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Is Hard Seltzer Better for You Than Wine?

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July 30, 2019 By Rebecca D. Dillon 1 Comment

Hot summer days are all about rosé & wine slushies, but is there something better? Hard seltzer, like White Claw hard seltzer, offers fewer calories and just 5% alcohol. Not only does it taste like your favorite seltzer water (with no added sugar) it also helps you stay better hydrated – even in party mode.

The Drink I Didn’t Know I Was Missing

Until a few years ago, there were few non-liquor options for adult beverages besides wine, beer and coolers. All of these options are filled with added sugar. And to be honest, I’ve never liked beer. While my tastes have become more refined with age – hello, peppery dry red wine! – I don’t drink wine coolers anymore because I find them too sweet.

Then came the hard sodas, ciders and lemonades. Like coolers, they are often sweet and filled with added sugars. Being that I’m in my mid-forties, I’ve really been trying to avoid added sugar and cut calories. Not only do these drinks leave me feeling really full, really fast, they also give me massive belly bloat. Not only is the bloating uncomfortable, it’s definitely not the look I’m going for. (After all, those symptoms of perimenopause are more than enough to contend with as it is.)

Spiked seltzer however, like White Claw hard seltzer, fills a void I didn’t even realize was there. Although it’s a fairly new drink that was introduced just three years ago, it’s becoming increasingly popular. I’m regularly running between two different Kroger stores AND Target to find my favorite multi-pack in stock as it sells out so often.

Since my discovery of spiked seltzer, I’ve pretty much given up wine expect on those special occasions. Hard seltzer has me hooked. It’s definitely a better option than wine or beer. Not only does it have zero added sugar, it’s also flavored with real fruit. And, as hard seltzer is mostly water, it helps you stay better hydrated. Meaning, it’s a lot easier to avoid a hangover the next morning.

Is Hard Seltzer Better For You Than Wine?

I used to have a glass of wine (or three) in the evenings. It was the perfect drink to help my body wind down and relax all that tension that builds up from working at a desk all day. But the calories were definitely making a real impact on my waistline in recent years. That, and those wine hangovers can be brutal. I’ve since switched to hard seltzer. And I’ve found, that for me, it’s a much better choice than wine or hard cider.

Not only is hard seltzer lower in calories, it has no added sugar. And with just 4 to 5 percent alcohol, depending on the brand, I don’t accidentally get caught up and over imbibe. With temperatures in the 90s, it’s also a better choice to stay hydrated in the summer. Simply put, I find White Claw hard seltzer much more refreshing than wine. Plus it’s hard to miss the belly bloating, stained lips and sulfites. So, sorry not sorry, summer rosé. It’s time to move over.

There’s good reason that you keep seeing White Claw memes all over the internet. Despite the hate (it’s ok to think it’s basic, some would say the same about pumpkin spice) there are a number of reasons to love this refreshing hard seltzer.

What is Hard Seltzer?

Hard seltzer, sometimes called spiked seltzer, is the latest craze in adult beverages. Like its non-alcoholic cousin the trendy seltzer water, it’s mostly water with a hint of natural flavor.

Hard seltzers are comparable to a beer in alcohol content, but they offer a lighter, more refreshing taste. They just might be the perfect drink for a hot summer day, but they will taste great no matter what the weather is outside. Plus they come in skinny cans that are better suited for smaller hands (without that annoying pink tax on everything else that targets women consumers.)

Spiked Seltzer Brands

I’ve tried a few spiked seltzer brands, including Press, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Bon & Viv, Smirnoff Spiked, Nauti Hard Seltzer, Truly, Henry’s Hard Sparkling Water and Vibe to name a few.

I haven’t tried all of them, but so far White Claw Hard Seltzer is my preferred brand. It’s made with just water, a gluten free alcohol and natural fruit for flavoring. White Claw hard seltzer has just 100 calories per can. So it’s definitely better than drinking a glass of wine.

In addition, White Claw doesn’t have the aftertaste that other spiked seltzers have. To me, it’s just more refreshing and a better tasting drink.

White Claw hard seltzer is available in a number of natural fruit flavors. They include mango, black cherry, natural lime, raspberry, and ruby grapefruit. Mango is my favorite and the one I usually reach for. Although lime and black cherry run a close second. The mango White Claw hard seltzer is almost always sold out, however. So I’ve learned to adapt to my second choices, but rarely another brand. I’ve tried Truly brand hard seltzer and it just doesn’t measure up. While it ties with White Claw in the hard seltzer arena, I find it has an unpleasant aftertaste that I relate to fake sweeteners.

Alcohol Content

Spiked seltzers are comparable to a beer with about 5 percent alcohol. Wine has about 10 to 15 percent alcohol, so a spiked seltzer is definitely less potent than a glass of wine.

If you tend to sip throughout the evening or enjoy more than one drink, you probably won’t get drunk if you drink a spiked seltzer instead of a glass of wine. Therefore, you’re less likely to find yourself suddenly “deep in the feels” after a few glasses (ie. a bottle) of wine. This is good news. Because what this means is that there are no drunk texts to your ex you can’t take back the next day. So really, hard seltzer is also a better break up drink. After all, more alcohol isn’t always the better choice.

Less Sugar and Fewer Calories

Wine, beer and other alcoholic drinks are notoriously high in calories, which is made even worse because they are empty calories. The calories in just two drinks can rival those in a full meal. (With a comparable amount of bloating.)

Spiked seltzers only have about 100 calories in a 12 ounce can, so they won’t add as many calories to your daily intake. That’s less than most beers—although some light beers are comparable with 95 to 100 calories per drink—and you can expect about 125 calories for a 5-ounce glass of wine.

Carb counters will also rejoice in the fact that hard seltzers have less sugar and fewer carbs than wine. Wine will usually have 4 grams of carbs per glass, but hard seltzer has about 2 grams of carbs per 12 ounces.

Additionally, most spiked seltzers have zero added sugars. The flavor and sweetness all come from the fruit. So while I wouldn’t call them a healthy drink, they are definitely a better drink choice when compared to wine.

White Claw hard seltzer calories come in at 100 per can with 2 grams of carbs. If you drink more than a few glasses of wine a week, this could save you a lot of calories.

Gluten-Free

If you are gluten-free, you’ll be happy to know that most spiked seltzers are gluten-free (but always check the label to be sure!).

Instead of using a fermented grain to make the alcohol in a hard seltzer, it’s made from fermented sugar.

Portability

Hard seltzers come in a handy 12-ounce can. They are easy to take with you, easy to open, and easy to drink right from the can. Plus, as I mentioned previously, the skinny can is the perfect size for women’s hands. (I like to keep my White Claw hard seltzer cold in my Coleman Lounger Stainless Steel Can Insulator. It not only works with skinny cans, but also regular sized beer cans or bottles, as well as bottled water.)

Heading to a party? Grab a pack and toss them in a cooler. You can even carry them in a bag without worrying about them breaking or spilling.

Since they are in 12-ounce cans, it’s just the right amount for a drink. You don’t have to worry about storing leftover wine.

Wines only last anywhere from three days to two weeks, so hard seltzer is a better choice for those who don’t drink as often just because there’s less waste.

Mixing Drinks

Although hard seltzer is pretty tasty on its own, it also makes an excellent mixer. With the fruity flavor, it mixed well with vodka and can even take a sangria up a notch for added flavor.

If you’ve tried making mixed drinks with seltzer water, you might have been disappointed because the fruit flavor tends to disappear. Hard seltzer keeps the fruity flavor better, so don’t hesitate to try it mixed with other liquors.

Enjoy your spiked seltzer as a frozen boozy treat by simply freezing it. Pour it in a pan, freeze, and use an ice cream scoop to scoop it into cups for yourself or guests. It makes an incredibly easy and very yummy frozen treat that’s perfect for a hot summer evening. You can even pour it into a wine glass with edible flowers or fruit for dinner parties to elevate it to the next level.

Does Spiked Seltzer Hydrate You?

Most spiked seltzers have just three ingredients: water, alcohol and flavoring. Some brands have more ingredients, so check labels. White Claw Hard Seltzer only has these three ingredients, which is partly why it’s one of my favorite spiked seltzer brands. Due to the high water content and lower alcohol content, you’re more likely to stay hydrated. I know I do.

Not only does this help you feel better now, but it will also help in the morning. Dehydration can make a hangover worse. While I can’t guarantee that you won’t have a hangover after a few hard seltzers, it is likely that the hangover will be less severe than if you’d been drinking wine. I’ve yet to get a hangover from drinking equivalent amounts of hard seltzer to wine. However, it’s still important to reach for a bottle of water after you’ve been drinking to help your body recover from the intake of alcohol.

Do you love hard seltzer? Share your favorite flavors or ways to drink hard seltzer in the comments. Then be sure to follow me across your favorite social media platforms including pinterest, facebook, twitter and instagram. Or sign up to receive my newsletter to stay in the loop.

Filed Under: Lifestyle, Party Ideas Tagged With: alcohol, drink, hard seltzer, lifestyle, party, party ideas, socializing

How to Throw a DIY Bath Bomb Party

July 19, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

I’ve hosted several craft & cocktail nights already this summer. One project in particular however that a lot of friends and acquaintances wanted to try was bath bombs. But the logistics of setting up a DIY bath bomb party for a large group of people was a bit daunting.

As I only own one scale and everyone wanted to create their own custom bath bombs it took a bit of planning to pull the whole thing off. So, just how do you throw a DIY bath bomb party? Keep reading to learn how!

How to throw a DIY bath bomb party!

Step One

Your first step in planning a DIY bath bomb party is to choose a bath bomb recipe. (I used a spin off of my fizzing bath truffles recipe here for my DIY bath bomb party. Pictured above is my mermaid lagoon bath bomb for which you can find the recipe here.)

My recommendation is to look not only for a simple beginner bath bomb recipe, but perhaps use a no fail bath bomb recipe. You’ll also want to consider how your bath bombs are going to hold up in your current climate. Heat and humidity have a bad habit of turning a bath bomb success into a bath bomb fail and you don’t want your party guests to be disappointed.

Once you’ve found a recipe you think will work for your DIY bath bomb party, try it out! You’ll not only need to be sure that the recipe is easy to create, but that it’s going to be the success you’re hoping for. In addition, you’ll need to be confident in making the bath bomb recipe that you’ve chosen so you’re able to instruct your guests on not only the ins and outs of this project, but also to offer helpful tips if someone seems to be struggling to get it right.

Step Two

The next step will be designing a bath bomb instruction sheet! This sheet should offer customization choices for your party guests.

I created my recipe and instruction sheet with the title of the bath bombs at the top of the page followed by a space that my guests could write in their name and the creation date of their custom bath bombs. I then typed out a list of the basic ingredients that would be needed to make the backbone of the bath bombs. This was followed by customization choices where party guests were able to write in the types and amounts of the additional ingredients they chose to use.

You can offer just one or two options for customization such as color and scent for a quick and easy project. Alternately, if you have a lot of various materials on hand, you can also offer different options for butters, carrier oils, clay, micas, lake dyes, and/or botanicals. For each of the additional ingredient options, you can either pre-fill in the amounts needed or let your guests choose which ingredient to use. You can also create the recipe so that all of the additional ingredients are entirely optional.

I used a high amount of cocoa butter in the DIY bath bomb party recipe I chose to help the bath bombs stay together and unmold easily even in the summer heat. However, if you also want to give your guests the choice of using hard or even soft butters in their bath bomb recipe, then keep in mind you will need a way to melt the butters.

I have only two microwaves and very little kitchen space. Therefore my guest created bath bombs in stages in sets of two with one group picking up where the next group left off. This also allowed for those a little shy about plunging right into the process time to get a feel for how it all worked.

For my liquid additives, I designed my DIY bath bomb party recipe sheet so that carrier oils, fragrances, etc. were measured out in mL using graduated plastic transfer pipettes which can be purchased inexpensively in bulk. The dry ingredient additions were also measured in teaspoons rather than a weight measurement as I currently only own one scale. This way no one was on the sidelines of the process for too long.

Once you have the logistics for your bath bomb recipe worked out, type up an instruction sheet for your DIY bath bomb party guests in a word program. Then simply print off enough sheets for everyone who will be in attendance. (You’ll want your guests to RSVP early so you have time to purchase enough supplies for everyone as well as to print off the correct amount of instruction sheets you’ll need. It’s up to you whether or not you’ll charge a materials fee.)

Step Three

Once you’ve decided on your recipe and options, you’ll need to decide what type of bath bomb mold to use. I opted for halving the bath bomb recipe I chose in order to use smaller 1.75″ diameter round bath bomb molds. This allowed everyone to make a handful of bath bombs rather than just one or two large ones.

In addition, it also enabled everyone to take their bath bombs home while they were still in the molds. This way no one felt pushed to unmold their bath bombs too early. And no one had to worry about picking them up later if they chose to wait. It also kept their bath bombs from being damaged in transport home and they got to keep their molds. The smaller molds also allowed more guests to attend without driving up the cost of purchasing enough large 2.75″ bath bomb molds for everyone to create several bath bombs each.

Otherwise, you’ll need to allow enough time during your DIY bath bomb party for the bath bombs to harden enough to be unmolded prior to your guests leaving.

Step Four

Either the night before or the morning of, create a basic DIY bath bomb party kit for each of the guests who will be in attendance. By doing this, your guests don’t need to fight for access to a scale in order to weigh each of the ingredients. It also makes the process less daunting for first timers and leaves more time for social interaction.

For my DIY bath bomb party kits I weighed out 1 oz. of cocoa butter (per my recipe sheet) for each guest and put it into a snack sized zipper bag. I then weighed out and combined baking soda and SLSA into a sandwich zipper bag for each guest along with a third bag with the citric acid. Each kit was then placed into a brown paper bag with the three ingredient bags and bath bomb molds.

Step Five

With your DIY bath bomb kits ready to go and guests arriving later in the day, it’s time to lay out your additional ingredients that your party guests can choose to use in addition to the kits.

For my carrier oils and Polysorbate 80 I filled 2-3 small 2 oz. bottles for each liquid ingredient. This allowed more hands to access the same ingredients at the same time. This also helped to prevent cross contamination on larger bottles of ingredients that you’ll be using in future products. You can do the same thing with your fragrance or essential oils if desired. Or simply be sure everyone is using a fresh pipette when they are adding more valuable resources that you aren’t able to divide into smaller containers for this purpose.

Make sure to label your smaller containers with sticker paper so everyone knows what’s inside of each one.

I then filled low profile jars with various clays and botanicals and labeled them as well. I left my mica colors and glitter in the original containers.

Be sure to set up a container of fresh pipettes and measuring spoons on your ingredient table along with large glass mixing bowls – one for each guest – utensils and/or large glass Pyrex measuring cups. If you only have one set of measuring spoons and are short on glass mixing bowls, ask if some of your DIY bath bomb party attendees can bring a set of their own.

You’ll also need to set out the bath bomb recipe instruction sheets and some pens. In addition, I also included a roll of masking tape for everyone to tape their bath bomb molds closed together once they were made for easier transport home.

Step Six

It’s finally time to get your party on! Once everyone arrives for the party I recommend kicking things off with light appetizers or a cheese tray and some wine or sangria. Unless of course you’re hosting a teenage DIY bath bomb party. In which case you could whip up one or two pitcher mocktails just for fun!

Once everyone has had a chance to get settled in, do a meet and greet to get comfortable. Then pass out the instruction sheets, kits and pens to each party guest. Go over the basics of making their bath bombs then instruct the group as begin the fun filled journey of making their very own DIY bath bombs!

Once everyone had completed their individual bath bombs at my party, my guests also combined the leftover bath bomb mix they’d made into layers into a popsicle mold to make unicorn horn bath bombs. These made for some really creative unicorn horn bath bombs especially since everyone chose different additives and fragrances.

I unmolded the unicorn bath bombs the next morning – you do need to give these a solid tap to get them out – and distributed them among my friends in attendance the next time I saw them.

If there’s time after everyone has made their bath bombs and not everyone is ready to rush off, then I recommend relaxing with a fun party game afterwards! My friends and I recently had a ton of fun playing Exploding Kittens with the first expansion pack, Imploding Kittens, after a DIY Nail Polish Craft & Cocktail Night.

If you like my ideas for throwing a DIY bath bomb party, then you may also like my ideas for having a unicorn party! You can find my guide on how to throw a unicorn paint party here!

For more entertaining and party ideas, be sure to visit my Party Ideas board on Pinterest. You can also find some great cocktail recipes on my Cocktail Hour Pinterest board.

Or to discover even more great DIY ideas, be sure to follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, Lifestyle, My Life Day to Day, Party Ideas Tagged With: bath and body, bath bomb recipe, bath tutorial, crafts, diy, party, party favor, party ideas, summer, unicorn, unicorn bath bomb, unicorn poop

Craft & Cocktail Night: DIY Nail Polish

June 26, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

As mentioned in last week’s weekly wrap up, I’m going to be doing Craft & Cocktail Night about every other week with friends and acquaintances this summer. The first of such nights was this past Saturday when we made DIY nail polish!

I had been wanting to try this project for a while but had kept putting it off. So I finally took the plunge, bought the supplies and my friends and I all made DIY nail polish together.

Creating custom nail polish makes a wonderful DIY for a Craft & Cocktail Night as it’s actually a really easy project to do. This way everyone can have fun and catch up with friends – as well as make new ones! – without having to worry about making mistakes with a project and going home disappointed.

To start off our DIY nail polish Craft & Cocktail Night, we first settled in with a cheese board I threw together and cocktails comprised of vodka and Belvoir Fruit Farms Elderflower and Rose Lemonade. (These are SO good. I buy my Elderflower and Rose Lemonade from The Fresh Market. You can mix it with either vodka or gin as strong as 1 part vodka to 1 part lemonade and it’s delish!)

After everyone was comfortable and we’d chatted for a bit we dove into making our own DIY nail polish.

I purchased my supplies for this DIY nail polish project from Brambleberry. You’ll need their suspending nail polish base and nail polish mixing balls for this project, along with mica pigment powders to color your polish and solvent resistant or nail polish glitter, tiny 18mm funnels, mini .15cc scoops and nail polish containers of your choice. Toothpicks also come in handy. (If you don’t want to buy everything individually, Brambleberry also sells kits.)

I also bought some cute little decorative bags from my local craft supply store for everyone to take their completed projects home in. Once, you’ve gathered all of the materials needed for your DIY nail polish, you’re ready to begin!

DIY Nail Polish

To make your own DIY nail polish, you’ll begin by carefully pouring the suspending nail polish base into the nail polish bottle. We tried using a funnel for this but the funnel opening is too small to really get the nail polish base into the jar. This does take a little bit of patience.

Fill your nail polish bottle about 3/4 of the way full with the suspending nail polish base. Once you’ve added the base, drop 2-3 nail polish mixing balls to the nail polish container.

(As a side note, be sure to do this on a dedicated craft table or with a placemat underneath your work surface. The first time I made this some of the nail polish base spilled onto the tablecloth and went through to the table, taking the paint off.)

Next, using a funnel, add mica pigment powder in your color(s) of choice to the bottle. I recommend 4-5 of the mini scoops for an opaque color. Or use less for a sheer color.

Tap the funnel into the nail polish jar to fill it. You can use a toothpick to help push more of the color into the jar if the funnel gets clogged.

If desired, you can also add glitter to your custom DIY nail polish. We found using a small scoop for the glitter worked best and omitted the use of a funnel for this step.

Once you’ve added the color and glitter, add the brush and lid to your nail polish container.

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Shake well then test out your new nail polish on a finger. If desired, you can add additional mica and/or glitter to suit.

Be sure to keep track of the mica color(s) and the number of scoops you use for your nail polish in a notebook or an a piece of paper so you can recreate it later.

Once you’ve achieved your perfect nail polish color, you can decorate your nail polish bottles.

We used washi tape to decorate our nail polish bottles but paint pens work great too.

And that was it! Our new DIY nail polish was ready to rock!

We had a LOT of fun with this project and were each able to make more than one nail polish.

Afterwards, as there was still loads of time left in the evening, we broke out the card game, Exploding Kittens. None of us had ever played before so Bambi, who loves games, took the lead and read the rules. She also kept us straight when got confused.

Cathy got a kick out of the card instructions. (I’d purchased the NSFW version.)

Once we’d played our first game of Exploding Kittens, we played a second with the first expansion pack, Imploding Kittens.

Cathy rocked the cone of shame as she was already wearing her kitty ears! She is always such fun and a great sport about everything!

Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed this super easy DIY nail polish tutorial as well as a peek into my first Craft & Cocktail Night of the summer! If you’ve thrown your own Craft & Cocktail Night, I’d love to hear what you did. So be sure to give me the skinny in the comments!

For more entertaining and party ideas, be sure to visit my Party Ideas board on Pinterest. You can also find some great cocktail recipes on my Cocktail Hour Pinterest board.

Or to discover even more great DIY craft ideas, be sure to follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes, My Life Day to Day Tagged With: beauty diy, craft night, craft night ideas, crafts, diy, easy, fun, nail polish, party, party favor, party ideas, summer

DIY Unicorn Body Glitter for Summer Festivals & Parties!

June 20, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

Learn how to make your own DIY unicorn body glitter to wear to summer festivals and parties! Probably one of the easiest things you’ll make this year, this super sparkly unicorn body glitter is made with a combination of iridescent fine rainbow colored glitter and tiny heart & star spangles.

DIY Unicorn Body Glitter

What makes this DIY unicorn body glitter so easy? Well, it only requires you purchase a single product! You’ll just need to buy this Sulyn Sugar Sparkle Mixed Spangle Sample Pack.

Then, to make your DIY unicorn body glitter, simply open and combine each package of the glitter and spangles from this sample pack.

Mix all of the glitter and spangles together in a 30 mL cosmetic jar. And that’s it! To use your unicorn body glitter, apply as desired using your favorite glitter primer or eyelash glue for heavier glitter applications. You can also mix it with a small amount of the glitter with aloe vera gel and apply it like a lotion for widespread glitter application.

While this glitter is non-toxic, it’s important to note that this is not a cosmetic glitter and therefore it should not be used on lips and eyes. Instead, stick to applying this DIY unicorn body glitter to your body and hair. (Don’t want to make it? You can shop for pre-made cosmetic unicorn glitter mixes on Etsy here.)

As this glitter is larger than cosmetic glitter, it can cause damage if used around eyes or on eyelids. So while this DIY unicorn body glitter may look fabulous on your face, it’s not worth the risk of getting glitter in your eyes! (I got a speck of glitter in my eye on accident in the midst of painting and applying glitter to unicorns and it actually tore my contact lens.)

A safer alternative to using chunky glitters around your eyes are temporary tattoos. I love the Mr. Kate Confetti BeautyMarks.

All of the confetti designs are made from actual photographs of sprinkled confetti for a realistic look. In addition they are arranged in big and small metallic flakes so you can let your personal creativity shine through. Simply apply the metallic confetti designs the same way you would temporary tattoos then remove at any time with body oil.

I’m also a fan of the Mr. Kate Watercolor BeautyMarks!

For more unicorn inspired projects, also check out my blog posts for throwing a unicorn party, as well as how to make a shimmering unicorn body balm, unicorn macaron soaps, and a shimmery unicorn inspired rainbow moldable sugar scrub!

Or visit my Unicorn Lust Pinterest board for more DIY unicorn projects. You can also browse my unicorn favorites on Etsy here for unicorn bath, body and beauty products you can buy!

If you don’t already, be sure to follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: Bath & Beauty Recipes Tagged With: bath and body, cosmetics, crafts, diy, easy, festival, glitter, makeup, party, party favor, party ideas, summer, unicorn

How to Throw a Unicorn Party for All Ages

June 12, 2017 By Rebecca D. Dillon

How to Throw a Unicorn Party!

Whether you’re planning a unicorn party for a child or simply a crazy fun cocktail party for adults, here’s how to throw a unicorn party that everyone will love!

My friend Cathy and I have birthdays just three days apart. Cathy really wanted to have a birthday party for our 42nd birthdays. So I threw her a unicorn party! While unicorn cakes and other crazy rainbow colored desserts are fab, we got back in touch with our inner child a bit for this birthday and instead painted paper mache unicorns!

Following are some of the photographs from our unicorn birthday party as well as a tutorial on hacking mini party hats into unicorn party hats, what you’ll need to paint your own unicorns, a pitcher margarita recipe (Cathy LOVES margaritas!) and ideas for unicorn party favors.

DIY Unicorn Party Hats

To create my DIY unicorn party hats, I hacked some mini pineapple party hats that I found at Target.

I used Krylon Short Cuts Spray Paint, a glitter set, and a clear acrylic sealer to transform them.

I placed all of the hats onto cardboard outside and sprayed each one a solid color with the spray paint. I painted four purple hats, four black hats and four blue hats.

After painting each color I threw/tossed/sprinkled different glitters into the wet paint.

I then went back and painted “highlights” of other colors onto each hat in a strip or along one side. So, for example, a black hat got sprayed with purple paint and a purple hat with black and/or blue.

I then threw/tossed/sprinkled additional glitter into the freshly spray wet paint.

Once that paint dried, I sprayed each unicorn party hat with a clear acrylic sealer to reduce glitter fall out.

Then I completed the hats by sticking the “pineapple” green tops into each hat. This step of course is optional.

All in all these unicorn party hats took no time to paint and decorate as there was no glue involved. (This is Cathy! She’s AMAZING!)

For the unicorn party I set up a “Pick Your Party Hat” station complete with stickers to decorate the hats if desired.

Paint your own unicorns!

When you’re turning 42 your birthday gifts are your friends and the many blessings you’ve accumulated throughout your life rather than physical gifts. So my gift to my friends for celebrating my life with me – and Cathy! – were these fun paper mache unicorns we all got to paint!

I picked up these paper mache unicorns from Target – one for every guest – and an assortment of paints, brushes and 0f course, glitter! I went a little crazy with Target’s Kid Made Modern line.

Supplies you’ll need for you and your guests to paint their own unicorns are: paper mache unicorns, acrylic paints, Krylon Short Cuts Spray Paint, glitter, Mod Podge and/or Elmer’s Craft Bond Fabric and Paper Glue, patterned tissue paper, stickers, small embellishments, Sharpie Paint Markers, foam and bristle paint brushes, small bowls or dishes to mix paint in, water glass with water for rinsing out brushes, and napkins or paper towels for drying brushes.

As my house is small and glitter is crazy messy even without margaritas, we had the painting portion of the unicorn party outside on my patio table. The party started at 8pm so I wrapped weather resistant white string LED lights around the patio railing, lit hand poured citronella outdoor candles, and turned the porch light on. It worked out beautifully!

And everyone painted really creative and amazing unicorns!

I also painted my legs with glitter…

Pink Cupcakes & Margaritas!

We also had chocolate cupcakes with a crazy amount of pink icing, pink sugar and sprinkles!

Cathy and I each had our cupcake that I loaded with Wilton’s Rainbow Ombre Birthday Candles.

The food, of course, was my dog Jasper’s favorite part of the night.

For the pitcher margaritas I used a variation of a recipe I found on Mouth.com as I already had a bottle of Fruitlab Orange Liqueur from a prior purchase.

Pitcher Margarita Recipe

32 oz. Jose Cuervo Especial
12 oz. Fruitlab Orange Liqueur
16 oz. lime juice
4 oz. Tres Agaves Organic Agave Nectar

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a gallon sized pitcher. Mix well, then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with ice.

Create a drink station with your margarita glasses, a bowl of ice, lime wedges and a plate with margarita salt.

Adult guests can make their own drinks as it suits them. If salt is desired on the rim, they simply run a wedge of lime along the rim of the glass, then turn it upside down and press it into the salt!

DIY Unicorn Party Favors!

There are lots of fun unicorn party favors you can make. Following are my favorites. Simply use favor sized containers rather than full size ones! First up is this shimmering DIY unicorn balm.

Or give this shimmery unicorn inspired rainbow moldable sugar scrub recipe a try for a few laughs.

You can also make these sweet little DIY unicorn macaron melt & pour soaps!

Or browse my unicorn favorites on Etsy here for unicorn sweets, treats, party favors and more so you can save time!

You can find even more great ideas and inspiration for throwing your unicorn party on my Unicorn Lust Pinterest board!

I hope this provided you with some great ideas on how to throw a unicorn party.

In the meantime, for even more fun, be sure to find and follow me on G+, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Blog Lovin’, and Instagram. Or sign up to receive new posts from Soap Deli News blog to your email via FeedBurner so you never miss a post.

Filed Under: DIY Craft Project, Lifestyle, My Life Day to Day, Party Ideas Tagged With: craft project, crafts, diy, kids, kids project, party, party favor, party hack, party ideas, unicorn, weekend crafts