Family Life - The last of 3 Sisters to Wed

Two weekends ago I celebrated in the marital union of my 2nd of 3 sisters to get married in 2013! It was an exciting time, and while everyone was here, we put together a shower for my sister, Stephanie, who is the 3rd wedding of the year, tying the knot in North Carolina this October. She loves mustaches so I decided to do a lips and mustache theme. I of course went to Pinterest and started pinning like crazy. The catch to this shower was that the room we were using was not available for setup until Saturday, the day of the wedding for my sister, Alex. So I had to make sure I didn't commit to anything that would need a lot of last minute set up. The colors were black, red, pink and gray.
Here is what we got...

For part of the centerpieces I stamped some mustaches and circles in dark pink and gray, and because I couldn't find a lip stamp I just used paint and my own lips.
I added the above to white table clothes, this wrapping paper I found at Hobby Lobby, some circles cut from colored paper, glassware wrapped in ribbon also acquired from hobby lobby, black and red candy and the lips and mustaches I made for the "he said, she said" game from Alexandra's shower, and Voila!

I saw some great pins on Pinterest that used funny sayings tying in the mustache and lips so I used some of them and created designs to match the themes. This is what I came up with:

In case you can't read them, they say: Wet Your Whiskers, Smooch Juice (Fruit Punch) and Add to the "Stache"

It was a dessert evening shower, we had a chocolate fountain, cupcakes, candy etc.

For activities/games, I had a bunch of cookies in shapes of lips and mustaches and had a decorating contest that the bride to be could vote on for a top prize. Then based on some ideas I pinned, I created two games. The first was a Shower Libs - Mad Libs with a wedding twist, and Bridal Scattergories. That was the game that came with the most surprises. The shower was for all the church ladies and let me just say that we discovered some funny bones and humor that we had no idea this group possessed.

It was seriously a good time!

Originally I planned on making a photo puzzle for guests to write on the back of the pieces, but that didn't work out as planned. I didn't have time to make one and services that I did have time for were too costly. So I decided to have one DIY style, unfortunately either the Lowe's saleman didn't know what he was talking about or he took advantage of a woman, because when they didn't have the wood I needed, he sold me something else, claiming it would be the same, and it wasn't! I had it cut, drew out a puzzle template,printed the photo, painted the wood, mod podged the photo into place, but when I took it to my friend to have it cut, I discovered the wood was not what I needed and would only splinter when cut.

So I just gave the photo to the bride-to-be in case she wanted it and went to plan B. My husband works in metal and was able to have a 5'x2' mustache cut and painted black. I got some gold and silver pens and had people sign it.

As you can see the bride-to-be had fun with it.

We ended the evening with gifts and sent everyone home with an assortment of goodies.

We all had the best time and loved this theme!

A Theme Emerges

2013 has just begun and already a theme has emerged! Travel is the word of the year. In 1994, Hugh Grant starred in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and I'm close. Two days before Christmas my father-in-law was hospitalized and 14 days later he died. So after traveling 5 hours to see him this passed week, we will go again Friday to be with family and friends at his memorial. Now I am someone who is no stranger to traveling. In my 34 years I have been to 27 different countries. Getting on plane or going on a road trip is not something that intimidates me, but since my initial voyage my life is changed. Now I'm doing with the family. My family includes my husband and I but also my 26-year-old special-needs stepdaughter, my diabetic 21-year-old stepdaughter who spends her life in and out of hospitals, and my soon-to-be two-year-old son. It's an undertaking to say the least. Before news of my father-in-law's terminal illness, we knew this year would be about travel. I have three sisters all of which are getting married this year in three different states within eight months of each other. This will be interesting! I'm in search of busy books ideas and other travel apps and toys for little kids. I'm going to master this traveling with tots thing, and be an expert by 2014. Journey with me, if you're ready, here we go...