Wedding Shower Invitation

 My niece Natalie is getting married next month. Charis is hosting a shower for her in a couple of weeks. She came over last night to have me find an invitation for her. It seems that I am often in charge of the invitations for showers and things. I really should have all my invitations stored in one place on my computer. But alas, I don't so I had to search. I know these aren't recipes, but I decided if I put them all on my blog, I'll know where they are if someone asks. I'm just putting the ideas on, not the actual invitations. Charis is using an invitation that I made for a shower for my nephew a couple of years ago. She just switched the names.

Invitation

Ashley's getting married.
Stephen is the groom.
After that, they'll be off
To share their honeymoon.

Then they'll live together
With all the joy that marriage brings.
But, when they're starting out,
They will need a lot of different things.

They'll need towels & cups, pot & pans,
And pillows, spoons and such.
Some plates & sheets & baking stuff,
They really need so much.

They'll need things to clean the house with,
Food for Breakfast,Dinner & Lunch
So that is why, we're having
A Bridal Shower Brunch

We want to help them to prepare
And we want to have some fun.
We'd really like to see you.
We hope that you can come.

Firsts Shower

 This is a fun theme for a shower. Each guest is assigned a different "first". They are supposed to bring a gift for the couples first experiences together a married couple. You can just switch the names out on the invitation. Make sure to fill in the blank with a different first on each invitation.

Invitation

Adam and Lara are soon to be wed.
Brand new paths they are going to tread.
It's a whole now world, a world of firsts.
They are so excited, they are ready to burst.

We're having a shower to help them prepare
For some of the first adventures they'll share.
Please bring a gift that will help get them through
Some of the things that to them are brand new.

Please bring something for their first _________.


First Shower Ideas

first breakfast
first lunch
first dinner
first snack
first time entertaining in laws
first time entertaining friends
first Family Home Evening
first game
first night
first chance to relax
first boring night at home
first date after the wedding/honeymoon
first fight
first emergency
first illness
first injury
first finals week
first garden
first home repair
first car repair
first car wash
first house cleaning
first kitchen
first bathroom
first home decoration
first picnic
first vacation
first camping trip
first holiday
Christmas
Halloween
Valentine's Day
Fourth of July
Easter
Thanksgiving

Double Shower Invitation

 2006 was the year of the weddings at our house. We had 4 kids get married in 8 months. Three of the weddings were in 2 months. In addition to our own kids that got married, we had several nieces and nephews get married, as well. It was a busy, crazy time. But it was a ton of fun. Because there was so much going on it was difficult to fit everything in. So as a result, Charis and Rosalie had a combined neighborhood wedding shower. and Rosalie and Kristen had a combined family shower. It worked out nicely, however, I wouldn't recommend a double shower if you have different guest lists. Everybody that was invited to the shower for Charis & Rosalie knew them both so things went very smoothly. Almost everyone at Rosalie and Kristen's shower knew them both, so things went well there too. It has been a lot of fun getting to know my children in law. They have added so much to our family.

Invitation 

Rosalie's getting married.
Kristen will be, too.
They're both so excited.
They can't believe it's true.

Two beautiful brides.
Two handsome grooms.
Two wedding days.
Two honeymoons.

Two wedding cakes.
Two wedding gowns.
Two sets of rings.
Two different towns.

One bridal shower
For both to share.
We really hope
You can be there!

Absentee Baby Shower Invitation

 Josh & Sarah, and Rosalie & Tom, all moved out of state when they got married. Consequently, their babies have all been born out of state as well. When their first babies were due, neither of them had plans to come back home any time before the babies came. So, we decided to have a baby shower for them without them attending. We had people bring their gifts unwrapped and so we could all see what they were getting. Then we had them wrap them and make cards for them at the shower. we delivered the gifts when we went to see the babies. We also had a quilt on for people to work on. 

All the food we served were baby themed. We had baby carrots, sweet little tomatoes, sweet peas, mini cheesecakes, sweetheart tarts, bouncing baby cheese balls, shrimp salad and Squirt.


Invitation

Josh and Sarah soon will have
A brand new bundle of joy.
The doctor tells them it will be
A bouncing baby boy.

or

Josh And Sarah soon will have
A brand new little one.
She will be a lot of work,
But also lots of fun.


Although they are so far away,
Their needs could not be greater.
We'll have a shower just for them.
You can visit with them later.

We know it may seem rather strange
That they will not attend.
But then again, you never know,
We could start a whole new trend.

Please bring your gift unwrapped
So that everyone can see
The kinds of things that they receive
For their brand new baby!

We'll wrap the presents at the shower.
You can bring paper, ribbon and bows.
Or we will have some you can use.
It could be quite fun -- who knows?

Then we'll send them in the U.S. Mail,
FedEx or U.P.S.
And hope they get them in plenty of time,
So their baby they can dress.

“MTC” Poem

 So, this isn't a Valentine,. I just need someplace to store this so I don't lose it again. It was on our old computer, but it crashed and now it's gone. Luckily, Dallin had a copy. 

When Josh was in the MTC, he wrote us a letter about the irony of being at the MTC (empty sea) learning to be a fisher of men. I don't know if he came up with the idea or if it was something someone told him. 

A few years later, when Charis had friends that were going on missions, she decided that it would be fun to send them packages of different kinds of fish: Swedish fish, gummy fish, gummy whales, Goldfish crackers and of course Sardines, along with a poem about the Empty Sea they were currently fishing at. She asked if I could write a poem for her. This is what I came up with. We often send it to the missionaries we know (along with a small box of goodies).

MTC Poem

You have been called as a fisher of man. 

The Lord expects you to give all that you can.

Now as you serve in the vast "Empty Sea" (MTC)

With 4000 fishermen, not one fish will there be.

You'll work very hard, many things you will learn,

And then at the end, your fishing license you'll earn.

Then out in the world souls are waiting for you

To bring them the Gospel, To teach them what's true.

So, while at the vast "Empty Sea" you are found,

Establish yourself on good, solid ground.

Work hard, learn a lot, with patience prepare. 

So you will be ready, The Gospel to share.

(Copyright Christine Strong 2001)

You're Smokin' hot

I found this message website a while ago. It is so much fun. If you haven't yet done anything for Valentine's Day (or even if you have) this is a great last minute Valentine. You can send smoke signals or crop circles (or a few other things) that say anything you want, via email, to anyone you want. You can go to a google map and the smoke signals will come from your own chimney or the crop circles can be in your own back yard or anyplace else you want them to come from. It's free and immediate. If you want to see mine it is here. Sorry, I couldn't figure out how to get it to show on my blog. To send your own message go to MapMSG.com - Smoke signals

My Heart Pops For You

This pop corn is sooo yummy. I made a batch tonight and put it is small cellophane bags. I'm giving it to the girls at church tomorrow. You could put a note with it that says, "My Heart pops for you", or "Just poppin' in to say Happy Valentine's Day", or Hope your Valentine's Day is good to the last pop".

Cherry Cordial Popcorn

4 quarts popped corn

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. Cherry Flavoring Oil (available at baking supply stores, Baker's Cash & Carry)

red food coloring

molding chocolate

white molding chocolate

Keep freshly popped corn warm in large baking pan in 200 degree oven. Combine sugar, corn syrup, butter, salt and cream of tartar in medium saucepan. Bring to boil, stirring constantly. Cook to 250 degrees without stirring. Remove from heat. After boiling actoin ceases, add flavoring and color. Add soda and stir in quickly but thoroughly. Pour at once while foamy over wamr popcorn: mix gently to coat popcorn. Spread on parchment paper and breatk in pieces when cool. Melt molding chocolate 1 minute at a time at 30% power in microwave until barely melted. Drizzle over popcorn. Melt white chocolate (same as chocolate) Drizzle over popcorn.

Enjoy.

Glamour Gloves

These made me laugh. I actually got these for my birthday from some friends. But I think they would make a cute Valentine as well. It would be great for your mother or sister or daughter of best friend. It probably wouldn't be great for your husband, unless you are my daughter, who gives her husband things she wants. She gave him an ice cream scoop with a note that said, "Here's the scoop, I love you".

Buy a pair of rubber gloves (preferably pink or purple). Glue a piece of feather boa around the top. Use a good glue that is flexable and water proof, like E6000.

You can put a note with it that says something like, "I can count on you for a helping hand", or "Hands down, You're a great friend".

These almost make me excited to go scrub the toilet.

I HEART Pizza

I made this pizza for my family for dinner tonight. It turned out pretty cute, and was fairly easy to do. All I did was fold each pepperoni in half, and used kitchen shears (or you could just use regular scissors) and cut out the hearts. My boys LOVED helping me make it.


Here is a closer look:

Or, if you HEART pizza, but don't want to make your own, you could just buy one. A lot of pizza franchises make heart shaped pizzas for Valentine's Day. Here is a link to Pier 49 Pizza's website, in case you want to learn more.

A Token of My Love

I put four of these in my husband's coin purse with his change, over a week ago. It took him until yesterday to discover them. I think he will keep them there, with his change. I like that. Then he can be reminded of me every time he uses coins (which apparently isn't all that often).

I bought washers at Home Depot. I used 1 1/4 inch with a 3/8 inch hole. Then I used 1/8 inch metal letter stamps to write on them. I got the stamps at Harbor Freight (if there isn't one near you, you can order them online). It took a little "Good 4 All My Love". One says, "Hug Token" and "Good 4 a Hug". One says "Kiss Token" and "Good 4 A Kiss". The last one says "I Love You" and has our names on the back.

(Sorry the picture is so blurry

Heart Brownies

I think these brownies are pretty cute. I guess you could just use a regular cookie cutter and cut a pan of brownies into heart shapes. But I used a Wilton brownie cutter. It is a rectangular cutter that is divided into two hearts. It is taller than regular cookie cutters so you can use it to cut thicker brownies or maybe even cake. Because of the shape of it, there is very little waste from the pan of brownies. But I guess the waste isn't really wasted anyway. At my house someone will always gladly eat the scraps. I got 22 brownies out of a 9x13 pan. I got mine at JoAnn's using a 50% off coupon, so it cost about $3.00.

Ice Cream Cake

I recently found a set of cake pans that I think is really cool. You can make a cake with them and put a filling in the middle (I used Raspberry Ice Cream). The filling is in the shape of a heart. This cake was surprisingly easy to make and looks pretty impressive. I used a white cake (one cake mix was perfect), but I think a chocolate cake would actually work better (the darker edges of the cake wouldn't show as much). I froze the cake before I put the filling between the layers. That way I didn't have to worry about smashing the cake. Then I frosted the cake with whipped cream. It was pretty yummy!

It is a Wilton pan. I bought the pan at Michael's and I used a 50% off coupon, so it only cost $7.50.

My daughters made these cute minature heart cakes using the DeMarle flower pan. They cut the full size cake into quarters, making 4 small hearts. The hearts end up being about 5 inches across. They decorated each heart cake differently. Cut cakes are much easier to frost if you freeze them before you frost them and frost them while they are still frozen (the crumbs from the cut edges don't get mixed in with the frosting as badly). The roses on one of the cakes was made out of fruit-by-the-foot. The instructions are here. The others were just decorated with colored sugar, cake crumbs or Valentine sprinkles. But you could decorate them any way you want. They would be fun to give to your friends or neighbors, but they are a little too large for single servings. DeMarle products are great. They are silicone based pans, but unlike other silicone pans, they brown things nicely. Things don't stick to them, so cakes come out of the pans really well. If you are interested in purching this pan (or other DeMarle/Silpat products) you can contact a representative at rosaliefullmer@gmail.com .

Scratch and Win Valentines

These Valentines are like the lottery tickets that you scratch off the silver spot to see if you are a winner. But with these, every heart is a winner. It's just that some might be better than others. We printed the cards, including the prizes, on the computer. Then we covered the row of prizes with clear packing tape (you could use clear contact paper). Then paint over the prize answers with a mixture of 1 part liquid dish detergent (I used Dawn) and 2 part silver paint. It may take more than one coat. I think I was in too big of a hurry so mine turned out a little bumpy (the dish detergent makes the paint bubbly). It would probably be smoother if you could do several thin coats of paint. Make sure you print "Scratch One" under the hearts. I made some coupons and some plain cards. You can say what ever you want on them, but, mine said:

Good for 1 Movie (Your choice), (My choice), (Forget the movie, lets do something else).

Good for 1 (Kiss), (Chocolate Kiss), (Evening Full Of Kisses).

Good for 1 Massage (Shoulders), (Feet), (Full Body).

Good for Dinner at Choose 3 different restaurants.

Do You (Love Me, Too), (Want a Kiss), (Wanna Dance).

I Dream About (Only You), (Growing Old With You), (You, Even When I'm Awake).

You + Me = (Bliss), (A Perfect Pair), (Happily Ever After).

You Make Me (Happy), (Smile), (Complete).

Heart Attack in the Bathroom

I know lots of people put paper hearts around the room or the door or the yard to heart attack someone. But I have found that the jell cling stickies are great for heart attacking the bathroom. You can buy them at Target or Shopko or at the dollar store (I've even seen them at Home Depot). They stick to the tile or the glass and they peel right off when you want to take them down. I have used the same ones for several years. They just look so cute. CAUTION: DO NOT PUT THESE ON ANY NATURAL STONE OR ANY POROUS SURFACE (like caulk). THE COLOR MAY BLEED INTO THE STONE! (unless you like the look of permanent little red heart shadows around your tub). They work great on ceramic tile and glass