Baby Shower Guest Book

Practicality is one of my strengths and one of my weaknesses.   I seem to dismiss things so quickly with a “what purpose does that really serve?”  I'm glad that I let my creative corner of the brain take over momentarily.  I was one of the hostesses for a friend’s baby shower recently.  This was to be her third child, but her first girl.   The mom-to-be is rather practical-minded as well, so I wanted to come up with a guest book that could be more than just a list of names or an alibi for someone’s whereabouts from 7-9 pm on the day in question. 

As her mother’s closest friends, I thought we could all write a message to the baby that she could enjoy when she got older – something funny like how to deal with big brothers or something sweet like looking forward to meeting her.  The book had to be unique and not over-the-top pink, so I went to work with the following items that I had on hand:

Basic Materials:

11 x 17 piece of cardboard, 1/16” thick (scavenged from the workplace)

Pastel/Baby patterned paper, 12” x 12”

Hole punch

Fine sandpaper

Brown Ink

Embellishments:

“This Book Belongs To:” rubber stamp

Vellum (for quotes)

Extra baby stickers

Extra cupcake topper*

I did have to purchase the binder rings used to bind the book.  They can be found anywhere that sells office supplies.  Be sure that you get rings that will have the diameter to accommodate the thickness of your final product and not be too tight.   This book was 1/2” tall containing 36 pages, and I used a 1” diameter set of rings.

I wasn’t sure that my Fiskars paper trimmer could handle cutting the cardboard, but I was able to cut on one side, then flip it over and cut again.  I cut two 4”x6” pieces of the cardboard for the front and back covers.  I selected the pale pink stripe as the cover pattern.  I cut four 4”x6” pieces of the paper, making sure that the stripes would be vertical for the finished product.   I attached the pink paper to the front and back of each cardboard piece.  Now for the hard part.

Turning one cover vertically, I measured from the top 1.5”  and from the left side .5” and penciled a small dot.  I repeated from the bottom, and then again on the other piece of cardboard.  Using the hole punch, I centered on the dot and made an indention onto the paper and cardboard.  I then called for the strong man of the house to complete the task.  He was able to muscle the hole punch and get all four holes punched, but I recommend eye protection next time.  There is probably a better tool out there, but I was making do with what I had available.  A lighter weight cardboard could also be used, but, hey, I couldn’t beat the price.  Feel free to leave a comment/suggestion.

Next I cut out the pages for the book.  I used all of the colors available in the pack just to make it fun.  I cut four pages of each, 3 15/16 ^“  x 5 15/16^”  so they would be just smaller than the covers and then rounded two corners.  I have a total of 36 pages, but adjust according to the number of folks attending as you see fit.

Now it is time to punch the pages.  Using one page with one of the covers, line up the page on the side where the holes are and punch through the cover and the page.  Now you have a template to use for the remaining pages.  If you have access to an adjustable three-hole or two-hole punch, that will probably go a lot faster than the single hole punch I used.

To make your own baby quotes is really simple.  Just type them up in a Word document with the font of your choosing and print it out using vellum.  Punch or cut out the quote. Be sure to use adhesive specifically for vellum when attaching to paper so it won’t show through.

Now that all of the pieces are ready, it is time for the fun stuff.

First, I used the sandpaper to scuff the edges and round the outer corners of the covers.  Next I inked the edges of the covers lightly. 

I also inked the extra cupcake topper and attached it to the front cover.  (You could use any kind of chipboard sticker or decoration)  Now you just put the rings through holes of the back cover, the pages, and finally the front cover.  I had a bookplate stamp, so I used it on the inside of the front cover.

Place a few baby quotes, stickers, and stamped images on random pages and you have a one-of-a-kind baby shower guest book! 

* Cupcake toppers instructions found here.

Playing TN Tourist

This weekend we were honored to be guests at the wedding of a very dear friend which was being held at the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, TN.  We chose to go a day early and play tourists.  I say “play tourists” because I grew up not that far from Franklin, so I really don’t feel like we are really away from home even though we live in Alabama.  We had such great experiences at a variety of places, I thought I would blog about it and share with others that might visit the area.

After checking into our hotel, the first order of business was to find food for dinner.   Had it been earlier in the evening, we probably would have ventured to the downtown Franklin area, but as we were pretty hungry, we opted for a place reasonably close.  We have a rule that we also try new places when we travel, so we chose Buco Di Beppo, an Italian chain restaurant.   The staff was super friendly and our server did an excellent job explaining to us about their family style dining.  Basically, you pick your item from the menu and they bring it out in a bowl (small for 2-3 people, large for 4-6) and you share.  You know, just like you eat when you are at home.  We decided on a Ceasar salad, Penne San Remo, and a side of Italian broccoli.   Wow!  Even with ordering a small, we had enough left over for another meal.  But the food was yummy!  I have just recently discovered that I like Ceasar salads, and this one did not have a heavy dressing; it was just right.  The pasta dish was also rather tasty even if it did have a alfredo-ish type cream sauce (I am not an alfredo fan) and the broccoli was #1!  They added garlic, crushed red pepper, and a sprinkling of parmesan to this favorite veggie and really gave it some kick. 

While eating, I gazed across the table at T and realized in horror that I had forgotten to cut his hair this week like I had planned.  He could NOT go to the wedding looking scruffy with his combination three week beard and goatee.  So our first priority the next day was a barber shop.  Having a feeling that Franklin probably still had a REAL barber shop downtown, I did a quick search online and found exactly what we were looking for with Carson’s Barber Shop  – walk-ins and an average wait time of less than ten minutes.  We arrived shortly after they opened and walked right in and got him cleaned up.  It is an old house that has been converted into a barber shop, and they have all sorts of antique barbering items around.  They even had two little cars for little guys to sit in for their trims.  The waiting area even had a popcorn machine, TV, and games.  My favorite thing was the antique glass door knobs on all of the doors.  I know – weird.

Next stop was the Franklin Gun Shop.  T is quite the gun enthusiast, and having passed their gigantic billboard on the interstate multiple times, this was a must stop and look.  They do have a pretty good assortment of weaponry, new and used, as well as any accessory needed.  We managed to get in and out with all of our money still in our pockets, so I considered that a success.

Now we were on to the real tourist stops.  I wanted to go to the Parthenon  (1) because I had never been there and (2) we saw the real one last year in Athens, Greece and I wanted to compare the two.  It is located across from Centennial Park in West End.  The first floor has displays of items from the Tennessee Centennial and explains the history of the Nashville Parthenon.

 They are currently showing an art exhibit on the second floor called ARTWORK AMONG US: Portraits by Juan Pont Lezica that is photographs of Nashvillians posed and dressed similar to famous artwork.  For instance, one of the photos is of former Tennessee Titan Eddie George posed as The Thinker.  No photos are allowed of the artwork, so you will have to go see that for yourselves.  But photos are allowed on the third floor where Athena stands guard over her temple.  Having seen the Percy Jackson movie, I knew kinda what to expect, but to walk up the stairs and see this humongous, dare I say gaudy, statue was quite the sight.  

I have always enjoyed mythology, so I still thought it was neat to see the shield, the Medusa,  and just the total Athena package. We took several photos inside and out, and then moved on to our next destination – Cheekwood Botanical Gardens.

I basically chose Cheekwood because (1) we had never been there, (2) I thought it would provide good photo ops, and (3) we could get in for free.   The reason we could get in for “free” is because we are members at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens, which allows reciprocal visits to several other gardens and locations across the country through the American Horticultural Society (AHS).   If you visit several places like this in a year, the membership is well worth it with reciprocal visits and other discounts. 

The Cheekwood property is located in a beautiful area just 8.5 miles southwest of downtown Nashville.   We first grabbed a quick lunch at The Pineapple Room, their on-site restaurant.  Reservations are recommended, according to their website, but we did the walk-in thing, and it worked out okay.  From reading the menu cover, we learned that Cheekwood has a treehouse exhibit this year, so we got really pumped about seeing what kind of forest-y abodes were in store for us.   Here are shots of the seven tree houses:

All of the treehouses are big enough for adults to go in them and each is unique in its own way.  We did not explore the entire grounds available to us simply due to time and the heat.  The car’s temperature reading said 102F,  so I am sure it was hovering close to 100,  but it was tolerable since there were many shady spots along our route and it was dry.  All of the walking actually kinda reminded us of our time in Israel last spring, but with more grass and trees.   I would definitely like to go back and see some of the other gardens and the art museum housed in the Cheekwood  Mansion.  I bet it has air conditioning!

So many great places are available to visit in middle Tennessee, depending on your interests.  I hope this may have helped you in making the decision to hit the road and see the sights.  Happy trails!

Dressed Up Gift Bag

Dressing Up a Gift Bag

Gift cards are popular gifts to give at our home, but I always like to dress up the package a little.  For a recent bridal shower, the gift was not available at the store and we had to order it and have it delivered.  I wanted to still have something to give at the shower, so I printed the photo of the item from the store’s website and placed it on a 5”x7” piece of cardstock with “On my way to your home!” printed at the top.  I then dressed up a plain gift bag to look like this:

Materials:

Large Kraft paper bag (10” wide)

White corrugated open stock paper, 12”x12”

Sepia rose open stock paper, 12”x12”

Coffee filter

“Forever” sticker

Adhesive dots

4 bronze brads

Tag:

Scrap of white pearlescent paper

Scrap of coffee filter

Wedding cake sticker

Hole punch

Jute string, 6” long

White bow

Trim white corrugated paper to 8” x 8”.  Attach corrugated paper to bag with brads, one brad in each corner. Be sure to place the corrugated paper below the handle reinforcement located on the inside of the bag.  Trim rose paper to 6”x6” and attach to corrugated paper with adhesive.  Hand tear coffee filter to appropriate size for sticker.  Adhere sticker to filter paper.  Place adhesive on back of filter opposite the sticker only.  This will allow the filter to “stand up” around the sticker. Adhere to middle of rose paper.

 Trim scrap of white pearlescent paper to 3”x6”.  Fold in half.  Hole punch upper left-hand corner.   Adhere sticker to scrap of coffee filter. Place adhesive strip or dots on back of filter opposite the sticker only.  Adhere to card.  Tie to bag handle with jute string.

 All materials were acquired at Michael's except the 'forever' sticker.  Attach white bow and you are good to go!

Garage Sale Tips and Tricks

Garage Sale/Yard Sale/Rummage Sale -all the same thing; it just depends on where you live.

I have been a frequent yard sale shopper and seller for years.  I especially enjoy yard sales with friends, both shopping and selling.  With yard sale season in full swing, I thought I would share a few tips and tricks that I have either used or witnessed over the years.  Feel free to comment and add your own!

THE MORE THE MERRIER

·         #1 Tip: include your friends and family in the fun.  More people=more variety of items=more lookers=more buyers=less stuff at the end of the day.  Almost guaranteed is that there will be a great funny story or running joke after spending the day with a group of people that you love!

·         If you cannot get anyone to join you, participate in a neighborhood or community yard sale.  In our experience, we had more traffic during the annual community yard sale than holding our own.  Once again, more lookers=more buyers=less stuff at the end of the day.

WHAT TO INCLUDE

• Books, toys, clothes, kitchen goods, electronics, games, CDs, movies, tools, gadgets, and knick-knacks
• Furniture, antiques, collectibles, and hobby items
• If you have a budding entrepreneur in the family, have them set up a table to sell homemade cookies, lemonade, jewelry, or crafts.
• Be sure that electronic items are in decent working condition, and if not, price them for parts.  Lots of computer technician students will spend a dollar on an old laptop just to tinker with it.
• Don’t dismiss anything; you never know what someone is looking for. DIY television shows inspire many people to turn trash into treasure.  Don’t take away someone’s opportunity to express their creativity.

ADVERTISING

• Contact your local newspaper a few weeks in advance to find out the cost and due date of the ad.  Also research any free online advertisement locations, such as craigslist.
•  Mention your address, hours, whether it is multi-family or single family, any big ticket items, and what you may have a lot of, like children’s toys and clothes.   
• Use colorful poster board and very wide lettering with arrows to your house.  If you can’t read it across the street, odds are that it cannot be read from a moving vehicle either.
• If your yard sale is a fund-raiser, say so either in the ad or with a sign.  Even if someone doesn’t buy anything, they may want to contribute to the cause.

PRICING

• Pricing rule of thumb: 1/5 of what it costs new if it is used; 1/3 of what it costs new if it has never been used or worn. 
•  Price things to get rid of them.  If you are trying to make money on an item, like antiques or collectibles, be sure to label them as such.
• Do not price anything less than 25 cents.  This makes getting change much easier.
• Bundle items.   Example:  three bowls may be 50 cents each, but if the person takes all three, the cost is a dollar.  Remember, price to move.
• Use signs instead of individual stickers as much as possible to save time.
• We do periodic purges throughout the year.  Pre-price items before you store them in the garage.

PREPARATION

•  Be ready approximately 30 minutes prior to your advertised start time.  We have had people show up with FLASHLIGHTS while we were still getting items out of the garage.  If you don’t want this to happen, include in your ad “No early sales”.
•  Prepare a cooler or washtub with iced drinks for the folks working the yard sale.  Also, plan on having breakfast and lunch available for the workers.   We have prepared something easy like breakfast casserole and fruit pizza for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.
• Don’t forget to get change.  I recommend at least some tens and fives along with plenty of ones and a roll of quarters.
• If you have a large item to sell, be sure that you have a path cleared for a vehicle to access it for loading.
• Clear out the garage as much as possible during the sale.  This has many advantages:

§  Putting your vehicles on the street near the edge of your property will draw attention and make it appear you have customers.

§  Items that do not need to be exposed to the elements will be protected.

§  If a summer shower pops up, perishable items can be grabbed and moved to the garage quickly.

SETTING UP

• ·         Place items so that it is obvious from the street you are having a yard sale and not just cleaning out your garage.
• ·         Use tables or upside down boxes and totes to keep the items off of the ground.  If someone has to bend over or dig through stuff, they are less likely to look.   As items are sold, keep moving things to the tables. 
• ·         Display things in categories, like kitchen, electronics, books, clothing, etc. 
• ·         Hang clothes on an articulating ladder or clothes line between trees.  A rod between two six foot ladders works well also.  A board laid across the top of the articulating ladder can be used for displaying shoes or caps.
•  
• ·         Display purses on a clothes hanger.
• ·         Use quart or gallon storage bags to keep smaller items together. 
• ·         Paper box lids are great for displaying cassettes, CDs, and DVDs.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

• ·         Say “Good Morning!” to everyone.  Walk around and chat.
• ·         Include all parts, cords, and manuals with electronics if possible.
• ·         Have an extension cord or access to an outdoor receptacle available.  If someone asks “Does this work?” they can try it out.
• ·         Have a stash of grocery store plastic bags for your customers.  They will be able to carry their items easier and may take more.  They can also be used to wrap any breakables.
• ·         If there is something in view you do not want to sell, mark it plainly “Not for sale”.   This will prevent any awkward conversations about items in the garage people may see.

MULTI-FAMILY YARD SALE:

• ·         Ask each family to use a different color sticker and put their initials on the sticker as well. 
• ·         Group like items together, and try to price as close to each other as possible.  If one person charges 50 cents for paperbacks and someone else charges $1, people will ask for the lower price.
• ·         Be sure to get “negotiating rights” from anyone who leaves items for the yard sale and is not present to discuss any offers.
• ·         Have one person assigned to track and record the sales, if you are going to use one money box.  What worked best for us was a steno notepad, the kind that has the spiral at the top.   Any sales were recorded on a page at the front of the notebook with their name and amount. Once there was a break, the sales were transferred to each person’s individual page in the back of the notebook. At the end of the day, total everyone’s sales and subtract equal portions for advertising costs and any other costs that the group chose to split.

LEFTOVERS:

Basically, leftovers are one of three categories:  keep, donate, or toss. 

If you are going to keep the items, store them in totes or boxes so they are not damaged before you need them next.

If you are going to donate the items, research local charities that pick up leftover items, or contact local thrift stores or churches to find out when they accept donations.  We typically donate to the local veterans’ thrift store, but when we have pet items , we take our leftovers to the animal shelter thrift store.