Wedding Decor: Geronimo Balloons

Who knew helium would be such a big struggle during my wedding planning process. I don't think I ever cried because of it...(actually....I think I only cried like twice during the whole process....I have limited emotions....what can I say?) but they were a very stressful aspect of the wedding.

My little 2013 - Pinterest - wedding loving heart just could not NOT have giant balloons in her wedding!

I never thought that I would write a blog post about a chemical element....but here it goes.

The Helium: Helium is REALLY hard to find for decent prices. I called countless places trying to rent a tank but it was either way too expensive, or the company didn't have access to helium anymore.

In a perfect scenario, we would have blown up the balloons on site. Since we had 20 36 in. balloons (if you couldn't tell from pictures...my venue was HUGE!); it was going to be impossible to transport all of them to our venue without some geronimo fatalities. After many phone calls, we realized that our only option was to have them blown up off site and transport them ourselves (while holding our breath, of course). A lot of the decor and furniture was transported from Odessa to OKC, so we had an empty U-haul that we ended up using. Shockingly, that part was a success!

Since renting a tank was no longer an option, Homeland or Party Galaxy were what I had to choose between. I tried places like Dollar Tree but they would only blow up their own balloons, and wouldn't order what I wanted.

The Helium Source: Both Homeland and Party Galaxy would blow them up, but PG wasn't giving me straight answers on pricing or helium availability. Since I had such a large quantity of balloons, they were going to charge me more. So, Homeland it was. Plus they were willing to order the balloons for me! Score! (So I thought).

Issue #1: A few days before the wedding they called to let me know that instead of gold, they were sent silver balloons. In the grand scheme, not that big of a deal...but still, disappointing when you have a certain look in mind. Looking back at pictures, the silver balloons were fine. No one but me, my mom, or Tiffany and Taylor (our awesome planners) would have even known if I wasn't telling you now.

Issue #2: The other issue was that Homeland didn't fill the balloons up all of the way. Meaning that when we went to attach the tassels, they weighed the balloons down. That was frustrating, to say the least. Again, big scheme....no big deal. But it's one of the many reasons I wanted to blow up the balloons ourselves. So, we ended up having to pair the balloons in groups of 3 to be able to hold the weight of the tassels. (Tissue paper tassels, they were not very heavy in the first place!)

So, after saying all of that....here is what I WISH I had of done (or had the guts to have even tried!)...

Vintage Revivals bought these disposable tanks. They sell them at Hobby Lobby and Party Galaxy, and you might be able to use a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby. Anyways, according to the box and everyone I asked said that the tank would only fill up about 3 balloons, making it way too expensive to even attempt! Vintage Revivals said she got about 7 1/2 balloons filled with each tank. Too bad she wrote this post a few months after my wedding! Geez!

Balloons: Amazon has always been the best price I could find for the 36" balloons.

So, there you have it. What we did....where it went all wrong....and what I still wish I did today!

*I kind of feel like I should add to each Wedding related post that I realize all "complaints" are on the surface. None of these wrecked my wedding. I am still married and will remain married to my husband regardless of the outcome of some balloons, or the venue or any of the "pretty" things. I'm just sharing my experience with you, so that you don't make the same mistakes I did. Or you're reading because you have a general interest in my wedding planning process!* 

All photography by Caroline Rentzel.

 

Baby Shower for Mayson

A few weeks ago I traveled up to Tulsa to throw a baby shower for our wonderful friend Rachel! I've been friends with this girl for a long time...and I have traveled with her from Miami to San Diego and many places in between! She is my #1 OU travel buddy...and she just had a baby!!

Introducing Mayson Elizabeth! I think she looks like her dad, big time, in this pic!

Her shower was so sweet and extra fun because I got to throw it with a bunch of our college friends, so it was great getting to text with them all summer long about planning!

We ordered her invitations through T3Designs on Etsy.

We played a game where you take play-doh and "make a baby". It was hilarious, and a game I had never played before! We gave out prizes for ugliest, most realistic, funniest, etc. I won ugliest...Boom! :)

 Sweet & Salties recipe can be found here. 

Rachel allowed us to host the shower in her home. Lucky for us...Rach has a beautiful home! It is such a good idea too...you get to show off your new nursery and you don't have to haul the gifts anywhere!

 Rachel's SIL Allison provided these amazing gifts for everyone! Isn't this such a cool idea?

4 generations! Aren't they so cute? I'm so thankful that I got to be apart of this special day for Rachel!

Ashley's Surprise Party

Now that I've shared with you my main DIY projects of Ashley's Surprise Party, I'll share with you the rest of the details that happened that night.

First off, the invites. I decided I would give Paperless Post a go. What an awesome site! I'll warn you though...it is really easy to go haywire (the first time through I had racked up a bill of $70!) with all the different options; but they have a decent selection of free invites that are pretty nice. Here is what I sent out to everyone:

Aren't they cute? The e-vite concept has really stepped it up a notch! Forget the mass text of invites for future get togethers!

I really wanted this party to be all of her favorite things. Ashley doesn't like having to cut meat with a knife (hilarious) so Jake make kabobs...which turned out amazing. I filled the pinata with all of her favorite candies: kit kat, rolos, twix, gummy bears, swedish fish and sour patch kids. Ashley is also OBSESSED with popcorn. She has told me that there are many nights when that is her dinner! So I made a few different variations of popcorn mix. I did a Garlic Rosemary Parmesan Popcorn mix and a S'mores mix. I also made this White Chocolate Raspberry Bundt Cake.

 

This was my first time using my white calligraphy ink...I was pretty pumped :) 

We also had a few people bring some desserts as well, which were all amazing. It was a very indulgent night!

My favorite part of the night was the sno cone machine!! You read right...a sno cone machine! We had decided a few weeks prior to rent one, and guys... that is a party game changer! Seriously....best thing ever! I need a sno cone machine very badly! It was such a fun addition to our party and was a huge hit!

That, along with some fun games made the night complete and Ashley's birthday celebration was a complete success! It was such a great night and always fun when a group of friends can just relax, eat a ton, catch up and play games that you haven't played since college!

DIY Popsicle Pinata

I have been obsessed with all the DIY pinatas from the beginning of time (Pinterest time that is...). Kelly from Studio DIY has the biggest collection of pinatas on her site. I'm pretty sure that is one happy office she works in.

I have been wanting an excuse to make a pinata for awhile now. No, I did not throw Ashley's Surprise Party JUST to make the pinata...but it was close. :)

I decided on a Popsicle shape for 2 reasons: 1. It was an easy shape. 2. It was a "dessert themed" party, and by themed, I mean we had A LOT of dessert :)

OK, so what you will need to make your own ginormous Popsicle pinata is:
cardboard
tissue paper/ crepe paper
glue
string (I used jute)
wire
x-acto knife
packaging tape

First I got my cardboard and drew a Popsicle shape onto 2 of my big sheets of cardboard.

I then used my knife and cut those two shapes out, as well as several long, 6" wide strips for the sides. I also cut the "stick" for my Popsicle.

Next you will want to put together your shape. I read a few different tutorials, and some people used glue and some people used tape. I chose tape because I felt like the wait to for the glue to dry would be too long and not sturdy enough. I just taped that sucker up. The shape didn't have to be perfect, just because I knew I could create a better shape with the tissue paper. When doing the sides, I would just bend my cardboard strips to make them as flexible as possible for the top curve.

Once your shape is taped together, you will want to cut a strip in the bottom of the Popsicle for the stick.Then you will next to receive flak from your husband about your new "tombstone" pinata. :)
 

Now you will want to cut all your strips of tissue paper. Like I stated in the DIY Party Hat post, I really tried to use what I have. If I could have chosen, I would have used crepe paper...but I still have a ton from the wedding, so that is what I used. Crepe paper would have been better because it is already cut into long strips. You will just cut a lot of strips, about 5" wide. I then folded each strip in half, and cut my fringe.

I chose to do an ombre pinata (duh) so I made markings on the cardboard as to where I would start each color.

Now, you just start from the bottom up! Its a little time consuming, but this is when I catch up on The Tonight Show. The top was a little weird, but I just kept adding more of the dark pink in smaller strips so no cardboard showed.

Before you cover up all of the sides, I cut a flap so that we could add the candy. I also went ahead added my wire to the top, so that we could hang it from a tree. Make sure to reinforce that part!

Next I put gray tissue paper on the stick and glued that into it's slit in the bottom.

Now just add your candy and hang that sucker Popsicle from a tree and let your friends hit away :) It was pretty fun channeling our inner child. 

DIY Party Hats!

A few weeks ago I threw a surprise party for one of my besties Ashley. She turned a whopping 25 years old and seriously... no one deserves a fun party more than her!!

 Jake & me with Ashley & Kevin at our wedding.

Ash was one of my bridesmaids and an official superstar throughout my wedding process, I can't tell you enough of how lucky I am to have her as a friend!

I had several projects in mind for the party, one of them being party hats! I have too many Pinterest boards littered with fun DIY party decor that I seriously had to sit myself down and figure out what I could get accomplished in my time frame!

Party Hats for sure made the cut. There are some AMAZING hats out there, but I have a rule (more like my bank account has a rule) that I can only use craft stuff I have on hand, so I didn't go as elaborate as I probably would have normally. Check out these inspiring party hats:

Oh Happy Day

Studio DIY

Studio DIY

Almost Makes Perfect

100 Layer Cake

Awesome right? Here is how I did ours:

Materials: 

Clearance Party Hats (I got 8 for 99 cents!) 

Scrapbook paper

Tissue paper

Extra craft supplies like poms

Hot glue gun

First I took a hat and took it apart and traced it on paper.

I did that 8 times for each hat I had. Then you cut them out glued them onto the hats. 

Next you take your extra craft supplies and go wild. They crazier the better in my book :) 

I did the same thing with noise makers. A surprise party REQUIRES noise makers! 

Another rule is that you have to put said party hats on your dogs... 

 

Kevin, Ashley & Phin! 

 

I'll share more this week about the rest of the details to the party! Hope ya'll had a great weekend! Boomer Sooner!