BIG NEWS & some changes

Sorry, Mom...I'm not preggo. Every time I tell my mom I have some news, she gets really excited thinking she's gonna be a grandmother. ;p All in time, Mom. ;p

The big news is....

PartiesforPennies.blogspot.com is now - www.PartiesforPennies.com

I'll still be posting like normal, just at a new location! And...you don't have to have a google account to comment or get my posts, just subscribe on PartiesforPennies.com & it will be sent straight to your email!

Hope to see you there!

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Cupcake Dome Tutorial (from light fixtures)

Hi. I'm Heidi Rew & I'm addicted to glass domes.

(from Pottery Barn) 

...for decorating purposes & party purposes.

(from Country Door) 

I can't resist a Goodwill glass dome & have been banished from the dome aisles in Home Goods. It's a problem. A problem for my limited storage & my wallet (it's $36.99 for the pair of domes from Country Door). And not something I can hide easily from my husband. Next up...Hoarders: Glass Dome Edition. 

I love the look of glass domes & their functionality. For an outdoor party, what is more perfect than protecting your sweets from the equally sweet-toothed bugs? They put the shmancy into fancy. But they can sure can add up, cha-ching cha-ching. 

Lately, I noticed an interesting Goodwill trend. I see these glass light fixtures in almost every Goodwill around Atlanta...and trust me I've been to most of them. So I had, in the words of Oprah, an "ah-ha" moment. Why not transform those suckers into glass domes? And you can create these cheap & easy glass domes too! 

Here's what you need to round up - 

1) Glass Dome(s) - I got these at Goodwill but Habitat Restore would be a good place to look too. 

2) Assorted knobs - I thought I was really smart & tried a clear marble. Yeah...you know what that looked like??? Hint: Lady parts. Clear marbles were out! Enter knobs. 

3) E600 - you can get this at your local arts & crafts store. 

The E6000 is a must. It's washer/dryer safe, clear, extremely strong & can bond to just about anything! Please use caution, though because there are some harsh chemicals in it. I wouldn't let young children handle. As far as bonding...this is the bond diggity bond. ;p 

First apply some E6000 to the dome then to your knob. The E6000 said to wait several minutes before adhering but I'm impatient so I waited for like 30 seconds. ;p It still worked okay but I understand why they said to wait. The E6000 starts to thicken up so it doesn't end up sliping & sliding all over the dome. Hopefully you have more patience than I do. 

Let it dry, at least overnight. And before you wash it, at least 24 hours. 

And you're done. Cue the "Easy button!" 

Here's the breakdown - 

Cost 

Glass Domes (2) = $2.00 from Goodwill

E6000 = $2.00 from Michaels (it's actually $3.99 but I had a 50% off coupon) 

Knobs (2) = $3.00 (I know I could probably have found some cheaper at Habitat Restore but I didn't get a chance to get them) 

Total Cost per Dome = $3.50 

Not too bad compared to the $36.99 for two from Country Door 

Time Spent = 10 minutes for the assembly 

Difficulty Level = If you can sing along to Justin Bieber's Baby Baby, you can do this. 

These would be perfect for an outdoor garden party. 

What is a weird addiction you have? Do you love collecting cutting boards? Measuring cups? Ceramic animals? Please make me feel a little sane & share the thing you can't resist buying in the comment section! :p 

Hope you have a great week! I'm going to be attending the Haven Blog Conference here in the ATL this week. I'll be the one rocking back & forth in the corner. I'm scared penniless! Oh wait, I AM penniless! ;p Okay, lame jokes. Sorry. I'll give you all the pics & deets on Monday! 

p.s. You can now LIKE Parties for Pennies on facebook! Click here.

Linking To: 

Uncommon Designs  

Weekend Wrap Party - Fathers Day weekend

How was your Fathers Day weekend? 

The thing about sentimental holidays is they can be days of extreme joy for some & sadness for others. Either way, I truly hope you had a good weekend or at least made it through. 

Here's a special Fathers Day card I helped Guiness put together for Mike...

Front of the card 

Inside 

I also spent time with my dad. 

This is me & my dad. Horrible picture of me but a great example of what kind of dad he is. Last year, we worked with Habitat for Humanity building a house. He seriously could run laps around 20 year olds. 

It's really funny because as a little girl (like really really little) I remember telling my dad I wish I could marry him. I know that sounds really weird. First of all, I didn't really even know what being married meant but I did know that my dad was one of the coolest guys in the world! 

As a little girl, I was so proud of my dad I told everyone he was a professional wrestler, which was somewhat true (he wrestled in college & was pretty dang good). Ofcourse in elementary school the professional wrestlers my friends knew were the WWE guys. When they saw my dad, they thought I was sooo full of it. ;p 

As a kid, I thought my dad's jokes were the most hilarious thing I'd ever heard, he was a genius because he got all the jeopardy questions right, the best PE teacher there ever was because 1) everyone said so & 2) because he taught us really cool flag routines. The older I got though, the more cool I thought I was & less cool he was. ;p 

That's one of the reasons Fathers Day is very important...I've got some years to make up for not thinking my dad is as cool as he really is! :p 

He's incredibly humble, generous, ingenius, compassionate, I know will always fight for me & the rest of our family, loves adventure, is amazing at being a PE teacher & camp director, adores my mom tremendously & loves the Lord too. 

He is my biggest fan & I couldn't ask for a Father that loves me, supports me & encourages me more than he does. He really is awesome & the funny thing is I married someone very much like my dad. 

Happy Fathers Day! 

p.s. You can now LIKE Parties for Pennies on facebook! Click here.

Bomb Cupcake Pops

As a kid, did you make a mad dash when you heard the ice cream truck? As soon as we heard that truck comin, all of us kids made a bee-line for the couch cushions hoping to find just enough change to get a delectable treat. It was the thrill of the chase...to find the money (just enough) & race our little legs out to the street in time to catch that magical ice cream truck. 

One of the ice cream truck staples was the Bomb Pop - 

These were delicious but you were racing time before the sun melted it away. 

I decided to make my own version that wouldn't melt...at least not as fast. :-) 

That's how the Bomb Cupcake pops were born. 

(Side note: Imagine me, in my workout gear, bending down to take photos of this on our back porch. I stoop down to take a bite out of one of these pops for the picture & notice my neighbor on her back porch looking at me. Oh goodness!) 

These pops took several tries. The first fail was attempting to bake the cake in a tomato paste can (minus the paste, ofcourse). As soon as I slid that bad boy onto the pop stick...boom...cracked in half & fell right over. It was just too heavy. Second fail happened using a regular cupcake pan. 

The regular sized cupcakes were too heavy as well. 

I am beginning to sound like Goldilocks & the three bears. 

Thankfully, I found one that was just right, using mini cupcake pans. 

I really scored with these because I found 3 pans for less than $2 at Goodwill! Score! 

What you need: 

Mini Cupcake Pan

Cake Mix 

Food Color

Cake Pop Sticks

Chocolate Melts or White chocolate chips 

Icing (homemade or store bought) 

1. Make the cake mix according to directions & separate into three bowls. 

2. Add red food coloring to one bowl & blue to another. 

3. Pour batter into mini cupcake pans & bake according to directions. (I cut out a few minutes on the suggested time due to the size.) 

4. Melt your white chocolate melts/chips. Dip the end of your pop stick in the chocolate. 

5. Take a blue cupcake & frost the top then slide onto the stick with the chocolate. 

6. Dip the stick again in the chocolate & do the same thing with the white cupcake & repeat with a red cupcake. 

Tips: Cool & refrigerate/freeze cupcakes for at least 30 minutes before arranging on the pop stick; Trim the "rim" of the cupcake for easier frosting. 

Ice each cupcake with the corresponding icing color. If you're a professional baker you may have a better idea regarding icing these. I'd love to know what you think! I'm definitely not a pro baker/icer so I just gave it my best shot. :p 

No melting with these Bomb Cupcake Pops! These would be perfect treats for your 4th of July bash! 

What was your FAVORITE ice cream from the ice cream truck? 

p.s. You can now LIKE Parties for Pennies on facebook! Click here.

Linking Up To: 

The 36th Avenue 

The Lady Behind the Curtain

Itsy Bitsy Paper

SerenityNow 

Tatertots & Jello 

Weekend Wrap Party - Food Trucks & Improv

Oh hello, friends! I hope your weekend was wonderful! 

This is the weekend wrap party...I'll share what I did over the weekend & you share what you did. I would love to get to know you better & I thought this may be a great way. Just let me know in the comment section or on the Parties for Pennies facebook page what you were up to! 

We started our entertaining weekend off by seeing Sting at Chastain park on Thursday night. I got the tickets for Mike for his birthday/anniversary present. We were pretty far back but it was still a jaw-dropping performance. 

(This was the highest zoom my camera has ever seen! ;p) 

That night I realized the value of having date nights in a relationship. We needed a night away from work & responsibilities that we were able to be "Mike & Heidi" & date again. It was a really fun night...I love those gifts that you get to benefit from too! ;p 

The rest of the weekend, we celebrated the birthday of one of my bffs, Kauri. Another one of my best friends, Rachael also came, along with Elaine (a friend from college) & Amy (Kauri's close friend & a girl I've loved getting to know). 

(Rachael, Me, Kauri - bday girl, Elaine & Amy) 

The celebrations kicked off at the Atlanta Food Truck park. Most of you in New York or Chicago have  been on the food truck wagon for awhile, but we here in Atlanta are just jumping on & loving every minute of it. 

Most of the girls got some grub from the Sweet Auburn BBQ truck but I had to try the Blaxican truck. It had the longest line so I figured it must be pretty good.  

But Kauri, with all her beauty & charm...

...Got free steak tacos from the Blaxican truck. The guy from the truck made the wrong thing so he picked Kauri out & said...you get some free tacos! I got the tilapia tacos & they were pretty amah-zing! 

After the Food Truck Park, we all went to Whole World Improv Theater. Have you ever been to an improv show before? It is so fun! You get to be a part of the show by giving suggestions. In fact, for one of the skits...they used all of our "life mottos" for the whole thing! 

Here were the "life mottos" we gave (this obviously is a comedy show....not our real life mottos): 

"Sexiness is on the inside." (words of wisom from Kauri) 

"It's been a good date when you don't end up projectile vomiting." (From a real life experience by Elaine...hilarious story) 

"Don't leave home without your spanx." (from me...you never know) 

This was Brian, one of the actors. We had to take a picture of him because he had a bar code tattoo. We had to show our college friend Warren. Long story but it involved a prank (sortof) & I've never seen anyone with a bar code tattoo. 

Talk about something great to look at! ;p He really got into his character & just looking at him I laughed so hard I snorted. I couldn't control myself. (Jenny Ruark...we so wish you could've been there & see this is what you were missing out on!) 

I made this cake for Kauri. It was really good & super easy...a perfect summer dessert. Here's the link to the recipe. It's a Kraft recipe & you use a box of white cake mix & strawberry jello. However...

I would recommend icing the cake then putting it in the fridge to chill for awhile & adding the strawberries at the last minute. I got impatient & they ending up drooping. 

Rachael likes to cheer on her friends when they're attempting to blow out their birthday candles. ;p I love this picture! 

That's what good friends are...they still eat your cake, despite the droopy strawberries. ;p 

The whole weekend was soo fun & I had to show you this card Kauri gave me. She also gave each of the girls a similar one. The top picture is a picture from our freshman year. The bottom one was from the past year. It's so funny because in college I never thought I'd look back & say "what was I thinking wearing that or doing my hair like that." The day has arrived when I definitely am saying that. My friends are still just as gorgeous as in college, though! 

The next morning we made banana pancakes with chocolate chips! Rachael was the star flapjack flipper! 

It was such a refreshing & fun weekend. I cannot tell you how thankful I am for amazing friends. They make me laugh so hard my cheeks hurt, yet they cry with me through struggles. We had a wonderful time at breakfast & Kauri even read a little devotional that really touched each one of us in different ways. 

I hope you had a weekend full of laughter, good grub & encouragement! What did you do this weekend? 

Stop back in this Wednesday for a really fun 4th of July treat! And...still hoping to bring you some big news some time this week. 

p.s. You can now LIKE Parties for Pennies on facebook! Click here.

Friday Feature - Star Wars Party

How has your week been? Either way, the weekend is here...woot woot! :-) 

Last Friday, I met a beautiful mom of two little boys, named Michawne, is someone after my party planning heart! She did an incredible job planning this Low Country Boil party! She was telling me about a Star Wars party she did for her oldest son & it sounded the bomb diggity so I asked her if I could share it with you.

Why yes, that is a Death Star cake & yes Michawne did it herself. Uh huh...that's pure talent right there! 

Love the hanging light sabers. 

Did anyone else have nightmares about Jabba after seeing Star Wars? Jabba & that open pit thing with the teeth, as well as the snake scene in Indiana Jones...man they caused some crazy dreams! ;p 

It's a little blurry so if you aren't able to tell, this says "Hans Solo Hoagies." 

Pin the saber on the Yoda! Love it! Oh...and all those light sabers to the right of it...Michawne made them out of PVC pipe & the swimming noodles. Brilliant, huh? 

This is the Death Star pinata which I think almost resulted in Michawne's death. ;p jk She tried many times to craft this. 

The kids had to go through jedi training! 

Get Darth Vader with your light laber, get him! ;p 

Michawne also made these jedi robes for each of the kids. 

And this was the birthday boy, Lucas! 

Great job, Michawne! Check back to Parties for Pennies next week because I'm going to be announcing some BIG news! 

p.s. You can now LIKE Parties for Pennies on facebook! Click here.