Unicorn Planning On A Budget: A Sponsored Guest Post

When ShopAtHome.com contacted me about a partnership I was pretty excited. I mean saving money is always a plus and they asked for an interview and asked if I would be interested in having a guest post about party planning on a budget. You know I love parties and on a budget is even better. So today I give you Aimee Heckel from ShopAtHome and her absolutely wonderful daughter that I think I would be friends with. And Aimee is totally super mom. She made a UNICORN happen.

Being a mom is quite ridiculous. For my baby girl’s third birthday, I told her she could have Anything. She. Wanted. (Novice parent mistake No. 392.) Since all she got for her birthday last year was a purple dinosaur cake, I expected this offering to be manageable.

The kid asked for a unicorn.

Now, as you may well know, to actually purchase a unicorn costs upwards of 90,000 rainbow flakes and three pots of gold (and that’s not even the sparkly unicorns). Since my budget was approximately the cost of another purple dinosaur cake and I only possess two pots of gold to my name, I knew I’d have to be pretty crafty to pull it off on a budget.

Turned out only a few kids came to my daughter’s party. But I’ll be darned if half of my adult friendship circle didn’t pop up, eager for the chance to gallop into the horizon on a unicorn, themselves. So this party theme idea is not only a smash hit for the little ones, but definitely the big ones, too.

Here’s how I made magic happen:

The unicorn thing.

Turns out, you can put a cardboard horn on a horse’s head and tell everyone it’s a unicorn and they will believe it. At least, they want to believe it. I found a nearby horse ranch that would let us rent out horses for rides, and they (and their horses) were good enough sports to accommodate the DIY horns (with the help of a small monetary bribe and carrots for the horses).

Feeling fancier than cardboard? Pick up an inflatable unicorn horn for a whopping $4.99 at EntertainmentEarth.com. Or just visit the webpage to view the angry cat wearing a unicorn horn. It’s worth it. Save money by shopping the Entertainment Earth coupons at ShopAtHome.com, and also find out how to snag 6 percent Cash Back (which will help fund your inexpensive snacks).

The eating part.

We made rainbow popcorn in shiny cones that I think looked like upside down unicorn horns. Super easy. Microwave popcorn, add melted white chocolate and coat with colorful sprinkles. You can pick all of this up at Walmart.com, which I like to use because you can order your items online and pick them up for free in the store. Plus, there are endless Walmart coupons available.

We bought a stack of colorful paper at Hobby Lobby and stapled it together in a cone shape. Fill a cone with popcorn and you have a cheap snack that requires no utensils and is easy to clean up. Hobby Lobby has plenty of killer coupons to use, too.  I bet no one has ever used “Hobby Lobby” and “killer” in the same sentence describing a unicorn birthday party before. Win.

The decorating.

Streamers. Streamers. Every streamer color in the rainbow. We hung large bundles of streamers from the ceiling to the floor like a giant rainbow you had to walk through to get to the cake and rainbow popcorn. The look was dramatic (we probably used 30 rolls), but super cheap. Plus, clean-up was simple.


Pick up cheap streamers at Birthday Direct (just over $1 each) and use ShopAtHome.com’s Birthday Direct coupons to save you more money. Look for the free shipping coupon. Giddyup.

Aimee Heckel writes about travel and family when she’s not chasing unicorns at ShopAtHome.com.


Soooo who wants to throw me a unicorn party? I mean, act like you wouldn't want a unicorn party.

What was your favorite theme party you had or went to?

Tall Tails: By Nature Treat Review

**I was sent these products in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own**

So I know it's kinda cheating to do a sponsored post as a link up but these pictures of Lil are so cute and I'm really happy about the treats so I wanted to share it with all of you!

When By Nature contacted me about trying their products I was a little nervous. Lil wants to eat everything she can get to but her tummy is a bit pickier. We had finally found a food she liked and was good for her but we're still trying out different treats. I chose to try out the Mixed Berry Flavor Biscuits hoping for the best. Here's how it went:
receive mysterious package in the mail that smells yummy

have mom open package and sniff everything for about 3 minutes straight

check with mom to make sure you're allowed to eat them (not like it matters)
beg mom to give you some of the deliciousness inside the package

look like you totally deserve treats

do something that actually warrants you getting treats

make sure you get every last morsel

lick your chops

try really hard to look like you deserve another treat 


Lil loved the treats (if it wasn't obvious). The Mixed Berry flavor is an antioxidant formula which I figured would be great since Lil eats about 17 cigarettes a day off the sidewalk. She's been eating/using them for a few weeks now and (besides chicken) these are the only treats that can convince her that putting on her leash is worth it the first time she's asked. BIG DEAL. If you read this post you know it isn't normally very easy.

There is a decent amount of variety in flavors and on top of that they have organic, grain-free and 95% protein choices. And both dry and wet food options! Finding a brand of dog food you and your dog love is super important and you want a company you trust. I think Lil (and I) have found our go to treats!

They are sold in most pet stores and on Amazon.com. Plus they have a great frequent buyer program where if you buy 10 bags of dog food you get one free! Free is always good since you know you're gonna have to get the food anyway! So go read up more on them (I did!) and you'll see the reviews are all looking prettttty good! If you have any questions about the products or brand let me know and I would be happy to get you in contact with a representative!

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Sunshine, Beer and Friend Shenanigans

Sooo I guess I'll do weekend shenans since I was gonna do a tutorial but it's 11pm on Sunday and I'm full of brownies and dehydrated. Also I'm not editing this so.. yea.

Here was my weekend.. plus Wednesday and Thursday:
Tom and one of his best friends and I went to one of my favorite restaurants for a beer pairing with Harpoon Brewery. It was delish!

Tom and I went on a happy hour hop with Savannah and her husband and one of our girlfriends. Also delish, and SO much fun. As you can tell.

we had no plans but ended up meeting back up with Savannah and saying goodbye. p.s. if you haven't visited her yet, you should. You can see more of our ridic pictures over on her blog I'm sure 

Did you see the awesome DIY I posted? Basically glitter + wine = amazing. I FINALLY got to be out in the sun for more than 10 seconds. I obv brought my vino2go and enjoyed the rooftop terrace. Also can we ignore my ribs? They're abnormally large. 

Later on, Tom and I went with our friends to the Irish Festival where we got sufficiently hammered.
and if you saw my instagram, you saw that we went to the bar late night (in my pjs) and Tom had 2 sips of his beer and we went home. 

Lil and I went to my parents and had play time which tired her out for realsies

on the way home from play time, I stopped at McDonalds to get Tom hangover food. Andddd looked
like an ass because I was wearing work out clothes. Basically girlfriend of the year.

Now I want you to meet some of my amazing sponsors!

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Glam Wine Bottle DIY

I actually posted this on my The Blog That Must Not Be Named.. aka my first one that I didn't like. But I figured I'd repost it here cuz why the fuck not?

My girlfriend had been having some boy issues and my biggest peice of advice was "just relaxxxxx!" It got to the point where she'd say something, then follow it up with, "I know, I know, 'relaxxxxx.'"

So I'm at the liquor store and I see a bottle of RELAX wine but in red. Red is kinda her color so I'm like YES. I was also going thru a "I could prob put glitter on this" phase and decided to do just that.

(excuse the horrible pictures. I was even more of a baby blogger then)





- jewels (I used the kind with adhesive already on the back)
- loose glitter (I used Recollections "Fine Glitter")
- Mod Podge
- one of those foam brush things
- spray sealant
- liquor/ wine/ beer bottle
 






1. use the foam brush to paint on a layer of Mod Podge (it dries clear)
2. sprinkle the glitter over the Mod Podge-d area
3. LET DRY!
4. repeat step 1, 2 and 3 until it looks the way you want
5. add jewels!
 

6. spray the sealant according to directions **DO THIS OUTDOORS**
7. LET DRY

And now you have an present for someone that is functional and fucking awesome. Or you can keep it yourself.

Things That Matter Most To Me..Apparently

I had a dream the other night. I don't dream too often but they are always really fucking weird. For example, last night I had a dream that I knew someone who trained peregrine falcons and had their own nature show. Um. Yes.

This dream the other night started with Tom and I not living together (I'm going with that not meaning anything cuz we're very happy). Tom lived with Lil... somwhere? I don't know. Just not with me. I lived in our apartment but it was also kindaaa mixed with where I lived my senior year in college. Great start, I know.

So in my dream I get back to my apartment (coming from Sweet Baby Jesus-knows-where) and I realized the door to my apartment didn't close right so it was unlocked. Nothing is missing so it's fine. Later that night I have my door open. Maybe I was hammered? And there is some creeper who kinda tries to come in, realizes I'm there and then he runs down the hall and into another apartment. I'm creeped the fuck out, but I just go to bed. I may or may not have shut my door. It's fine.

The next day I come home (from the magical place in dreamland people go to while time elapses) and I find things missing. I'M SO UPSET. Like, I'm devestated because of what this person took. I call Tom and tell him Lil needs to come live with me and that this creeper thief took the following items:

- 2 boxes of pasta
- mushrooms
- sausages
- the dress I just got from Rue La La (this was my second dream about this dress.. I'm in love)
- Tom's XBOX and our Lego Star Wars game
- my pineapple drinking glasses
- my huge pallet of e.l.f. eyeshadow
- the vegatable steamer we JUST GOT
- a pair of heels that I don't think I have in real life (I can't remeber what they look like) but they were my favorite in this dream

Meanwhile he left my phone. Which I was happy about cuz it had a princess looking glitterly case. Win. But besides the whole "pervy theif" (Tom's words) part, I was reallllllly upset when I found out those items were missing.

That got me thinking..

Are those things what matter most to me? I mean we already know Lil and Tom were safe so stop acting like I'm a shallow asshole. But all those things are COMPLETELY replaceable. Besides losing my Star Wars saved games, (kind of devestating) all that it would take to get everything back would be to buy that shit again.

But apparently carbs, antipasti, eating healthy (this shocked me too), dressing up, novelty glassware and Han Solo in Lego form are the things that matter most to my unconcious, sleeping self.

What random, non-important stuff are you finding you really would miss?