A Perfect Thanks

A few weeks ago I helped throw a baby shower for one of my besties and bridesmaids, we'll call her E-Rod, and we had a seriously fun time eating, decorating onesies, and joking around about what the baby would look like and which of his/her honorary aunts he/she would like best (I won that contest hands down, obviously).  So with all that fun as it's own reward, I was especially touched with E-Rod gifted us these adorable and thoughtful thank you gifts. 

Inside these adorable (and shower-theme coordinating I might add) bags, E-Rod included a lovely thank you note, along with awesome swag- Starbucks gift cards, Vosges chocolate bars (oh baby) and Mad Housewife Merlot.  Have you ever seen anything cuter?  I love that this is something anyone- even the noncrafty folks- can do, and on any budget.  I'm shamelessly planning to steal this fabulous idea one of these days! 

The Keepsake Box: Heirlooms or Clutter?

I admit that I am biased and think that keepsake boxes are such a great wedding idea.  My cousin got me a keepsake box as a wedding gift, and when I realized what I could do with it I was thrilled- and touched!  And I hadn't even thought about wanting one.  You have to get up pretty early in the morning to think of a wedding topic I haven't thought of, but my cuzzie definitely did!

You can even get cute ones from Walmart!

Mine looks somewhat like this one above (but it isn't wall mounted, and mine is cuter, hehe).  It is black (like our other picture frames) and has a hinged lid with a collage picture frame in it, and the inside is solid wood.  I love it so much and used sepia colored wedding photos to fill the collage on the box top.  Inside, I saved a copy of every paper element from our wedding (our save the date, invitation, rehearsal invitation, menus, favors, OOT bag welcome letters, escort cards, wedding program) along with J.'s boutonniere, my garter, the cards we gave each other on the wedding day, and a few special cards from family.  It's the perfect way to store memories- a kind of time capsule that now sits on an end-table shelf in our living room.  Close by but clean.  I adore it!

Pottery Barn's Keepsake Box can be personalized!

Another photo box done well on Etsy![/caption]

From The Memory Keepers on Etsy!

Etched wood, also on Etsy!

How would (or how do) you preserve wedding keepsakes?

Customizing Your Party (and a GIVEAWAY!)

Sometimes having a blog is the best thing ever.  For example, when people let you try things out to review them, which is what today's post is all about!  The folks over at Customized Girl totally made my day a few weeks ago when they contacted me and invited me to try out some of their goods (for free, thanks CG!)!  And the even better news is that Customized Girl will be offering a mind-blowingly generous giveaway here at The One! next week, so definitely keep checking back- lots of fabulous freebies on the way!!



Customized Girl, together with it's sister site, Bridal Party Tees, has some incredible offerings if you're considering making t shirts or keepsakes for your bridal party gifts, or if you are planning a bachelorette party.  I've tried making T shirts through VistaPrint (which were certainly workable), but found CG's products to be of a significantly higher quality for almost the same pricing and with more options.  And just as importantly, the print quality was excellent!



I can't share photos of my specific order just yet because it's a surprise for someone special (but I promise I will down the road), but I'll tell you this: I ordered a few different types of shirts- a men's tee, ladies fitted tees, stretchy tanks and even a tote bag.  Each and every piece that I ordered arrived looking exactly as I had ordered it, and the shipping was super fast!  The fabrics are soft and comfy!  The ink was vivid and definitely not going anywhere!  And even though everything I ordered was a tad different, it all coordinated so well I couldn't be happier!



One of the best things about these goodies is that they come in a variety of price points (unlike some of their competitors) and they always have some cute stuff in their sale section too, so you don't need to bust out a bajillion dollars to have some fun.  And the customizing software is super-user friendly.  You can use their pre-made designs and change text, fonts, sizes, graphics, or you can start from scratch and make your own!



Aaaaand... it's not just for girls.  They have options for men and kids too, so you can buy gifts for the whole bridal party (even baby onesies)!  All images in this post are, of course, from the websites, but you should definitely go check it out to see more!

Don't forget to keep checking back in for the upcoming giveaway- it's a great one!

Bacheloretting, Just $4.74

So, it's not news that I heart VistaPrint.  But I recently learned that VP makes T shirts and totes, with prices starting at $4.74 (or in some cases, free, if you have the right coupon).  And so I did some looking into it.  Turns out these inexpensive tees are actually quite cute, and of course you can even upload your own design.  Now, I love companies like Zazzle and Custom Ink too, not to mention the adorable custom finds you can get on Etsy or Wedding Chicks, but hey, times are tough.  Sometimes you have to make the call to cut costs, and this is a good way to do so while still getting a product completely personalized (for instance, you could put each gal's name on their own shirt; or make the bride's a little extra special)!

Wouldn't these be wonderful, affordable bridesmaids gifts?  Or perfect for an upscale out of town bag?  Personally, I always love wedding swag and have not stopped wearing my most recent wedding related item, a zippered hoodie from friend P's bachelorette.  In fact, I *may* or *may not* have recently designed some tees for two different events I'll be a part of in the near future, and I'm so excited with how they came out!  Here's some of my favorite VP options!

And remember, if you order from VistaPrint, be sure to use Ebates so you can get cash back too!! 

Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, they make tote bags and hats too.  What designs are your favorite?

Gifts to "Flip" For (and apologies for the bad pun)

I crack myself up with my dad-style use of puns :)

Have you seen those cool little video cameras known as the Flip?  They are these adorable, teenie tiny video cameras which start at just $149 and can basically go anywhere.  It seems like they have lots of bells and whistles in those tiny packages too!  I feel like this would be such a great thing to bring on a honeymoon- small, portable, great for capturing funny moments along with those special ones. 

Ok but here is what is really cool about the Flip right now.  If you order one of these from the company, you can upload an image and they''ll put it on the video camera.  For free.  SWEET!

[caption id="attachment_2320" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="It would appear to be just that easy"][/caption]

 I have to say, I'm obsessed with this idea and I don't need a video camera at all.  But still obsessed.  I feel like this would be such a wonderful gift for newlyweds... or parents who have helped plan your wedding; or your maid of honor.  You could put the couple's engagement photo on it, or your parents' wedding shot, for example.  And with free shipping offers available, it is that much more appealing.

What do you think?  Do you love the Flip?  Actually, while I'm at it, has anyone out there actually used the Flip before?  What did you think?

My Homemade Valentine

Happy President's Day everyone!  I hope you all have a lovely Valentine's day yesterday!  We definitely did!  I know I've mentioned before that this month we're on a "financial fast" which meant no gifts for V-day this year.  Frankly, for me, I find Valentine's gifts to be overpriced and overrated.  So rather than spin our wheels and spend our money, we aimed for the small and thoughtful this year... and for me, that meant making dinner (spinach salad, flank steak pinwheels, wild mushroom risotto and fresh, lemony asparagus- my own creation!) and yes, it was a really, really good dinner!  :)

J. is a big lover of chocolate so I didn't want to skip dessert.  But at the same time, I'm going through a particularly busy time at work (and an equally busy personal life) so I had to figure out something that wouldn't take too long.  The solution came to me last week during my daily blog review when I was reminded of Bakerella's recipe for cake balls!  Besides having a hilarious name, this recipe looked cute and simple so I decided to try my own spin on it- only I renamed them "cake truffles" so as to be taken slightly more seriously.

Bakerella's recipe calls for red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting which I ADORE- but J. loves chocolate.  So I did a devil's food cake with German chocolate icing (see Bakerella's link above for instructions).  I broke my cardinal rule and used cake mix and store-bought icing, because I was short on time (bad Sarah, bad!)... but I do think you could easily do this completely homemade.  Then I melted a good-quality semi-sweet chocolate for the coating, and added some sprinkles in red, while and gold (a bridal shower gift).  The result?  See for yourself!

[caption id="attachment_2246" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="mmmmm, yummy chocolatey cake goodness"][/caption]

Now, I'm a big believer that presentation is EVERYTHING so of course I also had to at least attempt some sort of V-day appropriate packaging.  Since I didn't want to spend any money, I ended up taking an old, standard gift box and turning it into a heart-shape.  To give you an idea of my approach, the below image shows (I hope) how I cut the box bottom.  I left the sides of the box intact and then shaped them to match the bottom, taping them into place when the new shape looked good to me.

[caption id="attachment_2248" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Try to pretend this rectangle is a gift box."][/caption]

Once my box was in the right shape I covered it with red and white papers.  Not being able to spend money, I downloaded these and these freebie printable papers, originally intended for dollhouses but perfect for my project.  I admit that it looks a little bit like a kindergartner did it, but I like to think it is kind of charming!

[caption id="attachment_2247" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The box, pre-truffles"][/caption]

Once my box was ready, I decided to line it with waxed paper, to keep it nice for as long as possible.  I simply cut the waxed paper into a heart shape approximately 1 inch larger on all sides than the box, so the paper would line the sides of the box.  To get the paper to fit around the curves, I cut verticle slits into the paper's edge.  Easy peasy.

[caption id="attachment_2249" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lined with wax paper"][/caption]

Next, I glued some red ribbon onto the bottom of the box, for tying later.  And yes, the ribbon was recycled, I didn't buy that either.

[caption id="attachment_2250" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="With the ribbon..."][/caption]

And finally I filled the box with my creations.  Voila!

[caption id="attachment_2251" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Just add truffles!"][/caption]

Before tying the bow, I added another layer of heart-shaped waxed paper, and then that was it!  A cute, homemade Valentine using groceries and freebies, something that still felt special despite the absence of big spending.  J. loved them!

[caption id="attachment_2252" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="A little more waxed paper, a bow, and we're in business!"][/caption]

I think this would make such a cute thank you gift for someone throwing a shower- or maybe even a groom's gift.  As for me, I'll be incorporating them into my traditional repertoire of holiday baking from now on!

How did you celebrate Valentine's day?

Adorable Favor Alert: Preserves from Tea!

I am currently in the process of planning a baby shower for a good friend.  Well actually, I'll clarify, I'm planning like 6 baby or bridal showers right now, but this one is the first of this year and will be a very small brunch shower, so I'm super excited about it.  The mother-to-be specifically asked us to keep things relaxed, so the six of us planners kept it light and divvied up just a few tasks: invitations (with one extra for mom's keepsake), a floral centerpiece, something sweet for desert, and favors.  Favors was what I picked, because of couse I love them!

We also settled on a french country theme for the shower (mom appropriate!) in shades of robin's egg blue, soft oranges and yellows, and sage green- which happen to also be the colors of the baby's under-the-sea nursery theme (baby appropriate!)  In this way, we're hoping a few of the keepsakes might be useable in baby's room when he gets here!

So when thinking about favors for a group of NYC ladies, I wanted to make sure the favor wasn't the usual diaper pin or plastic baby.  And nothing too chotchky- we all live in relatively small spaces and none of us need extra clutter.  Of course I hit Etsy looking for something good and I totally found it!  These tea-flavored preserves by homemadebyshari were just the ticket!  Shari let me order 7 different flavors (so everyone at the table can ooh, ahh and trade to get one they'll like) and she even put pastel gingham fabrics on the lids to coordinate with the shower's french country theme. 

[caption id="attachment_2131" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Le sigh!"][/caption]

I think these would be such a great favor for bridal showers or even weddings too, and at $2 each they're quite reasonable!  The flavors I ordered include honey vanilla chamomile, blueberry, cinnamon apple, country peach, lemon zinger, tangerine orange, and wild berry.  But there are many more options to chose from as well. 

As an aside, I decorated a little basket with gingham ribbon for each guest to put a baby book in, in lieu of a card, which will likewise coordinate with all the goodies.  I can't wait to see everything come together!

Remembering Your Bachelor

Weddings are supposed to be all about the couple, but let's keep it real: its mostly about the ladies.  So when my friend P. told me about this great little project she's putting together for her groom's bachelor party, I was so excited!  I don't exactly know what to call it, so let's just call it bachelor party care packages...

Here's what she's including:

Step 1: Custom T Shirts

P. went to Custom Ink and designed shirts:

[caption id="attachment_2123" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Preview courtesy of custom ink!"][/caption]

She included the image of a car because the guys are driving to Atlantic City in vintage sports cars as a tribute to her car-loving guy.  She also went in blue and orange, which are classic Porsche racing colors.  Cute right?  I'm sure it would be easy to come up with a similar image to suit any bachelor party theme without much work.  You could easily do this for even less money by buying iron-on printable transfers and making them on your home printer.

Step 2: Custom Ribbon

[caption id="attachment_2125" align="aligncenter" width="140" caption="PrintMyRibbon.com's version"][/caption]

P. is making special ribbon to wrap around each T shirt.  The ribbon will say "Please take care of [Fiance]."  Sure you could pay someone like PrintMyRibbon.com to do this and it would look good, but she's going to use paint pens and regular old ribbon.  Genius right?

Step 3: Add Necessities

P. is tying Tums and Excedrin onto each bow to complete the care package.  Because we all know our men generally go out and do all kinds of crazy dumb things at bachelor parties (from what I hear, the poor bachlor usually is the best-behaved and it's the groomsmen who go wild, but what do I know, I'm sure they're all fibbing.  Ahem...)  In any event, I think they'll appreciate the pain relief the next morning.

[caption id="attachment_2126" align="aligncenter" width="175" caption="Tum tum tum tum..."][/caption]

Step 4: Fake Mustaches

[caption id="attachment_2124" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="Villainous Hairy Mustaches, $4.99 per dozen!"][/caption]

I don't really think I need to explain why adding these is a great idea.  P. found hers on Oriental Trading and got 20% plus free shipping with a $20 purchase using an online coupon.  These will go in cello bags with the other "Necessities."

Do you love this idea as much as I do?  What would you include?

DIY Matchbooks

If you are planning a wedding, you may have seen all those adorable, personalized bride and groom match books out there.  I know I loved them, and absolutely HAD to incorporate them somehow into our wedding.  But they're kind of pricey when you think about what a small detail they are.  The solution?  Make them yourself!

I gave my matchbooks to J. with a box of cigars to pass out on the wedding day, but you could leave these near doors or on the bar, restaurant style, for guests to pick up as they mill about!

Here's a quick overview of all the different ways I've seen brides do this (each image links to the source, with instructions for making your own!):

[caption id="attachment_1835" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mod Matchbooks"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1836" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Simple Elegance"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1837" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Paired with Sparklers"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1838" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="With Candles as a Favor"][/caption]

And so with this inspiration, here's what I came up with!  All it took were some mailing labels, some scrapbook paper, and some penny matches purchased from the dollar store.  Cute, no?

[caption id="attachment_1839" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="With the fancy cigar box..."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1840" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Up close and personal"][/caption]

Bridal Party Swag: The Bridesmaids!

Up next, the bridesmaids' gifts!  I seriously, seriously had to stop myself from buying bridesmaids gifts on a regular basis.  It is a small miracle that I stopped here.  It seemed I was constantly running into amazing bargains for off-season goodies.  But thankfully I did stop eventually, because nothing else would have fit into the gift bags!  So here's what the girls got:

(1) their big gift: monogrammed white cashmere scarves from Land's End.  My only regret is that I didn't get one for me!

[caption id="attachment_1802" align="aligncenter" width="280" caption="Ok, I admit this isn't the exact scarf but you get the idea. Click image for source."][/caption]

(2) Christmas candles from Crabtree and Evelyn. (sorry, no photo for this one...)

(3) Amber bath oil and bath salts from the Body Shop. (I'm a bad blogger and didn't get a photo of this one either)

(4) Flip flops that went with their bridesmaids dresses, in chocolate, for the reception (hey, cute shoes are generally painful shoes, so I made sure there was a plan B!)

[caption id="attachment_1801" align="aligncenter" width="223" caption="Old navy flip flops- affordable, basic, perfect."][/caption]

(5) "Bridesmaids Survival Kits" which were a combination of (a) handmade cosmetic bags in Amy Butler fabrics which I had custom made by Woodly Creations; (b) gingerbread lip gloss from Philosophy; (c) tiny "love" sewing kits, bandaids for feet, tylenol, safety pins, and shout wipes.  I was a girl scout after all- gotta "be prepared"!

[caption id="attachment_1800" align="aligncenter" width="222" caption="As an added bonus, these matched the gowns so well that many of the maids used them as clutches on the wedding day!"][/caption]

(6) Vintage handkerchiefs, wrapped with a poem on the back about friendship (I'm a cheeseball, I know, but apparently my ladies are too because they loved them).

[caption id="attachment_1799" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="You can find great vintage hankies on ebay!"][/caption]

(7) Little scrapbook-thank you notes, which contain photos of me and each bridesmaid through the years, and have a little note from me at the end.  These were such a hit, and there are so many cost effective ways one could re-create this project.  I highly recommend it!

[caption id="attachment_1798" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="I loved how each scrapbook was different!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1797" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The finished gift!"][/caption]

And of course, a Christmas ornament. To top it off, I tied pretty bows on the gift bags- and followed Beyonce's advice, since I like them, and put a ring on it!  (I had to buy a package of faux rings at the craft store for the ring bearer's pillow, and I had some extras so I used them to bling things up).  To my surprise, these also turned out to be a hit- everyone was wearing them!

[caption id="attachment_1803" align="aligncenter" width="222" caption="ba-ling!"][/caption]

I hope they liked them as much as I enjoyed making them!

Bridal Party Swag: The Groomsmen

Like most couples, J. and I wanted to give our bridal party members a little something to say "thank you" for being a part of our day.  And though I had created some cute Christmas ornaments for everyone, I couldn't just stop there.  But the problem for us was that so many of our guy-friends are already married, and also our groomsmen are not all the same age (I have a 16 year old brother) so the traditional beer mugs or T shirts didn't really fit- or had been done already.  So J. and I shopped around and found some other goodies for everyone.  Ultimately, we decided to give everyone a few fun things- things we thought everyone would like- instead of just one big gift.  And personally, I think they came out great.  Here's the goods:

(1) Monogrammed silver cufflinks from Groom Stand to wear with their tuxes (J. once received these at a wedding and loved them, so we decided to gift them too).  The guys really loved them!

[caption id="attachment_1792" align="aligncenter" width="250" caption="I love the art deco font on these."][/caption]

(2) Shaving supplies from The Art of Shaving (This was hands down, the thing everyone was most excited about- to my pleasant surprise!  These little kits retail for $25, and inside is a $25 gift card for the store where the guys can go buy more!)

[caption id="attachment_1791" align="aligncenter" width="251" caption="We went the fragrance-free route, just in case anyone has sensitive skin."][/caption]

(3) A good book (this isn't the exact book, but it's close enough)

[caption id="attachment_1790" align="aligncenter" width="123" caption="Perfect for hotel room reading."][/caption]

(4) And socks for those tuxes.  Of course for the socks, I had to get some DIY action in, so I took basic black socks (check your dollar store for inexpensive ones) and put belly-bands on them.  I also added labels that say "In Case Anyone Gets Cold Feet..." which is not an original idea, but it did turn out cute!  Now, the groomsmen were maybe less excited about these than me, but they did wear them!

[caption id="attachment_1787" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="The stars of the show- special socks."][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1788" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Detail shot!"][/caption]

Everything was wrapped in gold paper with green ribbon, and placed in white gift bags purchased at Paper Mart in bulk.  To dress up the bags and help us keep them straight, I wrote each person's name on their bag using rub-on transfer letters in gold.  And some green tissue completed the look.

[caption id="attachment_1789" align="aligncenter" width="294" caption="The whole gift!"][/caption]

What would you give your groomsmen?