Menu Plan Monday ~ In Reverse ~ August 6

Last week was a super busy week with summer adventures and wedding festitivites.  Ella and I were in my sweet cousin Veronica's wedding this past weekend, and it was such a fabulous event!  We were on the go for much of the week, so my dinner menu links are lacking, but check out all of the great appetizer & party food links!  I made lots of delicious party foods (and drinks!). 

Dinners ::
Spaghetti & Meatballs

Baked Rigatoni with Italian Sausage and Fennel (We LOVED this meal!  I made extra and froze some, and used alot of my fresh produce.  I substituted a few things in this recipe using what I had at home instead of buying more groceries, I used Andouille sausage, green pepper instead of roasted red and a different kind of pasta.  I think this is a forgiving/flexible recipe that you can make changes to and it's still yummy.)

And we also had dinner out twice last week, which was a treat!  We went to Szechuan Gardens with my mother in law one evening, and we had the rehearsal dinner for the wedding at the Oriental Wok (click on those links to read more about these two restaurants that I love in posts I wrote for Family Friendly Cincinnati).

The Party Foods ::

Bruschetta

Basil Pesto Rounds

Bourbon Slush (always a hit!  we drank them out of Waterford wine glasses this week)

Pudding Shots

Naughty cookies from Vivian Sweets

Beach-themed Cookies, Cake Pops & Mini Eclairs from Desserts by Micaela & Vivian Sweets (see picture -- for my dad's birthday)

For more menu-planning inspiration check out Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday roundup!

Bachelorette Bash :: Giveaway [CLOSED]

Congrats to Shooting Stars Mag who said...


i like this wedding shower activity idea- Recipe for a Good Marriage-
http://sweetcsdesigns.com/archives/3628#comment-3918

Shooting Stars Mag, shoot me an email at Katie(at)Cards-by-Katie.com to claim your prize!


I was recently asked to take part in a fabulous event for brides in the Northern Kentucky & Cincinnati area.  I will be attending the "Bachelorette Bash" as a vendor with my "Cards by Katie" business.  I will be showing off samples of cards that I have made...wedding invitations, shower invites, thank you notes, rehearsal dinner invitations and personalized stationary that would make perfect gifts for bridesmaids.  I am so tickled to be a part of this event.  I will not only be showing samples, but selling cards as well.  It will be a big night for Cards by Katie, and I cannot wait!

Bachelorette Bash ::
Thursday, August 9th at the Grand in Covington 6:30 - 9:00 pm.  Presented by McHale's Events & Catering.  The cost is $20 per person in advance, $25 at the door the night of the event.  Visit the McHale's website for more details and to purchase tickets.
Details from their Facebook page:
Join us for an amazing evening of drinks, food, dancing, prizes, and more as we celebrate your bachelorettes.

What better way to start a Thursday evening than with food, drinks and chair massages?
Get ready to move as DJ Mark McFadden emcees this high energy event. Be inspired by Three French Hens for bridesmaid gifts, wedding day jewelry, or to find the perfect handbag. Get your groove on and learn new dance moves with Step-N-Out Dance Studio, or see a demonstration from Swing This Kettlebell studio on how to get in shape for the big day and more!
Snag a free group photo from Kamera Art at their green screen photo station, get a caricature with your friends, or simply grab your friends and dance it out on our lighted dance floor.
Learn about great bachelorette party ideas including a getaway at Elk Creek Winery, a night of dancing at Toro on the Levee, an evening at Hollywood Casino, hosting a Pure Romance party, or talk with a boudoir photographer about a great gift for the groom.

The Giveaway ::
I have been given TWO FREE ADMISSIONS to the Bachelorette Bash to give away.  You do not need to be the bride to attend this event...you could be the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, a bridesmaid, or even just someone who loves all things wedding!  The winner will get the TWO FREE ADMISSIONS, as well as 10 Free CARDS BY KATIE note cards (a variety pack).

Follow directions below to enter this giveaway, you must be 18 to enter, the winner will be drawn using Random.org on Friday, July 20th at 2pm and announced here on the blog and on the little things blog facebook page.  The winner will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be drawn.  Best of luck!

Entry 1 ~ Leave a comment below (with your email address) letting me know why you would like to win this giveaway
Entry 2 ~ "Like" Cards by Katie AND McHale's Events & Catering on facebook and then leave a comment below letting me know you liked them.
Entry 3 ~ Spread the word about this giveaway, using Facebook or Email and then leave a comment below telling me how you got the word out.
Entry 4 ~ Leave a comment below that includes a link to one of your favorite wedding ideas...it can be a craft, a centerpiece,  a bridal shower game, a cake recipe...whatever you'd like!


Disclaimer :: I was given these two free admissions by McHale's Events and Catering to give away.

Veronica's Wedding Shower ~ the details

A few weeks ago I had a wedding shower for my sweet cousin Veronica.  There was no theme, no grand decorations or elaborate plans.  I kept it simple & sweet, and relied heavily on homemade goodness & the help of others to make this party memorable.  And it was.  I'm going to share some of the party-planning ideas I used, maybe they can help you with your next shower.  And if you have any great bridal shower ideas please leave a comment below, I have one more shower to co-host this summer!

The beautiful, blushing bride to be...Veronica with her bouquet of ribbons.  Don't forget when hosting a shower to ask a guest or two to put together a bouquet from all of the ribbons on the gift wrap for the bride to carry down the aisle at the rehearsal.

LOVE pictures :: I took four of Veronica & Brendan's engagement photos and edited them using picmonkey.com and added the letters L-O-V-E to them and printed them out in a large size and hung them up as decorations at the party.

Family Recipes :: I asked everyone to contribute family recipes to give Veronica...it was a family treasure (read more about these adorable recipe cards in this post)

The Food :: Usually I just have appetizers & desserts at showers that I host, but this time we had lunch, which inclued this delectable pretzel sandwiches from Kramer's Market ~ so tasty!  For more great appetizer recipes for your party, check out these great snacks on my blog.

More Decorations :: I made a sweet pink banner using my Custom Cutting System from Creative Memories to make this cool banner (same font as the wedding invites).  The banner could easily be made using a cricut, or even printing out some kind of template online.

Sweets!  Delicious cupcakes made by a friend of mine, and Cake Pops from Sweet Lucy's Cakery.  I've been opting for small desserts at parties instead of big cakes lately.  Everyone seems to like the bite-sized treats.

The Bride & The Matron of Honor

Games we played...

Candy Guess -- how many mints in the jar?

Purse Raid (see printable here)

How well do you know the bride? (I put a spin on this one...asked the groom to fill out the questionaire as well, just to see what his answers would be --it was fun!)

What are some of your favorite things to do at a wedding shower?  Do you have cool decorating ideas?  Fun games to play?  A favorite recipe to share?

wedding bells :: mara & brian

brian & mara

the turkeys...great band!

celebrating

me & my sibs

the inn at oneonta

  

nana & bop

DIY Birdcage Wedding Card Holder

recently i was asked to make or procure a card holder of some sort for my cousin ben's wedding. when she asked me to do this favor my aunt said that she trusted me to do whatever i would like, and that i could in fact cover a shoe box with pretty paper and cut a hole in the top. and as a matter of fact, being a preschool teacher by trade, i am very good at covering shoe boxes with paper and making them pretty (think valentine's day boxes x 20). but that idea was not appealing to me for this wedding. i wanted to do something divine. and from the very beginning i had birdcages on the brain. i surfed the web tirelessly, looking for ideas and inspiration, and couldn't find a good diy project. i did however find the "monster box", and when i threatened to use that my cousin said "go for it!". but no. it had to be pretty. i got pretty frustrated because i couldn't figure out how to make this gorgeous card holder that was in my head. so i went shopping and looked at regular ol' white card boxes that they sell in the wedding aisles of craft stores. they were $50!!! that's crazy! they were plain white boxes with a hole in the top! it was while i was at one of these stores that i found this:

i was in love. this was the birdcage. i mean, look at that little door...could it get any cuter?

so i took it home and gave it to my husband and said "i need to put cards in this" and off came the top. he meant to salvage it so it could be put back on, but it was too fragile, and it fell into disrepair on the workbench.

so the next step was to paint the cage gold. i do not recommend painting by hand with acrylic paints.

i do however recommend using spray paint!

and then i added a few butterflies (thus making it a butterfly cage instead of a birdcage?). and voila, the card holder for the wedding is complete!