Easy (& Super Cute) DIY Photo Memory Banner

My sister-in-law put together the cutest memory display for my niece's 1st birthday party. Check it out:

Sorry for the photo quality. The camera on my phone doesn't take the best photos.

Each picture displayed a picture of Sadie at month 0-11 and was clamped to a ribbon by mini-clothespins. Adhere the numbers representing how many months old she was when the picture was taken and a few decorative circles with her initial on it and voilà ... a wonderful walk down memory lane.

This Ain’t Your Grandma’s Jell-O!

I ran across an super cute idea a while back that I was just waiting to bust it out. My brother and sister-in-law was going to hold a birthday party for my niece/housewarming party and  I was beyond excited to bring this darling dish:

Jell-O Fruit Slices

I first ran across the idea because a friend of mine had done something similar with oranges and had it posted on her Facebook wall. I wanted to learn how to prepare it so I went to the internet to learn how. I ran across a great tutorial at Not Martha and knew it would be easier than it looked.

I decided to try to make the Jell-O look like watermelon slices, super cute for a summertime party! I hollowed out ½ a watermelon, prepared the Jigglers recipe on the box as instructed and poured it in the rind, balanced it all in bowl to avoid tipping, and put it in the fridge to set. Voilà, finished! (well…almost)

Now here is where I made my error so please learn from my mistake. Not Martha said  to place the fruit upside-down  when you cut it. However, she was working with smaller fruits. I did this with the watermelon and got through 4 “slices” before the weight of the remaining Jell-O caused it to plop out. Bummer! At least I know for next time. I decided to cut up the Jell-O that came unattached and placed it around the slices to be devoured.

People thought the Jell-O fruit was a neat idea. Maybe next time I’ll add booze to make them into Jell-O shot slices. Yummm!

Bachelorette Party Favor Gift Bags

I put these cute little gift bags together for attendees of the bachelorette party that I helped plan this summer. What a cute take-away idea and gave the impression that the day was edgier than it really was!

About the gift bags - I have a friend who works promotions and she usually has leftover swag so I asked her for extra merchandise.  She gave me everything above plus a ton of shirts (which served as prizes for some games we played) and random extras. Favors don't always have to be expensive if you can leverage your resources.

 I always believe that the right music can make the day memorable so I also put together a bachelorette dance mix for the event. That way when you hear a song down that road a great memory comes to mind. And who doesn't love new CD full of fun music?!?