Hangover Emergency Kits... just in time for the new year!

New Year's Eve is days away... and this project is quick, fun, easy and just in time to save the day!  There have been a few NYE celebrations where I don't want to get out of bed, ever again.  If only I had one of these totally awesome hangover kits awaiting me on my bedside table, everything would have looked a little bit brighter... ha ha.  So, the inspiration, give credit where credit is due, came from pinterest, one of my ahhh-mazing friends pinned the idea from Peony and Peartree. 

So here it is, one of the cutest hangover kits ever:


The Hangover Emergency Kit... a bit of energy... and the hair of the dog!

Here is what you'll need:

1. Pick your poison: I chose Cinco Vodka, it's made locally in San Antonio and the bottles are super cute. Get the little bottles so they fit in the bag
2. Mini Red Bull- 8.4 oz. can fits, & get sugar free of course
3. Bloody Mary Mix- I used mini cans of v8 or campbell's tomato juice
5. Pocket size pain killer's- I found aleve at the gas station. Zantac, Alka-Seltzers or whatever cure you like are also great to add!
6. Paper- 110 lb. card stock at least
7. Bags- I found some at Michael's, make sure they are large enough to hold everything and fit the label.
8. Scissors and/or a paper trimmer
9. Tape or Glue- I prefer the Elmer's Tape Runner- it's a strong adhesive
10. Stapler
11. Scissors

Step 1: Print.  Print the label, click here for the pdf file, or email me (meganstoffer@aol.com) and I will send you a copy.  This is my first time to put a pdf file on blogger, and to use Google Drive and for some reason during the conversion process the pdf background became blocky instead of a faded color change.  My email pdf version is much better?

Step 2: Trim.  Trim the label.  I cut off the tops first, then cut it in half, and then the sides.  You don't want to cut the sides first because you will lose the halfway mark.

Step 3: Fill.  Fill the bag with goodies.  Make sure the labels are readable and not turned around backwards, you want people to see what it is :)

Step 4: Fold.  Pinch the ends of the bag together on each side.  Then fold the top down in half.

Step 5: Staple.  Staple each corner of the bag shut.

Step 6: Tape & Place.

Part I. Tape the back of the label, the one that reads: a bit of energy... and the hair of the dog.  Tape the label at the bottom only.  

Part II. Place the label on the bag- the backside of the bag.  The front should have the vodka showing.

Part III. Tape the front side of the label, the one that reads: The Hangover Emergency Kit.  Tape the top and bottom of the label this time.

Part IV. Place the label onto the front of the bag.  Make sure to match it up with the back of the label.

Part V.  Squeeze the top of the front and back of the labels together so they hold shut.

Step 6. Trim.  Trim up the edges if needed.

And VOILA, there you have it!  A quick, cute and easy hangover cure in a bag.

30.

Well, I hit a big milestone this year, the big old dirty thirty, eeeeeeeek!  Instead of getting all sad, depressed and wallowing in my older age, I thought eff it, go big or go home, I'm throwing a PARTAY!

With a little, ok, A LOT, of inspiration from Pinterest, the birthday planning began.  First I picked out colors, Pink... is one of my favorite colors and what goes great with pink, grey!  Colors check.  I started looking up 30th birthday's on Pinterest and didn't really see anything too inspiring.  What I did see a lot of, chevron stripes, and that's when I fell in love.

Next, I started looking for invitation ideas.

30th Invitation.

Having recently walked down the aisle, I knew how pricey invitations get so I wanted a DIY project.  Plus, my great friend Patty (she has a great blog) just taught me all about paper and ribbons and lot's of cool things you can do to make the ordinary look extraordinary.  I was basically on a paper making mission and found inspiration from Love vs. Design's "Zigzags" invitation theme!



Then, the real fun began.  Decorations, menu's and last but not least BEVERAGES!  I may have gone a little Pinterest crazy, I think my husband was ready to trade me in.  Every weekend I had a new project to work on, and every weekend he wondered what was wrong with me, ha ha!

Bar I and the Confetti Garland.

My first Pinterest project was to re-create Confetti System Garland.  With the help of Green Wedding Shoes garland tutorial and many, many trips to Michaels, I finally got it done, like 3 weeks later.  You better believe I'll be hanging on to that garland for my kids, hell maybe even my grandkids birthday parties!

So, the above picture is of the first bar.  This was the wine and champagne bar.  On a trip to Napa/Calistoga for a friends wedding we stopped at the Mumm Napa winery and my husband basically had to drag me out kicking and screaming.  Their Brut Rosé is my absolute all time favorite sparkling wine a.k.a champagne, but they can't call it that for some silly reason like it's not made in France...  So I ordered a case of Rosé and their Prestige Brut, didn't want all the boys drinking pink champagne, ha!

Party Favors.

I also ordered mini 187ml bottles of Brut (they don't have the Rosé, tear) and their AHHHMAZING champagne bottle stoppers, they totally keep it fizzy.  Then, I found this cute poster online that said "Time to Drink Champagne and Dance on the Table" printed it out on card stock & used the Fiskars Lever Punch, the Tag XX-Large one to be exact, to punch them out.  Finally, I tied the stoppers to the bottles with some gold string I found at Michaels.

Bar II

Back to the bars, the second bar was for my alchy friends, totally kidding, but we did have a second bar for booze & mixers :)  As you can see we got the biggest bottle of Cinco Vodka we could find & Crown for the boys.  For mixers we used this awesome juice & sparkling soda from Central Market that is great to mix with vodka and or champagne!
I ordered the grey & white striped paper straws online from Kikkerland, but I think you can get them at Bed Bath & Beyond, limited selection.

I scavenged local flea markets, antique stores, goodwill & salvation army stores for table settings & glassware pieces.  I found a ton of mismatched china to give the table the vintage feel I was going for.  I found some awesome turquoise candle sticks at Mission Open-Air Flea Market, which gave me another pop of color.  Then I found some matching turquoise glass wine holders at Goodwill!  I also found some cute rose shaped candle holders at Michaels and some silver votive candle holders to help light the table.

My best finds came from the Assistant League of San Antonio's Thrift House.  I found 2 set's of 12 "Coupe" Champagne glasses, ya know the ones that look like a saucer glass with short stems and a wide rim.  I also found a ton of cool glass containers, china and silver pieces!  Best part of all, all the money I spent goes to a great cause!

The most difficult finds were definitely the napkins and table runners!  I scavenged Pinterest and Google looking for affordable chevron striped napkins and finally after hours and hours of looking I found the mecca, Exclusive Elements.  They have tons of patterns and colors of Damask napkins and runners and they are so much more affordable than anything else I found, $2.50/napkin vs. $10/napkin!

My mom helped with the desserts and the floral arrangements, thank god!  Local florist Alamo Plants and Petals made the gorgeous arrangements with Peonies, my fave!  We ordered petit fors with 30 written in pink frosting from Central Market and miniature cupcakes from Kate's Frosting, all delish!  And last but not least, the tables, chairs and white linens were rented from Aztec Rentals.

I have been collecting candy jars and cake plates for a while now, and was so excited to use them for the dessert table!  I found these cute china paper plates on Pinterest from Fancy Flours and ordered 2 different patterns to keep with my mismatched china theme!  They worked out great, one less thing to clean up!

For the place cards I broke out my old school polaroid camera and as guests arrived we took their photo's.  Then we put the picture at their seat for them to find later!  It turned out to be a great keepsake as well :) 

Here are a few more photo's from the celebration!

lets go on a date... 12 of them :)

The holidays are here, and my husband lost his job... rather than bah humbug-ing the entire holiday season (there might have been a brief week of scrooge like behavior) I decided to take my energy out on a holiday gift.  The idea unfortunately is not mine, I found it on pinterest via Shannon Brown (http://shannonbrown.typepad.com/life_in_general/2011/01/lets-go-on-a-date-january.html)
credit must be given where credit is due, thank you Shannon for the brilliant idea!


Let's go on a date: 2012


My lucky hubby will get to open up one date a month for the next year!  
On Christmas he will receive this basket filled with 12 unique "date packs..."  
At the beginning of each month he will get to open the "date pack" and enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!

Here are pictures of each months "date pack" with a brief little description of what the date entails...

January:

Let's get things started with a little rock climbing at Austin Rock Gym (www.austinrockgym.com) followed by margaritas at Z' Tejas (www.ztejas.com) in Austin, TX!








February:

Let's Rodeo San Antonio!  Put your cowboy boots on and let's honkey tonk at the 63rd Annual San Antonio Livestock Show and Rodeo (www.sarodeo.com)!  I thought we could start the evening at the fair then make our way into see some bull riding and The Band Perry!








March:

Let's get out of town and head to Boerne for the 2nd Saturday Art & Wine Experience (www.secondsaturdayartandwine.com)!  Five local art galleries and two "wineries" are included in the open air bus tour!










April:

Let's go back to where it all began and celebrate our first year of marriage!  Let's start out the evening with dinner at Francesca's at Sunset and then see if we can re-book the honeymoon suite for a romantic evening at the Westin La Cantera! www.westinlacantera.com)







May:

Let's go on a "cheap date!"  Pick one coupon from one of each of the following categories:

• affordable appetites
• fantastic finds
• cheap cravings

and let's make a date of it!  Thank you to Kristen at The Dating Divas for this thrifty idea! (www.thedatingdivas.com)



June:

Let's have a slumber party!  Slip into your pj's and think back to when you were a kid... lot's of pillows, blankets, movies and junk food!  Let's make a pallet, play some games (Do you know your wife?) and snuggle up to Love Actually!








July:

Let's go on a picnic!  A quick thirty minute drive north out of town and we can relax under the sun at Guadalupe River State Park!  I picked the spot, so you pick the picnic goodies!
(www.tpwd.state.tx.us)









August:

Church + Chinese food 


Sounds like a date to me!  












September:

That's Amore!  Let's finally put that pasta maker we got as a wedding gift to use and enjoy some good Italian home cooking!  












October:

The Walker Home Spa is open for business!  Pick from an array of in home spa services, including an anti-stress face mask or a full body massage!










November:

"Fangs" for being mine... Let's go on a date to see the final movie in the Twilight Saga, Breaking Dawn Part II!

December:

Let's go on our final date!  Let's start with dinner and margaritas at your favorite spot on the river, Mexican Manhattan (www.mexicanmanhattan.com)  Then let's hop on a river barge and check out the Christmas lights along the river!

Let me know what you think, and maybe I'll let you know what he thinks, ha ha!