A Shower for Sandra

Back in March I hosted a birthday party/ bridal shower for Sandra at work.... Sandra is was one of my favorite employees as she always made me the absolute best homemade salsa ever!!!!

I decided to go with pink and zebra as the theme... The picture frame seen above and the candles seen below where purchased at the Dollar Tree and embellished with ribbon, rhinestones and flowers that were all in my scrapbooking stash at home!

I once asked a very popular event planner/florist if he could offer me one tip for hosting/having a fabulous event and he said lights make a world of difference.... And I believed that he was right! Here are a few more close-ups of the candle light....

And for my most cr8tive piece.... An altered bucket.... I purchased the bucket and ladle below from the Dollar Tree and altered it to make a punch bowl/bucket. As you can see I removed the handle and embellished it using the ribbon and flowers from my scrapping stash...


It was a major hit and I am soo proud of it!

Have you altered any common household items only to become a hit at your event? If so what was it and how was it used?

Up next.... do you have your umbrella!

I predict that a few showers are headed your way!

Showers with {Joy}: The $100 Bridal Shower Challenge

This weekend we had a shower for my friend whose middle name is {Joy}. We had a blast!!! This post will be very picture heavy because I have a ton of DYI projects to share!!! But before we begin, I want to let you all in on a little {secret}. I challenged myself to do this entire shower decor and door prizes for less than $100. The end result.... Well, you will see in just a momento!

First off the door prizes.... While shopping at Burkes Outlet on the clearance rack; I came across these leather card holders which were marked down to 95% off the clearance price and with an extra 15% off with my Friday Club Card.... My grand total was 15 cents!!! Yes, that's right I paid $0.15!!!!!!!!

Although the wallet was genuine leather with an unbeatable price; it still left much to be desired... So what did I do? I saw an opportunity to release some scrapbooking mojo. And with a little inspiration from my dear friends at ScrapbookScrapbook; this beauty was created! The final price for these with embellishments was only 45 cents!

Next.... the wishing tree {which I have done once before} and the poem. For this I drew some inspiration from several of the weddingbee bloggers. The total cost for this tree was around $5.00. Here is a shot of the wishing tree, tags, and poem.

Following the wishing tree are the table centerpieces. May I insert a little background info here? Thanks... I knew that you would understand. {BS: I have been {in love} with the crystal trees since I began to assist my friend with the planning of her wedding. However, the cost of them; they were quickly removed from the bride's wish list... But me on the other hand, once I am in love.... I am 100% there!!! And I did not want to suffer from a broken heart... So what did I do???} I found a subsitute and it only cost a small fraction of the price..... These trees made their debut at the shower for a whopping $5.00!

The entire set up {tree, crystals, vase, flowers, etc.) only cost $8.50 each! How do you like it?

Here are the close-ups of the votives.... I got these are the Dollar Tree for a $1.00 each!

Next up are Tiffany boxes.... Simple and classic.... Cost $3.50 each!

And one shot upclose...

Candy Buffet..... (including candy)...........$25.00..... Cracker Barrell is a hidden treasure!!!

Gift bags.... The card reads.... Love is, above all, the gift of oneself. --Jean Anouilh

Finally, the punch bowl decor...Southern Lady style... Final Cost....$3.00! I made some slammin' Tiffany Blue punch, but I took this photo before the tables were set! And it was actually very, very close to {Tiffany Blue}:(!

My grand total..................................................................

$105.00

I exceeded my budget by $5.oo!!! It was those darn $4.50 cookie and creme Hershey Kisses that sent me over the top, LOL! However, I think that I did fairly well pulling off a platinum inspired shower on a copper budget! LOL!

Let me know what you think! I am anxious to hear your comments!