Bachelorette party : Not so expensive party ideas

Hi


Happy March to all you guys there. Two months of 2016 are gone. Time to start ticking things off on your 2016 wish list.
My cousin ticked one major wish from her list by getting married a couple of days back. It was a 6 day affair in Mumbai split up in two weekends kicked off by a wild bachelorette party.
It was my first time throwing a bachelorette party and hence I had no idea the cost involved in readymade, glitter infused plastic items. Even a simple bride-to-be saash costs ₹380 bucks in Mumbai.

Me believing it to be a waste money decided to use my brains and do things my way. So below our some common stuff that feature in a bachelorette party. I will show you how you can have it all and not burn a hole in your purse.

1. Saash:
A saash for ₹380 bucks was a major shock initially. One that took me a couple of days to fathom. But there is a simple solution that will cost you mostly nothing. You need black chart paper, pink glitter, glue, pink crape paper and a pin. Except for the glitter all the other things were already at my place. Cut the chart paper into a shape of a saash(as in the picture). Then crumple crape paper and stick it on the back with a small part of it coming out. Then with the help of the glitter write 'Bride-To-be' and it's done. Use a safety pin to pin the two together.



2. Decor:
Instead of going for some new drapes, we used an old drape in the background. This is a typical drape that you get for Ganapati decoration. My cousin had one so we borrowed it from her. As we were on the cost saving mode, we used the sexy lingerie(her gift) as decoration. Also the saash that we made was also used for decoration (as in the picture). We placed all the stuff on a flat table and used a small cushion to place the tiara on it.



3. Cake:
My cousin is quite the shy girl. So when it came to cakes we decided not to go really wild. We googled wild cakes and ignored the ones with man parts on it. Instead we went with a bikin and make up essentials for her first night. A normal cake with all these things come with a fondant base in minimum 2 kgs costing ₹2000 easily. We made the cake decorator lose the fondant base and asked her to make the base in icing itself. It costs us just ₹1000 and it tasted so delicious sans the sticky & sugary fondant.

4. Gifts:
Even though we cut back on a lot of things, we splurged on the gifts for our bride-to-be. The lingerie that we used for decoration was especially flown in from Victoria Secret, USA. Also the tiara we bought from a local store named Madcaps at Kemps Corner, South Mumbai. I bought badges for the bridesmaids from Madcaps itself. We also bought floral wreaths from a local jewellery store for the other girls at the party.

Gyaan:
In all the planning madness, we forget that the party is for the bride and some special touches for the bride is a must. Hence we played close attention to her. We actually kidnapped her from her place. We got her dressed in her one piece and did her make up and hair. Completely got her decked up because it was her first night from the many nights to come.

I hope these tips help you guys. Please leave a comment below and tell me about your bachelerotte party experiences.


Until my next gift
This is your serial gifter signing off,
Manasi Kabadi

Baby Shower: DIY Diaper Cake

Hi guys

First of all Happy New Year. I pray that you have a good year with lots of love and happiness.

2016 has started on quite a good note for me. Especially on the gifting side of things.

Recently I attend my cousin's baby shower in Pune. Baby shower is  the western term for godhbharai. As the name suggest its literally showering the mother to-be with presents and prepare her for her upcoming sleepless nights.

A regular at these showers is the diaper cake. A lot of people asked me if its a cake and whether they will have to eat chocolate diapers (Ewwwww). Well I will be clearing all those weird misconceptions today.

Diaper cake is basically a stack of diapers stuffed with gifts for the baby to be born. The reason it's called a cake is because of the tier shape in which it's made. It's fairly simple to make and require only a few hours to make. I took around 3 hours.
Let's get started.

You will need:
1. A round cardboard base. I had saved an old base which I had got during Diwali.
2. Around 50 diapers. You may need less based on your base. I used Pampers.
3. Rubber bands.
4. Ribbion. I used golden because it matched my base.
5. Transparent wrapping paper.
6. Toys for stuffing. I got fruits that make noise.
7. A toy for the top of the cake.

Step 1:
Take each diaper and roll it in like a frankie with the help of a rubber band. Roll all the diapers in the same way.

Step 2:
Once you are done with the rolling, take your base and start stacking the diapers in a circle. You may need some help here as you may not be able to hold all diapers together. Once your round is done, place some diapers inside the bigger round and with the help of you ribbon secure the round. That's your base done. In the middle you may place the toys that you have got. Don't stuff it entirely and save some for the other tiers as well.







Step 3:
For the second tier you will hv to repeat the same process as step 2. However you will need only one round of diapers. Make sure that the round is smaller than the base for the tier effect. Secure the second tier with the ribbon and stuff it with the remaining toys.

Step 4:
For the last tier, take around 5 diapers and secure them together with the ribbon. Place a single diaper inside to hold the last tier together. If you have some toys left you may even stuff those instead of the diaper.

Step 5:
To complete the look of the cake, it's important to place something at the top of the cake. For this you can pick a small teddy bear or a small toy like the one I have picked. It had a big handle so I stuffed it in a diaper and placed that diaper inside the top tier.

Step 6:
For some more decoration, I had these cute little baby bips with funny writings on it. I just placed them on the either side of the cake and stuck the ends in the cake. They completely transformed my cake.







Step 7:
Now for the last bit you need wrapping paper to secure the cake. Remember that the tiers are not attached to each other so it's possible they may move which  is why this last bit is extremely crucial. Make sure that you completely cover the cake and secure the wrapping paper at the base so all of it stays together.




And that's it. You cake is all done.

Gyaan:
Normally in India nobody really bothers to check the sex of the baby. It's actually against the law as well. So when you make this cake make sure you do not choose pink or blue because pink and blue are meant for baby girl and baby boy respectively. Go for a green or yellow like me.

I hope this helps in making the cake and surprise the to-be mother.

Until my next gift
This is your serial gifter signing off

Cheers,

Manasi Kabadi

Christmas: Gift wrap

LaLa La La La

Its Christmas Time!!!

Before we start making our resolutions for 2016, 2015 has still one important festivity in store for us. As I studied in a convent school, I have grown up singing carols about the birth of Jesus Christ. Those school parties and the delicious plum cake are my sweet childhood memories.

A major part of Christmas is gifting each other presents. By now you would have bought gifts for those special people in your life. All that's left to do is to wrap it up. Here are some ideas for wrapping those Christmas gifts.

Stocking:
Recently I had been to Crawford market to stock up on some dry fruits when I came across some really pretty stockings. These are quite big and spacious. You can stuff all sorts of toys, chocolates, etc. You can even stuff in a champagne bottle for the host of the Christmas party you would be attending.

Instagram, Facebook pictures:
This is the coolest idea that I have come across. Basically the site prints your pictures into a wrapping paper that works just like you normal paper. Cool right? I like wrapme.com. Do check it out. You can even do it yourself by simply collating all your pictures on a word file and get it printed on a A4 paper.

Christmas decoration:
So you are done decorating your Christmas tree and you have some spare sparkling balls then this trick is awesome to make good use of it. All you need is some brown wrapping paper, red ribbon and the balls.  Wrap the gifts in the brown paper and wrap the red ribbon in a really nice bow. Then take two balls and with the help of the glue gun stick the balls either on one side or next to d bow.

I hope these ideas brighten the smile on the faces of the people for whom you have bought the gifts.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!!

Cheers,

Manasi Kabadi
(Serial Gifter)

Wedding gifts: Bride

Hi

November marks the beginning of the wedding season. It's that time of the year when gold, embroidery, tomato red, bangles, mehndi, etc are in fashion. It's also a booming season for gifts. 

My wedding season started with a bang. My cutest and hottest (trust me) brother got married to his love and my school friend  got sealed her deal in an arranged surprise marriage (she gave us a one months notice!!!). Both weddings were power packed with a lot of emotions.

All the wedding tam jham actually inspired me to think about wedding gifts. Wedding gifts I feel are trickiest. I mean how many birthdays have you been to? Plenty right? And weddings? Not many right? Just what I thought. Hence today's blog.

I will be writing this blog in three parts gifts for the bride,for the groom and for the couple.

Gift Ideas for the Bride:

1.  Bath products:

     Imagine you in your bath tub with candles and coffee scented bubbles. Sounds soothing right? That's precisely what a bride needs. A soothing and calming experience that brightens her in all the wedding madness. A basket of scented bath products is perfect gift for a to-be-bride. Throw in some candles and a couple of loofas and your gift is ready.

2.  Personalized gifts:

     When it comes to personalizing a gift, sky is the limit. Now a days anything can be personalized by adding some quotes or some pictures. If I had to pick one then I would go ahead and make a collage with all the pictures of the bride with her friends or family as a gift that she can decorate her new house with.

3.  Jewellery:

     On the wedding day the bride is completely decked up in the heavy saris and matching make up. Another essential that completes the look is jewellery. Now this particular gift may look expensive but if you have a big contributing group then it won't burn a hole in your wallet. Try out some really cute silver jewellery or some pretty broche that she will compliment her outfit on her big day.

4.  Cutlery:

      Sounds very boring but as per Indian tradition, the bride should be given a bunch of utensils to mark the beginning of her new life. You can get creative her and get her wedding date engraved on the cutlery you may gift her or you could buy her plates with some quotes written on it.

5.  Gift vouchers:

This particular gift is the easiest no fuss gift. You simply have to pick a shop and get some gift vouchers. These work out really well when you have a as well bigger group. I have always bought mine from Shoppers Stop because they have a variety of good quality stuff that people can choose from. You could even get the bride Starbucks gift card if the bride is a coffee lover.

6. Make-up:

Every girl today is into some sort of make up so gifting her a make up kit is ideal. Lipstick, eye shadow, nail polish, eye liner, etc can be packed up into a cute "Honeymoon Make up Kit' for the bride.Make up organizers are also trending in the market and they are ideal for that make up freak bride.

Gyaan:
Most of the weddings today have a 'Gift only in the form of blessings policy' so make sure that you send the gift before the wedding if that's the case. It's quite common in current weddings so it's better that you note it when you receive the official invite.

Hope these ideas have helped u to give another gift to that special bride-to-be

Cheers

Manasi Kabadi
Serial Gifter

DIY: Handmade Tie

Its a misconception that when we talk about gifting we always think of buying something expensive or something that will finally end up rusted after a couple of dust laden days. 

A gift has to have a purpose. Even if that purpose lasts only for that day. That day is when the gift really matters the most anyways. This is the purpose of DIY gifts.

DIY gifts are basically do-it-yourself gifts which are taking the internet by a storm. I myself love to spend those precious minutes to make something amazing from scratch which will completely blow everybody's mind. One such DIY of mine is a handmade tie. 


Ties are not just meant for men but even we as women have worn them as major part of our childhood.Remember school uniform? Those weird ties? Ya. That's what I am talking about. Recently at my masi's birthday party in Pune, we had zeroed on school uniform to be the theme for the evening as my masi is a school teacher. Hence I decided to make some amazing ties as party props that people could wear.

Lets get started

You will need:
1. Chart Paper
2. Pair of scissors
3. Ribbon
4. Ruler
5. Pencil
6. Glue

Steps:
1. The first thing i did was I got my dad's old tie and got a basic shape drawn on the chart paper. I used the pencil and ruler to get a proper shape. After drawing the shape I drew a box shape at the upper part of the tie with the help of ruler and pencil. 
2. Next what I did was I used a pair of scissors and cut the shape out along with the box. I had to tweak the edges out into a proper shape because I am not that good at craft.
3.  After the shape resembled a tie I took some glue and stuck the box to the backside of the tie. 
4.After the glue dries out, take the ribbon and pass it through the back of the tie & voila you have a tie. You can use the ribbon to adjust the tie depending on how loose or tight you want it. 

You can use the tie and decorate it further by using different kinds of coloured paper or you could write awesome messages on the tie just I did for the party & for my TIE-riffic father.

Gyaan:
Do not worry too much about the shape of the tie. As long it has the basic structure of a tie it will serve the purpose. You don't have to be a craft genius to get the perfect shape. Trust me on this because I am telling you this from experience.

Do try to make these ties to add some fun on your gift.

As I always say as long as you keep it simple and a surprise you are good to go.

This is your serial gifter signing out,

Untill my next gift,

Cheers,
Manasi Kabadi

Old is Gold: Granny's Birthday

October has officially become my busiest month this year. Having planned three birthdays already and currently planning three more birthdays, I have been too preoccupied to be able to even breathe at times.

If by reading the above lines you feel I am complaining, then let me tell you I am far from it. Yes it has been chaotic but its worth it when you see that smile when you scream SURPRISE.

My maternal grandmother turned 86 this month . Freshly out of the hospital after being treated for heart burn, she was just settling in her normal routine. At that age, all you want is to spend some quiet time with family. And that's what we did.

Being a weekday we arrived at her place in the evening after work. Being a birthday we brought with us her favorite Butterscotch Crackle cake from Merwans and sang along as she blew the candles. As far as gift was concerned, as there is a wedding coming up in the family we bought her a heavy sari that she could wear for one of the functions.

The one thing I always focus on is the surprise element . Taking her age into consideration  I decided to keep it simple. I am made sure she believes that her we all were busy with work and had no time to spare. But evening as we all started pouring in her smile broadened. That moment was picture perfect.

We ordered in her Masala Dosa from her favorite restaurant Radhakrishna for dinner. Some of coke and some old stories. That's all took to make it a night to remember.  


Gyaan:
Life is not only about grand moments but it is also about the small events. If you want to do anything for the birthday girl/boy, do it. No matter how small or how big the gesture it maybe. Your intent & feelings that's what really matters.

As I always say as long as you keep it simple and a surprise you are good to go.

This is your serial gifter signing out,

Untill my next gift,

Cheers,
Manasi Kabadi

60th Birthday: A Diamond birthday

Birthday celebrations are meant to be loud & filled with surprises right?. Well this party that we had on 30th August 2015 at Regency Banquet Hall, Andheri for my masi's 60th birthday was loud and filled with surprises for the birthday girl.

The entire event was my cousin's vision and my execution and personal touches which is why I am sharing the same with you. Hope you enjoy it.

60th Birthday Party:
It all started with getting the list of people and booking the perfectly placed hall for the party & Regency fitted perfectly for the occasion. The ambience at the newly furnished hall was perfect for an intimate gathering of about 60 people like ours.

We did not specifically have a theme for the party as it was an adult party. We tried to keep thing simple to honour to the simplicity of the birthday girl.

Cake:
60th birthday being a diamond birthday, a chocolate(eggless) cake in diamond shape was arranged. I ordered this one from Not Just Desserts, Wadala. It was moist and chocolaty even though it was eggless.

Decoration:
We knew we wanted something personalized and going by our theme, simple. We opted for a hand made banner , hand made greeting card which was decorated with pictures & a handmade flower arrangement of 60 sticks of glads to mark her age. After putting up the banner we thought we should do something more. That's how we came up with the idea of writing wishes on craft paper & sticking it up on strings of rope. Completely last minute but brilliant.

Program:
As the birthday girl was completely clueless we had even printed a program of the event for her. This was printed from a local printer shop with a glossy finish. The number 60 gave it a nice touch.

Return Gifts:
It essential to be thankful to the guest who graced the celebration. We packed up a nice glass candle stand & Toblorone chocolate bars as a return gift. Along with thanks we even added the words 'Sonya Sarkhe Raha...' on the gift as they are the birthday girl's blessing to all. This added another touch to the gifts and made the guest feel special.

Gyaan:
(At the end of every blog I will be giving you some gyaan to help you in the task of gifting)
The key to making any party successful is to focus on two set of people-the birthday girl & the guest.
All arrangements need to be around the them and their comfort and interest. This guarantees that everyone enjoys the party and has a gala time. 

All and all as long as you keep it simple and a surprise you are good to go.

This is your serial gifter signing out,

Untill my next gift,

Cheers,
Manasi Kabadi