do you eat but Cafe Rio salads, margarita ice cream drinks, and lemon bars. So yummy!!

None of this would have been possible without the help of Holland, Wendy, Evelyn, Marylou and I guess Heather since she and her little bun in the oven are the whole reason we had the party.

**Disclaimer: Heather is holding her niece Hadon in the third image, she has not had her baby yet, but we can't wait!**

Munchies at Menchies

Every time coupons show up in the mail I am on the hunt... are there any yogurt coupons? Yes I jumped on the frozen yogurt band wagon, but only because I find "buy one get one free" coupons. I am a sucker for saving money and besides it gives me a good excuse to hang out with one of my best friends Michelle.

I would have to say my yogurt joints are (in no particular order):

• Yogurtland for the crazy flavor options
• Farr's Frozen Custard for the yummy Pineapple & Raspberry DoleWhip
• Menchies for Waffle Bowl Wednesday, and of course the cute little spoons

Michelle and I had a wonderful Waffle Bowl Wednesday at Menchies this week. As always I end up with a tart sweet combo and she is all for the chocolatey goodness. After we had our frozen yogurt dinner we played Just Dance 3 for 1hr 40mins. So I think any calories from the evening were negated. Yay for hanging out with friends, consuming tasty treats and dancing like an idiot!

What is your favorite treat to indulge in?

Sleeping in the Sun & Ugly Beards

I am really jealous of my dogs. All day long they lounge around, doing whatsoever they please while I feel chained to my desk, eyes glued to my computer, counting the hours til work is through. More often then not these two little devils give me moments of amusement in my all too stressful day.

Sleeping in this small bit of sun or waking up with these ugly beards.

Long story short... I love my dogs and all the silly little things they do to make my day seem less harrowing.

Fresh Hot Breadsticks...yum

What is better than fresh hot breadsticks? Total trick question, nothing is better. We had a little par-tay with some good buddies over the holidays and of course I couldn't go empty handed. I thought of doing the conventional veggie tray but I didn't want to be the person who brought the "healthy" food. It would be like lying to all my good friends, pretending to be that "healthy" person. Anyone who really knows me, knows that I am in love with junk food and have been since I first tasted sugar.

 

Back to the story... rather than purchase those little veggies I grabbed a hold of my mom's fabulous breadstick recipe and was adventurous enough to double the batch. This normally wouldn't be complicated but my mom has the math worked out in her mind and the recipe on my card is somewhat inaccurate. Triple this, double that, not even really sure what I really did but after a little cooking-by-phone {Thanks Mom} I successfully came out with two tasty pans of parmesan-y goodness.