How to Move: the organized way.

You may have noticed the large gap of posts between October of last year and January of this year. That's because my husband and I bought our first house and moved into it last November! It was very exciting, but I was really busy packing and signing endless papers everyday throughout escrow. But overall, our move was relatively quick and organized.
For some background, my husband and I got married and moved into our first apartment in April of last year. It took a while to get our apartment setup and figure out what should go where. But after a few months, it looked great and we loved it. And then we found a house we loved more and we made an offer on it. It was a short sale, so we figured we'd make an offer and maybe hear back from the bank in 4-9 months and maybe we'd get it, maybe we wouldn't, but we'd be okay either way. The bank accepted out offer within a month and while we thought we would have a 60 day escrow, the bank wanted 30 days. So our plan of moving in 6-12 months became less than 60 days from the date we made the offer. There was no lack of stress during the escrow process with extra mortgage out on the house and liens on the property that were unknown until the middle of escrow. The only thing we could do was keep packing and hope it worked out. And pray.

Our Apartment

Because we had just finished setting up our apartment, I decided that if we had to move it had to be quick, easy and organized. I searched the internet for tips on how to move, but there wan't much out there. I read the blog of one woman who had to move across the country. She had suggested making list of the contents of your boxes and numbering them so you can find stuff easily while you're moving. I took this idea and built off that.


I started by making spreadsheets and labels for my lists and labeling the boxes. You can download them here: spreadsheets and labels for kitchen, living room, and garage and labels for bedrooms.
I printed one list for each room in our new house plus a few extra and several sheets of labels for each room. Because we have so many books, games, dvds, and records, we used the living room labels the most.
Since we were hiring movers to move us, I added our names and phone numbers to the labels in case a box got misplaced along the way.
 As I started packing, I mentally planned what I wanted to go in each room of our new house. I packed items that would go together in the same box so that when I unpacked, the items quickly went from box to shelf/drawer/closet/etc.
We start packing about a month before our move since we could only pack in the evenings and weekends. I started by packing the things we used most infrequently (grandma's china, wall art, vases, nik naks, books)  and donated or threw away the stuff we were never using again. Good Will received an entire trash bag full of purses I never used anymore.

As I packed each box, I wrote down what was in it. I didn't list every single item, unless it was important, frequently used, or valuable. That way, if a box did get lost, I knew exactly how much to charge the moving company and because the boxes were numbered in order, it would be easy to see if one was missing. For the most part, I just listed the main idea of what was in the boxes: Computer Desk Drawer Contents, Jewelry, Large Purses, Paperback Books, etc.
After I packed each box and wrote down what was inside, I put the number on three labels and put one label on the top and two on opposite sides of the box so that I could see the labels even with stuff is piled on top of it. One moving company suggested we put all our boxes in one place near our front door so that the movers could easily access them. This sped up our moving day and kept us from having boxes stacked in every single room. Although, we had quite a mountain of boxes by the time we moved. I left our clothes and kitchen until the last week. Our clothes went into our suitcases, which kept the clothes from getting dirty and gave our suitcases a purpose so they weren't just bulky items to move.
On moving day (which was of course pouring rain), the movers came and loaded all the boxes and furniture into the truck. While they loaded everything up, I clean out our fridge and freezer and packed it all in our coolers. My parents came and took some of our my fragile and lightweight items. I left our vacuum and some cleaning supplies at our apartment to be used and picked up the next day.
When the movers left, I went to our house and unloaded to extra stuff that I had taken over in our car and then I started directing the moving guys on where all our furniture went. Once they started bringing boxes in, they just followed the labels on where each box belonged.
We started unpacking right away. The movers brought wardrobe boxes for us to use, which was great because all our hanging clothes went straight from closets to boxes to closets without needing to be put on hangers again. Our clothes went right from suitcases, which I packed in order so that all my shirts were in one suitcase, pants in another, his shirts in one and pants in another, etc, into shelves in our closet or drawers in the dresser. Because it was on my list, I knew exactly which boxes had our clean sheets and comforter for our bed and all the contents of our night stands. We unpacked our bedroom in less than an hour.
Our friends came over and helped unpack our books, records, and games in our living room. They all went straight onto shelves, so that was easy enough. My biggest mistake there was loosing the little pegs that held the shelves in the bookcase. After we found them, most of our living room could be unpacked.

I took pictures of our new kitchen with all the doors open during the home inspection. Later, I faded the pictures in on the computer and wrote on top of the pictures where I wanted to put everything. This helped me plan ahead so I wasn't left guessing what I should do with everything once we got there. I had laid shelf paper down before we moved so everything could go straight into the cabinets.

I packed up everything in our bathroom the night before we moved. It was all in two boxes and was pretty easy to put straight into the cabinet or the shower. Unfortunately, the bathrooms in our house are much smaller than the ones in our apartment, so we had to use the hallway closets to store extra bottles of shampoo, sun block, toilet paper, etc, but I bought some storage boxes and organized it all, so it's much easier to find everything now.



Once the bedroom, living room, and kitchen were done, we could relax a little more. The rest of our stuff was put away over the next few weeks and we had unpacked every last box in less than a month.
For wall art, I started by laying out paintings and photos on the ground, leaning them against the wall where I wanted them. Once I was settled on where I wanted everything to go, I went on a hanging frenzy. I made my  hanging kit and just want around measuring, marking, nailing, and hanging until everything was were I wanted it. I'll write another post about my hanging techniques sometime in the future, since I've had a lot of people ask me how I do it.
We moved in on November 17th and on December 15th, we had an awesome Christmas/housewarming party with our friends and family. We also got the largest Christmas tree possible :-)

How to Throw an Awesome Bridal Shower (without spending a fortune)

I've thrown and attended my fair share of bridal showers. I also run a business making bridal and baby shower party supplies on Etsy. Over the years, I've come across many themes, styles and weird scenarios. I'd like to help you learn from  mine (and other people's) mistakes and throw the best shower possible.

Here is your outlined to-do list:

1. Decide on a budget
2. Get the Guest List
3. Find a Date and Time
4. Pick a Location
5. Choose a Theme or Style
6. Pick and Mail Invitations
7. Provide Food and Drinks
8. Decide on Party Decor
9. Choose Games and Prizes
10. Choose Music (and how to play it)
11. Hire a Photographer, find a Photo Uploader or make a Hashtag!
12. Plan the Gift Opening
13. Pick Party Favors (optional)
14. Get a Guestbook (optional)
15. Make Sure Everyone is Ready
16. Make a TIMELINE!
17. Setup and Throw a Great Shower

Here are the details of that list.

1. Decide on a Budget

Really, before you know anything else, figure out what you can spend on the shower. A shower can cost $100 or $10,000. It's up to you. On average, I think a few hundred is fair amount to spend and a nice shower for 30-50 people. This amount is usually split between the bridesmaids and possible the mother of the bride and/or groom, so it's not all on one person. Here's what your budget should include with a few sample figures.

Sample Budget
Invitations	40
Location	0
Food	100
Drinks	40
Flowers	20
Other Decor	50
Plates and utensils	25
Favors/Gifts	50
Music	40
Photography	80
Table and Chair Rentals	150
Total	595

If this is split between 6 people, it's only about $100 per person. If you're the lone bridesmaid planning it all by yourself, I offer my deepest sympathy. Below, I'll include ideas for saving money on all these items.

2. Get the Guest List

The guest list is crucial for figuring out how far that budget can go. If the bride hasn't finalized the wedding guest list yet, you should at least be about to estimate a number by taking half the number of the wedding guest list (she usually has a limited amount she can invite). More often than not, not everyone will show up to the shower, so even if there are a few more than you planned, it's not going to throw you off entirely.

3. Find a Date and Time

This time needs to work for all the bridesmaids, mothers of the bride and groom and, of course, the bride. You should be planning this months in advance, so hopefully this isn't too difficult. If it's a surprise shower, make sure a decoy event is planned with the bride. The shower should be at least a month before the wedding, two to three months earlier is ideal. For example, a wedding June would have a shower in April, May at the latest. This gives the bride enough time to enjoy to relax and enjoy the shower before the crunch time of wedding planning. It also gives guests a break in their calendars and bridesmaids time to help the bride with the wedding when the shower is done. 

When picking the time of day, keep your budget in mind. Most showers are thrown around two or three in the afternoon so you can serve light hors d'oeuvres and drinks. If the shower starts or overlaps a mealtime, expect to serve a full meal. Even though mid afternoon is the most common time for a shower, mid morning brunches and evening drink are great options that leaves guests free to enjoy the rest of the day.

4. Pick a Location

You have many options when it comes to a location, but the easiest and least expensive will be at someone's house. You will have the added benefit of an infinite amount of time to setup and cleanup, a kitchen to store and prep food it, and you don't need to worry about kicking guests out when your time limit is up. If a house is not an option, you can use a restaurant, park, rec center, country club or anywhere that allow guests to sit and enjoy each others company. Locations that provide tables, chairs, and other necessary items are ideal and restrooms are a must for any location. 

5. Choose Theme or Style

Not all showers need themes, but you at least a style and color scheme you want to use to make it cohesive. If you want to use a theme, there are a myriad of them to choose from. 

A few themes:

• Travel
• Breakfast at Tiffany's (great for a morning shower when serving breakfast)
• Parisian (fun for a wine and cheese night)
• Alice in Wonderland (tea parties are great for this theme)
• Donut Brunch
• Kitchen Shower (everyone brings kitchen gifts)
• Garden Party
• BBQ
• Fall in Love (a play on words for an Autumn shower)

6. Pick and Mail the Invitations

Invitations set the tone for the shower, so pick something that matches the theme and formality. There are many options to choose, but please don't use fill-in-the-blank invitations from the party supply store. If you're looking for an easy DIY option, consider using one of the many invitation options on Etsy. You can buy a customize-able design and print them at home or at a printer like Office Depot. You can find my digital invitations in my Etsy Shop!

7. Provide Food and Drinks

Again, the food and drinks you provide are dependent on the time of the shower. If the shower starts between 12pm and 1:30pm or between 4pm and 6:30pm, you should serve lunch or dinner. If the shower is in the morning, light breakfast foods are easy and fun. You can include quiche, parfaits, pastries, bagels, donuts, and fresh fruit. An afternoon shower can include any assortment of light foods. Your food can match your theme, such as French foods for a Parisian theme shower or Tea, cookies and finger sandwiches for an Alice in Wonderland party. Another option is a dessert only party. Usually hosted in the late evening, you can serve an array of fun desserts. One way to keep the food cost low is to have each bridesmaid bring a dish they made.

8. Decide on Party Decor

Flowers and tablecloths are the easiest way to make a simple party look more elegant. There are so many options for decorations and a quick pinterest search will give you a thousand examples. Here are a few tips. Unless they fit your theme, i.e. Up, don't use balloons. Make sure whatever you plan to do can be setup in the time allowed. If you're having the shower at a restaurant or location with a time limit, go for very simple and quick decor, such as flowers in vases and maybe a nice cake/dessert display. Outdoor locations are great because you're already surrounded by flowers and the beauty of nature. 

9. Choose Games and Prizes
Games are expected at a shower, but they don't need to be boring or embarrassing and please don't melt chocolate in diapers! Fun games are ones that can include all the guests with an equal chance of winning (I'm referring to the Who Knows the Bride Best games. No one but the best friend, sister or mother of the bride/honoree ever win that (that can be a good game for the bachelorette party)). Everyone dreads those games that force everyone to be wrapped in toilet paper or make them look silly. Instead, try picking a few passive games that let people socialize while they play. Don't Say Baby/Wedding can be a lot of fun. A Purse Scavenger Hunt is great for getting people talking when you play it on teams. What's on Your Cell Phone is a very popular and fun game right now. A Gift Bingo game can liven up the often boring gift opening. You can find some of my favorite games in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShameronStudios?section_id=16696485
Your prizes can be small or large and can be tied to your theme or just a fun item that many people would enjoy. Nail polish, simple jewelry, themed trinkets, or gift cards make great prizes. Be sure to have enough prizes for each winner, especially if you play with teams. Include one or two spare prizes for ties or make a tie breaker question/game in advance.

10. Choose Music (and plan how you'll play it)
The feel of the music should match your event mood. It never hurts to throw in some of the bride or mother-to-be's favorite songs.You can use music you own or sign up for a streaming service like Spotify or Google Play Music to use huge music libraries. These services often offer trial periods so you can make your list the week before and then cancel your membership after the shower.  Once you have that perfect playlist, make sure you know how you're going to play it. Bring portable speakers or make sure a sound system will be available.

11. Hire a Photographer, find a Photo Uploader or make a Hashtag!
Showers are special event that you're putting a lot of work into, so you and the honoree are going to want photos. Planning to take the photos yourself is probably going to be too abitious. I've been to many showers (my own bridal shower included) where the people throwing the party planned on taking pictures, but were so busy getting and restocking food, greeting guests, arranging the gift opening, etc and they completely forgot or just didn't get time to take photos. Hiring a photographer guarantees that the whole event gets covered and you get some amazing photos. Some photographers will do event photography for just a couple hundred dollars an hour. You can hire them to arrive shortly before the guests and leave once the gift opening is over. You can also try to hire a friend or a student to it for $20-$60 if you're not too concerned with the quality of the photos. At least you  know you're going to get some pictures. If you can't or just don't want a photographer, you can make a hashtag or use a photo upload service that will let all the guests gather their pictures in one place. There are several online services that let groups upload photos, just find the one that's right for you. If you know of a good one, leave a comment letting others know!

12. Plan the Gift Opening
This is often overlooked, but SOOOO important. When the gift opening is hastily thrown together, it can get drawn out, gifts get lost, and gift givers can get overlooked. Make sure you setup a spot for the honoree to sit where everyone can see her and that will look nice in photos. You can setup a nice chair, a cute bench, or a vintage sofa with a few decorations around it to make a nice backdrop. Have a trash bag (that you keep out of the way of the photos) or gift wrap a large open box in which to stuff the opened gift paper. Be sure to delegate someone to writing down who gave her what gift and have a pad of paper and pens ready for that person. Nominate another person or two to hand the gifts to the honoree and take them away and organize them in bags or boxes ready to be taken home. Depending on how many guests will be attending, prep the gift opener on how quickly she should open the gifts. One minute per gift works with 20 people or less, but anymore than that and you're going to need to speed it up. Open cards quickly, if there's a long message written inside, let the guest know you'll spend more time reading it later when you're alone. Open the gift, show it to everyone, thank the gift giver and hand the gift to the person designated to organizing them and move to the next gift. Bridal Shower Bingo is a great way to make guests feel like they're part of the gift opening and it entertains.

If you have over 40 or 50 people, you may want to consider a Gifts on Display shower where guests don't wrap the gifts, but just decorate them a bit so that you don't need to open them. This option can be a bit controversial, but anyone who dislikes wrapping or gift openings will appreciate it. It's starting to increase in popularity now. And you can make it more acceptable by appealing to the guest's environmentally friendly and social side. Alternatively, you can let guests know that you'll be opening them after the shower or do it last and let the guests know they aren't expected to stay for it.

13. Pick Party Favors (optional)
Party favors are something that are almost expected, but guests rarely care about. People often don't want another nik-nak to store somewhere that will eventually get tossed... Good favors are small treats (homemade cookies, caramel apples, unusual candy to people will want to try) or something usable (a compact mirror, nail polish, a deck of cards, bookmarks, etc). If it's meant to just sit on a shelf forever, consider something else or just put more effort into your game gifts and forget about favors entirely. You just served a free meal and drinks, guests won't expect to get more back. At most shower and weddings I've attended, most guests forget or deliberately don't take the favors and they get wasted anyways. The only reason I mention favors at all is because I didn't want you to think I forgot ;-)

14. Get a Guestbook (optional)
Guestbook don't need to be books. They can be anything! There are so many options to choose from. You can buy a guestbook painting: like these, or buy an object that fits your theme to have guests sign, like a globe, a wooden wall hanging or letter for the new last name of the bride or first name of the baby. You can send the guests recipe cards with the invitation to fill out in advance with a favorite recipe and assemble them into a recipe/guestbook!

15. Make Sure Everyone is Ready
This seems obvious, but before the shower, make sure all bridesmaids or co-hosts have their assigned task ready. There's always that flaky person on the team that waits until the last minute to do something or forgets what time they should arrive. Make sure everyone helping knows what time they should arrive to help decorate or prep food. Check-in with them the day before too. If you're host alone, ask a friend to help you setup and get food ready.

16. Make a TIMELINE!
I can not count how many showers, and even weddings, I've been to where the host just wing it. This is okay for casual parties, but if you want time to play games, eat, open gifts, get photos together, and visit and you only have 2 hours, you better make a timeline that allows for all of that. Start with the arrival time. Some guests will arrive early and some will come late. Allow 20 minutes for everyone to arrive. You may want to let people eat first or jump into playing games to break the ice. You can let people eat while you're doing the gift opening. Make sure you have a timeline for the order of events and allow time for mingling. Here's a sample timeline:
10am: Arrive to decorate
12pm: Prep food
2pm: Guests arrive
2:30: Start Purse Scavenger Hunt Game (Teams of 3 or 4)
2:45: Serve Food
2:55: Start gift opening
3:25: Play What's in your Cell Phone game (one winner)
3:35: Serve Dessert
3:45: Thank Guests (give favors if using)
Guests can mingle
4:30 Clean up

Make sure all the hosts have this timeline in advance.

17. Setup and Throw a Great Shower!
With all this prep work, you should be totally prepared! Allow enough time to setup all your decorations. If you're making the food, prep as much as you can the day before and allow time for cooking or assembling before the shower starts.

Let me know how your shower goes and give ideas to others in the comments!

How to Put a Photo on a Canvas

This is a fun little trick to cheaply make canvas prints. In short, you just mod podge any photo to a canvas and paint the edges. Here are detailed instructions for you. 

Materials:

Canvas

High Quality Photo Print (You don't want ink that will smear or bleed)

Mod Podge

Brushes

Scissors or paper cutter

Paint

You can purchase the design you see in the photos in my Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShameronStudios

Start by trimming the photo to fit to canvas. You should use a canvas and photo that are the same size, but the canvas edged are slightly rounded and you don't want the photo to stick out past where the canvas rounds. You may need to trim about a 1/8"-1/4" off each side.

Next, paint the edge black (or any color that looks good with your photo). 

You don't need to go very far toward the center of the canvas because the photo will cover it.

You will probably need 2 coats to get it nice and solid.

Once the paint is dry, evenly spread a layer of Mod Podge on the canvas.

Working quickly, paint a layer of Mod Podge on the back of the photo.

Quickly line up the photo on the canvas and lay it down from one side to the other (the like peeling it off in reverse) to prevent bubbles. You may need to lift it and re-center it to get it just right and you might be able to slide it around a little to get it even.

After the photo is centered on the canvas, apply a thin layer of Mod Podge around the edged of the photo. This will help it blend into the canvas.

Because my photo had a very defined edge, I applied the Mod Podge up to the line. If you're using almost any other photo, you can paint it all over the photo in nice sweeping motions to give it the brush texture of a painting. Or just blend it into the edges. You may also want to add another coat of paint on the edges and feather it over the edges of the painting to make it blend into the photo.

The finished product!!! You can find this design available for Instant Download 

in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShameronStudios

How to Make Cupcake Toppers!

I've been selling cupcake toppers on Etsy for a while now. I sometimes wonder how the digital items people buy from me turn out in real life. I've made these cupcake topper a couple times now and they're definitely one of the least easy to create items I sell. So to help my customers and anyone who is having trouble creating cupcake toppers of any kind, I wanted to share my process and give some tips.

Materials
Printed Designs - You can find several here in my Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShameronStudios?section_id=16700748
Backside Paper - contrasting colors work well
Scissors
Toothpicks or lollipop sticks
Hot Glue Gun
Fiskars Round 'n Round Squeeze Punch, Large - (optional, but soooo helpful. Available at craft stores or here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OMZXGU )
Fiskars Seal of Approval Squeeze Punch, Extra Large (again optional, but very helpful if you want the scalloped piece. Available at craft stores or here: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GSEJRU )

NOTE: Rather than using the scalloped backside, you can simple make these double sided and use a design piece on the front and back. I like combining an image design and a text design on opposite sides.

After you print the designs, cut between the designs to create strips of paper that the punch can reach.

Line the design up inside the punch and squeeze! Alternately, you can use scissors to cut the circles, but that is really challenging for me.

Use the Seal of Approval Squeeze Punch to punch out the backside pieces.

Line up the backs, fronts, and toothpicks or lollipop sticks.

Apply a small line of glue on the back piece and press the toothpick/stick into the glue. Don't let your fingers touch the glue; it really, really burns.

When the glue attached to the back has dried, apply another line of glue on top of the toothpick/stick and attach the front design piece.

Hold it in place for a few seconds while it dries.

Let dry and you're done!

DIY String Art Heart Tutorial

This is a super easy project. My brother and I decided we would each make one of these. He wanted to give it to his girlfriend and I'm sharing mine with my husband, hence the M ;-)

Materials
Wood Board
Finishing nails (18 gauge, 1" long is what we used)
String
Hammer
Pencil

Pick your design and draw it lightly on your board. You can also print out a design and just nail through it.

Hammer in nails about 1/2" apart on the outline of your design. Only hammer them in about 1/4". Just enough to be secure, but not go through the board.

After all the nails are in place, Tie the string on a central nail and trim off the excess tail. Remove the paper or erase any obvious lines at this point.

Start wrapping the string from nail to nail in any order. This adds to the randomness of it. Try to wrap it around each nail at least once. 2 or 3 time will make it look fuller. Keep the tension strong so the string doesn't slip off a nail. Every once in a while, tie a knot around a nail just in case it pops off at one point, it won't ruin the whole thing.

Keep filling in the design evenly so you don't end up with bare spots.

If you're adding a design in the center of your heart, be sure that you don't cross that inner area at all! It will ruin the clean look of it. 

Done!

To hang this on a wall, use a picture frame or canvas wall hanging kit.