Weekend Swap Party

Hope you had an awesome weekend! We had quite an entertaining weekend & I'll tell you about it in just a bit...

If you hadn't heard, I'm gonna try a new feature out & see how it works. 

Weekend Swap Party 

I want to get to know you better...so I'll highlight one of you each Monday. You share what you did over the weekend, then I'll share something from my weekend. That way I can get to know you a little better. Kapeesh? :-) 

Meet Kasey: 

She's kinda a big deal! :-) You may recognize the handsome men in the photo. Constantine, guy on the far left, can't remember the other guy from the Bachelorette's name & of course the current Bachelor...Ben Flajnik. Kasey gets around...no...not like that. What I mean is she works in the promotions department at the radio station & knows what's going on, when & where around Atlanta. I was a little jealous when she got to meet these guys...okay...alot jealous. ;p 

What was Kasey's highlight of the weekend? 

Kasey works with 1st grade girls in Passion Kids at Passion City Church here in Atlanta, GA. Instead of classrooms, they have tents. Kasey said, "The girls in that tent are the sweetest and it's just so awesome to get to love & minister to the girls every Sunday!" 

Kasey is from Marieta, Ga & here's her responses to my "get to know you questions" - 

* Things that Make You Smile - 

This may sound cheesy, but spending time with my friends. I love surrounding myself with uplifting people. I would say my friends are that & more. I am such a people person so any time I'm with people, it makes me smile. :D 

* Silly Addiction - 

Wow, hahaha. Probably sunglasses, they are my weakness. I am not allowed to go near that section!

* Craft/recipe disaster - 

Well anytime I craft, it is a disaster. I have a vision in mind, but it never turns out that way. Cooking, well that I am completely new at, so I haven't had any major disasters yet. But I will say the weirdest thing I have made are Black Bean Brownies. It's just black beans & brownie mix. They are DELICIOUS!!! 

(Yumm, Kasey...those sound great!) 

You can check out Kasey's blog at: http://scarlethairedfancies.blogspot.com 

Heidi's Weekend

The highlight of my weekend was being able to benefit from my Christmas gift to Mike...tickets to see Jeff Dunham. If you've never heard of him before...here's a clip - 

Mike & I have enjoyed watching his videos on YouTube so this was fun to see him in person. I did have a random blonde moment during the night. The place was packed & Mike commented that Jeff is really making some $$. I responded, "Well, I can't exactly talk out of my mouth." Mike responds, "Actually you do every day." Oh Heidi... ;p 

 And here we are...

Laughter really does a relationship good! Mike makes me laugh more than anyone I know...he even makes me snort...a lot! :p Having this night out to laugh & enjoy each other was awesome! I hope we continue to make this a priority every once & awhile! :-) 

Game Day Grub

Who are you pulling for?? 

I decided who to root for based on extensive research & game analysis...

...Facebook. 

I know...sad, huh? 

I don't really have anything invested in either team...so I asked my fb friends who I should root for. The Giants had the most votes. So...Go Giants! :p 

If you're throwing a Superbowl party, here's what I'd suggest this year: 

Keep it somewhat simple. Make it feel like a sports bar. 

* Instead of a table cloth, use brown kraft paper to line the table.

* Use buckets around the room to hold peanuts or chips. 

* Baskets, foil pie pans, or mini pizza pans would make great plates. 

* Line a pie pan with parchment paper & fill with chips/fries/onion rings. 

For food, here's an easy, fast & cheap recipe that I came up with...

Here's what you need: 

Shredded Chicken

Pretzel Bread Bun

Mozzarella Cheese

Buffalo Wing Sauce

Blue Cheese Dressing 

When I added everything up, it came up to about $2.50/sandwich but that will depend on your local grocer. Side note: I got the pretzel bread from Trader Joes. 

Add a tablespoon at a time to shredded chicken according to taste. 

Top pretzel bun with shredded chicken, top with cheese & spread blue cheese dressing on bun. 

Voila! So simple & a little less messy than wings...

but...

Just as delicious! 

That's my handsome hubby taste testing. He loved it...as in he said he could eat it every single day! Success! 

He downed the celery in the blue cheese dressing as well! :p 

Hope you enjoy your game day preparations! 

See you here next week for the Weekend Swap Party & a new penny-pinching party idea! 

New Feature on PartiesforPennies: Weekend Swap Party!

Can you tell I love a good party? 

Here's the d.l. on this new P4P feature...

It's a virtual party. 

You're invited. 

When? Every Monday 

Food? Sure...you just have to provide your own

What? Well you see I hate that I don't know more about you. I don't want a one-sided friendship. I want to get to know you better. And I also realized that what I love about other blogs is hearing about their lives. I would prefer to hear more about you, to be honest. All that to say...that's how I came up with the Weekend Swap Party. 

Here is how it's going down...I want to hear from one of you each Sunday night. Email me a picture of something you did over the weekend. It can be a fun outing, a project you finished, new recipe you tried, your childs football game...whatever you want to show off from your weekend. I'll give you three questions to answer (so I can get to know you better) & I'll link to your blog (if you don't have one, that's okay). 

The word "Swap" comes into play b/c I'll share a picture from my weekend too. 

This weekend, my friend Sara Wilson, is starting this party off. She works at the radio station with me & is beautiful both inside & out. She's from Kennesaw, GA & she doesn't have a blog but has participated in recent state beauty pagents! 

She had quite a fun weekend! She went to see a musician (a good friend's friend) named Clay Coley perform in Douglasville, Ga. He's really talented & made it onto American Idol this season. (Click on his name & it will link to his website. You can hear some of his songs) Keep watching AI & you can see Clay & vote! :-) 

This is a picture of Clay performing. 

I also asked Sara a few questions. 

* What's a simple thing that makes you smile? 

My dad's jokes. He always has the best one-liners! 

* What's a craft or recipe disaster you've had? 

I personally haven't had one (not so far...haha. I feel like it might be just a matter of time) but my favorite thing in the world to make, as far as cooking goes, is beans & cornbread. As far as baking goes, I can make a mean peanut butter pie. :-) 

(Heidi note: Peanut butter pie maker...hmmm, noted. :p Yum!) 

* What's a silly addiction of yours? 

Books. My friends have banned me from going into Barnes & Noble whenever we go shopping because they know I will spend at LEAST 2 hours in there. 

Thanks so much Sara for sharing a little bit about yourself & your weekend! Vote for Clay! :p

This past weekend for me was productive & fun! Mike, my man, & I went on a double date with my sister & her man, David. We were having so much fun that we didn't take a picture of the 4 of us. Fail. But here's where we went...

It's called Ormsby's & it's such a fun place. 

They have two indoor bocce ball courts, shuffleboard, darts, pool tables & even skee ball! The food is delicious & we had a great time. 

Mike & I also got a ton of stuff done around the house. 

Mike put together several IKEA purchases (my hero) & we finished up the downstairs bathroom. Well we finished the painting. There's still a lot more to go. We bought a house that was built in the 1960s & we've got a lot of projects we're working on. The basement was totally unfinished & we've finished it but still need to paint it. This bathroom is in the basement. 

Now, I'm beat! :p Hope you had a great weekend! I would love for you to participate in the weekend swap party! If you'd like to participate, email me at: heidi@heidirew.com 

Envelope Your Love (...note.With wax paper.)

Thank You so much for stopping by! You're probably looking for a tutorial on how to make transparent envelopes using wax paper! 

You can find it, by clicking here. It will take you to my blog that is now on Wordpress. 

Sorry about that but you'll find a lot more cool ideas on the new & improved Parties for Pennies page!  

You've Been Framed (How to use Frames for a Cupcake Stand)

Thank You so much for stopping by! You're probably looking for a tutorial on how to create a cupcake stand from picture frames! 
You can find it, by clicking here. It will take you to my blog that is now on Wordpress. 

Sorry about that but you'll find a lot more cool ideas on the new & improved Parties for Pennies page! 

"Here's Your Sign" (How to Make a Rustic Wedding Sign)

I couldn't stop myself from the Bill Engvall reference. I honestly could use a sign every once and awhile that reads "Capable of Random Blond Moments." My hair isn't naturally blond...that's why I think the people around me could benefit from the sign. :p Just a warning. 

A friend of mine requested that I do a tutorial on how I made the signs for my wedding. Since I've heard of a lot of engagements over the holidays, I thought this would be a perfect time to show you how I did it. 

Listen...I'm no Tim the Toolman Taylor, YoungHouseLove or Bower Power...so you may be let down with this tutorial because it is so easy. I didn't even use any power tools (well...actually I lied...my husband bought me a handheld sander in the midst of this project...so I did use that). 

The first thing I did was go to Home Depot & purchase some cheap wood. I honestly can't even remember which kind it was...I just looked at the dollar, dollar bills, ya'll. ;p A very kind & patient Home Depot associate cut down the wood to pieces. I held out my hands & said, "I need it like this long or so & this wide." He stared at me blankly for awhile & then he realized I wasn't kidding. See...he was very patient & gracious. The actual dimensions are 7"x 27". 

The two legs coming out from underneath are stakes I had leftover from a yard sale. You can get these stakes from Home Depot or Lowes toward the back of the lumber aisles. Super cheap. 

Since we had our reception in our backyard, we didn't want to upset our neighbors so we had the guests park at a nearby church. The guests were shuttled by a huge limo (all thanks to Carriage Automotive Group, a dealership I endorse that rented this as a wedding gift) to our house. The purpose of this sign was to assure guests that they were at the correct church parking lot. 

First, I started by painting a base color. Since my wedding colors were yellow & gray, I painted the base color a yellow (Martha Stewart Tahini to be exact). I didn't do a primer...not because I was being lazy but because of time. I was on a time schedule & decided that since it was rustic, I'd not worry about the primer. 

Once the yellow dried, I painted the gray color (Martha Stewart Zinc...ps...I got a small quart size paint & I still have some left) very lightly. 

Once the gray dried, I used my new handheld sander to file away. I began around the edges & then made my way across the rest of the sign. The yellow peeked through perfectly. 

Because I wasn't going for perfection, I painted the word Wedding with just a smaller paint brush. I honestly don't like my handwriting, so I would suggest maybe going with a stencil or even printing out the word in your desired font & use that as a guide. 

Once the wording dried, I took my sander & very lightly went over the wording. 

Using wood glue...yep...no nails...I generously glued the stakes & the signs together so the "Wedding" sign was visible from both sides. 

As far as stable, this sucker endured many mallet pounds & it's still standing strong. Not bad for wood glue. 

In the same trip I tested the patience of the Home Depot associate cutting wood for the sign above, I also had him cut these little ditties. I think they're about 4X6. I painted the sides & backsides the same gray as above & the front with chalkboard paint. My handyman husband drilled a couple holes in these suckers & they were ready to hang. 

This sign was made from an old piece of art I tried to sell at a yard sale with no luck. I sanded it, painted it with chalkboard paint, used a white paint pen to draw the "Now Showing" part & the "lights around the edges (once again...should've used a stencil...I was kinda rushing by this point) & wrote in chalkboard Mike Married Heidi. I figure I could use this again for a movie night party. 

We actually got married in Hawaii by ourselves. Just us. My mom was okay with that, actually. We wanted for others to be able to experience our ceremony, though, so we put together a portion of the ceremony, the vows we wrote & pictures throughout our dating on a video. It ended up to be a very special time during our reception. 

The art from the "Now Showing" sign were actually two panels that went together. The second panel got used for our menu sign. Again, I sanded & painted it with chalkboard paint & wrote the menu in chalk. Because I looked at several different stores, I wanted to let you know where I found the cheapest easel. It was at Hobby Lobby. I think it was about $10. 

These were the other signs I made. I called these lyric boards. Mike (my hubby) & I love music. It means a whole lot to us & our life. I wrote out lyrics to several of our favorite songs & hung them on trees in the  yard. 

These were made similar to the Wedding sign above. I painted the base yellow, then the gray over it & sanded it down. I realized that painting the lyrics like I did the "wedding" wasn't going to work. Instead, I used a white paint pen. It worked out much better. For smaller font, use a paint pen. For larger font, a paint brush & stencil will work. 

I believe that these boards a little smaller than the Wedding sign above but not by much. I took three boards & spaced them so there was just a tiny gap between each. I then used two much smaller pieces of wood to anchor the three. One smaller piece on the bottom & one piece on the top. I applied wood glue to the small pieces of wood & adhered them to the three larger pieces.  Mike drilled two holes in the top, I added some twine & it was done. Ofcourse I sanded these too...to give them a rustic feel. 

If you want to see more of what I did for my outdoor wedding reception, you can find PART ONE here & PART TWO here. 

The total wedding cost came to right around $5,000 for around 140 people. 

Hope you have a GREAT first week of 2012. Next week, I'm gonna ask for your help/input so please stop by next Wednesday. :-)