Girl Scout Bridging Ceremony

What It Is
Well, here's a kind of party I haven't had to plan since I was a girl (a million years ago). I had a bit of trouble finding ideas for Brownie Bridging (also known as Fly Up) online, so I thought I would share what I came up with here. Bridging in Girl Scouts is when the girls move from one level to another, such as from Brownies to Juniors. It's a pretty big deal. All the families are invited to celebrate all that the girls accomplished in the past couple years, and talk about what they have to look forward to in the next level of Scouting. Being in Girl Scouts made a HUGE impact on my life and I am very happy that my daughter is loving her experience as well.

The Ceremony
Our troop's Bridging Ceremony was to take place outside at a local park. The girls learned to cook over a fire early in the day, and then the families came later for the Ceremony. Lots of ceremony ideas I saw online used candles, but I knew those would blow out in the windy great outdoors. The script I wrote uses flowers that the girls place in a vase. I patched together this script from various ideas I saw online. A Girl Scout always uses resources wisely! Here is a PDF of the Bridging Ceremony Script we used:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byh3C6Lxek0gdGFBMjljLUtTSGs/view?usp=sharing

The Bridge
The actual bridging part of our ceremony was outside on a real bridge over a creek. I wanted to make it special with some decorations so the girls would like it. The decorations needed to be 1) inexpensive, 2) not damaged by rain or wind, 3) bright and cheerful. I decided on rainbow colored duct tape and a pack of multi-colored balloons. My husband was enlisted to help me wrap the duct tape around a tree, trail it across the bridge and wrap it around a stick that we stuck into the mud (there not being an appropriate tree on the other bank). We blew up the balloons and folded the duct tape with the balloon knot in the middle to suspend everything over the creek. This worked well as there was no railing on our bridge. If the bridge had a railing, it may have been even easier to decorate with balloons. I didn't feel like we had to go crazy with decorations - I mean, we were outside and natural beauty surrounded us. But the balloons and bright tape did make it more fun for the girls to run across the bridge and into their future of Junior Girl Scouting. Of course, we removed all trace of the decorations when we left the site. (Take only photographs, leave only footprints!)

Don't Forget
- Recognize your leaders and parent volunteers.
- Let the girls help plan the ceremony - who has what part, what songs to sing, etc.

Baby Shower Must-Take Photos

When you host a baby shower for a friend, make sure you enlist someone to document the big day through photography.  The mom-to-be is going to be too busy socializing to take her own photos, but you know she will want to remember this party! You don't need professional photography, but get a guest with a reliable camera who isn't shy about asking people to pose and smile.  Of course, you can do it yourself if you have time between all your hosting duties!

Food Photos

Pretend there is a comma between "Welcome" and "Simon".
Unless this cake is actually issuing a command for us to welcome Simon. Hmm...  

I'm not saying that Oreos covered with chocolate stamped with little ducks are
the cutest baby shower favor you will ever see in your life, but seriously, they've gotta be in the top 5.  

Yogurt bars are THE BEST for brunch time showers. And check out that low-cost and adorable flag banner!

 Special Gifts

This thoughtful guest made a banner for the new baby's room.  It's sweet to get a photo of the gift and the giver. 

Fun Group Shots

It's likely that the gang doesn't get together very often.  A group photo like this will be treasured by the new mom!  Try to think of a cute place to take the photo.  And take a few to make sure everyone has their eyes open. 

Guests Having Fun

Mix it up with candid and posed shots. 

 

Guests decorate wooden blocks with paint markers for the baby.
Hey, a shower activity that doesn't embarrass anyone! Awesome!

 With the Host

You hosted this amazing party!  Make sure you get a nice photo with the guest of honor. #friendsforever

 Next Step - Don't forget to give the mom-to-be copies of your photos!!

Prisoners of Love Bridal Shower

I recently had the honor of hosting a bridal shower for my friend.  She works as a Victim Advocate and is marrying an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.  So, these are two people who have dedicated their careers to catching criminals and getting justice for victims of crime.  I thought a law enforcement themed bridal shower would be pretty fun, especially since almost everyone attending the shower would be their co-workers.  The official theme of the shower was "Prisoners of Love".  We had a blast!

The Invitation-  As the followers of this blog know, I am a big fan of creating a PDF or image file and emailing the invitation to guests.  This saves paper and maintains the integrity of your design.  If this had been a more formal shower, I would have printed out the invitations and mailed them, but as we all work in the same office, email was the perfect way to get the word out.  The benefit of the image file was that I could also print a couple color copies to hang in the office as a reminder.

 

The Decor - To go along with the theme - basically a mix of love and crime - I incorporated the colors from the invite, turquoise and red, to come up with a centerpiece.  All the tables had red roses in a turquoise vase surrounded by handcuffs or shackles (that the probation department kindly let me borrow for the afternoon!) 

 

The Activity - The guest of honor wanted NO GAMES.  And, of course, I listened to the bride-to-be!  But we had to have something fun to pass the time and make this more than just a luncheon with presents.   It was decided to have a photo booth.  I'd seen photo booths at weddings, run by professionals, but as this was a lower-budget affair, the co-host and I created our own photo booth with a twist.  We made a WANTED poster out of a cardboard display board.  I found a bunch of crimes - some from the Ohio Revised Code that were actual crimes, and some that we just made up for fun.  The "crimes" people could choose from were: Assaulting a Police Horse, Running an Illegal Gambling Ring, Hoarding Fabulous Shoes, Doing the "Footloose" Dance in a Public Place, Swearing in Front of Women and Children, Public Intoxication, Misuse of a Public Transportation System, Driving Too Slowly, Stealing Doug's (the groom's) Heart, etc.  Actually, at the shower, the bride-to-be started looking through the crimes and assigned them to different people, which in itself was pretty funny.  Plenty of props were around so people could be as silly as they wanted to be.

 

The Bonus - I edited all the photos from the shower and put them in an album for the bride as a keepsake of the day.  I also posted all the photos on an online site so that all the guests could laugh at the photos.  I filtered some photos in sepia tone or black and white so they would look more old-timey. 

Inexpensive (but Thoughtful!) Wedding Favors

Favors are a great way to let guests know that you appreciate their love and support on your wedding day.  And let’s be honest about the other reason brides like to provide favors – they can make your tables look really cute!  But there is no need to spend a fortune on wedding favors.  I mean, you are already providing entertainment, feeding these people, and probably offering alcohol. 

The point of this post is to give the brides-to-be some suggestions for sweet favors that won't break the budget.  I have to preface this list by saying that FOOD is probably the most guest-preferred wedding favor.  You would think that people would get enough food at the reception, but no.  I work at weddings almost every weekend and everyone always consumes their edible favors practically the moment they sit down.  (And if for some reason they don’t eat their favors and leave them on the table, the catering staff pockets them after everyone leaves.)

Here's one of 200 cookies I made for a friend's wedding, featuring the couples' initials.  

They weren't "JK" about their love.  Photo by Sandy Chang

CHEAP, THOUGHTFUL, and CUTE WEDDING FAVORS

1. A small pack of recipe cards containing family recipes from the bride’s side and the groom’s side of the family. You only need to make one packet per family, instead of one per person.  Use your wedding colors in your paper choices, and maybe the same font you used for your invitations and/or place cards.

2. Homemade cookie or chocolate covered pretzel in a glassine bag, tied with a ribbon.  Label it if you want to: “How Sweet of you to come to our wedding.”  Note that personalized, individually iced cookies take A LOT more time and effort than making a batch of bar or ball cookies.  And iced cookies don’t freeze as well, so you probably need to make them no more than a few days before the wedding.  So, factor that into your decision about what type to make.  

3. A pack of seeds, and label it with a fitting verse and your wedding date.  I like this quotation: "All the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of today." - Chinese Proverb.  How appropriate for a wedding, right?

4. A Christmas ornament (if a late fall/December wedding).  If you have a long engagement, buy the ornaments right after Christmas for the best deals.

5. Make a donation in honor of your guests to a charity that is close to your heart.  Don’t pick a controversial charity, such as to a specific political party. 

6. A baggie of candy in your wedding colors, tied with a neat bow.

7. A glass votive holder with a candle.  You can get the votives and holders in bulk online inexpensively.  For personalization, get a pack of sticker labels from the office supply store.  Type a short note of thanks, along with your names and wedding date in a pretty font and print it on all the labels. Cut a length of ribbon in your wedding color and wrap it around the candle holder.  Hold the ribbon in place with one of the personalized sticker labels. 

8. Small potted plants – one for each couple/family.  BONUS – they double as the centerpiece.  You might include a tag that explains the meaning of the flower you chose. 

9. A gorgeous apple with a paper flag that says "You are the apple of my eye" attached to the stem.

10. Lip balm personalized to say "Always kiss me goodnight" or even just "XOXOXO"

Free/Cheap Halloween Decorations

Halloween Parties are alot of WORK. A LOT OF WORK. (Yes, I use "a lot" instead of "much" - grammer police, come get me!) But they don't have to cost a fortune. Most of the decorations you can come up with for Halloween can be homemade. You will have to weigh the value of you own time, of course, but in this economy, it doesn't make sense to pay a ton for things you will only use one weekend a year. And the thing about Halloween parties is that if you have another party next year, you don't want to bore your guests with all the same decorations two years in a row. There's nothing scary about seeing the same old ghoul year after year!
This year I made our bathroom into a BATroom. (Hahaha, chortle at the cleverness!) Superfluous number of guano jokes aside, it turned out great. The cost of decor for the entire room was $1.15. We were lucky enough to borrow the bat-shaped lights to place around the mirror, but any old Christmas lights would have been sufficient to set the scene. The idea was that bright, overhead lights wouldn't looked very bat-cave-like. If you have a strobe light, it looks cool flashing behind the shower curtain. Unplug before showering.
In the picture above you can see various black bats. I purchased one piece of black poster board for $1.15. Found a template on the interwebs for a creepy bat (try a Google Image search for "bat template" or "bat clip art".) Traced and cut out fifteen bats from the poster board. (Your hand will hurt if you cut those all out by yourself. Take frequent beer breaks or get a significant other to help you. You may actually have to bribe the significant other with beer to get them to help. Please note that the quality of cut out bats will decrease after three beers, so moderation is the key.) Hang up the bats around the room. Tape some, hang some from string for a more "flappy" look.
I also thought, if I were a bat, what would I have in my cave? The answer was a framed picture of my best friend - in a bat's case, the Count from Sesame Street - and a picture of the coolest car ever - the batmobile. Again Google Image search for the pictures, then printed them to the size I needed. I already had the frames, just replaced the pictures (Sorry, picure of Grandma, you can return after Halloween.)
So, put your mind to it and you can come up with creative Halloween decorations without the scary pricetag.

Here's a link to another of my posts with a DIY Halloween project. 

Scary Blood-Spatter Halloween Decoration

Looking for a NEW cheap and terrifying Decorating Idea for your Halloween Party? 

I am a huge fan of decorating for Halloween.  I am also a huge fan of NOT spending a ton of money.  This idea combines those two goals into one easy and fun DIY project.  Enjoy!

BLOODY TARPS

Someone (Dexter?  Freddy?) committed a horrible bloody murder in your basement, hallway, or garage!!! Basically these are red paint splattered lightweight plastic sheets.  This decorating idea has BIG impact. The tarps can instantly transform your charming country living room into a scary warehouse murder scene. Sweet! The other awesome thing is that you can hang the tarps in front of stuff to hide it.  For example, if you want to keep people out of one side of your basement (maybe so they don’t see all the junk you store down there), a tarp can be hung across the middle of the room, blocking your dirty secrets (and Christmas decorations) from sight.                         

Total cost: about $11.

Materials needed:

1 Quart of Blood Red Paint – go to your local hardware store and have them mix up the bloodiest red you can find.

3 large clear plastic painters’ tarps.  Also available in the paint aisle.  Get the cheapest quality you can find.  You don’t want these things to be heavy, or they will be difficult to hang. 

Paintbrush

A rubber glove – I just used an old one we had under the sink. Bonus!

Duct tape

How To

Hang up one tarp outside, or in your garage, or any appropriate painting area - well-ventilated with a lot of space.  (I held up my plastic tarp by tucking the top edge under heavy stuff on a high shelf, but you could also use duct tape.).  You want the tarp to be hung up while painted, and not flat on the ground, because you really want those awesome bloody drips to form.  Place one of the other tarps flat on the ground underneath the hung tarp.  You don’t want the ground to be covered in paint. 

Dip the paint brush in the red paint and flick red paint onto the hung tarp, creating a blood splatter effect.  Start in the middle of the tarp.  (If you get too close to the edge, the paint might spatter off the sides, getting your yard or garage paint-splattered.)  Randomly spatter paint and brush paint in a slashing motion all over the tarp.  You can also write “Help” or “Beware” or “Die” in messy brushstrokes. 

When it looks sufficiently bloodied, put on the rubber glove and dip your hand into the paint.  Make a few bloody handprints.  I liked the effect of dragging my hand across the tarp.  Like the victim was trying to escape or something.  (I like to think I am theatrical and not a sick, sick person.) 

After the paint drips down the tarp to your liking, lay it flat to dry.  Takes a few hours to dry.

Repeat the process for the other two tarps.  (One tarp could be enough, depending on your party needs, but a quart is enough paint to do three tarps, and since the tarps cost about $0.79 apiece, why not do more?  Go big or go home.)

Now it’s time to decorate your party space!  The plastic tarps I used were so light that I could hang them by duct tape, or in places, by tucking the tarp under something heavy on a high shelf, or by poking a preexisting nail through the plastic. 

When the party is over, fold the tarp gently, paint-side-in.  Note that a bit of the paint may chip off in places, so when you open it next year, maybe open it outside first so you don’t get red paint chips in the house.

Caution - bloody tarps may cause guests to pretend to stab each other.

 Check my post at this link for another cheap Halloween Decorating idea.

Check my post at this link for an invitation to go with the whole "Blood Spatter" theme.

Check my post at this link for a "how-to" on creating Halloween Party Atmosphere.

Wedding Colors - Tips, Trends, and Choices

Picking your wedding colors?  It's kind of a big thing, isn't it?  Color has to be decided for the bridesmaid dresses, the flowers, the napkins, cake, and the invitations, among other things.  Much has changed since your mother made your father wear a powder blue tuxedo to their 1976 wedding.  Read on.

The Basics of Wedding Color

Pick a color scheme and stick with it.  Receptions look amazing when things are coordinated.  (Note, coordinated is not the same as "matchy-matchy."  Don't go totally overboard making things match.)

There are NO rules on how many colors you can have for your wedding.  Go monochromatic, or have the whole rainbow.  It’s entirely up to you.  Also, color can be a focal point, or it can be completely understated.  Either option can be totally beautiful. 

The elusive "Understated Multi-color Look".  So beautiful!

I would advise that you keep some white or ivory or some muted color in the decoration scheme.  Some brides have brightly colored or black tablecloths and it ends up looking like a prom instead of a wedding. (Unless "Enchantment Under the Sea" is the wedding theme you are shooting for.) 

So, how to choose your wedding colors?  

Some brides just KNOW what colors they want, and others have a really difficult time making a decision.  I've come up with several ways to choose wedding colors.  Which one works for you?

1. Consider my post on choosing two wedding words and how your two words can impact your color choice.  Your color can really help the mood you are trying to create for your wedding.

2. Consult your bridesmaids on what color dress they would like, or alternatively, what they would HATE.  Or at least think about their skin tone/hair color when choosing a dress color.  With their preferences in mind, choose a dress.  Then use that dress color as the main color for the wedding, or pick one or more colors that coordinate with that color.  Those colors are your official wedding colors.  Good to Note: all the dresses don't have to be the same color.  I saw a stunning bridal store display with alternating bridesmaid dresses in green and yellow, surrounding a white clad bride.  Talk about a striking combination!  

3. Look at your venue for the ceremony or reception.  If the entire church is salmon colored, don’t pick bright orange for your flowers and bridesmaid dresses.  Talk about clashing!  Gross.  If your reception is at a college, and school colors dominate the room, choose colors that are the same as those, OR that coordinate with those, OR at least don’t clash with those.  The colors of your reception space could really help with the overall design of your reception, IF you work with it and not against it.  For example, if your reception site has navy chairs, go with a color scheme that incorporates navy.  Then there is zero need to buy chair covers and your decorations will really coordinate with the space.  Also, if you are having a destination wedding, such as at the beach, go with “beachy” colors like blue, white, and tan.  Or if your destination is New Orleans, think about the traditional Mardi Gras hues of purple and gold.

4. Consider the season.  Great choices for particular seasons are:

·         Winter 

o       Navy and silver

o       Icy blue and white

o       Crimson and green

o       Green and ivory

o       White and silver and ivory

o       Gold and red

o       Purple

o       Black and white

·         Spring

o       Yellow and green

o       Yellow and red – think tulips, not McDonald's

o       Green – different shades

o       Light blue and green

o       Pastels – think charming English garden bouquet

o       Pink

o       Light blue, yellow, white

·         Summer

o       Bright multi-color – all the brightest summer flowers

o       Red, orange, yellow, green

o       Blue

o       Pink and green

o       Yellow and ivory

o       Grey and any bright accent color

·         Fall

o       Brown and lime green

o       Brown, orange, red/yellow

o       Your football team’s colors

o       Wheat and green/cream/orange/brown

o       Sky blue

o       Purple

o       Red

If you have any more ideas on favorite color combos for a particular season, please leave them in the comments!

Good to Note - the Two-Color-Combo trend is kind of over.  When you want two dominant colors, like say, yellow and blue, don't stick with one bright yellow and one shade of blue for everything from flowers to dresses to bows.  Consider doing a mix of lemon yellow, pale yellow, navy, baby blue, beige, and white.  This really takes your pallette to the next level in terms of sophistication. 

5. Speak with a florist.  Talk to your florist about what kinds of flowers she recommends, especially for the time of year of the wedding.  If she can show you a must-have, fabulous bouquet for your wedding, just go with that color scheme for everything else.  They have bridesmaid dresses in every single color of the rainbow, so I’m sure you’ll be able to coordinate.

6. Is there a color that is meaningful to you and your spouse?  For example, the colors of the school where you met, or maybe your unique engagement rings has emeralds and you want to go with an emerald color scheme.  Which color makes you HAPPY?

7. Head to the paint store with your fiancé and choose a few colors that you both like.  It’s not rocket science!  Maybe you’ll think up some amazing combinations together.  Do you want to go with pale blue, midnight blue, a swampy green, or all three? 

8. Be practical.  Your best friend got married last year and is willing to give you all of her red, black, and white centerpieces, candles, and gorgeous table runners.  The money you will save on decorations might be enough to convince you that red, black, and white are your new favorite colors!

Charming DIY paper and cloth decorations by bride Shannon Reitz Nye gave her late

summer wedding a fun burst of color.  Photo by Eileen Magno Grubb.

The Tasteful Art of Fruit Carving

I was banquet serving as a temp for a wedding this weekend. It was a charming afternoon wedding at the Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus, Ohio. Since the wedding started at noon, the bride chose to have a brunch with omlette and waffle stations, as well as many pastries and other delicious foods. (And plenty of mimosas!)

Placed on the fruit buffet table was this creation:

I was enchanted as were many guests. I was compelled to ask the chef about it. The chef informed me that he commissioned culinary students at the Bradford Culinary School to create the fruit scupture for the event, catered by "A Catered Event". (Clever name.) What a perfect centerpiece for an event at a botanical garden! I know I'm a nerd about all things "party," but I really could not stop looking at this intricate design. It's amazing what you can do with a couple melons and radishes. Sad that it will only last a couple days!

There's really no reason someone couldn't create this for a party at their own home. (I mean, you just need a boatload of free time and a willingness to waste fruit.) I looked into the art of fruit carving when I got home and found out that it is pretty popular around the world, especially in Thailand where it is a national art form. There, the fruit carving tradition dates back 700 years. I looked at a bunch of videos on youtube and this one CLICK THIS LINK (from some guy from Italy named Anthony) shows a watermelon being carved into a flower.

I have not attempted it yet, but it doesn't look too impossible to do. Anthony's design is less complicated than many others and might be a good start for a beginner. Grazie mille, Anthony! If anyone tries this, let me know.

DIY Flower Arrangements

Lilac, Dahlia, Violet, Aster, Tea Rose, Iris... All would look (and smell) GORGEOUS displayed on my dining room table!

Sure, you can buy a centerpiece display of flowers already perfectly arranged in a vase, but it's really not difficult to arrange your own floral centerpiece if you want to save a bit of money and give the bouquet your own personal touch.

I think it's really fun to pick out different stems of flowers from the local farmers' market in colors that match my tablecloth. (I am easily thrilled.) With spring coming, maybe you will have some daffodils and tulips to cut from your own garden very soon. Or, sometimes, a nice guest will bring a wrapped bouquet of flowers as a hostess gift. (We love those guests, don't we?) So, rather than just jam the flowers in a vase willy-nilly, here's a video tutorial on flower arranging that I found helpful. The lady in the video (Alexandra Lyons) explains everything pretty clearly. (Sorry they make you watch an ad before the video. I guess some people want to get paid.)

Click here for the video on flower arranging from videojug.com

She has some tips I found helpful:
1) Cut the stem of every flower at least an inch to make the flowers last longer.
2) Cut off all the leaves that would be underwater to prevent bacteria from growing.
3) Don't put all of one kind of flower together.

Here are some tips I've gleaned over the years that she didn't mention, but I've found helpful to make a beautiful bouquet. It makes it seem like you really know what you are doing!

1) It you don't have quite enough flower stems to fill your vase, use scotch tape to create a grid across the top of your vase. (Put some pieces of tape vertically across the top of the vase, and cross them horizontally with more pieces of tape.) It will keep the stems separated and make the bouquet look fuller and more orderly. The stems will stand upright instead of drooping over.

2) Cut some stems an inch or so shorter than other stems. Put the tallest flowers in the middle of the vase, and the shorter stems as a circle around the tallest flowers. It shouldn't look like a couple tall flowers poking out above a circle a short flowers - you need to cut them so the size difference is gradual. This creates a nice rounded shape for the centerpiece. This type of arrangement works in almost any type of vase.




Here is a bouquet from ftd.com that illustrates what I mean by cutting the flowers around the sides shorter than the stems in the middle.

For the Love of China

When do you use your fine china? 1) Daily, 2) Often, 3) Special holidays only, 4) Never, 5) I don’t have china. 6) All of my daily nutrition comes in pill form. If you answered 3) or 4), this post is for you!

You can make a casual dinner a lot more fabulous just by setting the table with your nice dishes. Many of us received fine dinnerware wedding gifts, and the pieces sit in the china cabinet (or worse, in boxes in the basement) day after day.

China place settings look so beautiful and make your meal presentation instantly more glamorous. Why wait until Christmas to show it off?

The Arguments (and my scathing rebuttal!) –

China is a pain to clean. Umm, okay Monsignor McLazy. You are already going through the trouble of making a nice dinner, what are a few more minutes of washing dishes? You might even have a couple guests offer to help wash the dishes. (Those friends are definitely getting invited back!) Check your china – some brands are even dishwasher safe. (But use the “china” setting on your dishwasher if there is one.)

Everyone is going to be wearing jeans. China is too formal. Myth! You are totally allowed to use nice dishes even if your guests are not wearing ball gowns and tuxedos. (But be realistic. If you are hosting a pool party where everyone is wearing a bathing suit and eating burgers, china is going to be ridiculous.)

It will just be my family at the table. So are they chopped liver? If you make a nice Sunday dinner for your brood, serve it up on china to make the whole scene feel more special. Bringing out the nice dishes could lend a celebratory tone for such family events as good grade cards, promotions, reading ten books, snow days, or half-birthdays.

But my dishes look so nice displayed in the china cabinet. Seriously? They are dishes. Meant for eating. Give them the true place of honor for the evening – your dining room table.

My mom only used her china on Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some traditions were meant to be trampled. And you can still use your china on the special holidays; using it more often will just make more days feel like holidays.

I only have four place settings. Even if you only received four place settings of china for your wedding, that’s not a problem if you are only having dinner for four people! There is no need to wait until you have a set of twelve to start hosting parties using your china.

TIP –
China dishware can scratch itself! Store your dishes with a cloth or paper napkin between each plate.

Will you be my Valentine, Kate Spade Gardner Street Platinum dinnerware?