Fourth of July Decorations

Fourth of July and parties go together like Batman and Robin.  What's better than a 4th of July party featuring lots of decorations?  Our weatherman says the Pacific Northwest is one of the the few places in the country that is going to have great weather for The Fourth.


A big hurrah to the weatherman. Now I'm going to run around like a crazy woman decorating my patio and backyard for the party we're going to have.


These were last year's decorations:

I love the red, white and blue bunting which came from the Dollar Store and use them every year.  You can read the rest of the post here to check out where the rest of the decor and plates came from.


Here's some more inspiration for your Fourth of July.

Homegoods.com

Don't forget to outfit your pup on the Fourth!

Tinyprints.com

Simpletreats.wordpress.com

Get out there and decorate your bicycle!  How cute is that!  

www.bellini.com

If you need some cupcake toppers or food labels you can print these for free.

Free Fourth of July Printables

Have a great Fourth of July!


~Laurie

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Update to Bride's Emergency Survival Kit

patinastores.com

I think this is a direct quote from my blog to me.


The title of this post should be how to take an easy 30 minute job and turn it into 3 hours of angst, despair and swearing or let me list a few thoughts I've had:

• Are you kidding me - where did it go!
• Oh no, no, no, I'm paraphrasing because it really went Oh ****, ****, ****.
• I should call Ange and see if she can fix this.  What time is it, will she be awake?  (It is the first day of summer break.)
• How can I get back to where I started from.

and one last one:

• Please let this work.  Okay I said that several times and finally it did work.

This was a supposed to be a simple post.  I was going to let you know that I updated the "Bride's Emergency Survival Kit" post to include a link to the printable sign so that you could use it when you make your own kit for your special bride.  Easy, Peasy - unless you also decide to add a new category called "Printables" under the Category list on the right side of the blog.


That also should be easy to do, but when I added Printables, the whole Category list disappeared from the blog completely - the blog Fairy of Confusion struck!  That's when all the above comments began.


I now, finally, have a new Category list on the blog and to tell you the truth I have no idea if those categories were what were listed before, I'm just glad to have something there.


Now back to the 30 minute post and link:


If you would like to print your own "Bride's Emergency Survival Kit," sign, go here to the original post and click on the link.


Okay, I stand corrected, it would have taken about 5 minutes.


~ Laurie

60 Items Every Bride Needs In Her Survival Kit

The "Not Clan" Bridal Shower was held last weekend at a local winery.  It was a beautiful affair and the weather was perfect.  Check out the views from the winery.

View on the other side:

If you're thinking that those are panties hanging from a line at the winery - you're right!  The Bridal Shower was a "Panty Shower!"  That's a great way for the Bride to get a lot of lovely lingerie.  While I'm all for new lingerie, it felt a little weird to give my future daughter-in-law lingerie, so I decided to give her something else.  


I made up a little kit that I like to call the "Bride's Emergency Survival Kit.  Some people might call this just a Bride's Emergency Kit, but I like to call it the Bride's Emergency Survival Kit because everyone knows that when there is something a Bride needs; it's always an emergency, whether it's something to fix a hang nail, a headache or just a little sugar fix and some Bride's act like they're not going to survive the emergency!

This kit includes 60 items that every Bride may or may not need.  But like the Boy Scouts we want her to be prepared for anything.  Prepared for what?  Life!  For the Bride that means a series of sometimes crazy events that all culminate at the BIG Moment.  This kit is not just for the Bride, but for everyone around her also.  After all, it takes a village to make a wedding.
  
I tried to cover everything that might be needed in case your hook at the top of your strapless gown comes off (that happened at our last wedding) or you're opening a gift with flocked (black) paper and you need a lint roller to get the flocking off your dress (another true story) or your future mother-in-law's shoes feel a little tight (blister defense puts a stop to this.)

1. Hollywood Tape - I love, love, love this fashion tape! Good to keep straps, bodices or anything else in place.
2. Static Guard
3. Sewing Kit- includes thread & buttons
4. Lint Roller
5. Tide To Go - you know someone will need it.
6. Safety Pins - assorted sizes.
7. Earring Backs
8. Corsage Pins
9. White Chalk (in case the Tide to go doesn't work)
10. Deodorant Eraser
11. Clear Nail Polish 
12. Emory Boards
13. Nail Polish Remover Pads
14. Nail Clippers
15. Hair Brush 
16. Bobby Pins
17. Hair Bands
18. Comb
19. Hairspray
20. Dental Pics
21. Dental Floss- can also double as an escape rope if she needs it.
22. Mini Toothbrushes
23. Mouthwash
24. Tampons - unfortunately, mother nature doesn't care if it's your big day or not.
25. Mini Pads
26. Q-Tips
27. Visine - it's going to be a long day and before that a whole line up of events, showers, bachelorette parties, etc.
28. Hand Lotion
29. Deodorant
30. Lens Cleaning Tissue 
31. Handi Wipes
32. Kleenex
33. Hand Sanitizer - no dirty hands are getting anywhere near that wedding gown!
34. Tweezers
35. Compact Mirror
36. First Aid Kit - bandaids can fix everything. Stitches will have to wait till after the pary.
37. Benadryl Itch Relief
38. Blister Defense
39. Neosporin
40. Emergen-C
41. Benadryl Allergy - just in case you develop an allergy to your future Mother-In-Law!
42. Advil
43. Tums
44. Gas-X - This is not the day to have that problem!
45. Cough Drops
46. Scissors
47. Tape
48. Post Its
49. Black Sharpie - I've used a Sharpie on my black shoes that were scuffed and used it on a black shirt that had a little white mark on it.
50. Pen 
51. Krazy Glue
52. Starbucks Iced Coffee To Go
53. Nutella & Go
54. Crackers
55. Salted Peanuts
56. Breath Mints
57. Gum 
58. Skittles - Our Bride is not a lover of chocolate, so customize snacks to your Bride.  Some Bride's might have a thing for vodka Twinkies.
59. Starburst
60. Straws - Don't want that perfect shade of lipstick coming off! 

I bought a large clear cosmetic bag at Walmart and a bunch of smaller clear cosmetic bags.  Grouped like items together in the small bags and they all fit in the larger bag!  For the label, I used a list of all of the Survival kit items as the background for my title. Then I printed the whole thing on cardstock and then slipped it into the front of the clear cosmetic bag. 

Your bride can add to the kit with her shade of nail polish, shoe polish, Prozac, taser gun for those unruly wedding guests, or anything else she might need.


Keep on coming back to visit with us and click "Wedding"  under the category list to see our other fabulous wedding related posts.  Future posts will include a printable wedding planner, the how to's to make a broach bridal bouquet, and a fun and sassy bachelorette party.


UPDATE:  We have provided a link to print your own "Bride's Emergency Survival Kit" sign.  Click here for printable PDF.  When printing PDF:

• In print menu, under page scaling, select "NONE."
• In Properties menu, check to see what the Quality Setting is.  If it is on Draft, change it to at least normal or best.  Draft will not give you a very good print.
• Print on cardstock.

~Laurie

Celebrate, Celebrate, Celebrate > Be Mine, Valentine!

Love is in the air! Well "something" is in the air over here.  Love at my house must smell like bacon and boy feet...

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I've started thinking about the dreaded "school Valentines" dilemma. I love a holiday that revolves around the color red and any excuse to eat candy (oh yea, yea, and love), but picking out school Valentines is like a supreme court deliberation. Oh. The. Pressure.

I usually trudge around store to store, hunting around for the best deal for 90 Valentines (Yes, I said 90!) , and looking for a Valentine that does not violate the "boy code" of Valentine giving. There is a detailed list of criteria for school Valentines for boys that rivals NASA's liftoff check list:

• There can be no mention of "love" or "kisses" or "hugs", because that is so "ewwwww!" and you will be witness to a full fledged freak out of, "This one says love! I can't say love to my friend Cameron!  Moooom!"
• There can be no "girl" stuff on them.
• No pencils or erasers, or anything else that doesn't involve a piece of candy.
• Has to have some kind of candy directly attached - and it has to be the "good" kind of candy.  No peppermints, sweeties or tootsie rolls. No recycling of the dredges of your Halloween candy (darn)!!
• It has to incorporate something "cool" or "funny" like fire, superheros, crossbones, four wheelers, ninjas, burps, or any other things that would impress a 7- 11 year old boy, and maybe one or two girls.

Why don't I let them pick out their own, you ask? I tried that once and lets just say, that we would probably still be standing in the Valentine aisle from last year, and someone left the store in tears - it wasn't the kids.

So I got ahead of the school Valentines game and made some great valentines that everyone will love, including your picky kids:

TA DA!

What? You can't see them?! Oh, that's right, that's because my computer is a hunk of junk and won't read the disk that have these awesomely cool Valentines pictures on them. ARHGGG! So while I curse at my laptop and try to repost them, here are some great ideas other fabulous gals came up with:

Plumadorable  (Free printable!)

Fiskars

Fiskars

Zakka Life (Free printable)

Check back later for pictures of my ideas - or pictures of my computer in the garbage, whichever comes first.

~Angela

Celebrate Celebrate Celebrate > Thanksgiving Planner

It's that time of year again. The time of year when here at the Glossy Flossy's we have four months of celebrations and exhaustion.  We have September which is "Birthday Month" on steroids, Halloween (which we love to celebrate), Thanksgiving, then "The Jerk-Off" (hmmm, maybe we should keep you in suspense about that a little longer), Christmas and then it's New Year's Eve.  I'm getting tired just writing about.  The only way we can keep our sanity (what little we have or our version of "sanity") is to be very, very organized.  

Thanksgiving is a huge undertaking of cooking, cooking, cooking, and a little cleaning all ending with that fave of everyone's - BLACK FRIDAY!!!!  I'm a lover of black clothes and black furniture but I think that Black Friday should be called "Best excuse to shop for 24 hours straight" Day or "Olympics of Shopping" Day because lets be honest; only the best competitive shopper will survive and triumph on Black Friday. The name for that day should convey the happiness high you get from shopping. Okay, now that I have unburdened myself, back to the organization of Thanksgiving.  

Angela Glossy Flossy has Thanksgiving at her house because she thinks it's inappropriate for me to still have my Halloween decorations up at Thanksgiving she looooves to cook.  To help you, dear readers stay on track for your Thanksgiving; we are giving you a Thanksgiving Planner to make your very own!  

Included in this Planner:

• Calendar
• Menu Planner
• Shopping List
• Cooking Plan
• Cooking Timeline
• Guest List
• To Do List
• Thanksgiving Day Timeline - list all your activities.  Don't forget to list that flag football game or turkey trot!
• Reference List - Some important sites are listed including Butterball, Ocean Spray & King Arthur Flour to name a few.
• Thanksgiving Tips - A week by week countdown.  Don't forget to pick up some disposable containers for guests.
• Black Friday Planner - The ultimate planning list to let you organize your shopping including a spot for listing the time the store opens.
• Tabs for you to print and cut-out to make your very own Thanksgiving Planner extraordinaire.

Because this planner is so huge (and because I'm a novice at doing this and I don't know any better) I broke it down to three sections.
Part 1 Thanksgiving Planner - Cover page, spine & tabs, reference & suggested list of when to do everything.  
Part 2 Thanksgiving Planner - Calendar, menu planner, shopping list, Black Friday Plan & extra landscape page.
Part 3 Thanksgiving Planner - Guest List, To Do List, Cooking Plan, Cooking Schedule, Thanksgiving Day Timeline, & extra blank page.
  
There is also a page called Thanksgiving Planner Printing Tips that you can use if you are downloading pdf to your computer and printing from downloaded copy.


Okay, make like a pilgrim, and go forth and start planning!
-Laurie

I Need Minions > Master Grocery List

Remember our lunch monster post? Well today we are giving you one more tool to help you fight the battle of being the family chef. How nice you say? Why yes, anything for you, dear Chaos and Gloss fans!

Here is our Master Grocery Checklist all on one convenient, listed by category, organized sheet. You can download it HERE.

Feel free to send us a mental hug as you are zipping up and down the aisles, checking off items left and right from "your super organized, never forget anything list".

OR  you can blow us some kisses from wherever you may be (don't worry, they will find us) when your kids or hubby are adding items to your magical list; having to never again to utter the words, "Why did no one tell me that we were out of XXXX?!!"

~Angela
P.S. More bang for your buck! There are two grocery lists per sheet. Print, cut in half, hang on fridge. Happy shopping!