Personalized Halloween Goodie Bags

I have been craving fall this year with the hot summer that most of us have experienced. I can hardly wait to buy some mums and put up my Halloween and fall decorations. I have also been thinking about trick or treat of course. I love Halloween and seeing all the cute children dressed in their costumes. It's one of my favorite holidays.

This year I've been thinking of making some home made treats for the trick-or-treaters and putting them in personalized cake and candy bags. I love the idea of adding a homemade touch to the season. Popcorn balls are always a big hit as well as cut out cookies shaped as pumpkins, ghosts and fall leaves. Another fun treat would be rice krispie treats. Add a little orange or purple food coloring to the treats to jazz them up for Halloween. You can also cut the treats out of the pan with metal cookie cutters shaped for Halloween. Adding a personalized message to your treat bag such as; Trick or Treat, compliments of the Smiths or 414 Maple Street allows you to let the parents of the trick-or-treaters know where the homemade goodies came from. I know as a mom you have to be careful when checking your children’s Halloween candy.

Of course the personalized bags will work great for any kind of treat whether they are homemade of store bought. It is a creative way to add some fun to your Halloween season. Place a handful of small treats into the bags and tie a piece of raffia or ribbon around the top. This kind of special touch will make you the talk to of the neighborhood.

Have a spook-tacular fall!

Carrie

My Daughters Wedding

I have mentioned my daughters wedding in a few of my blogs this year and I am happy to announce that my daughters' wedding was on August 14th, 2010. I am finally sitting down and reflecting on the wedding and everything that we have accomplished in the past months. This has been a very exciting time for my daughter, as well as our entire family. If I could offer any advice at all it would be that organization is the key!!

The final few days before the wedding the organization really started to slip out the window and believe me things got rocky.

1. Make an agenda for the week before the wedding. There are family members and guest coming into town that are going to want to have lunch or dinner or just hang out. You need to know what your schedule is so you won't run behind or be late for wedding planned events.

2. I found it easiest to invite others to help me with what I was doing. When my sisters told me they were coming over, I told them to grab some ribbons and help me make bows for the centerpieces. Everyone is always welcome to lend a helping hand when asked.

3. One of the biggest mistakes we made was having my other daughter do her sisters hair and make-up. She spent so much time with her sister that she almost didn't have time to do her own and we were a few minutes behind getting down the aisle. The organized bride should have a professional or someone that is not in the wedding do her hair and make-up to allow for the amount of time that is needed.

4. I was definately prepared with sewing kits, bobby pins, nail glue and saftey pins. All of these things were needed. Don't forget to make a special emergency bag to have on hand when hair styles and finger nails start to fail.

My daughters wedding day turned out to be a beautiful day. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Here's to you Morgan and Randy. I love you both!!

Carrie

Personalized Picture Frames for Weddings and Life's Special Occasions

Picture frames are a great way to preserve a moment captured in time such as your wedding day, graduation, birthday, anniversary, or any of life's special occasions.

Modern frames are available in a varity of shapes, colors, and themes and feature customized options such as adding names and date or a short sentimental message which creates a keepsake to last a lifetime.   Personalized frames are a popular way to thank your bridesmaids for helping make your wedding day special or as a gift to the bridal couple.

Renee'

Tips for Keeping Wedding Day Memories Fresh

If you are like most brides, a lot of your wedding budget is allotted to favors and mementos for your guests. You are probably working hard to think of ways to make the day memorable for them. It is great to do this for your friends and family, but don't forget to make sure you have everything you need to keep your wedding day memories alive for yourself as well.

The most obvious way to capture memories in this day and age is with a camera. You will want tons of pictures. It has become quite popular for couples to leave a disposable camera at every table for guests to take snapshots throughout the night. You will also want to make a detailed list for your photographer to make sure you get all the pictures that you want. You can even include a list of candids you might want them to capture, like the flower girl dancing or the bride chatting with bridesmaids before the ceremony.

Aside from photographs, you will want your own keepsakes to place on shelves or tuck in a scrap book. Keep this in mind while you are planning. For example, when you go to your florist ask about bouquet preservation. When you are choosing your cake topper, pick something you might also like to put in a shadow box or on a mantle as an everyday reminder of your commitment. Instead of a guest book, you could opt for a signature frame. This is usually a large mat that guests can sign with ink pens or permanent markers. There are also engravable signature frames like the one shown here. These come with an engraving pen that guests use when signing their signature or special message into the frame. Choosing a frame instead of a book allows you easier access to the memories of well wishes from your guests.

Throughout the day, tuck a few items that you will want to keep into an envelope or bag. This could be a personalized beverage napkin for your scrapbook, or a few of the flower girl's petals to dry or preserve. You will want to do the same on your honeymoon. Other things you will want to save could be the notes you wrote for your speech or your vows. The rough draft with lines scratched out and replaced is a perfect way to recall exactly what you were feeling when you wrote it. You could also ask your best man and maid of honor if they would mind handing over the notes for their toast or giving you a copy. Make sure you get a good keepsake box or scrapbook for all of this before hand. This way the items can be put in their proper place immediately and won't get lost or forgotten.

Most people get their dresses preserved and keep their hair piece, jewelry, and groom's accessories safely tucked away over the years. These are brought out on occasions when you are feeling nostalgic or cleaning out the attic. But wouldn't it be nice to keep them in your every day life? You can do this by creating a large shadow box or wall hanging. The one pictured here was made by The Heirloom Shadow Box Company. These both preserve and display the items in an artful way behind a glass frame. You can even have soft lighting installed within the box to create a real show case for your most precious items. If the idea of framing the dress doesn't appeal to you, you can still have a collage of your program, invitations, flower petals and several other small items framed in a much smaller version.

Tangible reminders of your wedding in your every day living space or carefully preserved in an easily accessible scrapbook will put that wedding day joy right at your fingertips!

~Jenna

Back to School College Must-Haves

It's that time of the year again.  Summer is rounding out and soon the air will be crisp with the fall season.  Before you head back to the classroom, check out our top picks for your back to school college must-haves.  From koozies for your fraternity or sorority to tote bags to hold your books, add a custom touch by having your school name, monogram initials, or nickname personalized on the front.

1) Book Worm? Tote your books in style with a one-of-a-kind canvas tote bag.  A great way to add a unique twist on the every day backpack.  Customized to be one-of-a-kind, your bag will never look the same as another classmates.

2) Frequent Traveler? When it comes to college traveling, make-up seems to always find its way scattered across your desk or dresser.  Pretty and personalized, monogrammed cosmetic bags are the perfect way to keep your make-up needs all in one convenient location (and are a life-saver when making the trips home to visit mom and dad).
3) Gone Greek?  Custom can koozies are a fun and much-loved addition to any frat or sorority.  Have your letters printed on the front and pass them out to your fellow sisters and brothers.  Perfect for socials and parties.

4) Need to add decor to your blank dorm walls?  Custom bar signs like the NFL locker room print (shown above) add a whimsical twist on ordinary wall art.  Add your own name to you favorite team jersey and become one of the players.

Happy Planning!

Allie