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Monday, May 16, 2022

VIDEO: Birthday ALL THE THINGS + Gift Ideas + Giveaways

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What's your favorite birthday memory? It's funny that as you get older, you remember more about the experience than the presents, for sure - as it should be. I actually remember just one party the clearest, and it wasn't mine - it was my friend David's - and it was a party at McDonald's. I have a picture of it on my wall - I'll share that below. 

A McDonald's birthday party was a HUGE deal for our group of kids. It was definitely an expense that would have to be planned for for all of us, so it was an extravagance. McDonald's would actually provide a little decorated area and serve us at our tables. It was at the McDonald's that I ended up working for when I turned 16 - a neighborhood staple!

Another REALLY big deal for our birthdays was ice cream cakes - do people still do those? My favorites were my brother's birthday cakes because he always picked orange chocolate, which is just one of my favorite ice cream combos. I know there are people who are fruit + chocolate averse, but I, my friends, am NOT one of those people. Those chocolate oranges are just the best. 

The side benefit of a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake was the dry ice. Dry ice was a HUGE thing when I was a kid. At Halloween parties, and I have no idea if this is a safe thing to do or not - there would be dry ice in punch, so there would be a little cauldron type feature to the food table, with smoke pouring out of a bubbling bowl of punch. Do people do this anymore?

Anyway, I have a new video for you today with two-for-one die cutting with this fabulous birthday mini-slim cover die. I used my sticky mat to hold the balloons down while I ink blended them with Red Hot and Cherry Red ink.

I cut the die again from a book page, and used the background pieces from that and kept the other pieces for my second card. 

I stamped and die cut this birthday sentiment.


With the frame and balloon pieces leftover, I made a second mini slim card, backing it with Pitch Black cardstock, and shading the balloons before piecing them in with a cool grey OLO marker

I added a strip of gold glitter cardstock - and after I did that, I thought that it had kind of a New Year's Eve feel to it. So I used this birthday set and matching dies, but kept the sentiment non-specific.
 

Here's the video! Giveaway info to follow!





Party Balloons
[ CRF ]
Birthday Wishes | 4x6 Stamp Set –...
[ HNB ]
Small Card, Big Hug | 4x6 Stamp Set –...
[ HNB ]
Small Card, Big Hug | Honey Cuts –...
[ HNB ]
Birthday Wishes | Honey Cuts – Honey...
[ HNB ]
Honey Bee | Die Release Tool – Honey...
[ HNB ]
Sticky Mats Original Size 3 pack
[ MSP ]
Post-it Labeling and Cover-Up Tape -...
[ AMZUS ]
OLO
[ OLM ]
GKD Color Companions Ink Pad- Red Hot...
[ GNK ]
INK PAD- Cherry Red - Gina K Designs
[ GNK | SSS ]
Understand Blue pre cut and scored cards
[ CTC ]
PS323 Hero Hues Premium Cardstock...
[ HA ]
PS778 Glitter Paper Holiday Sparkle |...
[ HA ]
Floral Glass Craft Mat — Glassboard...
[ GLS ]
Trays – Hygge & West
[ HGG ]
MISTI Laser Etched Stamping Tool...
[ ELH | MSP ]
Scor-Buddy Mini Scoring Board 9x7.5 -...
[ ELH ]
MIS-T Rulers
[ MSP ]
Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -...
[ BLIC ]
Teflon Bone Folder - Ellen Hutson LLC
[ ELH ]
Storage Envelopes, Medium 25pk,...
[ ELH ]
CheckOutStore Stamp & Die Clear...
[ CHC ]
Extra Large -50 pk, Avery Elle Stamp...
[ ELH ]
Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies
[ ART ]
Amazon.com: Food Scale, 22lb Digital...
[ AMZUS ]
Amazon.com: OXO Good Grips 11-Pound...
[ AMZUS ]
Monthly Paint-by-Numbers Kit For...
[ CRT ]
Is your birthday coming up? If so, I highly recommend an orange chocolate ice cream cake! The one I always chose for my birthday was a mint chocolate chip cake, which I loved. You know though, as an adult - you can go get yourself an ice cream cake whenever you want! It's true - no need to wait for a birthday!

Here are some ideas for birthday presents I've seen lately that caught my eye.

I found this site via Pinterest - I love these beautiful trays.


My mom sent me a link to this tool - seems like it would be good for the zombie apocalypse, and it means less plastic bottles in the landfill. I am lucky enough to have a local almond milk maker that packages in glass so I don't have plastic bottles anymore, but I know that Gatorade, etc. is unavoidable at kids' activities etc. so this is a fun way to use them again. PLUS, it just looks like fun. :)

We just bought a new food scale - we use ours heavily. I weigh everything I cook, and I also use it for calculating postage for my watercolor splits, so it has to be super accurate. We really like our OXO one, because of the pullout feature for larger packages/bowls, but we saw this one that is WAY easier to clean, so the OXO one will move to my mailing station permanently. Of note - I think this pic is a wee bit of an exaggeration, because there is a battery compartment on the back that you will not want to get wet. But there are no crevices - nothing that you can't clean on top - love it. If you JUST want one for packages, I like the OXO one because of the pullout. I have the 11 pound one, but there's also a 5 pound one - just depends on what you ship. The new one is a 22 lb. scale so you could weigh your cats - OR SQUIRRELS. (On that topic, I clearly have a brother unknown to me prior to seeing this video.)



I recently signed up for the adult paint by numbers kit just for something fun and different. 

Another thing you can do as an adult is BUY YOURSELF PRESENTS WHEN IT'S NOT YOUR BIRTHDAY. So remember that. :)

Now there are two giveaways happening today, so if you are interested, you can see details on my Instagram post and on my YouTube channel today!





Have a great weekend and good luck. Loveyameanitbye.



1 comment:

  1. Uh...where is the birthday party picture you promised us? I'll take any chance to see little Lydia! I never went to McD's until high school, but my kids went to birthday parties there. It was a great venue for my son because he could eat the burgers and buns there, and fries! (They were safe for his food allergies.)

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