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Keep Calm and Graduate Free Printable and Dare to Share Linky Party


Hi Friends!  It's been a crazy week here and I've been out of it for way too long!


My family surprised me by all 35 of them showing up for Drama Queen's graduation last Saturday.  We had a crazy week of fun, excitement, crazy weather, and celebrating.


The weather got so crazy we ended up having to change her Graduation Mustache Bash inside right after setting the whole thing up.  It made for some sad pictures, but a wild party tale.  Check out the recap at our Mustache Bash Party round up here.

My fellow co-host for Dare to Share, Pam from Pam's Party and Practical Tips shared some great tips this week from last week's Dare to Share party.  I'm so sorry I missed all the fun, but looking over the links, you had some great ideas and projects that you shared.  Thanks.


I know I definitely want to take a moment and check out Pam's perfect Bacon recipe.  We always have waffles, french toast, bacon, and sausage for Sunday lunch after church, so making bacon easily and perfectly will really come in handy this weekend.


 

What have you been up to this week?  I can't wait to see!


Mustache Bash Graduation Party


Well, she did it.  There were moments in the past thirteen years when I never thought we'd get here, and moments in the past week when I wish we never had.  But this past week Drama Queen graduated high school.


We were so excited and thrilled that we decided to throw her a Graduation Mustache Bash...in the middle of a hurricane.  Okay, maybe not, but as upset as I was, it sure felt like that.

We live in the Banana Belt of Colorado.  There are 360 days of sunshine here.  It really never rains.  Well, this week, it's poured, hailed, snowed, and thunderstormed (is that a word, because it should be after that experience...) almost every single day.  What the heck?!?!

When we headed to the park to start setting up for the party, it was overcast, but we thought the weather would go around the mountains and hit to the east of us.  We went ahead and set up anyway...

 We started with a green tablecloth in neon colors and added the sucker tree that Dear Hubby built for me a few summers ago.  To spice up the sucker tree, we added blue, green, and mustache washi tape to the sides of the arms.  I really love how it turned out and wish I had gotten a few more pictures of it.

On the sucker tree I put the chocolate mustache suckers that I made and some brownie pops.  Couldn't not have brownies at our dessert table with Daredevil's brownie store dream still looming over our baking ideas.


On the outer ends of the table, I set up two Wilton 4-Tier Stacked Cupcake Tower.  To decorate the stands, we put alternating green and blue washi tape on the edges and used some mustache wrapping paper to line the inside of the stands.

In the background, you can just barely view our mustache table.  We decorated it with a white tablecloth covered by a mustache overlay table cloth found at Hobby Lobby.  Then we added kindergarten and senior pictures of Drama Queen and my graduation subway art photo.  This was the greeting table where guests could gather their tattoo mustaches for the party and pick up the How Well Do You Know game quiz.  We also invited guests to sign her Mustache book as a memorial they were there and to give her advice and fun wishes.


We died the cupcakes blue and frosted them with green frosting on half, and alternated the colors on the other half of the cupcakes.

We wanted to find mustache cupcake toppers, but they were all too dang expensive at the party stores for just a few, so instead we purchased a Mustache punch and used green, blue, black, and white card stock glued to toothpicks to make mustache cupcake toppers.

Surrounding the sucker tree, we placed the mustache truffles that we made.

as well as chocolate covered bacon, mustache chocolate oreos, and sugar cookies purchased from Walmart for variety.

We scattered the Reese's Graduation caps all over the tables and used the mustache place holders and table cards to tell the guests what each of the desserts were being offered.

We offered Cherry Limeade, Lemonade, and mini water bottles dressed up with Mustaches Printed Duct Tape to drink.

Once we got everything all set up, the wind and rain started up.  We tried to stand and block the wind to be able to get a few pictures taken, but everything kept trying to blow away.  I can't tell you how frustrated I was, but finally we called it and moved the party back to our house.


We tore down the party and reset it up with all the guests hovering over all shoulders in about 10 minutes time.  Once we got home, we had so many guests and family in the house I'm sure the fire marshal would have been having a heart attack.

But we went ahead and played our games, enjoyed some great sweets, and celebrated our Drama Queen in full stash style.

Sometimes you just have to roll with the weather, despite three months of planning and plotting for the perfect party.  We still had a good time and she loved it.

How to Make a Mustache T-shirt

We thought it would be super silly if all 30 of the family members who came to Drama Queen's Graduation Mustache bash were wearing Mustache themed apparel to surprise her.  But we pondered how to do that on a frugal budget.

Vistaprint to the rescue!

I've made and ordered many t-shirts through Vistaprint's website throughout the past year and have always been happy with the turnout.  I designed up a t-shirt for Daredevil for Christmas that he absolutely loves, as well as several for the candy store with different chocolate sayings on the back.


So when we were looking for affordable shirts that we could design ourselves, we came running back.


It's pretty easy to make these too.  Start by go to Vistaprint's website.  You may want to go through the banner above so you can get the discount (only good until Monday, June 2.)


Visit the t-shirt section and select the type of shirt you want.  I like the basic t-shirts and they are the ones on sale.


Now select the type of t-shirt design you want.  There are lots of different styles.  Go ahead and brouse around until you find what you like.  Since I was designing mine from scratch, I went with the "Upload a complete design" option.


Upload the picture that you want to your design.  I created mine in Printmaster since that's my favorite design program.  You can use my design, or create your own.



Once your design is uploaded, you can make any changes to it that you want, including adding a back design if you want.


When you are all ready, Vistaprint will show you what your shirt will look like and you need to carefully check the spelling and layout.  If it all looks great, go ahead and check the box saying you approve the shirt and check out.

Be sure to order your shirt in plenty of time for your party or holiday needs.  It's been my experience that the shirts come faster than they say they will, but you still need to be sure and not order at the last minute.  Give yourself about 3 weeks just to be safe.

Now go ahead and enjoy making these for any occasion or gift giving.  The ideas on what you can make are endless and the ease with which you can make them are wonderful!


Easy Reeses Graduation Cap Candies

With all the mustache items that I have going on at our Mustache Bash, I thought we needed a little bit of graduation poking it's head into the party.  Plus, I really love Reese's peanut butter cups, and I couldn't find a way to turn them into mustaches, so instead we created these easy Reese's graduation caps.



Since Drama Queen's party colors are blue and green, we collected all the Reese's minis on clearance after Easter.  I really wish Hershey's would start making the different colors of Reese's and Hershey kisses in colors available all year long for parties and weddings, but when we went to the Snack and Candy Expo a few years ago and brought the idea up to them, they didn't take us up on the idea.  Hello Hershey, still waiting!!


I didn't want to make the all chocolate Reese's graduation caps that I've seen around since the party is outside and I didn't want a melted mess on my hands, so instead I used the Reese's mini for the base, some card stock for the mortar board, and Confetti Hearts Mulit Colored Sprinkles for some pizazz on the top of the hat.


I used my Fiskars 12 Inch Portable Scrapbooking Trimmer to cut 1 1/2 inch squares out of blue, green, and gold card stock.  Then I glued them all together to form graduation caps.

I scattered the caps all over the table to bring in a little graduation to the stache bash in a fun and easy way.

Mustache Place Card Holders

I think I'm getting crazy carried away with the mustaches.  I hope when all is said and done it's not too much.  But I have to admit, it's been kind of fun seeing mustaches everywhere and all the possibilities.  I'm not too surprised that these mustache place card holders and tables cards crept into my thoughts and will make an appearance at our Mustache Graduation party.


While Drama Queen is a major artist and works with clay all the time, I don't have the skills, equipment, and expertise that she does.  I have used the Model Magic clay for a few projects and while it was great for my skill level, I found it was a little more expensive than I'd like.


After a trip through my Pinterest boards, I came across a DIY Model Magic recipe from Growing a Jeweled Rose.  Using only a few kitchen ingredients, I was able to make my own clay for these mustache place card holders.


Once the clay was ready, I packed it into my mustache ice cube tray.  I found mine at Hobby Lobby in a special end cap with mustache products, but you can find several on Amazon.

I found it was a fine line between packing the clay in to create the design and making the silicone mold expand from too much clay.  You'll be able to feel the difference, so keep an eye on that.

I was a little impatient in making these, so I stuck my clay and ice cube tray into the refrigerator to hurry the hardening process.  I let it sit in there for about 1/2 hour.  Then I carefully popped out the mustaches. 


The clay wasn't hard yet, so I stuck a bent paper clipper holder in the center to create a holder for the place cards.  

Let the clay dry for a day or two.  Then paint the mustaches black.  I used 2 coats of spray paint just because that was easy, but a good acrylic paint should work wonders too.

To finish my place cards off, I used my Mustache table cards to write my dessert table offerings.  I cut out the center design of the table cards and stuck them into the paper clip.

5 Graduation Gift Ideas from Fiverr

I recently discovered Fiverr.  Have you heard of it?

It's an online marketplace that offers services from freelancers around the world starting at $5.00.  There are some very interesting items and services offered as well as some services that are really "out there."  I've had a lot of fun looking through all the gigs lately and have found some that might be great for Drama Queen or another graduating senior.

Here are 10 fun graduation gift ideas for the high school graduate in your life.

Write your name on a pen with thread by DreamWorld78
Don't just give your graduate a pen, personalize it in a fun and unique way!

Remind your graduate of all the people who love and are rooting for them in the next stage of life.

Now that High School is done, why not go to Hogwarts?

Help your graduate to remember their friends and family with a game to play during study breaks.

When all else fails for your graduate make their fondest wish come true.

Mustache Bingo Game

What's a party without a roudy game of bingo with the family?


This game was a lot harder to put together than I thought it would be.  I couldn't find a bunch of different mustaches to use as clip art.  I finally found a really cute set from a graphic artist on etsy.  I was able to use that set to make the game in three different colors.

When playing you not only have to find the matching mustache, but you need to find it in the right color to be able to make bingo.  You could have a handlebar mustache, but need to make sure you have it in the right color, black, blue or green.


I am excited about the game and the chance to play it at Drama Queen's graduation party next week.  If you would like to play it, you can find it in our online store here.

Make it Your Story Free Printable and Dare to Share

This has been a ROUGH week.  I'm not sure what else can go wrong, but I'm really afraid to ask.  But at least we made it through still alive and in one piece (for the most part.)

One of the big things that got me through this week was thinking about something that I heard on the How They Blog podcast some time ago.  It really stuck with me at the time and I wrote it down in my blog book on the first page so I see it every time I open the book.




Kat said "You can make it your excuse or you can make it your story."

I've thought about that as all the problems that have been happening have made me want to just throw in the towel and lock myself in my room.  Instead, I just decided this was going to be one of "those" chapters in my story and to find a way through to the other side.


In the meantime, I've been trying to get ready for our big Mustache Graduation party next week.  So I've been sharing a LOT of mustache projects on the blog this week.  I'm sure you're getting overwhelmed, but we've just started with some fun ideas, so hang in there with me.  I'm hoping it will all be worth it when we celebrate Drama Queen's big day and have a great mustache party to share with you.


My co-host today Pam from Pam's Party and Practial tips also shared some inspiration for me this week.  One I was a big couponer and was really into the deals, after opening the store and losing every spare ounce of time to it, I kind of stopped.  Now that I have a little more free time I was wondering if I should get back into the couponing lifestyle.  Pam shared a great post "Are Coupons Still Worth It?" this week.  I was impressed with her words of advice, experience, and wisdom that I'm climbing back on the wagon again this week.

You guys shared so many great ideas at our Dare to Share party last week.


I loved the Gilligan's Island party ideas shared by Karen's Ideas Galore!  What a great party theme. So clever to change the theme song to fit the birthday boy.  And I have to admit, I always wondered why they had so many clothes on the tour.  Finally, there's an explanation!


 


I can't wait to see what you've been doing this week!

Famous Movie Mustache Party Game & Printable

I'm sharing another game for my daughter's Mustache Graduation party today.  My goal is to have several games going that guests can play together while they eat and talk during the party.  This party game is a quiz to see if guests can name the actor and movie from these famous movie mustache pictures.


I started by finding 12 famous mustaches from movies.  I tried not to use any rated R movies, so that cut out a few options, but I managed to find several that I thought would be of relative degrees of difficulty.

The pictures are designed to fit inside 4x6 inch frames from the Dollar Store.  I would love to purchase some of the Ikea frames with the stands, but a 2 1/2 hour trip up to Denver is not really in the cards this month.  So instead, I'm decorating up some Dollar Tree frames.


Each of the pictures has a number from 1 to 12 on them.  I will scatter the mustache frames throughout the party.  While the guests are mingling and eating, they can locate all 12 pictures and guess which celebrity and movie the mustache is from.

At the end of the party, we'll reveal the answers and give a prize to whoever gets the most answers right.

You can get the Famous Movie Mustache Party Game printable sheets here if you want to try this at your Mustache party.