Idea for a Bridal/Baby Shower Brunch

Whew...what a week. 

I know you know what I mean. :-) 

We all have weeks that are just crazy. Weeks you have to remind yourself that you need something more to eat than the snickers bar you scarfed down waiting at the stop light while you're making a phone call & composing an email in your mind. Weeks like this make me think...how do moms do it? They have weeks like these...that are months...years. 

Let's take a moment & give each other a high-five...an award for a messy kitchen...the most piles of laundry & for the longest time it's ever taken you to unpack from a trip! ;p 

I just got back into town so I apologize for  not getting this post done sooner & I totally skimped out on the weekend wrap party. I'll make it up to you. I mean I'll make it up to my mom...b/c I think she's the only one that really wants to know what went down on Heidi's weekend. Anyways...this Monday there will be a recap of the weekend that I braved a tornado, torrential rain, snow & silly string. Intrigued? No? Okay...let's get on with this show. 

Over the weekend, my friends Kauri & Rachael were discussing a baby shower they're throwing in a couple of weeks. It's going to be a brunch, which is fun but also tricky. 

Several years ago, I threw a bridal shower brunch for a friend of mine. I remember running around like a contestant on Wipe Out trying to make sure I had everything coming out hot & fresh at just the right time. That's why I love this idea. It's healthy, fun & easy to throw together. It's not super cheap (b/w $10-$15) but will anchor down your brunch so you can skimp on other foods. 

Yogurt Bar 

My friend Kauri was the one that came up with this suggestion & I love it. Besides being a great conversationalist, hilarious, beautiful, adventurous & creative...she's the person that you need on speed dial when searching for a meal to make/unique recipe/delicious dessert/etc. She's never steered me wrong when I've asked for a recipe recommendation. 

Along with the yogurt bar, you could do - 

Quiche in muffin pans 

Scones/Biscuits

Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes*

*For the Cinnamon Roll Cupcakes just use a vanilla cake mix, make as directed but add nuts & cinnamon to the batter then top with cream cheese frosting/buttercream frosting. 

The ingredients for the yogurt bar are up to you but I started off with plain vanilla yogurt with - 

Granola 

You could buy granola or make your own. I am so horrible at just gestimating but I used to make my own & it was super simple. I combined oats, cinnamon & nuts. Melted some butter & added agave/honey to it then mixed in with the oats combo. I baked it at 350 degrees at b/w 20-30 minutes. I know there are A LOT of homemade granola recipes out there you can choose from with more specifics than I just gave you. 

Blueberries

Peaches...these were on sale & tasted super delish. 

And ofcourse the beautiful strawberries. 

Some more suggestions - 

Nuts

Assorted Cereals

Whipped Cream

Dried Fruit (cranberries, apricots, etc)

Dark Chocolate Shavings 

Pound Cake/Shortcake 

I topped my yogurt with agave but honey will do...or even the option of maple syrup. 

You can also serve the yogurt in wine glasses/goblets/juice glasses. 

Maybe Kauri & Rachael will let us "crash" their baby shower brunch & you can see more of their great ideas! ;p 

Thanks for being patient with me during this crazy week! Have you ever had one like that? Are you experiencing one now? ;p 

If you haven't already, I'd love for you to join the Parties for Pennies party on facebook. I try & post other great ideas/products that I think you'd dig. You can like the page here. 

Baby Diaper = Party Favor?

A baby diaper can be made into a party favor? Oh yes & I'll show you...just keep reading. (such a tease, I know) Well...after I posted my wedding favor last week, a lady asked if I had any ideas for baby shower favors. Here are a few that came to my brain. The first one, I know has been done before...the other two...I'm not sure.

The first one begins with this little guy...you probably recognize him. He's the one that always seems to stare you in the face when you have guests over & can't march your naked behind across the hall to get more tp. OR when you stop on that 10 hour road trip & have held it in for as long as humanly possible (maybe even longer) & finally...relief...go to grab some toilet paper...and...dun, dun, dun, dun...This handsome fella is staring you in the face. Please tell me there is someone else out there that has frantically looked all over the floor for some decent looking pieces that were left behind. :p Look...I didn't have many options. Lesson learned - add tp to my already bulging 10 lb purse. Anyways...sorry for the tangent...

Pick out tissue paper, wrapping paper or even scrapbook paper of your choice. I got the one below from one of the most awesome stores in the world...Paper Source. I heart it...the paper & the store. 

Cut the paper so there is enough at either end of the tp roll to tie with a ribbon. 

Stuff the TP roll with candy-coated almonds, mints, an assortment of candy or anything your heart desires. 

You could double this favor as a place setting too by writing the name of the person in the middle of the roll. 

The second favor is super cheap & easy as well...and it's useful for the person receiving it. Raise your hand if you can never find the snack clips when you need them??? Me...me...me. Always. The sock thief must also like snack clips. :-) 

Honestly, I apologize for my picture. None of my owl clip pictures turned out & I think it's because I was doing this in between commercial breaks of the Bachelorette & I had had a little wine. Anyways...here's what I did. I stole  got some clothespins from Mike (my fiance) & painted them a blue color to match my owls eyes. I wanted to do an owl b/c they're so popular now & I think adorable for a baby shower. I decided to make my own owl so I sketched a couple & cut out paper from this...

Who can NOT like this store when they have adorable bags like these? It was so cute so I used the different stripes to create my owl. Let's call him Owen. (creative, huh? ;p)

Once Owen was created, I glued him to the snack clip with my glue gun. 

I shredded the rest of the paper bag, threw in the shreds to this bag & put a few owl snack clips in there. If you want to be really cheesy, you could write something like, "Don't touch my snacks, Owl be watching you." (I'm getting old...cheesy jokes now make me chuckle)

The moment you've been waiting for...

Baby Diapers = Party Favors? 

Yep...a loofah to be exact. How? 

Start by getting cloth diapers. I got mine at Walmart for $8.50/10 pack. I've also heard (thanks to my trusty facebook friends that you can get them at Target & Babys R Us)

Take the long end & fold it over about 2 inches or so. Then fold it the opposite way so you get an accordion style fold. (sorry...I misspelled accordion on the picture..oops) 

Once you've folded the entire diaper, it should look like the picture above. 

Like the picture says, fold it in half. :-)

You're getting good at this...how bout we do it one more time? 

I picked up this cord from the camping section b/c it is mildew & rot resistant. You may have an idea of something else that would work just as well. 

Tie the cord VERY tightly in the middle of your folded diaper. A little tip, you may want to go ahead & cut the "folded ends" before you tie the cord. I waited until afterwards but it may be easier to do it before. 

I cut just the folded ends carefully. 

Once you do that...fluff out the ends to make a "pom pom." I tied both ends of the cord together too so you could hang the loofah up in the shower. 

Hey...if it's good enough for a baby's bottom...it's good enough for mine. :p And it works great! I've tried it & so far it hasn't unraveled. 

Another big favor item these days are the pretzel rods that are dipped in chocolate & covered in sprinkles or whatever you'd like. They even have plastic bags that fit them perfectly at Michaels. Cute, delicious & cheap! If you're doing a bird-themed baby shower, jelly bellys are a great favor item as well. 

Have you seen a cute baby shower favor idea that's easy on your wallet? Feel free to comment with your ideas! 

P.S. Last weekend, I found a really cute drink dispenser at WalMart for...$5! Yes, $5. It's plastic, which I prefer glass but to carry to a party or even just outside...the plastic would be a better idea. I've already had a disastrous end to my lid for my glass beverage dispenser. It's okay now, I've had a chance to grieve. ;p 

Not bad for $5, huh? I just wanted to share that with you if you've been wanting one for your 4th of July cookout but didn't want to fork out $30-$40 for a glass one. 

Coming up either next week or the week after...I'm interviewing the manager for my most favorite restaurant here in Atlanta about how to set up a food buffet!