Olive Box in my Mailbox - August!

Last week I received my Olive Box for the month and I'm excited to share with you all! Sorry I'm a little bit on a lag, but I didn't want to interrupt the bachelorette party I had going on! This month's theme was back to school and it came with some fun pink items...

Spoiler Alert if you haven't gotten  yours yet!

What's in the box!!!

Photos via me

Tada! Fun planner, good inspirational card and a cute pencil pin. I took the weekly planner to work and let me tell you, "Trading Standards Meeting" looks a lot more fun on pink! It is great because it breaks out the days and gives you enough room to write out all of your to dos. The card is gorgeous and I might use it for someone needing some love or frame it - I'm collecting fun girly prints to hang above my dresser. The pencil, I really want to wear one day and see if the guys in my group notice. I feel like a teacher a lot of times, so it could be fitting!

If you haven't checked out Olive Box yet, definitely do! Great for yourself and for a gift - seriously gifts that keep showing up are awesome. Click on the picture below for more info!

Lots of Love (and almost TGIF!),

Work Baby Shower

Today, my coworkers and I threw a work shower for our colleague Ian and his wife, Adriele. Work showers can be hard because you are trying to make a conference room look festive. I think we did a pretty good job making the table look cute and did it on a budget, so I wanted to share some ideas! Plus, I had to share the cupcakes my boss's wife, Amy, did - she's incredible. In classic work style, we had to take the pictures with a BlackBerry, so sorry the quality isn't top notch!

Like I said above, the cupcakes were made by Amy and her little toppers were adorable. The cookies, we ordered from Connie's Cookies and the cute chocolate soccer ball goody bags were made by another coworker's wife - Ian & Adriele are just a little obsessed with soccer. Rachel picked up the fun baby boy decorations at The Dollar Tree - yep, got them all for around $10 and that was with lots leftover! The key with a work shower is focusing on a table and working to make that look festive. You also don't want to spend a lot on decorations, so check out places like The Dollar Tree or Target. Spend your money on the treats - that's what your coworkers want! Thanks Hailey, Rachel and Amy for helping pull this thing together!

Lots of Love,

Champagne Icing

Last post in the bachelorette series - recipe for Champagne Icing. These sugar cookies were delicious and the champagne icing made them fun and festive! My friend, Emily, made them for us and I was so excited when I found out how easy the recipe is:

Photo and recipe design via me

Have a girls night coming up? Whip up this fun recipe, spread it on break and bake sugar cookies, add some sparkle and viola! You look like Betty Crocker.

Lots of Love,

Bachelorette Party Panty Poem

My friend gave me the fun idea of doing a "Panty Poem" for Megan's bachelorette lingerie shower. It makes for some good laughs and good decoration! She sent me the website with the poem and I made a couple changes to fit our guest of honor. The underwear that's fun to wear was purchased at Target - they have a good 5 for $20 selection. You need multiple pairs to go with the different sections of the poem:

I printed off tags to clip on with the underwear. To hang, use sturdy string or ribbon and use cloths pins - I had some fun glitter covered ones!

photos via me

Again, you can find the poem at Diva Girl Parties and Stuff! Copy and paste into Word, so you can update the name and make needed changes. I used cute fonts and printed it on shimmer paper, so the bride-to-be could keep it. Fun for her to have a bunch of sassy new undies, well and some pretty gnarly granny panties!

Lots of Love,

How To: DIY Diamond Pinatas!

The Megan Bachelorette Party series continues with a how to on DIY pinatas! I found some great already made options to purchase, but I figured I could do them cheaper by some good ole' fashioned DIY. (Don't worry, I'll show you the purchase options at the end if you aren't in the mood to DIY!)

I searched on Pinterest for a good DIY diamond pinata idea and bam! found one:

http://ilovereveiller.com/2013/05/31/geometric-pinata-diy/

They have great pictures and follow along instructions, so I am directing you that way. My quick instructions and modifications are as follows:

1. I used a cardboard box I had laying around and measured out triangles - make sure your sides are equal.
2. Instead of 8 triangles, I made the pinatas using 6 - 3 on top, 3 on bottom. I didn't have a ton of time, so I decided the smaller size would be quicker.
3. I used a small X-ACTO knife to cut out the triangles. It is hard, but try to go slow and steady. I had some wavy sides and it made them harder to match up later.
4. On one of the triangles, cut out a little door to put your goodies inside once you are done.
5. Tape the edges of your triangles together. I used a masking tape - I only had green, but if you can find something that matches the color of your tissue, that would be better.
6. Pull a thick string through the top of the pinata.
7. Fringe your tissue - the website above has great direction for this so you can move quickly.
8. Attach the fringe by using Mod Podge a section at a time. Cover that thing! Make sure you keep layering in mind. Let it dry.
9. Viola! Fill them with confetti, candy and if it's an adult party, liquor shooters!

Little door, so you can stuff your pinata full of goodies! I used chocolate coins, confetti and shooters!

Hung up at the party!

Get it girl!

Like I said above, if you aren't in the mood to DIY (and you want more perfection), here are my favorite affordable ready made diamond pinatas:

 

Such a fun decoration, plus it adds some excitement to the party! Smack that!

Lots of Love,

Bachelorette Party Invitations - Add Some Glitter!

The start to any bachelorette party is inviting the party girls! I found these fun and festive invitations from the Etsy shop DBN. I fell in love with the saying and the little lingerie at the bottom (they have amazing stuff)! They were perfect for Miss Megan and to add even more character, I decided to line the envelopes with some glitter paper. I found a fun pack of glitter paper at Target. I traced the envelope shape and then cut out the glitter paper to fit. Definitely added some pizazz! 

Photos via me

Always fun to get some glitter in the mail! Gets you excited for the party. Yes, it takes a little extra time, but lining an envelope adds so much character!

Lots of Love,

Little Box of Character - New Business!

Update: I have opened a new little online shop to sell these wonderful boxes and other items full of character! Click the "Shop" button on the top or click this link www.loveofcharacter.com! 

Yesterday, in my post about Megan's bachelorette weekend, I had pictures of little pink boxes. Well ladies and gentlemen, that is my new adventure I'm taking on! I had such a great time making the boxes for Megan's party, that I decided to start doing them as a side business. I know you are all wondering "well what's in them!" so I am going to share:

Advil pack | Prosecco | Hair Tie

Diamond Container with Sixlets | Confetti Pop | Boom Chicka Pop

I took ideas I saw on Pinterest of boxes and bags and thought the pink bakery boxes would be perfect. I found a great quote and viola! For the inside I thought of needed items for a bachelorette shindig - booze, food, meds, confetti and a hair tie (I made the cards and they say "So your friends don't have to hold your back.") They were great for decoration at the party and everyone was excited to open them!

Now if you go back to the start of my story, I said I am wanting to do this as a new adventure. I have added a page to my blog with all the different boxes I have done thus far and some examples of the fun items I have put together for them. They are meant to be cute presents full of things people love and find fun. I have everything from hostess to birthday to engagement to baby. I can also help you by doing the boxes, confetti pops, hair ties, labels, etc. individually if you are just looking for a fun way to wrap a present you have.

Here are a couple samples that I have posted on the Little Box of Character page:

Little Box of Cheer Up Character

Little Box of Hostess Character

Little Box of Birthday Character

For more details on ordering please visit my Little Box of Character page!

Lots of Love,

Let's Get Fancy: Megan's Bachelorette Weekend!

Update: I have opened a new little online shop to sell the bachelorette goody boxes and other items full of character! Click the "Shop" button on the top or click this link www.loveofcharacter.com! 

I'm so excited to finally share this party with you all! Over the past few weeks it has been my main project, but I couldn't spoil it for the bachelorette and share early. Since "Fancy" has been such a contagious hit this summer, I decided to make it the theme for the weekend - also helps that Megan was all about getting fancy! Her wedding colors are pink and gold, so those also were incorporated. I struggled at first with trying to come up with ideas on making a hotel room look decorated and have a good party atmosphere. I had some friends recommend Hotel Lumen and it has a great, swanky vibe (plus I scored a good deal by price checking!). I decided to have one of the rooms be the Spectra Suite, which has a king bed and a living room setup with a pull out bed. I was able to use the living room space as our party scene and decorated around that. Per usual, I think pictures do the best explaining, so check them out (warning, there's a lot!):

The "N" looks a little deflated because I got a little excited filling it with air...whoops!

Obviously there is a lot going on and I will be breaking down the details for you all week! I am especially excited to tell you about those little pink boxes because they are a new venture I am working on starting. I think the room looked turned out very FANCY and was full of party character! Special thanks to Sam for helping me set things up and to Emily for baking and getting the fun photo party sunglasses and cups! Also, thank you to all the girls that came out to help Megan celebrate! Happy bachelorette to the future Mrs. Megan Wetta!!!

Photos via me

Coming this week...

Lots of Love,