Girl's Night Out

I'm all about donating to charity and supporting worthy causes, but to date I've never really been to a charity event.  I always thought that charity events were for old ladies in stuffy clothes, not for women in their mid twenties.  That was until I went to my very first charity event last Thursday night called Girl's Night Out in Princeton, NJ.  I'm not so sure all charity events are like the event I attended, but I had a really great time!

So what made this event budget friendly?  The fact that it only cost $10 for a ticket to the VIP lounge and food tent.  Along with entrance into the lounge and food tent, the $10 also bought you the rights to free adult beverages, and a goodie bag filled with goods which definitely cost over $10.  Oh yeah, did I mention that the parking was free with your $10 ticket.  Anyone who has parked in downtown Princeton recently knows the true value of free parking...priceless!

After taking full advantage of our free parking pass, my mom, my sister and I headed over to Palmer Square to register and see what free food they had to offer in the square.  We quickly signed in, grabbed our wrist bands, raffle tickets, and list of discounts and headed over to the main food tent.  When I think free food I usually don't think of Shrimp with farro salad, gourmet chicken salad, or field greens with a mustard vinaigrette, do you?  Well that is the type of food we were greeted with when we entered the tent.  It was all delicious and tasted fresh, even though the event started at 4:30 and we didn't make it there til after 6.  The shrimp were still warm and delicious, the bread for the chicken salad  was not at all soggy, and the field greens were still crisp.  Overall a pretty good appetizer!

While we were eating we perused the massive, not your average 8.5" by 11", list of shops offering discounts and little goodies to the "Girls" participating in the event.  The discount for the gourmet olive oil store Carter and Cavero immediately caught our eye.  If you purchased 3 bottles of Olive Oil you got one free!  This was incredibly convenient since my mom needed a bridal shower gift and really who wouldn't like receive gourmet olive oil as a gift?  After walking around and sampling the oils and vinegars the store had to offer like kids who had just been told they could sample candy for free, (can you imagine our excitement) we chose a set with 3 olive oils.  Best part of that set...the fact we got a free bottle of our very own thanks to the Girl's Night Out event.

We made our way through a number of the other stores,  taking advantage of the discounts and free goodies that they had to offer until we found the VIP lounge.  This was by far my favorite part of the whole night!  There were a host of free appetizers from Mediterra like meatballs, felafel and an assortment of bruchetta, all of which were amazing like all food from Mediterra usually is.  There was also free wine samplings from the Corkscrew Wine Shop which paired perfectly with the appetizers.  When you were finished satisfying your "gourmet food tooth" you had the chance to have your hair styled for free by a local salon and you got a coupon for 20% off your next service.  My mom took full advantage of this service and I don't think I have ever seen her hair straighter!

At the end of the evening we rolled our way out of the VIP lounge, but not before getting our goodie bags filled with things any girl would love.  Blue Mercury eye cream, stationary, little bottles of olive oil or balsamic vinegar, and chocolate.  Who wouldn't love all those gifts!? 

So for $10 I got free parking, a ton of food, and awesome parting gifts, and a portion of my ticket went to a local charity, Dress for Success: Mercer County.  Overall I would say I had a pretty successful night.  Can't wait for my next charity event on a budget!!

Mother's Day Gifts on A Budget

Happy Mother’s Day to all the Mamas out there!!

A few days ago with Mother’s Day fast approaching I was trying to figure out what I could possibly do with the little girl I babysit for as a project for Mother’s Day.  She’s a little too old to do the whole make a hand print in play dough deal, and a homemade card just wasn’t going to cut it.  I also didn’t want to simply buy a kit at the store and make some generic gift.  So I decided to head to Michael's and let the creative spirit move me.  

            I no sooner walked through the front door of Michael’s when wham, the most wonderful idea for a Mother’s Day present hit me… hand decorated picture frames!  Actually, it quite literally hit me.  I was taking a few of them off the display and one fell and hit me in the face.  These picture frames would be the perfect way to let the little girl be creative and make a gift her  mom, aunt, and grandmother, would love.

 

Now I’m sure you’re thinking that there’s no way picture frames could be budget friendly.  Well let me tell you, these frames only cost $1 each!  They came in three different shapes, but I ultimately chose the ones with a heart shape in the middle because they were for Mother’s Day after all.  Conveniently located next to the frames there were some pretty flower foam shapes which were on sale as well that I thought would cost me around a dollar.  But I figured since we were making 3 frames, $0.33 cents a frame wasn’t a bad deal so I grabbed some.  Well guess how much I paid for the stickers… $0.01!! That’s right, stickers that were once closer to $4, cost me one penny!!  You can’t even get penny candy anymore, so me finding a whole pack of stickers for a penny is like winning the budget lottery.  I also needed a piece of scrapbook paper to serve as the backing for the frame and luckily for me scrapbook paper was on sale that day.  It only cost me $0.20, not too shabby.  We already had the paint to paint the frames, so this project only cost me $3.41, which is perfect for a girl on a budget!!

The next day we spent the afternoon painting and decorating the frames with her mom, her aunt, and her grandmother’s favorite colors and the stickers.  When the paint had dried I had her write their names in permanent marker at the bottom of the frame.  It would be next to impossible for kid to have the brush skills to paint their names onto a frame, heck I even have a hard time painting names sometimes.  She was able to use her imagination and customize the frames however she wanted, something that you can’t do when you buy a premade kit.  I was so happy with the way the frames turned out and what took us an afternoon will give the special women in the little girl’s life a lifetime of memories!

These frames aren’t just for Mother’s Day.  You can make them for any occasion, especially when the frames only cost $1!!!

Here’s how to make them:

1.       Sand the frame to ensure that the edges of the frame are smooth

2.      Prime the frames with white paint and let dry

3.      Paint the frames with whichever color you choose and let dry

4.      Either paint or write with permanent marker the name of the recipient, the occasion, or whatever you choose

5.      Decorate with stickers, foam stickers, or paint a design yourself

6.      Cut out scrapbook or card stock paper to fill the back of the frame

7.      Print out your favorite picture to fill the frame

8.      ENJOY!