Purple Craft Baby Shower

During my blogging hiatus I had the great joy of hosting a baby shower for a friend of mine from church.  This mama is crafty and her favorite color is purple.  Instead of doing an elaborate theme I decided to keep things simple with everything tied in through the color palette.  I used purple fabrics that had accents of brown to make tassels and sew pillow covers, did a white themed dessert buffet, and set up a onesie craft station for the guests.  It came together well and was the perfect amount for the guest of honor, which means it was just perfect.

To make the tassells I simply ripped strips of fabric and tied them with yarn.  I chose not to cut the fabric because I wanted them to have a more relaxed feel.

Anytime I throw a shower where I know there will be lots of guests I do a Bingo game.  It helps keep guests interested in what is happening and helps the gift opening move a little faster.  

For the craft station I picked up several plain onesies and set out a variety of different craft items (paint, buttons, iron on patches, stamps).  Because I knew that not everyone at the shower would be able to come up with an original idea quickly I also printed out some prompts and set them on the table for inspiration.  The craft station was lined with brown craft paper.

My shower was in the mid afternoon, which meant that a full menu wasn't necessary.  Instead I opted to do a dessert bar tied together with a neutral color scheme.  I focused on white desserts and served water and coffee.  I found the chalkboard several years ago and painted it for the coffee house bridal shower.  It gets a lot of use whenever I host events, usually as a menu sign.

I really enjoyed being able to host this shower.  I loved the simplicity of the decor and the opportunity to use a looser theme.  If you are hosting a similar event here are some tips to keep in mind:

• When using colors as your theme vary the shades and patterns
• Always remember to add texture.  In this shower I used cotton fabrics, pom poms, paper, and purposely tore fabric.
• Think about how you can switch up your normal decor to tie in the event.  For this shower I sewed a few pillow covers to match the party.
• Don't go over board on your menu.  It's easy to over think food and feel like there won't be enough but many showers aren't held at a typical meal time, which means that you don't need to serve a full meal.  Also remember that many people won't eat one of everything you put out.
• Shop your house before buying!  For this event I purchased the wooden letters to spell 'BABY' and 2 bags of purple and tan pom poms (not counting food).  When you purchase entertaining supplies throughout the year try and keep them neutral (white and clear glass always work well for me) so that they can be used over and over again.  
• HAVE FUN!  There is no point to hosting the event if that means that you aren't going to be a part of the event.  Do everything you can as early as you can so that once your guests arrive you can relax and enjoy the day!

Rustic Glam Baby Shower!

I'm in today with the final photos of the baby shower I co-hosted for my sister-in-law.  You can see the invitations here and the inspiration board here. The starting point for this shower was 'rustic glam' but honestly by the time we finished setting up I'd say it was more of a 'pink+gold+mint"' recipe, and you know what?  That's ok - it turned out very cute!

I know I've mentioned that I live in an older home.  One of the things you get in an older home are lots of little rooms - no open floor plan here!  So we set up the main shower area in the formal living room and the food in the dining room.  

We debated about taking down the wreaths on the doors but felt that it looked too empty when we did, and they tied into the shower so they stayed.  The ribbon banner was a DIY (seriously SO easy).  The pink mason jar drink favors were from Micheal's (2.99 each) and we used a heart punch on glitter paper to dress them up.  I created all of the printables for the shower games using the same Craftberry Bush design as the invitations.  The custom name glitter cake topper is from my friend Jeanette's Etsy shop, Sprinkle the Kindness.

I printed these calendars out and had our family write their name on the date they think the baby will arrive!  Printable calendars from Coco & Mingo.

I just love hosting these little celebrations and love it even more when it is simply the backdrop for genuine relationship with others.  Overall the shower was just the most wonderful afternoon spent with our family.  Which in my book counts it as a win. 

BONUS!  Since I already had the shower games designed I figured I'd post it here as a free printable for anyone else hosting a similar baby shower!  Click here to print the PDF!  The PDF includes cards for Wishes, Advise, and the Price is Right game.  Also included are the questions asked for 'He Said, She Said'.  Enjoy!

Rustic Glam Baby Shower Inspiration

This past weekend I co-hosted a baby shower for my sister-in-law.  I showed the invitations for the shower here.  I meant to post this blog last week but the days got ahead of me so it didn't go live - oops!  I used the design from Craftberry Bush for the invitations and continued it on all of the printables used at the shower too.

We used a lot of glitter accents at the shower.  We DIY'd a ribbon banner that we had glitter strands in and had a friend cut a cake topper similar to the one shown.  If you are planning your own rustic glam baby shower here are some links that may interest you:

Wood Chargers with Glitter

Bear Hug Print

Deer Head Silhouette

Oh My Charley Ribbon Banners

I'll be back soon with pictures of our little shower.  It was a small but sweet celebration!  What are you celebrating lately?

Rustic Glam Baby Shower Invitations

I have 2 sister-in-laws.  One of them is getting ready to have a baby!  It's quite the stir around here because she is having a girl - and our family doesn't have girls!  We're a pretty small group but my other sister-in-law and I decided that this definitely warranted a baby shower.  We're loosely going for a rustic glam theme.  Obviously we'll be using pink!  Gold and glitter are also on tap.  Though the invites don't have much of a rustic vibe (at all) they are pink, girly, and glam!

Supplies for this project included textured grey cardstock, gold glitter cardstock, brown kraft envelopes, a corner rounder, gold striped washi tape, scissors, rubber cement, and embossing gun, clear embossing powder, an embossing pen, and a paper cutter.    I had all of the basics at my house but had to purchase the grey and gold papers, rubber cement, envelopes, and clear embossing powder.  The total for all supplies was around $17 at Hobby Lobby. 

Gold glitter envelope liners

I love lining envelopes when I make invitations.  In my mind it just takes the entire 'experience' up a notch.  It's very easy to do.  I'm not making a tutorial of how to do that, it's easy enough to find one on Google.  But basically you use use a piece of spare paper and cut to fit inside of your envelope to make a template.  I lined these envelopes with gold glitter card stock, using rubber cement to secure them.  Tip:  when glueing the liner in place only put glue on the top part of the liner (the piece that lays against the flap of the envelope), this allows for the liner to move as the envelope is folded and prevents accidental bubbling/creasing.  I also sealed the package with a strip of gold striped washi tape.  Love washi tape!

Invites made with a design from Craftberry Bush

Confession:  I ran a little short on time in designing the invites, oops.  I had come up with a few designs but never could settle on one I loved.  I found this free watercolor design on Pinterest and knew it would work perfectly for what I was needing.  I used it for the invites, registry cards and envelope labels.  Done, done and done.

DIY embossed invitations

To bump these invites up a notch I used a textured cardstock (which unfortuantly did not photograph well) and then did some selective embossing on the floral design.  I love embossing for these small projects!

I'll be posting our inspiration board for the shower next week so make sure and stop back by to see what we've got in mind.  Are you guys planning anything lately?  Pinterest has completely changed the way most of us approach our event planning, how much do you use it for your parties?

Breakfast at Tiffany's Baby Shower

Remember me telling you that Sarah was throwing me a Breakfast at Tiffany's baby shower?  Well it turned out fabulous! 

(For those of you not in the know, Holly Golightly, the main character in Breakfast at Tiffany's keeps her telephone in a suitcase to muffle the sound.  So the little set up above is just perfect!)

To see the full run down on the shower check out the CES blog for lots of eye candy and inspiration!  (And make sure to check back on Thursday for the second half of the shower pics)

LOOK! SO PRETTY!!!!!!

Did you know that I'm having a baby?  No?  Well I am.  And he's gonna be the cutest dang thing you've ever seen.  Just sayin'.

Sarah is throwing us a baby shower in a month or so and look at the invitation!  She's been scheming behind my back working on what I've now learned is a Breakfast at Tiffany's baby shower theme!  I'm SOOOOOOOO excited!  (notice all of the exclamation points?)  I love that movie and can't wait to see how she pulls it all together.  Isn't this invite one of the most darling things you've ever seen?  What a treat to get in my mailbox!

She designed these herself and I L-O-V-E them!  Here's an up close picture that (hopefully) shows the rhinestone and pearl accents.

Give her some comment love and agree with me that these are SIMPLY MARVELOUS DARLING!

Wizard of Oz Baby Shower Pictures

Here are some of the photos from this past weekends baby shower. The shower theme was the Wizard of Oz and I mainly used blue & white gingham with red & white polka dots to tie everything together. Overall I was pretty pleased with the outcome. The following photos are mostly of the event details, I hope to post some of my lesser quality shots (once I find my camera) that show the overall view of the shower. All of the following photos were taken by my good friend Sarah.

Follow the yellow brick road... into the Land of Oz!

Don't forget to visit the Lollipop Stand!

To make it feel more homey we used cloth napkins & chinaPolka dot cakeCandyland & lollipopsYou can't see it in this photo but the vase held a large branch that had note cards featuring Dorthy & Toto, the Tin Man, the Lion, and the Scarecrow with the words Happy Home, Heart, Courage, & Brain on them. Each guest was asked to right a well wish or parenting advice to the new parents.

You can see the wishing tree a little better in this photo.

All of the well wishes & advice were stored in this album which was given to the parents to be at the end of the shower.
Sunflower pens and notecards We had the shower in my parents home which has a very open floor plan. One of the obstacles in hosting the shower there was the layout of the home because the kitchen was in plain view. Luckily as we were decorating my mom had the ingenius idea of hanging up some of our excess fabric as kind of an awning which helped seperate the kitchen from the rest of the space and also helped tie in all the different spaces. I also framed several Wizard of Oz images that I had found online in garage sale frames painted white. These frames were used in various places around the shower. This frame is hanging above our drink station. My parents have a 12ish foot long mantel in their living room. I used red glittery chargers as a backdrop, made 2 sunflower topiaries, and draped the mantel with the blue & white gingham fabric. Next to each topiary are blue wooden stars with white star dots on them. We played the movie, the Wizard of Oz throughout the shower. At each end of the mantel are photos of my sister & her husband as babies. Just a sign with the baby's nameThe two end tables were decorated with blue fabric with a white linen overlay that featured a scene from the movie and lollipops!We gave sunflower & african daisy flower seed packs as favors.Baby Shower Bingo & gift bags My sister, on the left, and my cousin, on the right, are both pregnant, so Sarah shot this adorable picture of them.

Me, my grandma, my sister, & my mom

I hope you enjoyed the photos and feel inspired for your next event!