Book Club List Update

Obviously my book club is still going strong because it is full of awesome ladies, so I wanted to update our book list to include some of our recent picks.

April 2012 (Karly): A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

May 2012 (Amanda): The Idiot Girls' Action-Adventure Club: True Tales from a Magnificent and Clumsy Life by Laurie Notaro

June 2012 (Kim): The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

July 2012 (Jenna): The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser

August 2012 (Kristin): Where We Belong by Emily Giffin
September 2012 (Kelli): Getting Rid of Matthew by Jane Fallon
October 2012 (Tara): The Quickie by James Patterson
November 2012 (Jamie): The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

******This is an addition to the original list, reposted here: 

April 2010 (Jenna): Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
June 2010 (Kristin): Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella
July 2010 (Tara): Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
August 2010 (Heather): Grave of God's Daughter by Brett Ellen Block
October 2010 (Amanda): Bitter is the New Black by Jen Lancaster
November 2010 (Jenna): Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
January 2011 (Lauren): The Carrie Diaries by Candance Bushnell
February 2011 (Karly): The Help by Kathryn Stockett
March 2011 (Kristin): Breakfast at Tiffany's  by Truman Capote
April 2011 (Kelli): The Secret Life of Cee Cee Wilkes by Diane Chamberlain
May 2011 (Kim): The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls
June 2011 (Tara): The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
July 2011 (Jenna): Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
August 2011 (Amanda): Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
September 2011(Karly): Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. by Chelsea Handler (dinner and went to see The Help)
October 2011 (Kim): Room by Emma Donoghue
November 2011 (Kristin): Elegance by Kathleen Tessaro
January 2012 (Kelli): Summer's Child by Diane Chamberlain
February 2012 (Tara): One Thousand White Women by Jim Fergus
March 2012 (Jamie): The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Raven Wreath Tutorial

In the inspiration of Halloween, I got crafty and made an Edgar Allan Poe "The Raven" inspired wreath to help set off my book-themed office. So, I took to Pinterest for some inspiration and came up with this:

What you will need to make the wreath:

-12"  wreath 

-book you can tear up

-spanish moss

-raven

-glue gun

For the base layer of the wreath you simply roll the pages very loosely and hot glue the ends to the wreath. 

You'll want to flip the wreath and create another layer on the back doing the same technique. This will make the wreath look much thicker.

Then, you take the book pages and roll them tightly together. I used mod podge to glue to edge down. Once you have a lot of these little rolls, you can group them together. Use the glue gun to keep them together (I found 3-4 worked best for the bundles) and then tie a longer strand of the spanish moss around each bundle. Glue these to the wreath's top layer. 

Next, I put my raven into the wreath. Mine came with wire in his feet, so I wrapped the wire into the grapevine wreath. After that, I cut a piece of a blank book page and wrote "Nevermore" with marker. I glued one end to the book pages already on the wreath. Lastly, I took chunks of spanish moss and randomly inserted them into the nooks and crannies of the book pages. 

That's it! I originally made it for a Halloween decoration, but I love it so much that I'm keeping it up all year long. Poe is always in style. 

Dont' want to make it yourself? You're now in luck! I've opened an Etsy Shop Be The Binding Boutique where you can purchase you own Raven Book Wreath or one with a different theme. 

Sex and the City Bachelorette Party

Long overdue post....but in July I threw my wonderful friend's bachelorette party. Tara is a girly girl who loves Sex and the City, pink, and high heels. We've been on the Sex and the City tour in NYC together, followed by Sex and the City 2 (the movie). So, I knew she would love a Sex and the City themed night. I scoured the internet for ideas on Sex and the City parties, but all of them were based on home parties. So, I pulled some inspiration and figured out how to make a night out on the town have a fun theme.

As with any good party, the theme starts with the invitations. Luckily, my husband is a great graphic designer. I made a horrific looking word document with a pixelated skyline, off-center print, and directions to "make this look good!".

Invitations

Then came the challenge of how to mix the theme into dinner out. Luckily, Level Dining Lounge looks like something from Sex and the City; white leather chairs, low lighting, hot waiters...did I mention it's a gay restaurant/bar? I, of course, had lots of penis paraphernalia  for the bachelorette. So, when we got to the restaurant I quickly put up a penis centerpiece, put favors on each girl's plate, and put Sex and the City trivia cards scattered in the center of the two tables we had. I found the Sex and the City Trivia game at my local thrift store for $1.99! The cards from the game are really cute and added a lot of decoration to the table, plus the questions were fun to ask each other as we were mingling and waiting for our food orders to arrive.

Trivia Cards

For the favors, I got each girl a colorful penis straw, because what bachelorette party is complete without those? However, I wanted to once again incorporate the theme. So, I made penis-shaped sugar cookies with pink icing. I attached a tag to each one with one of four quotes from the show, one from Carrie, one from Charlotte, one from Samantha, and one from Miranda. 

Favors

Favor Tags

The last way I incorporated the theme into the night was with our scavenger hunt. I didn't want to have a bunch of trashy games for Tara to do, but I wanted there to be a fun way to make the night a little more interesting than an average night bar hopping. So, I came up with a scavenger hunt with tasks to complete. The group was divided into four teams...you guessed it: Team Carrie, Team Miranda, Team Charlotte, and Team Samantha. Each team had a list of items to complete. It was a lot of fun! 

Scavenger Hunt Lists

The night was a blast and everyone enjoyed themselves! Tara loved the Sex and the City themed "Sexy in the City" bachelorette party and I had an amazing time planning everything for my best friend :)