Welcome to the Flock Bridal Shower - Goodie Bags!

I've professed my love for goodie bags before, so you know I had to have them for this shower :) They turned out very pretty!



The glittery baskets were from Target, I found them on clearance and bought every one I could find - well before I had a use for them! But the colors were PERFECT for this event. I filled them with shred from the Dollar Tree, jewel toned eggs I scooped up at Walgreens after Easter and filled with Hershey and Reese's candy. Then the main favor was a birdseed heart from Etsy. The hearts turned out great, but I wasn't super happy with the communication from the seller, so I'm not going to link to the shop here.

The final piece of each goodie was a note of thanks. I made these with my Cricut, the Straight from the Nest cartridge (I think I set it to cut 6 per 12"x12" sheet - still learning how it works), and then used an acrylic stamp I had on hand to add the simple message in a handwriting-esque font.

Tips & Tricks: Wicked Wonderland Goodie Bags (Boxes)

I think you know your goodie bags were a hit when they get numerous facebook status mentions. I heard all about how they were "calling to" guests all night after the party, and I certainly did my best to fatten everyone up. Here's the whole story:

I love goodie bags, I have to have them. It's just not a party if you don't take some of it home! But I also have a lot of friends who don't appreciate "JUNK" like I do, so this year I settled on a compromise: a goodie bag filled with homemade treats!

I started with long white gloss boxes which I purchased at a local cake supply store. They were $0.45 each and came flat, and they were food safe. One evening I sat down and folded them all and taped the bottoms with clear packaging tape while I was watching TV. I bought red foil (in the tissue paper aisle at Michael's) and cut it down to line the boxes and give a bright background when the boxes were opened.



For the top of the boxes I found these amazing cards by the Philosopher's guild, which I had been gifted a while back and never opened.



The images were a perfect size for the front of the boxes (some went off the side a little), so I color copied all four (x 10 each) and painstakingly cut around them free hand, leaving a little white border:



Then I used ordinary glue sticks to affix them to the tops of each box - and occasionally down the (non opening) side. It was time consuming, but it turned out GREAT.



Then came the actual GOODIES! I got a candy mold from the same cake supply store in the shape of chess pieces, and made red candy chess pieces out of Wilton Candy Melts. I packaged a set of 2 (various pieces) in a clear plastic box which I got in the party favor aisle at Michaels. I used my 40% off coupon to get a set of 50 for around $12, or $0.24 each. I think they looked classy, but I wouldn't do it again. The plastic boxes were hard to put together, and at least 3-4 of them were wrecked when I was folding and a piece snapped along the fold line instead of folding nicely. Nobody would have cared if they were floating loose in the box, so I'd save the $$ and skip the extra packaging. But they did look cute:



Chocolate/candy molding is easy but time consuming if you're re-using the same mold - I only bought one and ended up getting another when I was way behind and losing time. Next time I'll get 2-4 molds up front and just save the hassle - get it done in fewer batches.

Then I made my famous peanut butter balls - these seriously make people melt. I've used them to bribe kids I coach even. They hold powers. :) Each goodie bag had 6 of them, sitting in little mini muffin liners, and I made more to serve at the party. I should keep it a secret so I have some signature recipe, but I'm such a giver, I shared it with you all here.

I also made four varieties of chocolate dipped pretzel rods - plain chocolate, and then rolled in walnuts, sprinkles shaped like bones, and multi colored jimmies. These are actually my favorite, I love the salty & sweet combo.

Three S'mores on a stick, which are a marshmallow on a lollipop stick dipped in chocolate and rolled in graham cracker crumbs. These are super awesome as well, when the marshmallow gets dipped it goes all creamy and luscious. YUM!

Here's a picture of all the chocolate dipped goodies as I was cranking them out - I ran out of room, despite hauling down a huge banquet table into my tiny kitchen!



New this year I also dipped STRAWBERRY marshmallows, just to see how that came out. I put them on the same paper sticks and dipped in the same chocolate, but skipped the graham crackers. The strawberry marshmallows were less sticky and mushed in the bags, so they look much better as far as presentation. I only made 1 extra, which my husband said was great (I didn't get a bite). Haven't heard from anyone else who tried them yet.

1 molded candy lollipop - same story as the chess pieces, I used a heart sucker mold, did a layer of red candy melts (vanilla flavored) then a layer of chocolate, and wrapped them in a little plastic bag. This fit with my "queen of hearts" theme.

I threw in two store bought chocolates that I just thought were cute - the foil wrapper looked like vampire lips with big fangs.

All that pretty much filled up the boxes! Here's a peek before I sealed them up:



Mmmmm!

I closed the lid, tied them with cotton ribbon (black or red, depending on the character), added a little gift tag that said "EAT ME" in large letters, and then the Alice quote "Something interesting is certain to happen whenever I eat something here..." in smaller letters - again, using the Beyond Wonderland font I downloaded for free at the start of this whole thing. I made up the cards using the labels feature in Microsoft Word, I used a template for a large mailing label but printed them on regular cardstock and cut them out.

The final touch was a handmade mushroom keychain, which I commissioned on Etsy with seller Kyoto Song. I actually put in a request through the "Alchemy" feature which lets you request a particular item and have various artists "bid" on how they can answer your request - Kyoto Song proposed these gorgeous little mushroom keychains, hand made them to my specifications (I knew I wanted white "stems" and white "spots" but various color "caps") and she was just amazing. She was a great communicator and started making them the same day, so I had them in my hands in the same week. She charged me $1 each, which for a custom bauble I thought was great.

I didn't add up the cost of all the goodies I made, I think I'd be aghast so let's skip that :) Instead, let's focus on how cute the final project was:



I love them! Who wouldn't love to get one of these little goodie boxes when leaving a party? All of my guests were very appreciative, and I think it really tipped the scales as far as being a thoughtful host and making everyone feel welcome. A few have cursed me for the calories, but that's usually while they have a mouth full of chocolate :) Here's another shot to leave you with:

Another big night!

Wednesday was my last full day of work before the big day, (today is 1/2 day and then coaching) and sounds like the last dry day as well - right now it's POURING! Because of this I shuffled my plans a bit - I finished painting the base of the archway, but didn't deal with attaching the sides, since I'm scaling back to a more temporary and less weather-resistant model. I'd rather not be stuck parking outside for the rest of the week, so I'm waiting to put the rest together till Friday or even Saturday instead of putting it together and taking up my whole parking spot :)

But I still made a full evening of it!

I mixed, rolled, cut out, and baked FOUR batches of The Queen's Tarts, which are now ready to put together today or tomorrow. They'll get raspberry or apricot fillings. The process actually went really quickly, even with my ancient mixer. I was pretty proud of two things, first - this is all the dough I threw out:



Nice, right? Every last scrap I re-rolled an cut until I was down to just the tiniest part.

Then, after baking, I was pretty thrilled to find I only broke 3 cookies! That doesn't sound that impressive, but these suckers are fragile. I'll probably lose a couple more when I'm filling them, but so far I'm ahead of last time. Here are the casualties:



I wrapped all the baking up just before 9, and assumed I was headed off to bed (yes, I'm old, I usually crash BEFORE the news even). But then I had an inkling to put together a few goodie boxes, and ended up cranking out nearly 1/2 of them!



I love how they look, and boy are they packed with goodies :) I'm so happy everything fit! The box was the perfect size for all the goodies I wanted to include:



I'm not posting my next to-do list because it's 3 pages long + growing :-O Suffice it to say, I will be running around like the proverbial chicken sans head for the next couple of days, and will likely not get to everything. This will annoy me, but you will probably not notice until I decide I just have to tell you - I've been down this road before :)

Anyways, I'm probably going to be short(er) or updates for the next 48 hours or so, but after Halloween I promise lots of photos & tutorials on every aspect of how I "made" my Wicked Wonderland party 2009 :)

I completely dominated Monday...

I still kinda can't believe it. Here are the highlights:

1. made it to work EARLY (this never happens, let alone on a Monday)

2. Knocked out excellent lunch time errands - picked up a wig (can't decide if I like it, but I'm running out of time and long ago ran out of money, so it'll probably have to do), remaining decoration needs, 6 more blocks of melting chocolate, and a T-shirt for Norm.

3. Cut out the header for my re-vamped archway, drilled all the holes to secure it, and spray painted 1/2 of the wood & arch.

4. Hooked up the remote adaptor & extension cord for the front yard decorations.

5. Dipped a bunch more stuff in chocolate :) Now the "goodie" part of the goodie bags are almost done! I knocked out 160+ chocolate dipped pretzels, 80 dipped strawberry marshmallows, the remaining peanut butter balls, 20 candy lollipops, and a bunch of candy chess pieces. So many goodies, it wouldn't all fit on the banquet table I currently have in my kitchen, but here's some of it:



WHEW! I thought it was a longshot, but getting all of this done tonight puts me in GREAT shape for the rest of the week! I hope I can keep up this pace!

Oh my aching...everything...

Today I have a baking hangover - sore shoulders, back, and feet from standing at the stove for hours on end, and I forgot to put my wedding ring back on after mixing the peanut butter balls (it's a hands-on job). I'm also pretty tired blended with pretty panicked, so there's a strange bi-polar element to everything I'm doing. Will I get everything done I wanted to before the party? No. I know that. I never do. I get some crazy ideas and end up running out of time/money/energy and something has to give. Rarely would guests notice, but I always feel a little defeated.

So this year I've started earlier than ever before, and hopefully that counts for something. So far my outdoor plans haven't been working out, but inside the house is more than 1/2 decorated. The living room, dining room, hallway and kitchen are done, the bar area is 75% finished, and I just have the bathrooms & TV area to decorate still. Then this week is all about cooking, cleaning, and hiding junk in closets :) One of the best parts about Halloween? Nobody can judge you on your cobwebs - I'll claim I put them out just for the festivities :)

Next up on my list is to pick up more chocolate and crank out the dipped pretzel rods for the goodie boxes, and finish the candy chess pieces. Since the pretzels are the largest, they have to go into the boxes first - the sooner I finish all that, the sooner I can tie all the bows and add the final embellishments to the packages. They're going to look something like this on the outside.

I have a feeling this week will just FLY by...

Second Wind...

I thought I was done working for the night, and was more than willing to collapse and veg and fall asleep by 8pm, but as I settled in I started to feel antsy. And anxious. And nervous.

SIX DAYS, PEOPLE!

So I dragged my sorry self back up and tackled a few more projects! I had previously copied and cut all these illustrations:



And tonight I sat down and glued all 39 of them (I'm missing a Queen of Hearts somewhere)on to the goodie boxes:



I'm so glad I just sat down and powered through it, that's another big item off my list!

And speaking of goodie boxes, I also started casting my little candy chess pieces:



Three sets down, 35 to go :-P

And through the magic of DVR, I'm now watching the Food Network Challenge: Horror Cakes and pretty sure I'm in bed for good tonight. Gotta rest up, I have a big busy week!

Today Smells So Much Better...

Whew, I'm exhausted, and I can't believe my last weekend before Halloween is already over! EEK! I've had a few moments of panic (and I'm sure there will be more to come) but I tried to make the very most of today, without wearing myself out. I'm still covered in chocolate (Mmmm, I smell tasty!) and I'm sitting down to watch Edward Scissorhands and Challenge: Horror Cakes tonight. It's going to be a busy week, but I think I just might pull it off. Here's what I did all afternoon:



WHEW!
That's FIVE batches of peanut butter balls - mixed, rolled, chilled, and dipped, as well as FOUR batches of s'mores on a stick. These will go in my goodie bags, with a few extras to serve during the party. I went through 5 bricks of chocolate and had to stop when I ran out - so there's more chocolate dipping to come this week (pretzels and Oreos). I'm a little stressed about getting it all done (and fitting all these people in my house!) but I'm also really excited and flattered at the responses I'm getting. Can't wait to see you all, in just SIX DAYS!

Sneak Preview: Goodie Bags (boxes)

If you're wondering if it's a big deal to RSVP to my Halloween party, let me give you a little convincing: Here's a sneak preview of my goodie bags (boxes) for this year:



The little mushroom key chains were custom designed by etsy seller KyotoSong.The front is adorned with one of 4 color illustrations from the original Alice, tied with a cotton bow, and filled with hand made goodies that you'll just have to see to believe :) BUT, I'm only making enough for those who RSVP, so keep that in mind if you haven't let me know!

I'm feeling good now that I got all of the images printed & cut out, next step is to start the baking!

Goodies!

I also got a good start yesterday on my goodie bags! They're actually goodie boxes this year, and I'm running with the "eat me" sweets theme. I picked up 40 long white pastry boxes at Lynn's Cake & Candy Supply for $0.45 each, and yesterday I bent and folded and taped them all together.

Then I cut 40 pieces of red foil to line the boxes, I love the contrast on the white and I think it'll help keep all the treats less messy.

Can you see the little clear box inside? I also folded 40 of those, they will hold some special little chocolates I believe, assuming I get everything done :)

I chose the long boxes to accommodate chocolate dipped pretzel rods, which I love, so I'll probably be cranking out a few hundred of those, probably my famous cupcakes and hopefully also peanut butter balls, which are to die for.

I have a special trinket to tie on the outside, and lots of ideas for decorating the boxes - stay tuned :)

Bachlorette Bags

Okay, here are the "goodies" inside the bags I previewed earlier this week! I went pretty simple but wanted something festive for everyone to take with them. I was disappointed with the selection of "bachelorette goodies" at my local party stores and even the "adult store" I went to - they wanted $2-3 for a little weenie sucker, and over $6 for a little single serving bag of ding-dong shaped runts! No way! There were a few interesting things I found online, but by the time you added in shipping it wasn't worth it for things most people would just toss out. But I think I came up with a pretty good selection, here's what I filled each bag with:

-The infamous peanut butter cocks (chocolate & peanut butter candy suckers in a very realistic penile shape)

-Mini water bottle & individually packaged dose of Tylenol, to ward of any "party injuries"

-Blow up microphone - since we're going to a dueling piano bar, they do comedy and encourage singing along - might as well rock it all the way out! I think if nothing else they will be fun for photos.

-Ring sucker - so everyone can bling like the bride-to-be

-Cocktail umbrella bendy straw (a little umbrella makes everything more glamorous)

-Blow out noisemaker with a cartoon penis print

Each guest will also get a teal feather boa to tie the group together and glam us up :)More about those later.

Does it look like a party? Whoo hoo!

Sneak Peek: Bachelorette Goodies!

I'm deep into bachelorette prep mode again, with my good friend Al's party coming up this weekend. Without giving too much away, I had to share at least a glimpse of what I'm working on:

Goodie bags!

Tonight I scooped up these mini gloss gift bags in the perfect shade of teal blue. I found them at Litin, a huge party supply store in Minneapolis that has a pretty great selection of themed decor, color coordinated tableware, take out boxes & other disposable packaging, and a large selection of life size photo standees from Star Wars to Marilyn Monroe.

I managed to get in and out without too much damage (and without finding the one thing I went in there for, of course) but when these caught my eye I had to scoop them up!

I used cardstock leftover from the invites to make name tags for each guest. This helps to personalize the bags, but also to keep them straight when there are 14 of them laying around a table or room. I punched a large circle from brown and then a smaller scalloped circle from pool. I used double stick tape to mount the teal on the brown, and then a standard hole punch to create the hangar. I ended up just looping the existing bag handle through this hole, and then tied a bit of coordinated ribbon (also from the invites)to form a little bow.

I wrote each guest's name in brown marker on the tag, and I think they look really cute. I won't show you yet what they are filled with (and I'm still working on it) but I promise to share next week ;)

Goodie Bags

I love goodie bags. Adore them. Feel that they are unfairly relegated to children's parties and the academy awards. To me, a party is not complete unless you take home party favors.

That said, some of my closest friends are quite minimalist and can't stand taking home "useless junk", so there's that to consider as well.

And then disregard :)

These "schwag bags" were for the Oscar's party I threw as a fundraiser for the Roseville Women of Today, they were glossy black gift bags snagged on clearance at the Taher Retail Store (the folks behind a million party supply catalogs, including M&N International). They were stuffed with all the trivia games for the night - rolled into tubes and tied with a ribbon, a pencil to complete them, a ballot to guess the night's Hollywood winners. Gold mardi-gras beads peeked out to carry on the black & gold theme, and inside were movie-themed trinkets from Oriental Traders

Clapboard keychains - these were junk. Cheap, yes, but I'm sure nobody held on to them. Not recommended. I don't even see them sold by themselves anymore, but you can see them in this "party pack" they put out.

Movie Mints - these were fine, edible favors are always good.

Mini Neon Clappers - to "cheer on" your favorite stars. I love the larger version of these, but the minis are junk. Too small to actually make any noise.

We also had coupons from local businesses, some of which were really great deals.

In general, this wasn't my finest batch of goodie bags, but considering the event and budget (fundraiser) they still made an impact. And they looked delightful all lined up waiting to be distributed :)

Goodies for Goblins

I'm a sucker for goodie bags. It's one of my favorite things about parties, planning and finding great little gifts for all of my guests to underscore the theme and remember the event. I know some people detest getting little trinkets, and sometimes I'm one of them, but of course when I'm creating the bags I only put in things I think are real "goodies." :)

These were one of the little gifts I included in my Halloween goodie bags last year, the orange boxes are from the Martha Stewart Wedding collection (scooped up on clearance at Michaels, I KNEW I'd use them for something!), the medallions were made with the "spooky sweets" stamp set from Papertrey Ink & a couple of round punches, and the ribbon was from Michaels and Joann's. Inside was a little paper shred (Dollar Tree) and a couple gourmet chocolate truffles wrapped in bright foil papers (Costco).

I had a lot of fun sitting down and creating them as the days to the party ticked down, it made me feel like I was in the Halloween spirit and was one of the first things I did in my newly-organized craft room.

In addition to using as party favors, I also was able to grab a couple of these for minor gifts around Halloween for my co-workers and family.