A Luncheon to Remember

Every year all the women and girls on my Mom’s side of the family get together for lunch to celebrate the start of a new year before school starts for the younger ones. It was the first year that I didn’t have to dread the idea of going back to school.

A couple of days before we went to lunch I decided I was going to surprise my family and create some personalized chocolate bars to give to everyone as a keepsake and to eat for dessert after we ate. I fell in love with one of our new fall wedding wrappers, WH40 - Beyond Measure. It reminded me of a Vera Bradley print and I thought it would be perfect for our outing.

This year we decided to go to LaRosa’s in Tri-county. I am not very good at keeping secrets so only a few minutes after we ordered some delicious pizza I jumped out of my chair and started passing out the personalized bars. I was so excited to see everyone’s reactions as I handed each of them the colorful bars that said “Merten Women Luncheon” on the front. The little ones decided they couldn’t wait to eat the chocolate and dove right in while my Grandma, aunts and other cousins couldn’t stop talking about how much they loved them. The bars were such a hit and at the end we all took a picture to remember this year’s fun lunch. 

One Year Flutters By

A few weekends ago I made a not-so-short but oh-so-sweet drive home to Akron, OH to celebrate the 1st Birthday of my friend's little girl.  After weeks of thinking about the perfect present to give, I realized the answer was right in front of me - I had to capture this moment with some personalized wrapped chocolate bars.  After being inspired by our creative customers, I was overjoyed with finally having my own reason to wrap up this sweet moment in life.

Mady's party took place outside on a gorgeous and sunny day at Silver Springs Park in Stow, Oh.  We have so many fun and colorful wrappers that I love, but I knew I wanted to choose one to capture the outdoorsy theme as well as the youth of a 1 year old little girl.  For these reasons I found perfection in choosing the Flutter By wrapper because of it's bright and cheery colors along with the bright purple butterfly which went perfectly with the outside event.  The wrapped bars also looked amazing set up next to the pink and orange Dora the Explorer cake.  To my delight, the bars caught a lot of attention and everyone swarmed to see what I had brought as I set them out.

The back of the wrapper was personalized to fit Mady's personality and it was so fun to watch as everyone read the wrappers together and shared in a laugh.  Soon, Mady's family was passing them around to everyone and making sure no one left without a bar.  Even Mady had a good time gnawing on her first Hershey's bar which was a special moment for everyone at the party.   I couldn't help but feel that the Flutter By bars were significant to how quickly Mady's first year flew by and how happy we all were to be together in celebrating this wonderful day.

Now, if you think for a second that Mady's birthday guests were the only ones to indulge in the sweet splendor of this birthday treat, you are surely mistaken!  My strategic selection of 50 wrapped bars - allowing one per guest - was short lived when my Mom sank her sweet tooth into one the night before the party.  Caught red handed (or should I say brown handed), she said "I thought they were for anybody to eat!"  Of course her late night snack was to my expense as I was the guest who had to take the bench in enjoying this delicious treat.  However, no matter how irritated I may have been at the time, I can't help but understand not being able to resist the beloved Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar. 

 There was one important lesson learned here though and that is - next time, make sure you buy extra!

Happy 80th Birthday Natalie

Personalized candy bars have become a staple at nearly all my family's important events so when my aunt called to say that she wanted to throw grandma a surprise 80th birthday party, of course candy bars were a must. After going through tons of old photos I found a perfect picture of my grandma from 1951 (the year she was married) and I knew that I had to do a then and now candy bar. 

Laura, one of our fabulous graphic designers, created a custom design for me that featured the 1951 picture of my grandma on the left and a 2011 picture of her on the right. I decided to go with a nutrition facts back and included all the things that describe who she is: an adoring mother, loving grandmother, devoted wife, caring sister and a loyal friend.

After making the four hour drive to Parma, Ohio, my family and I, candy bars in tow, were ready for the big surprise. My grandmother's face was priceless as she walked up to the pavilion and realized that all of those people were there for her. The candy bars were a huge hit with everyone at the party including my grandma who cried when she saw them. As an extra special surprise the mayor of Parma stopped by our celebration to declare July 9 as Natalie Romansky Day in Parma. She even received an official plaque from the mayor's office. Maybe every year we will have to celebrate Natalie Romansky Day with some custom candy bars!  

HEREHEIS - Super Cooper!

Well, Cooper Brayden Ellis has arrived. Cooper was born on January 22, 2011 at 1:24 a.m. He weighed 7lbs 5oz and was 20.5 inches long. He is just perfect.

I was there for the blessed occasion, right by my daughter's side. There is no other feeling in the world like watching your grandchild be born. I even got to cut Cooper's umbilical cord. I was so overwhelmed with joy that I did not know whether to laugh or cry so I did both.

Big brother, Hunter, is coming around slowly. Grandpa rocks Cooper every chance he gets. Daddy just holds him and looks at him with those proud daddy eyes. Mommy is doing all those mommy things and loving him a lot. And it seems like whenever I am there it is diaper changing time...but that's alright I don't mind. All is well at home with Super Cooper.

Of course the event would not be complete without some candy bars to show off our new arrival to family and friends. Everyone just loved them.

- Dee

Baby Shower Favors for Cooper

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We are adding a new addition to our family, my daughter Dawn is having another boy in January. My husband and I are so excited to be grandparents for the second time and Hunter can't wait to be a big brother.

A few weeks ago I threw a baby shower for Dawn and of course we had personalized wrappers. As usual they were a really big hit with all the guests. The party was great... lots of good friends, food and Hershey's Assorted Miniatures. Stay tuned for the arrival of Cooper Brayden Ellis.

- Dee

The Wedding Planner

I love weddings. I guess it all goes back to Cinderella. When I was young it was all about the event. However the older I get the more I think about what it means for the couple standing there together.

My brother-in-law Chris married Kara a few weeks ago. Watching them gaze into each others eyes, trying to keep composed was a battle. Later at the reception Kara introduced her oldest daughter, Alex, and told everyone that Alex was her wedding planner. Alex had taken care of all the details including the personalized candy bars! But the most amazing thing was Alex's toast to the couple. She spoke about her mom and Chris with poise, humor and love. It was clear Alex also realized the wedding was just the event and a marriage was celebrated that day.

Royal Celebration

In the land of New Whiteland and the kingdom of Schmidt there came a decree that there would be a celebration. One like no one had ever seen before. For on the 24th day of July our very own Princess Paige would be celebrating her 4th royal birthday.

Princess Paige declared that it should be a pink celebration so her very clever Queen made pink pigs in blankets, pink chips and pink juice. There was a pink cake and pink balloons.

So of course this Royal Great Aunt had to send a one of a kind pink gift and what do princesses like more than Hershey's Chocolate? I decided that a personalized Princess bar with her royal picture would work out great. I sent them to Princess Paige who proclaimed when she opened the box, "Pink candy bars and look at me on them!"  She passed them out at school with everyone loving them.

Guard Your Photos

My neighbors have a great collection of family photos hanging on their kitchen bulletin board.  Recently one in particular caught my eye and as any good friend would do, I secretly removed it from the bulletin board. I rearranged other photos to fill in the hole left behind, and then scanned the photo for use on a birthday party favor.

I love fun, old photos that capture a person's true spirit or a memorable event.  These photos are perfect when creating custom designs for candy bars.

I'm not convinced that Tony was surprised to find a group of friends gathered together at a local Mexican restaurant on his birthday but I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting Hershey's bars featuring a photo of him in all his 80's glory, with beautiful high-top Reebok wearing wife Bridgette by his side. 

A few weeks later we created another birthday wrapper, this time for their daughter Paige, to go along with her 9th birthday party theme.  I'm sure her brother Brandon went bananas when he saw it. Peace out!

Then and Now

This summer I plan to attend my 20 year high school class reunion.  Has it really been 20 years since graduation?!?  Sometimes it feels like yesterday...then I look at the photos.

An old friend emailed me a senior photo (quite possibly one of the cheesiest ever) of himself with my high school boyfriend, dressed in coordinating Adidas sweats and leaning on their cars.  Once the laughter died down, I had an idea for a great custom birthday wrapper.

What a couple of good sports!

Monkeying Around

It was an exciting day when my sister, Beth, found out that her son would have his first cousin.  Her brother-in-law & sister-in-law were expecting and were due in November, 2009.  This would make their children almost exactly a year apart.

When Beth started planning a baby shower for her sister-in-law, Maura, there was no question what the favors would  be...bars from CARSON wrappedhersheys.com!  I had designed favors for Beth's own baby shower just a year before and they were a big hit.  Since Maura and her husband had decided not to find out the sex of the baby, Beth created a cute monkey design based on the bedding they had picked out.  The monkey theme was carried through the rest of the shower, even with a giant stuffed monkey serving as a centerpiece.  Once again, everyone loved the bars.

As it turned out, Maura's baby did not want to wait until November.  Her baby girl came a few days early and was born on Halloween!

- Laura