Soaking Up the Last Ray - A Bachelorette Bash!

A few weekends ago, I had the great honor of hosting a bachelorette bash for my best friend and SOON to be Mrs.! And I thought....

Thanks to PrettyPaperParties and her adorable Etsy shop, I was able to get the word out about the par-tay back in April. I highly recommend working with Brooke while party planning. She was great to work with and very flexible when I forgot a thing or two...

After what seemed like an eternity (yes, I'm mildly dramatic...) it was finally bachelorette weekend! Before Abby arrived, I decorated the house with a few bachelorette goodies including this banner:

Using free templates... YES FREE! .... from PrintablePartyDecor.com, I printed the backdrop for the banner and topped it off with letters cut from my Cricut. Notice anything missing? Yes, a few rings and the word the didn't make the trip across town. Oops! I had time to fix it. 

Waiting for Abby when she arrived into town was a little gift bag with a personalized t-shirt from DearAddieWomen's Etsy shop. It was the perfect gift to kick off the weekend! Plus, she shipped the shirt within a few weeks to me - talk about great service!

On Friday evening, we started off the weekend with a Mexican-themed Honeymoon Shower. All of the ladies showered our bride-to-be with honeymoon themed gifts and a rousing game of Bride Scattegories. It was fantastic! Plus we had a piñata and delicious bikini cookies... 

Another Etsy favorite was Rachel Carl's shop. (Visit her Etsy shop here) I ordered these adorable, and personalized, straws back in April and had been anxiously awaiting their debut! 

The banner looked even cuter with the bride-to-be (and the word the... oops) posing in front of it!

#lastray

The rest of the weekend was spent soaking up the beautiful Missouri sunshine at the Lake of the Ozarks and a delightful night out on the town. 

A great weekend - one for the memory books to say the least!

Fruit Loops are the Key to my Heart

In 2nd grade we talk about having a text-to-self connection with stories we read. This means that when reading you relate personally to a character or event in the story. Well, I had a cupcake-to-self connection with this recipe. I love fruit loops. I love eating them with or without milk at ALL hours of the day. I also love cupcakes. I could eat cupcakes at all hours of the day. Fruit Loop cupcakes screams cupcake-to-self connection!

So, naturally, when I found a recipe on Crepes of Wrath for Fruit Loop cupcakes I thought I had died and gone to heaven. After checking my pulse I decide to test these cupcakes out!

I got out all of my ingredients and set the oven at 375 and realized that I didn't have any milk. The first thought that came to me was, "I'll ask a neighbor!" Then, I quickly remembered that I do not know my neighbors. I checked out the window to see if my one neighbor who waves at me was home... strike two! I contemplated knocking on doors and asking for 1/2 cup of milk and saying it was for my dear old granny's birthday cake (instead of just my Wednesday night activity). Instead of pretending I was the Big Bad Wolf, I decided to head to QT down the street. For the record, my dear old granny would love these cupcakes.

 I think the most fun part of making the cupcakes was "zesting" an orange and a lemon. After I zested all that I could zest, my orange looked rather naked. I made the wise choice of putting it out of its misery and eat it! It was a great decision. 

The recipe said to be GENEROUS with fruit loops on top ... so I did exactly that. 

While I've been putting off my comp day presentation, I've been crafty!

I purchased close to 1,000 (not really) white baskets from Wal-Mart prior to the school year for my classroom library in 2nd grade. Now, my library will be different in 5th grade so I am left with a lot of baskets. I found this organization tip from Oh! Crafts and gave it a whirl. 

http://www.ohcrafts.net/decoration-ribbon-organizer.php

Before: a ribbon mess!

After: Alex and my organized ribbons! 

I don't know about you, but I love Scrabble! I have to admit though I have never played with a board and scrabble tiles. Instead I've only played electronically. A few days ago I bought my first Scrabble game ...but I used it for a craft instead. :)

http://www.ohcrafts.net/decoration-scrabble-tile-magnets.php

I superglued magnets on the back of the tiles found inside my board game. Now, I can spell fun things on my fridge or use in them in my classroom as fun decor. The possibilites are endless! 

Lastly, I did some shopping on Etsy! I love Parada Creations! Her prints are super cute and will look smashing in my apartment.

Have a loopy and fruity day!