National Park Baby Shower

      I haven't posted any baby showers in a while, but it isn't because I haven't done any. I actually did an outdoor "lumberjack" themed shower back in the fall, but I didn't post about it. That one came together fairly easily and actually turned out cuter than I had even hoped. This story is a little different...

    As a refresher if you are reading this and you don't know me "in real life", I am from a large family and have five sisters. My oldest sister has kids, I, of course, have kids, but none of the "little girls" (the collective nickname for the set of sisters that are separated from my oldest sister and me by at least ten years or more) hadn't reached that milestone. Until this year! The fourth sister is expecting, due in April, and everyone is deliriously happy for her, she is made to be a mom.

    So, that mandated a better than ordinary shower effort. I truly do put my heart into any party that I plan, but this one, well, I wanted it to be *special*. Which meant it caused me to completely freak out. I could NOT get my "vision" for the look to come together. I spent excessive amounts of time on Pinterest, and discussed it at length with the other sisters but I was still having a hard time getting it to come together.

    We went with a National Park theme because, if you have ever checked out any of my other shower themes, you know I love to use the nursery decor as the jumping-off point for ideas. I love that many of the shower items can be re-used in the nursery, and it also helps to narrow down the billions of themes the Internet is happy to barrage you with. So, since she was doing a NP theme for the nursery (with colors of turquoise and orange) that dictated the shower theme.

    Yeah. Not as easy as it sounds! I felt like we veered a tiny bit into "camping" but you can't hardly think of one without the other. That may be why it was so hard for me to channel inspiration, because I do *NOT* camp. But I do love a National Park, I can thank my Dad for that. He didn't come to the shower, but I know he really appreciated the theme and is proud that he instilled in all of us kids a deep appreciation for America's parks!

 

   I frequently have to remind myself that when I am struggling with a party, I just need to do something. Crafting helps me to sort out what direction I want to take. The first piece I made for this shower was my favorite: a mobile. I crafted every little mountain and cloud with my own two hands. I love that the sun is the focal point, and helps to tie in the orange. I hung it in the middle of the circle of chairs. If you don't recognize the drab walls and enormous room from previous parties, it's the fellowship hall at our church. It's a beast to decorate, and I would know because I've done it a number of times! However, it is a great blank slate, and the best place to hold the 30+ women who attended. 

   Seriously, I think people are under the mis-impression that I have it all together. Nope. Wrong. I was literally gluing moss to the "L" (that's the baby's first initial) at 9:00 am. The shower was at 10:00 am. Yup. That's how I roll. I used the "vase-within-a-vase" technique for the tulips. The little jars have tea lights in them and they are from Hobby Lobby. I just added the brown ribbon for hanging. The outer vase was lined with these cool wood slices from Hobby Lobby that my oldest sister supplied. She also sent the pieces to put together the favors in the center.

  The favors were easy-trail mix, of course! I created the labels with the Avery online label making software and printed them onto Avery label stickers. My oldest sister sent the bags (they are brown paper eco-friendly sandwich sacks, so cute!), we filled them with a serving of trail mix, closed them with washi and slapped the label on. My dear husband actually put them together after I made him a sample. The "yeti" pun was my own creation-I cannot resist the opportunity to be "pun-y"! Ha!

   You can see it best in this photo but the "table cloths" are actually pieces of brown kraft wrapping paper from the Dollar Tree. My mom and daughter stamped them with the arrows to up the cute factor.

    This printable is a riff that I did on one from Pinterest that I couldn't source. I loved the image of the lantern with the verse on it, so I found a similar graphic on PicMonkey.Find the printable at the bottom of the post.

   My husband is still recovering from knee surgery so he got big time sucked in to baby shower prep. He painted the little cone mountains and tree for me. Big heart eye emoji for a guy who pitches in and does not judge his wife (too harshly) for her tendencies to go overboard and be a giant walking stress ball leading up to these events. The owl vase is from my home and the beautiful orange Gerbera daisies are from Trader Joe's. The confetti is from Hobby Lobby, and the Yosemite canvas is TJ Maxx, I believe. (My mom bought it for my sister.)

   These images are from old calendars that my sister bought at a discount. I loved the visual impact that gave, and they filled up a pretty decent chunk of space for cheap. That is always a win in my book!

  Not the best photo of me. The guest of honor was as cute as a button, though! She hardly looks pregnant. However awful I may look, it still gives a better idea of the scale of the collage.

     I like pulling furniture into this large space because it makes it feel less sterile.  The stuffed animals are ones my sister has collected for the baby's room (She graciously lent me things she already had so that I wouldn't go over budget!) My oldest sister supplied the cute tree cut-outs, they are wood pieces with the bark left on. I made a garland with them and more of the log slices to form the baby's initials. The middle name is a secret, so I left that blank until after he is born. The arrows are from Hobby Lobby, I propped them up in a vase with rocks, the canvas from TJ Maxx. One of my sweet cousins made the origami forest and foxes (so cute!) and the lantern is an old VBS prop. The little trees I borrowed from my church. For a small church, we have a great selection of decor pieces.

    The really cool NP canvas is actually my Dad's. It has a space for each park and he has stickers on all the ones he has visited. Fun! My expecting sister wanted to make the mountain garland, so as weird as it is for the guest of honor to make decorations, I couldn't turn her down. The moose head is a stuffed animal, the garland of mounted heads are clearance Target ornaments.

   The tent is hilarious. I really wanted one, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. This is actually PVC pipes I found at the church rigged together and covered with orange plastic tablecloths. It is held together by hopes and prayers! Ha! It was a perfect place to put the gifts. The cool mountain backdrop was painted by another talented cousin. I have zero actual art ability. The trees were loaned from my aunt, and the bears are a fun story. My sister got one as child (maybe 3 years old?) and when she found out she was having a boy she found one on eBay and bought it so the baby would have a matching one. So sweet!

My mom handled all the food. (I cannot do both, no matter how hard I try.) and did a great job. She recreated these cute campfire cupcakes from Pinterest. My aunt made the cool food labels.

   I looooved how this turned out. It is well over one hundred triangle punches I hot-glued to ribbon and hung in an ombre pattern on a branch from my aunt's yard. It served as the backdrop to the food table.

My mom provided the cute metal crate, the stuffed animals and the "Adventure" sign. They are all from Hobby Lobby. 

   I hand-sewed the teepee pillow, and created the printable in PicMonkey, again based on a Pinterest image (although that one did not have Scripture). Find the printable at the end of this post. The metal bin is from Hobby Lobby. The National Parks lantern is my brother's.

   One of my sisters made the hedgehog cheese ball. So cute! The really fun part is that the baby's nickname is "Hedgehog" or "Hedgie" for short. So perfect, too.

 This is one thing that I wished had photographed better. I used twine and tiny clothespins (from the Dollar Tree) to hang my sister's collection of WPA National Parks postcards. It was fun to see the one that I had sent her years ago! I was honored that she kept it.

My youngest sister came up with this adorable game based on one we played online. We set up a table covered with more wrapping paper and simply printed the instruction on it with Sharpie. We made a numbered list and encouraged people to add a children's song, book or movie title to it, but to substitute at least one of the words in the title with "Hedgehog" or "Hedgie". You could do this with any baby nickname, or any shower associated word. We told the guests to continue to add their entries during the party, and to initial them. We also said we would end the game at a undisclosed time. We had over 60 entries by the time we ended, and gave prizes to the last two on the list. It was a great way to keep people talking!

   It was a really fun shower. We are just getting started in the "sister shower" department, though. Another wedding later this year, and I am guessing this is only the beginning of the babies...Not sad about that, for sure!

The printables! Please let me know if you have trouble printing them.

Right click on image to save. Print from saved location.

Right click on image to save. Print from saved location. 

"You are My Sunshine" Sip & See Baby Shower

            I am betting that you totally forgot that I promised you a full reveal of the "You are My Sunshine" shower I helped plan. But I didn't! And what could be a more perfect theme for these hot summer days? I loved working on this shower (It didn't hurt that I teamed up with my incredibly talented family for this one-my mom is the original "hostess with the mostess" and my aunt has thrown many a fab party herself!).My youngest sister was also invaluable.

     This theme was so fun-I decided on suns for my motif and the color scheme was orange, yellow and gray with liberal doses of white. It was definitely "sunny" and so cheerful! This shower was a little different than a traditional shower. "Sip & See" is a great southern term for a shower that you throw *after* the baby is born. This particular sip & see was for four moms. Definitely four times the fun!

  The lighting in the church basement is less than ideal for photos, but I think you can still appreciate the cuteness. The largest element was one of the cheapest: the giant sun backdrop is white wrapping paper (from the Dollar Tree) and then I traced a giant circle on yellow poster board and made the "rays" from streamers in yellow and orange.

The giant jar full of lemons and tangerines was another great inexpensive element. The church owned most of the glassware that I used which significantly reduced the cost. I whipped up the pom-poms from cheap yarn, and wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them. In the end I put them around the jar on a white cake plate and it turned out to be one of my favorite things. A sweet church member carefully re-created the fruit stacks from a pin I sent her. She had never made melon balls before-but didn't they turn out great?

My sister, Kelly, made these great Oreo Cloud Cheesecakes. I will try to get her to post the recipe. We liberally sprinkled them with orange sugar and topped them with a Sixlet pearl. The "cake stand" is just a white plate balanced on an overturned orange planting pot. Use what you have, I say! My mom already owned the fantastic chalkboard table signs, they added such a great touch. The table runner was flannel cloth from Joann's- it was a great price, and I thought it was reminiscent of baby blankets. And *chevron*-need I say more?

 One of the biggest challenges was making this enormous institutional space feel homey. I brought in a white book shelf and styled it with a variety of orange and yellow items collected from my mom's and aunt's houses. The vintage blocks are one of my favorite things! My daughter drew the chalkboard sun for a touch of childlike whimsy. My aunt put together the pennant out of scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby. The majority of these things are mostly unimpressive on their own, but when you group them together by color they create a vignette that feels casually intentional. The sun in the frame was created by Kelly.

  I balanced the bookshelf with this little "reading area" on the other side. The Beatles quote was a fun little last minute choice. My mom owns so many fabulous chalkboards, and this window pane one is probably my favorite. And overturned bucket served as a little table for a basket of vintage Little Golden books. The printable is a freebie from here.

   The grouping of pom-poms and lanterns anchored the seating area. They are mostly from Hobby Lobby. I know how to make giant tissue poms, but it was basically the same cost-wise (and a lot easier effort-wise) to buy them. It is a lot harder to make things look "effortless" and not planned than you would think! Basically my strategy is hang a few, re-arrange, hang some more, look for bare spots, leave, come back and continue to re-arrange until the last possible moment...easy, right? ;)

  Balancing the food table on the opposite side of the center seating area was the gift table.  I added balloons (use a marble to get them to stay down). This was where the fabric garland ended up-it added wonderful texture. It was so easy, I would make another in a heart beat.

My mom asked the guests to bring $5 and under small unwrapped gifts for each mom. She arranged the gifts in these great metal baskets she found at Fred Meyer. She tied ribbons on and attached tags with each honoree's name. They were a huge hit. So much more thoughtful than a gift bag!

 

   Can I just say how much I love this window frame? I used it at my sister's wedding. Go forth and buy an old window frame-you will be shocked at how often you can use it! My mom has such a great eye for this kind of thing. I made the sun on the back side with paper from Hobby Lobby. My aunt added the garland. The adorable print is from here-I added the chevron paper strip to tie it in a little better.

   Each guest received a unique Scripture verse as part of their gift. I typed them up in Word and embellished with various ribbons, papers and jewels that my mom had. Since there were four, each major area of the room had one. I choose verses that focused on the sun or light. Oh, how I love Scripture! It is always so appropriate. I wrapped the tea lights in washi tape.

   This mini candy buffet centered the coffee area. Peach rings, lemon drops and orange slices were too perfect for the color scheme. And anything you put in a glass jar is just going to look cuter. A simple sheet of scrapbook paper and some mini scoops completed the display.

   Another scripture and some more lemons made a cute display with a vase of the most perfect orange Gerbera daisies I've ever seen. Everyone thought they were fake!

  More flowers on the beverage table- along with another chalkboard, more tea lights, another scripture, a cute metal bucket for the straws and cups and a perfectly matched bottles of Martinelli's cider (from Costco). The statement piece here? A handcrafted stained glass piece, my sister's senior art project. Is that not *too* perfect?! You can't pay for that kind of matching. I love how this shows that you can repeat elements but switching them up around the room keeps it from feeling too matchy-matchy. I propped the chalkboard up on an overturned bucket to give it some height. Lemonade filled the glass beverage dispenser.

   I don't advocate procrastination, but I truly make some of my best decisions last minute. My mom purchased these yellow mini legal pads for a game she planned. We quickly ran washi tape across the top and stamped the top page and poof! Instant favor! We filled a bucket of them and they looked so cute. The stamp is from Hobby Lobby.

   I was thrilled with how it turned out! Every time I am asked to plan something like this I completely freak out. What if the inspiration well has run dry? What if I abysmally fail?  What if the guests make fun of it? What if I forget something really important? And then I remember the real reason for these things: to bless someone by showing love.

"Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people." Ephesians 6:7 NIV

And honestly, as cheesy as it sounds, you can't really go wrong. No one really has expectations, and usually any effort you make is met with gratitude. This one was definitely a success!


Interested in seeing more of my inspiration? Follow me on Pinterest!

Linked up:
"Motivation Monday" at A Life in Balance

"Raindrops and Sprinkles" Baby Shower

It has been a while since I posted a baby shower, the last one was the "Purple Butterfly Shower" back in May. I did a bachelorette party and a wedding in July, but since then it has been pretty quiet on the party front. It was nice to get back into the swing of things with a super cute "sprinkle" (another name for a smaller shower for second or later child).

My sweet friend, Denise, was the guest of honor-she just had her fourth! It was an honor to get to plan another shower for her-especially since she is really the one who ignited all the party planning/decorating craziness! Sarah and I did our first "real" shower together for her: the "tiny" baby shower! Honestly, even though that was three years ago, I still love that theme.

We considered this a "sprinkle" instead of a real "shower" because we didn't plan any games and it was really last minute-we pulled it off in about a week. I really believe sometimes that Sarah and I have connected minds, though, because it came together seamlessly. We decided that we would play on the rain/shower pun, and our theme was born. Sarah chose the turquoise and yellow color scheme, and I deemed that gray was a necessity. It was a great way to welcome a sweet, new baby boy!

I did these mason jar drinks for the "Hungry Caterpillar" Shower but since that was in a different state, I decided I could get away with it again. The cupcake liners were from Target, and I purchased the chevron straws at Hobby Lobby. The yellow bucket is Walmart, the turquoise one from Target. I purchased a cloud shaped punch from Amazon (my big splurge for this shower) and simply used an X-acto knife to put a slit in each punch and slid it over the straw. I used yellow washi tape (Target) to attach the straws. Note to self: attach the straws *before* putting in the cold liquid next time! It stuck okay, but it would have adhered better on the glass before it was cold. I filled them with lemonade, and stacked them on ice in the bucket.

The favors were lemon "drops" and I used Avery labels printed with "Thanks for "dropping" by Denise's "shower"! I used scrapbook paper (Hobby Lobby) and stapled it over cellophane candy bags (also HL) and added a cloud punch with a glue dot. I loved the dotted paper with the chevron contrast!

Sarah crafted this adorable topiary. She used felt circles pushed into a styrofoam ball. Then she attached felt "raindrops" on string. We found out through Pinterest that it is easy to make a raindrop by folding a heart shape in half.

I know I always say this, but truly, I loved the Scripture for this shower. It was definitely inspired by the Lord:

 "God's voice thunder in marvelous ways;
He does great things beyond our understand,
He says to the snow, "Fall on the earth" and to the rain shower,
"Be a mighty downpour"
So that everyone He has made may know His work."
Job 37:5-7a (NIV)

I really felt it was so fitting-and especially to just pray that this new little life will be a "mighty downpour" in the name of the Lord. I had so much fun putting it together, too! I positioned all my text to the left to leave plenty of embellishing room on the right for ribbon, clouds and raindrops. I found my fun fonts on Dafont (I used "Champagne & Limousines"  and "Joy Like Sunshine Through My Window"-love all the fun, free fonts, and they are so easy to download.) and typed it up in Word. I slipped it into a spray painted frame from the Dollar Tree. The guest of honor took it home as part of my gift!

I couldn't resist buying some mums at Walmart (only $1 each!) to add some live flowers. I put them in a Longaberger Oval Spring basket and finished it with some ribbon (HL, Dollar Tree and Walmart).

Another one of my favorite touches: I hand stitched the two cloud pillows. It was my first time trying a blanket stitch and I am in love! I actually really like hand stitching-I find it to be relaxing! I put together a little tutorial on the clouds that I will try to get up soon. Sarah did the open frame with the clouds and raindrops-felt shapes on baker's twine, it was so cute! She also put the monogram in the frame-it is a scrapbook sticker letter on scrapbook paper in a Michael's frame (a *steal* for $0.50!). It is easy but such a cute personal touch!

We finished the mantel decorations (my friend Christy, who also hosted the "Vintage Pink" shower, has such a lovely fireplace!) with a pennant banner (handmade by Sarah). She also added the yellow watering can-a nice touch opposite the flowers and a great pop of color!

I hung balloon "clouds" from the ceiling interspersed with giant heart "raindrops" over the guest of honor's seat. Another note to self: remember to put marbles in the balloons the next time you are hanging them from the ceiling!

I wrapped my gift in white paper from the Dollar Tree and added scrapbook paper embellishments. The giant cloud at the top ended up looking a little like a car, but oh well. I love wrapping my gifts to coordinate. It is like a decoration that the honoree gets to open!

I made a little wreath for the front door- I wrapped a styrofoam wreath form in ribbon and added the clouds. I loved the dangling raindrops! The "bow: is just knotted ribbon-so quick!

I also made the cloud chandelier (or mobile if you prefer). It was probably my favorite thing next to the Scripture. It is a little hard to see in the photo, but it was a great focal point over the food! I used this fantastic tutorial and templates from HGTV. I usually hate video tutorials, but this one is short and easy to follow. I added the raindrops (more heart punches, although I cut these in half to make them hang straighter and sandwiched the fishing line in between) for a little color. I joked with Joel that I probably use more of his fishing line than he does!

Christy made the cupcakes again-she is the baker/caterer to our decorating skills! (See more of her work here and here and here!) I used my tried and true technique of sandwiching a toothpick between two paper punches. It is a little hard to see, but I added a tiny raindrop to each cloud!

I also made a "runner" of of white wrapping paper, that I tried to cut to look like clouds on the end. It is a little hard to appreciate in the photo, but the thought was good.

The shower was a huge success-we had almost 20 women, which is excellent considering we gave them less than a week's notice. I love to do baby showers probably most of all, just because there is nothing sweeter to celebrate than the miracle of a new baby. This was also a completely adorable theme to work with-if I had more time I had a bunch more ideas on my "Bump Bash"  Pinterest board! I had to laugh because Denise actually said she stayed off Pinterest so she wouldn't ruin the surprise. It *is* pretty easy to tell what I'm working on by what I'm pinning so if you're interested in my next project follow me on Pinterest!:)

Linked up at:
Thrifty Thursdays at "Living Well, Spending Less"