Tag Archives: cake

Dub Nation Birthday Celebration

This year my boys turned 5 and 6…and for the past year they have been ALL about basketball, specifically our hometown Golden State Warriors who just happened to prevail as back to back champions in June. So, their birthday party these was a no brainer…a Dub Nation Birthday Celebration! My boys have been spoiled when it comes to (NBA) basketball. Not only did both of their births coincide with NBA Championships (in Miami), but in both of their lifetime’s, they have only known living in places with NBA Champions! We are clearly a basketball family, so this year I got the wheels turning to play up a blue and gold theme fit for my basketball kings! I made a custom “ticket” invitation via Paperless Post to announce the event, you can see those details here.

I created a dessert table using a backdrop of alternating blue and gold streamers, and I stuck a warriors sign from Party City in the middle. I covered the table with a coordinating yellow table cover and added Warriors logo plates and napkins. We already had a couple Warriors basketballs, so I propped them up on clear glass cylinders stuffed with matching tissue paper. I got the Warriors themed sheet cake from Safeway and ordered blue and yellow frosted cupcakes. I topped the cupcakes with their age (5 & 6) numbers, along with team logos, that I sized and printed out myself, then glued onto toothpicks.  I found mini blue popcorn boxes which I filled with Boom Chicka Pop Kettle Corn, and filled the small candy jars with basketball wrapped butter mints.

The other desserts I added were rice krispy treats and chocolate dipped marshmallows, both made by me and both decorated with blue and yellow cake sprinkles. I also had a tray of (Costco) chocolate chip cookies, because cookies make everyone smile!

Over the years we’ve collected and saved various Warriors signs, so I thought, why no string them up and use them for decorations. That was really easy since we had several signs. I just punched holes in the corners and used twine to string them up.

  

Since it was an outdoor party at the park, I just made a couple centerpieces (you never know how the wind will factor in). I took a couple metal pails and filled with rocks for weight – found these at Dollar Tree. I then placed (free) foam fingers and clap sticks we’ve gotten from games, added tissue paper and stuck a “5” and “6” balloon to finish the look.

We played with water balloons….

Destroyed a basketball pinata, which I personalized with a Warriors logo print out…

You know it was a GREAT party when there was lots of laughter and smiles all around!

I also found the perfect thank you gift to give our guests, a Dubble Bubble “Slam Dunk” dispenser and I custom created a thank you tag to stick on them.

Thanks to all our friends and family who celebrated our boys with us and made it a very memorable occasion!

 

TMNT Birthday Party

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Cowabunga dude! The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are BIG in my house…and TMNT was the chosen theme for my older son who just turned 5! When it came to choosing a venue for the party, I chose the East Oakland Sports Center. They have an amazing indoor aquatic area and a roomy party room just off the pool. Since his birthday is in the summer, I figured a swim party would be the perfect way to celebrate…and it truly was a big hit!

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We picked the perfect day to host the party, and while there was a public swim session, it wasn’t too packed and very comfortable for our guests. The pool and swim areas were very same and since the majority of our swimmers being about 5 years old, the depth at their height was perfect. Also, they have a great staff that’s very accommodating and lifeguards who kept a watchful eye on all the kids on the pool deck.

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When it came to decor, I used a lot of these well-designed party printables, like the welcome sign, cupcake toppers, favor tags and pizza banner!

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I created a long table for the kids to sit at and covered them with plastic green table cloths and a store bought ninja turtle table decor set, and I used the ninja turtle face plates, party blowouts and coordinating napkins to liven up the decor!

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As far as food for the party, I kept it simple with pizza – of course ninja turtles and kids (grownups too), love a cheesy pie. I did an easy fruit salad, veggie platter, chips, crackers and some chicken and swiss cheese rollers to complete the spread. It was just the right amount for that post swim hunger.

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I also purchased a TMNT themed “scene setter” to serve as a backdrop for photos..kids love the life size characters, and it helps brighten up empty wall space.

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I ordered the cake at Food Maxx, where they printed out an edible ninja turtle print.

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One of my favorite elements for the party were our favors! I found these foam “nun chucks” at Dollar Tree, added a thank you label, and it was the perfect compliment to our party theme.

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Needless to say, we all had an awesome time… Thanks to all our friends who joined in the fun and celebrated with us!

 

Edible Photo Cake Topper

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Since the countdown is on until my boys turn 4 and 5, I’m slowly getting into party planning mode and putting my planning hat on. I’m trying to kick back more this year and not really hyper-plan every detail. So, for now I’m reflecting on what we’ve done for past celebrations, and what they may want this time around, since it inevitably changes as they get older and become more outspoken.  Well, last year on Raef’s actual birthday we did a small cake at home and the one thing he had been asking for was a TOBOT cake. What is Tobot you ask!? Well, Tobot is a Korean version of Transformers…based on KIA model vehicles! Raef discovered Tobot by watching the animated episodes on youtube (in Korean) and he really took a liking to it. Now, since Tobot’s not a big thing in the U.S. – the toys aren’t sold here (I’ve had to order toys online from Korea), it’s not a typical cake design character order at the local bakery. And, that’s what made me discover and try out a “do it yourself” edible photo cake topper.

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I found a few images online and created my own custom design using PicMonkey‘s online photo editor. Then, I found a place where I could order my custom cake topper on Amazon. It was super easy, I uploaded my image, they printed it out and sent it to me. There are very specific instructions on how to store it and apply it, but basically, you want to leave it in the plastic packaging until you’re ready to use it. The other thing you will need to get is a cake, which I ordered from my local grocery store bakery, where I requested a smooth buttercream frosting. on an 8″ round. You can order different size photo cake toppers, so those are details you should consider before ordering the image. What I also discovered after the fact, was that I could also have just ordered the image directly through my local grocery store bakery too and they would have applied it.

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Anyway, it was pretty simple, I followed the instructions and took great care to peel it off its backing and slowly center and apply to my cake. You want to be careful not to let it dry out and you also don’t want any bumps as you smooth it down. Once you get it in place, you let it set and voila, you have your custom cake. My bakery was also nice enough to give me a small bag of sprinkles to add a little more color to it after I added the image. Anyway, it certainly put a smile on his face and I was glad to be able to give him his Tobot cake!

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Dino Dig Party Theme

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Rawr! This past weekend we celebrated the 3rd and 4th birthdays of my (53 weeks apart) baby boys..except I’m realizing they really aren’t “babies” anymore. For their joint celebration this year I chose to do a “Dino Dig” aka dinosaur themed backyard soiree, and I’m really pleased with how it turned out. We got lots of compliments on a “fun” party…and that’s the most important component to any event, right!?!? FUN!!

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I probably get a little obsessive in my planning process trying to make everything theme related and scouring the internet for ideas and decor to pull off a great event. I had multiple banners and even re-named my boys to give them dino-riffic names! I found a free printable HBD dinosaur banner, and dinosaur print letters that I used for the banners with their dinosaur names.

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I purchased a nice dinosaur centerpiece with cone holders which I filled with kid-friendly Veggie Sticks and Pretzels.

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In the backyard, we had a bounce house with a dinosaur panel in front, the kids LOVE to bounce!

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A bubble station was also set up, where we had a bubble machine going and an assortment of bubble wands.

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We created a “Dino Dig” site, using an inflatable kiddie pool, filled with sand and hidden “dino eggs” that I purchased online. We wrapped the area with dino dig “caution” tape. I also purchased mini buckets and tools for them to excavate the eggs, and I got enough so that they could take those home too.

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Inside I set up a “photo booth,” using a couple big, jointed, dinosaurs on the wall and a HUGE blow up T-Rex too – the kids loved it, they were all over it..I can’t believe it survived the party! I also got an assortment of dinosaur masks for them to wear for the photo opp!

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When it came to the sweets and dessert, I went with cupcakes (store bought), but I used my own sprinkles that were actually mini-dinosaurs. We also created Dino Dig dessert cups that were made up of chocolate pudding, crushed oreos and gummy dinosaurs on top! Dinosaur lollipops and a plate full of mini-dino cookies I ordered on Etsy, helped make the table look extra festive!

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We had a dinosaur pinata and played Pin the Head on the Dinosaur…

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As our thank you gift I put together goodie bags with dino stickers, tattoos, a dino ring pop, bubbles, dino plane and a puzzle. Lots of fun stuff!

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All in all, we couldn’t be happier with the party and how it all came together! It was so much fun and at the end of the day, I had 2 very happy dinosaurs!

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Hello Kitty Birthday Bash

The moment I found out I was having a baby girl, I already knew what her 1st birthday party theme would be: Hello Kitty, of course! As a lifelong fan of the red-bowed childhood favorite, it was the obvious choice.

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With a sweet tooth the size of California and a penchant for baked goods, I wanted to make the dessert buffet the centerpiece. So I set out to bake cake pops, Rice Krispy treats, cupcakes and sugar cookies. Sounds ambitious, I know — especially since I had never made sugar cookies in my life! (I chose a brilliant time to learn!) But I goaled myself on accomplishing them along with all the other treats. Other than the birthday cake and the popcorn, I spent time over a span of one week mixing, baking, frosting and packaging all these sweet treats myself. I am a little out of practice but enjoyed getting back into baking.

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These chocolate cakepops with strawberry icing are my go-to cakepops when making them for a party. Who doesn’t love the flavor of chocolate and strawberry together? Red velvet cake pops with homemade cream cheese frosting, another crowd fave.

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Strawberry and Original Rice Kitty Treats – a twist on a classic and pink for our Hello Kitty theme of course! These are just as easy to make and you just add a box of strawberry jello mix to the marshmallow and butter mixture.

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Instead of cutting a cake, I baked red velvet cupcakes and yellow cake cupcakes with a chocolate cream cheese frosting. Individual cupcakes are easy to grab and go and no one has to wait until the end of the party to have a bite of cake.

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These Hello Kitty sugar cookies were a challenge and a half considering I was a first timer to making them. But not a bad freshman attempt. I baked them ahead of time and frosted them night before the party.

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I included some Salted Caramel and Cheese popcorn mix as well as Classic Kettlecorn for a little variety on the table.
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My baby girl’s birthday cake was made by Just the Frosting Cakes. Our favorite flavors are the chocolate cake with toasted almond frosting.

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The boys’ Badtzmaru favors were made  with simple takeout boxes filled with treats.

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I LOVE these Hello Kitty favor bags for the girls! I loved how colorful and festive they were, and of course they were part of our theme!

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My husband made the Hello Kitty and Badtzmaru photo booth cutouts for the kids (and some adults) by printing the images and mounting them on a tri panel. The kids had fun taking photos with them and they made for a nice photo memory of the event.

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I hadn’t baked like this in awhile. And truly, this party for our baby girl was a labor of love. But I was really pleased with how the dessert buffet turned out. And more importantly, I was happy that our guests enjoyed themselves and loved all the treats!

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This post was written for 53 Weeks by Anna M.

SMASH Cake

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I’ve tried it twice now…with little enthusiasm shown by the “smashers.” I love this idea, this new innovation if you will – I say that because some 30 years ago when I turned one I did get my stab at cake, but nowadays, it’s becoming even more popularized, by giving a 1 year old their very own little cake to “smash” to mark their first birthday. I know many people go all out with a full photo shoot, revolving around capturing the moment when a rising toddler gets their first crack at a cake. Many bakeries even advertise specific “smash cake” and several grocery chains will give your child a FREE (yes F-R-E-E) smash cake for the big ONE!

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I was super excited to serve Raef his first taste of cake in July 2013 when he hit the inaugural birthday milestone, but the honest truth is he didn’t show much interest. I had him all suited up too, with a cute little tie and custom bday hat, just picture perfect. Then, when “game time: arrived, he looked at it, more impressed by the flame on his candle… However when I stood by with a camera, just knowing he would attack the sweet treat I set in front of him…and NOTHING! I gave him a spoon and he sort of tapped and jabbed at the cake, but he didn’t want any part of it.

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Fast forward to July 2014. Now surely Isaiah would be all in when I set the cake down in front of him. There was little doubt in my mind that he would have no issue getting his hands dirty. So, I suited him up in the same red, white and blue tie and custom birthday hat I had dressed his brother in the year before and was ready for him to have at it… except, he didn’t seem to care to smash…the cake! To his credit, when I served him a slice, he happily found a way to eat it with his hands, but Between my 2 boys and their first birthdays, I never got that super messy, crazy cake chaos!

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It’s okay though, no big deal…it’s not like I want my kids to be too familiar with sugar or crave cake, but I did think I’d get a little more action. So Moms (and Dads), I’m wondering if you had an experience similar to mine or if your babes went all in and for the big SMASH!?!? Not that I’ve thought about it too much, but is it because I’ve been serving them bite size pieces of food, so when they see an entire cake placed in front of them they don’t know how to attack it? Or maybe it’s too intimidating to see Mommy, Daddy and/or whoever else might be present staring them down to see what will become of the cake?

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In the end, I guess my non-cake smashers was a good thing…no cake crumbs to clean up off the floor or smeared icing everywhere. No, sugar-high children and it really meant more cake for me! 😉

Zoo Animals Party Theme

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This past weekend we celebrated my baby boys birthday at the Virginia Zoo! I had originally had a whole ‘nother theme idea to celebrate their joint party, but after we moved and chose the Zoo for the celebration location…it only seemed right to make it a “ZOOper Birthday” bash!

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My uber creative super designer sister Adrienne whipped up these fun in-theme birthday party invites..I didn’t want anything too “babyish” with the animals and this worked perfect! And — the great thing about having a party at this zoo was that included in the “fee” were the room rental, private animal encounter, table clothes, plates, cups, pizza and drinks…all I really had to do was bring a cake, but…of course I decided to do a little bit more! 😉

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I decided I’d do one decorated table and found a zoo animal party theme style online to get the coordinating tablecloth, centerpieces, banner, etc… Since it was Isaiah’s 1st birthday, I had a fun “Chalkboard Poster” printed up (ordered on Etsy, printed at Costco) …did one for Raef last year, a nice keepsake to hang in the bedrooms after the party. Then I found cute animal print frames to put each of the boy’s photos in.

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Aside from the favor bags which I handed out as my guests were leaving, I wanted to have fun in=party distractions (need those for the little ones), and setup a “Party Animal Gear” area where they could choose from an assortment of animal clappers, animal face “masks” party blow outs and of course the classic party hat!

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Apparently the “zebra” face was the most popular, but the animal faces came in monkey, elephant, tiger, lion and giraffe too!

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My little Isaiah was fine rockin’ the traditional party hat with his giraffe shirt from Gymboree!

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For dessert I did got a chocolate chip message cake (it was a big hit) and I had cupcakes with zoo animal picks and animal print wrappers. I also found the cutest animal print candles too!

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Part of the party package was a private animal encounter for the kids. We had a rat snake, bunny rabbit, centipede and the chicken pictured. It was nice a nice educational presentation with a zoo educator and the kids could ask questions and had the opportunity to pet the animals too!

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Finally the favors…I came up with these great little colorful canvas bags with animals on them, stuffed them with boxes animal crackers, zoo coloring books and crayons, animal print sunnies and an animal-themed beach ball too! All in all it was a roaring good time…Happy Birthday to my little guys!!!

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Carrot Cake Recipe

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Carrot Cake

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp vanilla flavoring
½ tsp salt
2 cups grated carrots
1½ cups Crisco oil
1½ cups walnuts
Small can crushed pineapples
3 eggs

Mix ingredients until well blended. Grease tube pan and shake with flour. Bake on 350 degrees in tube pan for 1 hour. To test if cake is completely done, take a toothpick or skewer stick and stick in the top of the cake pan. If it comes out smooth, cake is done. If it is a little gooey, cook an additional 15 minutes and repeat the test.

Remove cake from oven and let cool in tube pan for 1 hour. Take knife around the side of the pan and remove the cake from the pan. Put on plate and let sit overnight to cool.

Cream Cheese Icing
1 stick real butter softened
1 box confectioner’s sugar
8 oz of cream cheese softened
1 tsp vanilla

Mix butter, cream cheese and vanilla by hand. Slowly add confectioner’s sugar and mix. Keep adding confectioner’s sugar and mixing until the icing is smooth and you have no more sugar left.

Frost the cake and add whole walnuts to the top of the cake

This “Carrot Cake” recipe comes courtesy of Chef Courtney

Mustache Themed Baby Shower

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One of my baby sister’s BFF’s is having a baby – this actually makes me feel really old, because I’ve known her friends since they were like 5 years old!!! Anyway, in honor of his upcoming arrival, they celebrated with a Mustache themed baby shower! Lots of fun stuff from the decor to the dessert, games, favors and their own unique spin on playing up the “mustache!” The Mom-to-Be, Gaile, was actually sweet enough to give me great descriptions for the photos I’m featuring in this post…as she heads into the home stretch of pregnancy on bed rest…so, enjoy!

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The welcome table. I loved the idea of having a wall of balloons behind the welcome table to separate the space. We used blue, teal, orange colored circles for our guests to “sign in” on, that will be used as balloons for the frame on the left hand side. That way, when our baby boy grows up, he can read the messages, and know who attended his baby shower. We also placed a variety of photos from our baby bump photo session in San Diego. And — we solicited name suggestions and advice with a sign that said, “Edwin & Gaile mustache you a question, advice really and good name suggestions.”

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Table seating. Centerpieces/decorations were the mustache props, a mini-diaper cake, and neckties. Mustache props: I purchased a stencil on Oriental Trading and cut out the mustaches and glued them onto sticks. The mustache bag they were placed in had a note that said “Photo Fun! Wear one!” These mustache props were not only at the eating tables but throughout the venue. Everyone loves taking pictures and the props make for great photo opportunities! As for the mini-diaper cakes, they were a simple set of 7 rolled up diapers, bundled up with a ribbon wrapped around them, and a mustache tag decoration sticking out of the center. The necktie centerpieces were inspired by Pinterest and also cut from a stencil, glued onto sticks, and stuck into floral arrangement Styrofoam, topped with shredded paper and wrapped with paper bag wrapping! The persimmon color table runners were actually used at my wedding so that was a bonus to reuse! 🙂

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The dessert table! The decorative cake design idea was found on Pinterest. The actual cake maker was my Sister-in-Law’s coworker, and it was delicious and moist. She also made the full size cupcakes. I made the mini cupcakes and added a mini cupcake sleeves for decorations. I also made a mango trifle that was a hit! We used mustache food tags to label all the delicious desserts.

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Gametime! We had several games on tap for our guests to play… “Guess when Little Man will be born Calendar,” we placed a heart on the due date, 05/13/14, and guests used stamps to stamp their guess with their name. “Guess how many M and M’s in the Jar,” using two Jars of peanut M and M’s. A “Bib and Onesie” drawing contest…surprisingly this game was very popular! Everybody used up each bib and onesie and came up with some really good designs. We did “Don’t Say ___ Game” with clothespins…. We did the “how big is the belly game” with a ribbon, my aunt was dead on! It was incredible!. Then we had a lullaby written game we began, but it was way too difficult to start and stop people. So, after handing out the paper, we collected them ten minutes later and tried to pick out a winner. Other games we did have but weren’t able to play were two more written games: word scramble and word jumble.

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Pin the Mustache on the baby. Unfortunately this game wasn’t actually played at the baby shower. There were so many activities and a ton of people, that it was difficult to gather people to play. I would have enjoyed people playing this. My brother got creative and actually used a baby photo of Edwin, drew it, and used my skin color! Then, I cut out mustaches to stick onto the poster. I thought it was the cutest idea, and I actually kept it because I like it so much.

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Party Favors! We decided to give out favors of pint glasses with vinyl mustache decals. I searched online and it was going to be a pretty pricey guest gift, but luckily I came across a great deal at the dollar store for mustache glasses! However, a couple days later I ended up receiving an email stating the dollar store cancelled my order because they didn’t have enough in stock. Poop! I didn’t know what other favor I wanted, so as I then started searching DIY glasses and found vinyl mustache decals that stick to glasses, and discovered webstaurantstore.com that sold pint glasses for relatively cheap, I ended up purchasing both and making the favors myself. It worked out beautifully because the Dollar Store mustache glasses actually had a different look… so I was completely satisfied with the purchase. It came out to almost the same price as the dollar store, minus the effort of having to make them. The tabled was labeled with a sign stating, “You’re Fanstachtic, Thanks for Combing By.”

Looking back at the baby shower, I had so much fun. Time went by so quickly, and the set up and break down of the decorations was an event in itself, but well worth it.  Thanks to our great support in our family and friends we definitely could not have had such a perfect baby shower celebration.