I honestly can’t remember how i came across your blog. I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy all the information you have and thank you for the blog on the card box. After seeing that i decided I’d take a crack at it and I now have a pride and joy card box too ! Thanks so much!

well isn’t that nice? i love to hear that my blog helps other brides, even if they’re not clients too. traci made a wonderful card box back in october. and here’s the lovely card box kim in florida made, based on my heidzillas how to: pride and joy card box:

it looks great! it’s something you can say YOU made and they don’t cost over $100 like a lot of the online cardboxes run online. thanks for sharing kim!

are there any how to’s that you’d like to see me attempt? leave a comment!

the top 10 tips: 

1. don’t go too crazy with the theme.  when purchasing thematic decor items, it’s easy to want to buy everything in the aisle.  supplement with solids. i could have easily purchased 100 “jack” napkins but the graphical napkins cost three times as much as the solid color ones. i bought 1 pack red, 1 pack black and mix-stacked them with the jacks. plates were even more expensive… so i bought enough for slices of cake, and napkins for the cupcakes. i also stuck to only two colors – red and black for other plates, napkins and forks. i skipped knives and spoons altogether. 

thematic decor might be $3 to $10 per item and it sure adds up. less can be more and it’s all about making the most out what you got. in lieu of using these card suit streamers down the walls or doorways, i did all four sides of two poles that were in the center of the room and could be seen from anywhere. i lined our soffits with more metallic hangers. i only did one decor item with “30″‘s on it. my theme wasn’t “30″ it was poker/cards, and everyone already knew what we were celebrating.  

the food table was the only one i purchased the more expensive graphical table cloth since it was our largest area. the silverware, drink and cupcake tables all got solids.  

2. when in doubt, do the basics. yes, i did crepe paper. no, i haven’t used crepe paper since… 1997? i don’t know why i couldn’t resist. crepe paper screams old school birthday party to me. it lined two long walls and was complemented with 2′ x 3′ cards. using just the theme colors goes further in the space and cost-wise than buying everything theme-y. 

3. leave sharpies out of the cups. it might save a few cups – for the environment if not for the cost! decor-wise, the same went for drinks… there were really cute graphic cups, but i knew that’s what we’d go through first. and solo cup red fit right into my theme.  to jazz up the drink table, i went with coasters. they were necessary with our poker table and coffee tables anyways. i thought it would be cute to cover that table cover with poker-themed confetti. why did i do that? it stuck to all the bottoms of the bottles and ended up in people’s drinks. oops. spades and clubs  in drinks wasn’t what i was intending.   

4.  menu planning also means scheduling the order of cooking the food. i made everything that could sit in the fridge first, and i grouped items which needed the same oven temp together to ensure food was cooked and served as close to the same time as possible.   

5. buy more ice than you think you need. then when people call to ask if you need anything, tell them ice. you can never have enough ice! (below photo shows empty ice bin… *sigh*)   

6. let your friends help. so many of our friends offered to make food, so i took them up on it. my friends in attendance also helped me cook the last minute items (the mini burgers that you shouldn’t grill to far in advance) so i could keep an eye on the food table and greet guests coming in. (THANKS JUS, ANG, & MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)   

7. as soon as you can, make sure you party too! i worked as quickly as i could to get all of the food out so i could enjoy the party with the guest of honor and our friends and family. it’s hard to stop planning and start enjoying. if you’re like me and have a really hard time to stop doing and start having fun… refer back to #6. 

8. have “the” game on if it’s on. you know they’re going to want to watch the game or whatever it is, so plan for the tv in the room you’re partying in. if the party is in the basement and you don’t want 40 people in your living room, plan accordingly. this is a good task to assign to electronic-minded friends to handle for you in advance if you’re cooking. this suggestion does not apply to weddings, actually the opposite rule applies. tell your venue to cut their cable that day!   

9. if someone wants to do the worm, let them. mike, you’re awesome. thanks for letting me pick the music. no really, though #9 is: make an itunes playlist to let run for the night. or if you have a friend who wants to, name them the dj of the night, even if it’s just background music. if all else fails, fm radio is a great old standby. and you know on saturday nights, 96.5 kiss fm dance party is on.   

10. don’t forget to assign someone as crumb monitor. our dog cooper loved to help keep the floor clean. we asked our strong friends who wanted to help to monitor the garbage cans so they didn’t overflow. keep additional trash bags in a handy place near the bins, and don’t forget to put enough bins out in the first place!   

cooper charles: loves cuddling, pupperonis and to clean crumbs.

 i hope my party planning thoughts help you with future parties – or weddings! and happy 30th devin! love ya! 

any favorite party planning tips you want to add? leave a comment! 

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards
heidzillas how to: menu planning & naming
heidzillas how to: playing card cupcakes… and more

snip snip snip…

and flip: 1 card for 2 cupcakes. don’t forget to wash your hands BEFORE cutting, use a NEW deck, and place them in a plastic bag until they will be put onto the food. photos of the finished cupcakes, in just a second.

but first, were you wondering where the aces and jokers went? you probably weren’t, but i affixed them to two digital photo frames which i had to loop photos of devin through the year.

now… about the cake! as i mentioned before, i enlisted some wedding vendors’ help for devin’s party. my friend jacqui of cmykakes made devin a humidor-style cake with fondant cigars that were modeled after his favorites (macanudo hyde parks). the cake was white cake with grand marnier frosting and covered in chocolate fondant! our guests LOVED it!

and now for the cupcakes with the cards. the cards simply stick right in.  we had chocolate cake with peanut butter…

… and carrot cake with caramel! soooooo good. SO GOOD!!!

my husband and his mom share the same birthday, so jacqui made her an overside cuppiecake! it was white cake with white frosting and had a red fondant “liner”. one word: devoured.

to give you an idea of really how large the cupcake was! and see the cute photo frames?

red metallic table skirts do not photograph well… but here’s the whole table!

the king and his cake! yes i got him a red crown and a sword to be the king of hearts that he is

blowing out the candle!

don’t worry, i humiliated myself with a queen crown too .

coming up next: random party pics

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards
heidzillas how to: menu planning & naming

finally, i utilized any playing card-related lingo i already knew, and got some ideas thanks to wikipedia, to match up up the food to a fun name for the signs. here’s what i made and some links to the recipes. nearly all of the food i made was crowd favorites from previous parties and/or came from the 2, 4, 6, 8 rachael ray cookbook.

from the top, clockwise

“follow suit” raw veggies (thanks angie!)
“poker face” grilled portobello mushroom sorta-caesar salad
“burn cards” crackers & cheese & meats tray (thanks mom!)

left: “cut the deck” wingless buffalo chicken pizza – BIG HIT! try this recipe, especially if you’re a blue cheese fan.
right: “full house” cheesy potatoes

“royal flush” three alarm italian-style chili mac (i tripled this recipe, not allowing me to broil the cheese on top. instead, i mixed it in… and added way more cheese than it called for, because, well, i LOVE cheese.)

and this one came with a name, which started it all: “no limit” texas hold-ums (mini chipotle beef burgers with warm fire roasted garlic ketchup) 
MAKE THIS!!! this is our friends and family’s faaaaavorite ever since i made it for devin’s birthday two years ago.

“straight draw” stromboli (thanks codi!)

“pot committed” taco dip (i can never get mine to be as tasty as this, thanks courtney!)

i must note that my friends are enablers! this “wild card” fruit tray with dip was made by my friend mariah who completed it with the little card suit toothpicks. those toothpicks were one of the only card-related food decor items i hadn’t bought at the party store! thanks mariah!

in front of the salad was  ”dealer darryl’s dip” (thanks jarrod aka darryl),  buffalo chicken dip (thanks heather) and pigs in a blanket (thanks alicia)  both of which i didn’t know was coming, so it didn’t get a name, but was thoroughly enjoyed nonetheless!

 
here was the entire spread. a few things got eaten so quickly i didn’t get a chance to take a photo, including “rake it in ramaki” (thanks corey), “see the flop” hanky pankies (another thanks to mariah).

around the room there was even more food… including “ace in the hole” artichoke dip and “big blind” clam dip…

…and what would a poker party be with out some “all in” french onion dip with chips, pretzels and doritos?

needless to say, everyone got plenty enought to eat on saturday… and i actually enjoyed menu planning! (more for the naming than the cooking, but regardless.) thanks to everyone who pitched in with yummy snacks for our massive spread!

coming up next: the king has his cake, and the second and third diy projects with that deck of cards.

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs
heidzillas how to: playing card signs with menu cards

part 1 of 2: playing card signs 
part 2 of 2: creating the menu cards

i needed to make 16 menu cards. i utilized a business card template inside of microsoft word and typed in the fun food names and descriptions. i also found the diamond, club, heart and spade graphics via the “insert symbols” function inside of word. i printed them using my color laser printer on watercolor paper to create a sort of weathered texture.  the 8.5 x 11″ paper was cut down to about 2″ x 1.5″ cards.

i cut black paper about 2 1/4″ x 1 3/4″ to matte the white menu signs for depth on the cards. i used a glue stick to affix the two sheets of paper together.

finally, i attached the menu cards to the playing card signs using glue dots. i personally prefer the zots brand glue dots. see the neat texture the watercolor paper makes? it complemented the glossy flat playing card texture nicely.

i “followed suit” and matched the menu card suits with the actual card sign suits: hearts

spades

diamonds

and clubs!

all 16 playing card signs. super simple, but oh-so-cute!

coming up next: menu planning & naming

previous posts:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday
heidzillas how to: playing card signs

part 1 of 2: developing the sign.

the supplies: one single deck of cards…

…some black scrapbooking paper, the printed out food labels (or escort cards), 2 playing cards per sign you need to make, 1 poker chip per sign, masking tape and some glue dots.

steps 1 through 3:
1 – match up two cards on the longer sides – side by side.
2 – use masking tape to take them together.
3 – put an extra 2″ of tape in the center and perpendicular to the long side.

4 – loop the tape around your finger, so that every card is the same width at the bottom and tape the two cards together.

5 – stick on the poker chip.

voila, a simple playing card sign. repeat for the number of signs you need!

coming up next: playing card signs part 2 of 2

previous post:
this weekend: devin’s 30th birthday

the copy (written by me) reads:

No Bluff: Devin’s Turning 30
(Date, Time)
(Our Address)
Celebrate with snacks and drinks at our “full house.”
Please “ante up” to Heidi by Saturday, January 9
(RSVP Information)

and how perfect, the usps has these king and queen of hearts stamps out now!

i addressed all invitations to “king” (guys name) or “queen” (gals name) and sometimes to “jack” (rowdy guy friend of devin’s name )

coming up next: a deck of cards for 3 diy projects… menu planning… special touches… decor… and other party recaps!

so here’s a reader response question for you: she added the word “cards” to the bow so that guests don’t mistake the card box for a nicely wrapped gift. should she keep it, change it to “thank you” or not add anything at all? other thoughts?

great job traci!

============================================

So a couple weeks back, my fellow bride-to-be friend Tara and I decided that we were going to take a try at DIY painting our monograms on our aisle runners. If you are thinking about doing this, I would highly suggest it. It was not hard – just really time consuming, but totally worth it.

Step 1: Purchase a premade aisle runner or purchase fabric to use. We purchased our premade aisle runners at Pat Catan’s for $25. Also purchase fabric paint. We got our at JoAnn Fabrics.

Step 2: Get monogram enlarged to the size you want it to be painted on the aisle runner.

Step 3: Roll aisle runner out and determine where you want your monogram placed on it. I designed mine to go in the back of the church where the pews start. My aisle runner has to be placed before the ceremony and pinned to the floor (church’s rule) so I decided that would be the best place for it. Tara is allowed to roll hers out right before she walks down the aisle so she decided to flip the monogram so when people walked out it would be right side up.

Step 4: Place printed monogram under the aisle runner.

Step 5: Place wax paper in between paper monogram and aisle runner so when the aisle runner dries, it doesn’t stick to the paper. Tape aisle runner, wax paper and monogram paper together.

Step 6:  Use a pencil or pen to trace the printed monogram onto the aisle runner.

Step 7: Once traced, use fabric paint to paint your monogram onto the aisle runner.

Step 8: Let monogram dry, and repeat painting if needed.

The finished products: (at least finished for right now, I bet both of us will be obsessing over touching them up!)

I would recommend doing this to anyone who is considering it. It wasn’t as hard as we thought, just time consuming. In the end it was totally worth it!

====================================

looking forward to seeing the end product on your wedding day!

i made a quick stop to pat catans for my favorite paper mache boxes and to michaels to get the right color of ribbon. codi had given me the rest of the material she had left from her escort card boards (about 1 yard), so i had everything i needed tonight to whip together a quick card box. actually i think it took longer to write this post than it did to make the card box, but it turned out cute none the less and will definitely match!

1. here’s what the boxes look like for when you go to pat catans looking for them

2. i only used the largest box of the set

3. cut two slits

4. make it a square hole

5. wrap around material and tape. (i used packing tape. i think masking tape actually works better…)

6. cut side panel at an angle…

7 then fold in the corners nicely

8. tape to seal, then repeat other side

(all done with wrapping part)

9. cut the material where the square hole is (yes i use henckles and not scissors or xactos)

10. okay… here’s the tricky part: affix masking tape on the edge of the material

11. slide the masking tape into the hole…then tighten the material past the hole and wrap the tape underneath. repeat for both sides.

12. tape ribbon in hole

13. and repeat

14. wrap another piece of ribbon around the box and make one big bow on top (how to tie the perfect bow)

15. to cover the unfinished material that is hard to wrap inside the square, use a loose roll of tape to secure the ribbon right at each corner

16. that’s it!

not too shabby for the night before the rehearsal and such