Q. I don't wanna go the usual baby Gap route, I like how Angelina dresses her kids, trendy but cute. Also looking for any additional DIY things I can make for the baby shower.
A. I think you should make a really cool personalized "Baby Book". Normal baby books from Target/Babies r Us are all exactly the same, and they are all pretty average. There are pages that never get filled out, things you want to put into the book but can't seem to find the right page...etc. Here's what I did for a friend's shower and she LOVED it.
Take a 3 ring binder and decorate it any way you choose. Then get baseball card page protectors, regular page protectors, photo page protectors..etc....get her some construction paper and a stack of index cards. Then you can cut the index cards in half and write down anything you want and just slide it in the baseball card sized page protectors. It's SO easy to forget the little things and when it's so easy to grab an index card and jot the memory down there's no excuse!
I am planning on making those for all future shower gifts b/c it was such a big hit. The new parents can write down little things like the first words, the first time they slept through the night, the first time you got a real smile, laugh..etc... and it's really cool.
Good luck though, there are lots of other good ideas too!!
I could use some ideas of fun and useful gift ideas for a bridal shower gift?
Q. I am the maid of honor of my best friends wedding. I am already spending a lot of money to throw her a bridal shower and buying what I need to wear for her wedding. So I thought It would be a cute idea to make a gift basket or like a picnic basket type of thing to give to her as my gift to her. I was wondering what would be some cool and also useful ideas to put in the basic. If anyone else has a better idea for a gift please share!
A. When my brother got married, they had a lot of kitchen items on their registry, in all price ranges. A neighbor who was invited to the wedding bought a bunch of the smaller items (wisks, ladles, spatulas, measuring cups, etc) and put them all in a basket and attached little cards with recipies on them to each of the items. My brother and his wife loved it because they love to cook, and are ALWAYS trying out new foods and things.
So my suggestion would be to think of things that the couple like to do together, and fill the basket with stuff that will help them enjoy that. So if they like camping, find small pieces of camping equipment like those wind up flashlights that don't need batteries, and bug spray and stuff like that. Or if they love the beach/are going somewhere beachy on their honeymoon, get them sunscreen and flip flops and beach towels...if they like doing gardening, get them a bunch of small gardening tools and seeds that will do well in your area...if they like doing home improvement/diy projects, get them paint brushes and things to hang paintings and stuff in their home....
Think of who they are as a couple, and what they like to do, then personalize it to their tastes.
My fiance and I are planning to be married in October. Does anyone have any thrifty ideas?
Q. We're kind of tight on cash. I'm looking for suggestions and ideas to pull off something nice but very reasonably priced. DIY ideas welcome as well!! Thanks!
A. I got married last December and did a lot of it on a budget as we were paying for it. I know that because I live in the UK how we have weddings over here may be in some way different to in the US or Australia but the principals are probably the same :)
first of all make a list of the 'must haves' - the things you have to have to make it your day; you want to do it as cheap as possible but you also dont want to look back in the future and think 'I wish we'd had....' as you can't go back and re-do it. that said, don't lose sight of what the day is about - you and your partner making a life-long commitment in front of family and friends.
For starters, we made out own invitations - buying the card, paper and decorations from ebay and online craft stores. i am not a 'crafty' person but with some practice had made something no one else would have. I got some plain card, printed the inserts on the home computer on paper sheerts and attached them using silver cord that i tied in a bow, with silver beads threaded on to the cord. Glued some red hearts and stamped the wording on the front and voila... enlist the help of friends and your partner and you're set ;) I bought the place cards online and hand wrote them with silver pen - but some people let people sit wherever so you dont need place cards and I didnt bother with a seating chart. i made the favours, buying bits from ebay, including the sweets to go inside. I also made small table gifts, which were fun 'toys' I got from ebay and wrapped in silver paper then got my sister and nice (bridesmaids) to give them out when they were seated, as an ice breaker - it was Christmas season so it seemed apt and people loved them.
My dress was a bridesmaids dress, cos I wanted a simple strapless red gown and the one I chose was just right. It wasnt second hand, it was off the peg but the shop took it in to fit me and I loved it. My hubbie got his suit and his brothers best man suit from an outlet, so that was cheaper. My tiara was from ebay, as was my bag and I bought gorgeous artificial cala lilly bouquet from ebay - bonus being I get to keep it forever - no bouquet tossing for me! :P
We had our wedding in the afternoon, straight away cutting costs for everyone, and chose a venue we could hire for free - they recoup their costs through the bar bill, food etc. I invited only family and very close friends to the wedding breakfast and went for the menu that would suit most tastes - no one will remember if you had fancy nibbles or if they had a fancy plate of something unprounounceable... they will remember if it was edible and thats about it :P
I had one free drink for each of the wedding breakfast and included in the budget wine to go with the meals, but for the toast gave the guests sparkling chardonnay and only had champagne for the top table - no one noticed the difference. I didnt have an open bar and no one expected it - its an unneccesary expense and weddings cost enough as it is, plus its not a tradition over in the UK.
I had a DJ quite cheap through the venue but the ipod idea is great and make your own cd to be played while you eat. The crockery and glasses and stuff came from the venue.
I negotiated with the venue re table decorations but i would say you dont need to go OTT with those and can make your own - no one will remember them and a couple of fish bowls with bear grass and gerberas looked really effective - in the evening they were put on the bar with tea light candles in, which are super cheap to buy from Ikea.
My photographer and I negotiated too, and I settled on a DVD only deal, which means I get all the pictures and can print out what i want when i want. I limited his time with us as luckily our venue had an in-house photogrpaher who took pictures of the evening guests, as I think its great to have pics of everyone there - but you can aks guests to give you copies of theres and may be worth putting blank recordable discs on the tables with little cards inviting people to take them home and out their pics on their then send them back to you - people really dont mind.
The cake I found via the internet - a lot of it was done over the internet because I was being married miles from where I live - but shop bought cakes can be as good and you can buy decorations to go on there from most supermarkets. I didnt have a videographer as I am camera shy but thats personal preference - i did consider hiring or borrowing a camera and asking a friend to do it.
I didnt go crazy on a honeymoon - we had a 'mini moon', which was cheaper and closer to home but no less special.
i think that covers most things.. theres also a site called 'myweddingpath' which lets you build your own pages for free, really easy to use and is a handy way for people to RSVP, get involved with the planning etc.
Good luck and have a great great day :)
Powered by Yahoo! Answers
