My daughter recently graduated from high school, hooray! She proudly sent graduation invitations to many friends and family members, not fully realizing the many well wishes that would soon come her way. The truly exceptional remembrances came from those not even on her send list. Those unexpected congratulations were a true delight.
What impressed me though was her unprompted sending of thank you cards! What a proud mom I was when I noticed her writing thank yous before I even had a chance to suggest it. Of course, at an early age she was taught to write thank you cards for birthday and Christmas presents, often with constant reminding, but I was pleased to see she, on her own, realized that graduation presents called for this same courtesy.
How about you? Do you and your children send thank you cards? A thank you doesn’t have to be just for gifts received. Thank you cards are great whenever a show of appreciation is called for. Set a good example and remember those deserving with a thoughtful greeting. It will bring a smile to you and to the lucky recipient as well as set a great example for your children!
Your gift will certainly be the hit of any baby shower when you walk in with a diaper cake! Or, consider a diaper cake as the party centerpiece if you are the host. For those unfamiliar with this unique present, a cake is fashioned out of baby diapers. What new mom wouldn’t be pleased to receive those! Think tiered wedding cake. The “cake” can then be decorated as little or as much as your budget will allow with baby accessories. The presentation is delightful and practical. Here are directions for “baking” a diaper cake.
Begin by deciding how many tiers you would like the cake to be. Three is the norm and you should plan on using approximately 50 disposable diapers for a cake of this size. Of course you can expand to one like this monster that was constructed using over 350 diapers!
For transporting, use a piece of cardboard for the base. Dress it up by wrapping it in paper. Use the baby shower invitation as a nameplate. Roll each diaper individually and secure it with a rubber band or piece of yarn. Use a paper towel tube for the center and stand the rolled diapers up around it. Hold everything in place with a piece of ribbon or yarn tied securely to hold all the diapers together. Add another ring of rolled diapers around this one and again hold them in place with ribbon or yarn. Repeat until you have the bottom layer the diameter you need.
Next, add a separate tier, repeating this same process as outlined above until this diameter is right. Then, for a 3-layer cake, make your top tier.
To hide your securing yard or ribbon, wrap a wide piece of ribbon around each tier. Lovely just like this, you can now add decorations to your heart’s content or leave it simple. You can add a matching huge ribbon bow on the very top or even use artificial flowers as decorations.
The most fun though is decorating with baby accessories. Baby bibs, pacifiers, stuffed animals, teething rings, rattles, you name it! Attach whatever you want with ribbon or rubber band them on. The fun is that these not only add interest and color, but will be useful as well.
Maybe you would like to make this a joint gift and invite friends to help you put it together. This is one shower gift sure to delight!
Baby showers call for creativity, in the party games, refreshments, baby shower invitations and gifts presented. When time to wrap, think outside the box… or bag! Here is some fun wrapping ideas for that new bundle of joy!
Try wrapping your present in a pretty receiving blanket. Use diaper pins to hold it all together.
More than just a bow, add something fun along with it. Tie in a baby rattle, teething ring or pacifier.
Use quack wrap. Wrapping paper decorated with ducks is easy to find. Add a stuffed or plastic duck on top for decoration tied on with a yellow tulle bow.
Bear hug your gift with teddy bear wrap. A small plush bear accessory adds a delightful finishing touch.
Use diapers for cushioning. What new mom doesn’t need diapers!
Check back next week when I’ll share directions for making a diaper cake!
Summer is here. Let the pool parties begin! Yes, the water in swimming pools throughout the US has warmed up and everyone is ready to jump on in! The Party Invitations are in the mail. Looking for ways to make a splash at your pool party this summer? How about these fun ideas for keeping your party afloat! I’ll warn you though; these games are for older kids that are comfortable in the water. Channel your inner summertime child and go for it!
Throw a well greased watermelon into the pool, divide up into two teams, and see which team can get the melon to their side of the pool first!
Toss unopened canned drinks into the pool and have guests roll them from one end of the pool to the other with their noses. Don’t worry, the cans float, even if your guests may not!
Water balloon fights are fun and no one minds getting wet when they’re in or around a pool anyway!
Play tug-o-war in the pool. You may want to play best out of 5 just to keep the fun going!
Have a changing clothes relay. Jump in and dress up, swim to the other side and undress. Use caution when undressing as you don’t want to lose your swimsuit too!
Have relay races with one person each on floating rafts, paddling to the other end of the pool. Or make it a group effort and push them along!
You can cause quite a splash with this fun party. It is, however, a good idea to appoint at least two people to be lifeguards during the games just as a precaution.
Any other fun pool party games you’d like to suggest?
