Everything Happy Birthday On A Budget: July 2014

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Happy Birthday Banner

Here's a way to put a Happy Birthday smile on someone special's face: make them a personalized Happy Birthday banner.

Take a photo, paste it onto a Word document. I placed a triangular shape over the photo for a cutting guide. Print 9 or 10 copies on card stock. Cut into triangular shape.

Gather enough mini cupcake liners for each triangle.

Fold liners in half and snip edges.

Fold liners in quarters and then in eights. Staple folded liner to the bottom of each triangle.

Open liners and distribute evenly.

Take a hole punch and punch top corners of triangle. String with ribbon.

Now you have created a personalized and very special Happy Birthday on a Budget banner to delight your Happy Birthday person. It's fun to make and fun to display.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CUPCAKE BOUQUET

This is a Happy Birthday cupcake bouquet.

To create, assemble the following: cake mix, flexible straws, florist tape, mini cupcake liners and pan.

In addition, you will need 2 disposable icing bags (one to fill cupcakes with cake mix; one to frost the cupcakes and the hole for the straw), icing tips #2 and 1M.

Bake cupcakes at 350 for 10 minutes.

When cupcakes are cool, poke the bottoms with a toothpick.

Enlarge hole with a pair of scissors so that you can insert the straw without damaging the cupcake.

Fill hole with icing. Additional icing in the hole adds stability as the flowers are top heavy. I used #2 tip for this.

Frost cupcakes. I used the 1M icing tip at a 90 degree angle (see below) and just squeezed: once in the center of the cupcake, turned the cupcake clockwise and squeezed again.

Wrap straws with florist tape.

Insert straw in bottom of cupcake.

Examples of cupcake flowers with stems attached.

Prepare vase with ribbon and gift tag. I used my Happy Birthday craft stamp with gold ink on a piece of card stock to match the gold ribbon and attached the tag to the vase with double-sided tape.

Arrange cupcake flowers in vase just as you would real flowers. Because of the flexible straw, cupcake flowers will droop a little bit, just like real flowers.

There you go, another Happy Birthday on a Budget beautiful, delicious and amazing idea to make someone's birthday really special! You'll have as much fun creating this as everyone will enjoy eating it.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARTINI

HAPPY BIRTHDAY- TINI

Ingredients:

2 ounces cream
2 ounces milk
2 ounces vanilla vodka
1 ounce vanilla bean simple syrup
1/2 ounce butterscotch schnapps
Pinch of lemon zest
Pinch of salt

Directions:

In a shaker with ice add all ingredients and shake, shake, shake!
Top with whipped cream and sprinkles
Makes 1

Check out the website for more info on vanilla vodka and vanilla bean simple syrup. Sounds like fun to make and fun to drink. Yummy!

Monday, July 21, 2014

Happy Birthday On A Budget for the Month of July

July 2014 Horoscope

(some or all horoscope verbiage could be included in a poem or card)

CANCER HOROSCOPE LINK FOUND HERE: JULY HOROSCOPE

Cancer 6/22-7/22

You could be in the mood to sow some serious wild oats on the 1st and 2nd. If you are, well, why not head out to the community garden with a spade and a watering can (and some oats) and get planting? The closer you can get to the earth right now, the better you'll be feeling. Regardless, come the 3rd, 4th and 5th, you are going to be feeling totally excellent. You look good, people like you, a super cutie thinks you're the cat's meow and you just might get a promotion at work. Yay! Those small details are where all the important things are found on the 8th and 9th. So examine the details! Your coworkers are really important to your quality of life, so why not thank them for all the texture they bring to your daily routine on the 15th or 16th? They'll really appreciate that thoughtful gesture of yours. Money can be a really tricky issue, so if you're getting into any financial relationships with friends, be sure to clarify what everyone's expectations are on the 19th, 20th and 21st. The crazier the idea you have on the 26th or 27th, the better it probably is! So let loose! You have nothing but good ideas on the 31st. Enjoy this burst of creativity.

VIRGO HOROSCOPE LINK FOUND HERE: JULY HOROSCOPE

Virgo 7-23-8/22
Whatever you've got on your plate on the 1st, be sure to make time to go to yoga. You need to stay flexible, right now, and if you practice with your body, it will be that much easier for you to wrap your mind around something out of the ordinary. By the pretty excellent and totally astounding 2nd and 3rd, you are wrapping your mind around some extremely good news. (Don't forget to keep going to yoga, while you're at it!) You might want to move ahead on a big life project on the 9th and 10th, but circumstances (and obligations) hold you back. Don't worry! Just go with the flow. Nothing is set in stone, and that's a good thing, as you'll discover on the mutable 15th and 16th. A little philosophy, a lot of travel -- all this and more is in store for you on the 20th. Pack an overnight bag! Organize an outing on the 25th. By the incredibly wonderful 30th and 31st, you'll understand why that outing was so darned important. Did you learn something? Meet someone? See the world in a whole new light?

LARKSPUR is the birthday flower of July.

RUBY is the birthstone of July:

More Happy Birthday on a Budget July Celebration ideas:

Sit outside in a restaurant.

Go on a picnic.

Swim at a lake.

Decorate your patio.

Have a Happy Birthday beer.

Party outside for a July Happy Birthday and remind your loved one or friend how much you value them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GIFT TOPPER WITH CUPCAKE PAPERS (An Alternative to a Traditional Bow)

Get instructions here:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOW

This idea is another WITOT (wish I'd thought of that)! A perfect Happy Birthday on a Budget idea: taking everyday inexpensive items and transforming them into something unique and fabulous.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Happy Birthday Card: Take a Few Pieces of Colored Paper and Create Something Amazing!

The above Happy Birthday card was created by someone other than me, but the original link I had no longer worked. Fortunately, I had saved the visual instructions so that I can share.

WITOT!! (Wish I'd thought of that!)