This weekend, I threw my handsome hubby a SURPRISE birthday party for his 25th! Some people ask me why I have a party for him (and myself) every single year… First of all, I can rarely resist any reason to throw a party! Second of all, I love him!

This year, I decided on a Mustache Party! Did I know that this theme existed? No. But it sounded pretty hilarious and what better reason to grow a mustache than the fact that it is ‘Mustache March!’ I definitely wanted to share some of the fun photos but also some of my favorite inspirations and products that helped make this party a huge success (see below)! Enjoy!

We had the party Sunday afternoon (and it was the perfect day for a pool party in March! yay!) and had an amazing spread of delicious Mexican appetizers and sweet treats. I made a bunch of milk chocolate and dark chocolate Mustache lollipops (link below) and stuck them into some styrofoam that I had placed in some mini bowls. They were the perfect touch to the chocolate section of our spread (right next to the chocolate covered strawberries!). I also hopped onto Photoshop and created some fun name tags for the drink cups — I simply grabbed some images of different mustaches from the internet and made them gray on the tags, printed them onto mailing labels and chopped em up. Easy Peasy!

Another fun thing I did was I created a few mini signs to place around the house and the food spread to reinforce the mustache theme. The sayings were: ‘Never transport leftovers with your mustache,’ ‘With great mustache, comes great responsibility,’ ‘ Don’t get caught in public with a naked upper lip,’ and ‘Savor the Flavor.’ Simple and fun. I printed them up on green cardstock and matted them with black cardstock — here is the thing though… I NEVER USED THEM! Amongst all of the craziness of preparing and trying to keep everything a surprise, I totally forgot to set them out :(

I know that there are a ton of other fun ideas for a mustache party, but I wanted to keep it fairly simple; didn’t want it to be too childish for my big man! Here are a few other ideas I had (or found):

• Pin the mustache on Burt Reynolds,
• Print names of all of the famous people (list below) that were known for their ’stache and have each person wear one on their back when they get there (everyone has to guess who they are by asking others Qs about their own character — great ice breaker!),
• Play Pictionary with the list of Famous ’stache wearers,
• Mustache Trivia of some sorts (ask questions about different styles, famous staches, etc). Fun stuff!

My Mustache Inspiration:

• Fashion in Motion Mag: Movember ‘09 Post
• Erin Conrad Photography: Stache Bash ‘09 Post
• Hostess with the Mostess: Mr. Man Party
• Deal Extreme: Fake Mustaches
• Bake It Pretty: Mustache Lollipop Mold
• Martha Stewart: How to make a Mustache on a Stick
• How Nice Etsy: Mustache Magnets (photo below)
• LittletJane Etsy: Mustache Stamps (photo below)
• BirdofaFeather Etsy: Mustache Chapstick (photo below)

Fun Garland for an added touch (unfortunately, I ran out of time to make one :(

Fun little saying (again, didnt save the source! To put around the house/food spread!)

Adorable Mustache Card (Sorry, I didnt save the source! Too cute not to share!)

Too dang cute: Mustache Chapstick!!Fun Magnets (or buttons if you want)… I used these as the prize for ‘Best Stache’

Fun homemade Mustache Stamps

‘Stache Character List: (I am sure there are more that you could come up with!)

Yosemite Sam
Captain Hook
Burt Reynolds
Gomez Addams
Mario
Luigi (Mario)
Wimpey (Popeye)
Ned Flanders (Simpsons)
Hulk Hogan
Nacho Libre
Charlie Chaplin
Clark Gable
Jacques Clouseau (Pink Panther)
Adolf Hitler
Alex Trebek (Wheel of Fortune)
Prince
Ron Burgundy (Anchor Man)
Capt’n Crunch
the Burger King
Cheech Marin
Sonny Bono
Albert Einstein
Magnum PI – Tom Selleck
Robin Hood
Wyatt Earp
Teddy Roosevelt
Mike Ditka (Coach for Chicago Bears)
Mr. Moneybags (Monopoly Mascot)
Mr. Potato Head
Zorro
Capt’n Jack Sparrow
3 Musketeers
Walt Disney
Robert Goulet
Edgar Allan Poe
William Faulkner
Freddy Mercury (Queen)

I am not a huge fan of Valentines but the one thing I adore about Valentine’s day is that there are so many fun and creative ways to make sweet treats and gifts for those you love. I have created a quick collage of some of my favorite finds this year out in blog land. LOTS of talent out there and I can not wait to try a few of these sweet ideas. I most likely wont create them all (unless I want to give my hubby a major sugar rush for v-day!!) but I am sure I will find some fun ways to incorporate these ideas for Easter treats!

All of the links to the amazing creators are below, so have fun checking out there blogs! And Happy Valentine’s Day!

• Valentine Suckers from Pleasant Home
• Strawberry Sandwiches from Parents.com
• Rock Candy Valentine from Martha Stewart
• Pretzel Treats from No Fuss Fabulous
• Heartbreaker Treats from Dana
• Mini Cupcake Pops from Mandy

So on to a new year we go… really, where did the time go this year? Well, I hope that you all had an amazing year of 2009!

This year was pretty awesome for me. I made the goal of keeping a blog consistently for the entire year… and I did just that! It grew from a simple blogspot blog to this little place that I call home — created by my big bro and handsome hubby! I look forward to coming here everyweek and know that I will continue to return in 2010 :) I also grew a lot in my scrapbooking & card-making skills and wanted to recognize those newly found designers that have been my inspiration and teachers through out 2009. ENJOY & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

{Click Designer Names to go to their Personal Blogs}

Dawn McVey has a very sweet personality and her passion for color and design truly comes through in each of her projects. I love playing along with her color challenges from time to time and seeing what she creates with the Papertrey Ink products each month!

Mona Pendleton is extremely talented. Not sure how she does it, but it seems that I am always learning something new and easy to use on my projects. Her style is very detailed and lovely.

Jamie Harder has a classy style that no one can resist… not to mention her adorable little girls that are the subjects of many of her projects. She is also very innovative with different products; I have been inspired many times by her beautiful creations.

Nichole Heady is perfect. I so look forward to her monthly projects with the new stamps and products from Papertrey Ink. She is a true artist and I adore her clean style and innovative mind-set.

Dana Gustafson loves a challenge and I admire that! A lot of her creations look more like a dare to me because I would never think to do it that way or even think of it. Her mind is beyond creative… gorgeous, inspiring work — Always!

This Christmas has been very different for Garrett and I. Long story short, we decided not to move into that apartment, were told we needed to move out by the 1st of the year, frantically looked for a new place, found a great apt, were told we didn’t have to move after all, and decided to stay put for the time being. So as you can see — Christmas didn’t really begin until all of that was over. It was a growing experience and are so thankful to God for answering our prayers and teaching us how to truly trust Him with all parts of our lives.

So now, I would love to share our little piece of Christmas spirit with you all…

Due to a late start, we did a lot less this year with family and friends… it was okay though, sometimes it is nice to keep things simple, right?! The weekend we decided not to move out, I broke out the Gingerbread cookie mix and got to baking the little guys! Gare helped me decorate them… such a fun little activity to get the Christmas spirit started. That weekend, we also went and got our Christmas tree (which we didn’t think we were going to have this year!) and I love it! Words can not explain how special the Christmas tree tradition is to me and I felt it more this year than any year before. We also realized that we need some more Christmas ornaments with color in them — problem is that we like the very traditional colors — no black, purple, blue, etc. We are also pretty picky about our ornaments so we need to be present together to purchase them (I know, I know… the perfectionist couple!!). Enough about the Christmas tree… on to the *new* recipes of the year!

It is my personal tradition/goal to try out at least two brand new recipes every Christmas. No leaning on the familiar, there are just too many great holiday recipes out there! The center photo above is how it all turned out — Oreo Truffles and Peppermint Fudge. Now I admit, not too challenging or adventurous, but as I said earlier, this year we had to stick to the simple stuff to stay sane :) The Oreo Truffles were a HUGE hit at both mine and Garrett’s workplaces and at our community group. I am still always amazed at how easy fudge is to make! I love it. I simply added some peppermint extract to the fudge for a minty flavor (Peppermint Mocha style!) and sprinkled some crushed peppermint candies on top. Click the links to check out the recipes… you wont regret it!

I truly hope everyone is enjoying their Christmas season with their friends and family! Many blessings to you and yours on the special day, however you celebrate!

Today I threw my lovely sister in law a Baby Shower! It is my very first shower that I have thrown and I definitely had a blast! I really wanted to make this one super special since it is baby #4 and it may be the last… I guess, we never really know, do we! Anyhow, I did a ton of research and found some great and inspirational Baby Showers! I will share a list of links later in the post, along with our menu.

They dont know if this is going to be a boy or girl (crossing our fingers for a girl!) so I went with a Purple, Blue and Green color theme. Peacock feathers were my initial inspiration, but I never ended up using any in the decor — mind you, I had them, just forgot to use them! Woops! I wanted the shower to be elegant, so I had some fresh flowers, crystal glasses and we even had it outside; what a blessing to have warm weather the week of Thanksgiving! Ever seen anyone use POTS as elegant decor? Well, my dear friend, Karen came up with this great idea to use them to hold the Cotton Candy Cones and the Champagne… all it took where a few extra strands of ribbon and voila! Beautiful!

I couldn’t pick just a few photos to show you, so I placed them in a slideshow below … Enjoy!

The Menu:

Lemon Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Strawberry Thumbprint Cookies
Cafe Mocha Creme Sticks
Cotton Candy in Paper Cones
Cherry Cordials
Grape Mike N Ikes
Blueberry Candy Canes
Sugar Plums
Champagne with Raspbrries
Sparkling Cider with Raspberries

Inspirational & Helpful Baby Shower Sites:

• Lolliblog – Sugar Spice and Everything Nice
• Hostess {with the Mostess}
• Shower Games A to Z
• Create My Event

Thanks for taking a peak at all of the fun I had this weekend! Now off to get into the Thanksgiving spirit!

Many Blessings to you and yours!