Category Archives: Happy Hostings

It’s time to party…girl’s nights, weddings, dinner parties, showers…who doesn’t love a good party!!

Girl Gatherings: Naked Ladies

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Don’t be too excited a-scared, there aren’t going to be any nake-y pictures or crazy things in this post.  This one is all about a little girl gathering we have come to love called “Naked Ladies”.  Here’s the run down:

  • Great excuse to get together & catch up with your ladies
  • As always with girl gatherings – lots of great food and drinks
  • Fun event that forces you to clean out those closets and cabinets
  • Do a little “free to you” shopping
  • Hopefully come home with a bag full of someone’s else’s get rid of’s
  • Contribute to a nice big donation to a local charity

So here’s how this Naked Ladies thing works.  All the ladies come together lugging in bags of clothes, housewares and accessories that they just don’t want or need anymore.  We’ve had everything from clothes and jewelry to kitchen supplies and decorative accessories.  We all grab a glass of wine and some munchies and then go thru each others stuff!

There are a few different ways you can do this…One lady grabs her goodies and displays them to everyone else.  Those interested check them out and claim them {if there are more then one…you have to fight to the death let the group decide who gets the stuffs}.  We’ve also done the put things in “piles”based on the type of item {i.e. pants, shirts, kitchen supplies, etc} and just let the ladies “shop” thru the items.  How you do it really just depends on your group of ladies and what works best.  The bonus to this great event {besides the potential to refresh our closet} is that anything left after the swap gets donated to a local charity!

Recap: Great excuse to hang with your ladies / clean out of those things you just don’t need anymore / possible score of some new great things / big donation to charity

Can’t go wrong there now can you!!

So the next time you are in need of some time with your favorite gal pals…and are looking for something new and fun to do…give Naked Ladies a try!  I promise it won’t disappoint.

Happy Girl gathering!

~ Jillian

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Girl Gatherings: Pinterest Party

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This may or may not be a post that was meant to be published a LONG time ago {don’t judge…it fell off my radar and got lost in cyberspace}.

I’ve mentioned before {here} that me and my favorite ladies love to plan “girl gatherings” as a scheduled excuse to get together and catch up.  Well this super special gathering not only is the perfect opportunity to get together with the ladies…its a NO more excuses party to actually do some of the crafts on your Pinterest page {come on…you know you have like 1 million things that you’ve pinned with the intention to do someday…and then never touch}

It’s easy…pick a place and a date…scan over your pin boards for a few things that you really want to try {and would be fairly easy to transport to someone else’s house} and DO IT!  For this particular Pinterest Party we gathered at the lovely Maren Claire’s casa to get ON it already.  We all broght a few projects to tackle…and of course a little vino and munchies {what’s a good party without wine and munchies?!?}  It was a smashing success!!  There were old t-shirts being made into pillows and cute tank tops, fabulous tutus made from loads of tulle {from the lovely Craft Mayo}, scrabble coasters, lightbulbs turned into cute decorative fruit, and even a diaper cake motorcycle for an upcoming baby shower!!  How productive!?!?  All while enjoying good food, fabulous conversation and the best friends a girl could ask for!!

Have you participated in any fun Pinterest inspired parties??  Have a load of “to do’s” on your pinterest page??  Plan it up…I promise it will not disappoint!!

Happy Hosting
~ Jillian

Showered with Craftiness: Tinting Tooth Picks

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Happy Friday!  After a CA-Razy week i’m really looking forward to a little R&R this weekend.  I’ve been in a crafting state of mind lately…so i thought i would share another fun {and simple} little trick I used for my sister-in-laws baby shower {for other shower crafting amazing-ness look here, here and here}  This is one of those things that is not complicated…but adds a ton of loveliness to your party or decor.  {its all about the details right!!}

Tinting your toothpicks and skewers.

You will need:

  • A box of toothpicks {or wood skewers}
  • Food coloring
  • Water
  • Tupperware or casserole dish {I used a rectangular dish for the long wood skewers}

Simply fill your container with water, add drops of food coloring {obviously the more food coloring, the more intense your color}, throw in toothpicks and let them soak.

When i said this is simple…i REALLY meant it.  Literally.

I soaked my goodies for about 30 minutes to an hour and then dried them out on a paper towel before crafting my heart out with them.  For this little girls baby shower i went pink but you could easily go blue or green or purple?!?!

Rock UR Party

Happy Crafting!

~ Jillian

* Don’t forget to enter the HSE Mystery Box Design Challenge!

Showered with Favors: Baby Herbs

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So I told you yesterday that my precious little niece is finally here…and then  I realized that I still have lots of details from her baby shower to share with you {sorry for slacking on this one!!}  One of my favorite little details of the shower to celebrate Baby Alys {and her sweet momma} were the take home favors for all of the guests.  I collected empty baby food jars from a few friends with babies and turned them into little mini herb planters!  As usual these days my inspiration came from none other then…Pinterest.  I knew as soon as I saw the inspiration pic that these were just perfect!!

{Inspiration found on Pinterest}

Tools & Supplies

  • Baby Food Jars {with labels removed}
  • Ribbon & Paper
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Paper Cutter & decorative punches {or scissors}
  • Dirt
  • Herbs {or other plants}
  • Spoon

How-To

  1. Collect baby food jars, remove labels & glue {To get off the last little bits of glue and goo I used the peanut butter trick  - also found on Pinterest…shocker}.
  2. Pull together decorative items {ribbon, paper scraps, stickers, etc}  Cut the paper using a straight edge paper cutter.  Choose the width of paper based on the size of your jar and desired look.  For me I wanted to still see the dirt thru the jar and also have room to add ribbon and other embellishments.  I also used a decorative punch to give some of them a “fancy” edge {the paper punch I used is a Martha Stewart punch I found at Michaels}
  3. Once paper is cut and punched, using a dot of hot glue affix one end of the paper to the jar, wrap paper around the jar and secure with another dot of hot glue.  Use the same method for any additional paper layers or ribbons.
  4. Next step is planting the herbs {or other plants}.  If you are using baby food jars, be sure to choose plants that have several stems and can be separated into smaller plants to fit in the jars.  Using a spoon add some dirt to the bottom of the jar, add the plant and fill in with dirt to secure.  Water and Enjoy!

* I used culinary herbs but you can really use any type of plant or flowers that you want!

These little jars also make great party decor!

Happy Hosting!

~ Jillian

Showered with Yummy

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As I mentioned here I recently hosted a little baby shower for my sweet sister in-law.  After WAY too much time spent on Pinterest {I’m starting to think its like a black hole that just sucks you in…and several hours later just pops you back out} and a LOT of help from some of the sweetest family and friends we had ourselves a pretty lovely spread!

To start off we had a mimosa & bellini bar.  Champagne {and sparkling juice} served with orange juice and peach juice {If you’ve never tried a peach bellini I highly recommend it!}.  For this one I set out a cute tray, lined up the champagne glasses and popped a few fresh blueberries and raspberries in the bottom.  The pitchers of juice and the champagne bottles sat next to the tray for a little “do it yourself” drink station. {In the craziness I didn’t snap a pic of our little mimosa bar but thanks to Hostess with the Mostess you can get an idea of what it looked like!}

Next on the list, for a little something extra refreshing {on what turned out to be a VERY hot day} was a cucumber & lime water served with frozen fruit cubes.  I can not take ANY credit for the gorgeous cubes, our sweet aunt and uncle made blueberry, strawberry and mandarin orange ice cubes that were not only beautiful to look at but added a little extra to this refreshing drink!  {again with the no picture…sorry i’m a horrible blogger…but this is the general idea}

{The Culinary Tribune}

Last {but certainly not least} on the drink menu was a carafe of iced coffee.  With all of the other things going on, for this one I decided to keep it simple.  We grabbed an already brewed {and yummy} traveler from Starbucks and added little frozen coffee ice cubes.  {I made these by simply freezing coffee in an ice cube tray!}

Now on to the food!!  I needed to have a variety of goodies for all to enjoy, we have some pretty varied eating habits between family & friends {some are no meat, some are no gluten, some are doing low sugar} definitely a challenge for a party menu!  My goal was to keep everything “baby sized” so it was easy to grab and easy to eat {and cute baby themed…duh}  So our spread included a variety of mini muffins {blueberry, ginger bread & lemon poppy seed}, yummy mini quiches {some of the veggie & some of the meaty variety}, beautiful prosciutto & melon skewers and a tray of mini chicken bites served with bbq sauce and a yummy blue cheese foam.   The sweet soon to be grandma brought peppered bacon biscuits, put together mini ham & biscuits and made the most yummy savory spinach balls.  I found the recipe for these spinach balls on one of my many trips to Pinterest and just HAD to try them!

{The Curvy Carrot}

Now for the sweet goodies!!  Our little momma to be is watching her sugar intake so we had little single serving fruit salads with a honey lime dressing served in the cutest little pink polkadot candy cups that I scored on Etsy from the sweet Jen at Cupcake Social.

Following along with our little mini items we had mini strawberry shortcakes, single slices of lemon and key lime cake, the most gorgeous chocolate covered strawberries & cutest little baby themed cake pops {Grandma to be brought these so i’m not sure where they are from…but they were adorable!!}

So to recap:

  • Mimosa & Bellini Bar
  • Cucumber Mint water with fruit Ice Cubes
  • Iced Coffee
  • Mini Muffins {blueberry, ginger bread & lemon poppy}
  • Mini Quiche {Veggie & Meaty}
  • Prosciutto & melon skewers
  • Mini Chicken bites with BBQ sauce & Blue Cheese foam
  • Peppered Bacon Biscuits
  • Mini Ham & Biscuits
  • Savory Spinach Balls
  • Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
  • Mini Strawberry Shortcakes
  • Slices of Lemon & Keylime Cake
  • Chocolate Covered Strawberries
  • Baby Themed Cake Pops

Lots of food!!  But between the party guests and then a little afternoon snack for the boys when they returned home from their day on the golf course {they were banished from the house…ladies only!!} we had just the right mix of yumminess!

Thank you Thank you Thank you to my sweet family and friends for all of your help…there is NO way I could have pulled this off without you!!

~ Jillian

P.s. I included links and recipes for a good amount of the menu items, but if there is something you are interested in and have questions, leave a comment and I will give you more!!

Showered with Love {and Crafting!}

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Recently I was honored to host a baby shower for my precious little sister in-law Bethany! {Baby Alys is heading our way this fall!!}  It would be an understatement to say I enjoyed all of the planning, getting all the goodies together and showering this little lady with love.  My husband said several times that it looked like a baby shower had exploded in our living room {sorry honey!}  I was full on Crafty-McCrafterson up in here!  I will share lots of the details from the shower with you in upcoming posts but wanted to give you this little sneak peek of one of my favorite shower “activities”…a Baby Shower Photo Booth!!

I made lots of little props for the guests to play around with {like pacifiers on sticks, customized signs and little baby hats}, hung up a cute fabric backdrop {actually a fun table cloth from Ikea} and let the guests have at it!!  Overall I’m calling this one a great success!!

Craft it up!
~ Jillian

P.s. I’m considering putting together a photo booth package to be sold on Etsy {Her Split Ends Shop coming soon!!}.  Is this something you would be able to use for future parties and showers??   {think baby showers, birthday parties, wedding showers, weddings…I could go on and on!!}

{Guest Post} Girls Gatherings: PCGGE, 8 years in the making…

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One of the best things about being a lady and living relatively close to some of your most awesome friends is…what we like to call girl gatherings.  We like to plan them far in advance {let’s be honest…our schedules are crazy these days} and make them…well aWeSoMe.  One of the longest running girl gathering traditions with my ladies is something we like to call… PCGGE.  So without further ado i present a lovely little question and answer session about this fabulous girl gathering tradition with the events original “founder” and one of my favorite ladies…The Mayo…

HSE: Who is The Mayo?

TM: Ah the Mayo.  WELL, Mayo is my last name.  So I’m not just a fan of mayonnaise or of the Kraft company…although I do love me some mayonnaise.  I’m basically your normal, single, outstanding 30-something female.  I have an 8-5 M-F job that generally pays my bills, I have a couple of groups of friends from college/work/neighborhood that I love to hang out with, and I have a cat from college that I treat like a roommate/my child.  I have a few loves that I talk about on my newly minted blog, mayodidit.wordpress.com (soon to be www.mayodidit.com, once I learn how this bloggy codey thing works) that includes crafting, food, and live music. So you know, doin’ my thang just like all the other ladies out there.

HSE: So how’d you get the idea for this “PCGGE” ?!? and what does PCGGE mean anyhow?

TM: After I graduated from university with a BS in Chemistry (what was i thinking?!), I moved in with my parents.  After working a lab job for about a year, I decided that myself and my poor cat had had enough tearing up the interstate just to visit my friends, so I moved to the great ATL where the majority of my friends lived.  That Christmas, after several months of  living on friend’s couches, I finally got settled into a tiny studio apartment and was pretty broke with all those new-place-just-moved-start-up fees.  I decided to invite my girlfriends over for a good old White Elephant party, so we could each get only ONE gift for the whole group.  You know, its hard to get a decent present for each friend when you’ve got 6 or 7 girls who are all very close; cause’ you know if you leave one person out at the tender age of 24, you could hurt someone’s feelings.  When i started asking around to see who was free, we were all SO busy with work parties and family engagements, that we ended up setting the date for the weekend after new years.  I set the rule that instead of a gag gift, get a really GREAT present, and utilize all the after-Christmas sales!  (Double win – SALES and GIFTS!!)  Thus was born the “Post Christmas Girls Gift Event” aka PCGGE.

HSE: How does the gift exchange work at PCGGE?
TM: It’s a traditional White Elephant…Oh, some people don’t know what that is? Okay, okay, for those who don’t know:  So everyone brings one unmarked wrapped gift at the same price.  I make a bowl full of little scraps of paper with numbers and we each draw a number.  Numero Uno gets to choose the first gift under the tree!  It gets unwrapped, we all ooh and ahh, and then it’s Number 2′s turn.  Now Number 2 can either “steal” the present that Number 1 is holding, or open a new gift.  If they choose to steal, that gift has been “stolen” once (a rule of the game is that each gift can only be stolen 3 times…so very often there will be a gift stolen three times and it is “frozen” and that person who stole it the third time ends up with the gift). So the game goes on until all of the gifts have been opened.  Now I know you’re thinking, “Geez, Numero Uno gets screwed!”  But that’s not true.  After everyone is holding an unwrapped gift, Numero Uno has the choice to SWAP gifts one final time with someone (except with any frozen gifts).  So basically – you wanna be Numero Uno…I mean, that’s what life is all about, right?  Being Numero Uno?? Maybe we should rename all White Elephant gift exchanges to “The Game of Life.”…Oh wait, that name is taken.
HSE: What kinds of food & drink goodies are served at PCGGE?
TM: ALL kinds.  Seriously.  I have a handful of randar foodies in my circle of friends; a pescetarian, a vegetarian, a non-pork omnivore, a baconarian…yes, that last one is true.  Okay, it’s not, but it should be.  Since this started out as a “Hey ladies, I’m poor and ya’ll are poor and we should hang together,” we all brought a dish.  That tradition continues.  We get teeny carrot cupcakes from my bakery friend (tsp bakery), Chic-Fil-A nugget trays from my lazy/genius friends, mozz/basil/tomato skewers, cookies, candy, meatballs, chips, salsa, any kind of dip you can think of, buffalo chicken rolls.  There literally is no end to what we bring and what we will eat.  As far as drinks go, it’s wine.  Mostly wine.  I like to get a bottle of the X-Rated Fusion Liqueur a.k.a. “The Pink Vodka,” for a ladies group shot about halfway through the night.  It’s delicious, no one pukes because of it and it’s pink…and delicious.
HSE: What are some of the great stories that have come out of PCGGE?
TM: Wow, that is a question I could answer for days.  There have been so many stories that are now staples in my little social circle!  There are a couple that immediately come to mind.  One year, we had a group of about 10 girls; this was the year that the “You can’t steal your own gift” rule began.  One lady was especially excited about the gift she’d brought, and the fact that it was “dishwasher safe”…well, turns out it was a how-you-say… self pleasuring item for women?!  And then, after it was opened, she attempted to steal it.  ”But you guys, it’s DISHWASHER SAFE!” like it was made of gold or something.  Another year, we were a few hours into the party, and one of my dear friends who rarely drinks was enjoying a mommy’s-night-out, stumbled out of the bathroom wearing a pair of my undies over her jeans and a towel rod in hand.  She came to me and quietly said “I puked.  But I cleaned it all up.  I think this is your towel rod?!”  To which another girl said, “Panties over pants!” and suddenly everyone was in my undies drawer pulling all types of underthings over their clothing.  And I thought, “Hey this towel rod would make a great mike if it had a grapefruit on it”… then I shouted, “and while everyone’s in my closet, get a hat on!” (Sidebar: Although I live in Georgia, I have an unreasonable amount of winter hats.)  From there, I have a video of about 6 girls wearing ski hats, sunglasses, underwear over their clothes, and singing Corey Hart’s “I Wear my Sunglasses at Night”
No,  You can not see it.
~The Mayo