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. 

Back to School Scripture Printables

    So, a few days ago on Facebook (You don't follow Clare's Contemplations on Facebook? Go do that now and come back! ) I promised some "Back to School" printable verses. Well, I am happy to say, you need wait no longer! I am really happy with the way these turned out. The 2 Timothy verse is *very* "school", so I decided that I would make the James verse a little more seasonally neutral.

    I really wanted to celebrate the return to school aspect of September, so I pulled together a bunch of colorful school supplies I had around the house and paired them with colorful candy I found at Walmart. (It's actually "birthday" candy, you can find it in the card and gift wrap section, but the primary colors made it perfect for my theme!). I am really fond of using things I have around the house to put together different decor vignettes. It makes everything feel fresh, but doesn't cost much. Using candy is also fun, and because it's consumable I don't have to store it from year-to-year. An added bonus is that my husband loves having it around!

The James verse I put together with my globe and teacher's bell. I keep both these things displayed in my living room year-round, but putting them together with a stack of colorful classic books just makes it read "educational"! 

I also have a fun wreath that I put together, but I will save that for a different post. Are you decorating for back to school? Or do you prefer just going with autumn decor? Either way, let me know if you find a place for these printables! You should be able to just right-click on the images to save to your computer (I suggest saving to "Pictures") and then print from your saved location. You should be able to adjust the sizes of the printables to your preferred size. However, be aware that they may not print exactly to size. The 2 Timothy verse printed perfectly at an 8x10 size, I just had to cut off the excess paper. The James verse I printed at a 4x6 size which left the margins at the top and the bottom, but I liked how it looked so I left it that way. 

Simple and Unexpected Valentine's Decor (and a Five Minute Garland!)

     Anyone who knows me will tell you: I love a little something out of the ordinary. I love things that make you say, "oh, that isn't the norm!". But in a good way. It is becoming more and more common to use varying colors schemes for seasonal decorations (I use cream, gray and yellow for my fall decor and red and turquoise for Christmas) so, of course, I couldn't let Valentine's Day feel left out! It is one of my favorite holidays (I think because it is so close to my birthday!).

This year, I was inspired by book pages. I know those have been popular for a long time now, and I think it is because there is something so interesting and curious about all those little words. The patterns and colors are soothing and work well with so many palettes.

Since I was using old book pages (that same volume of Shakespeare I have been milking since this wreath! Talk about getting your money's worth.) I decided that black and creamy yellow were a must. I also included silver and gold- the two complementary metallics for those colors.

 The little garland could not have been any simpler. Using my tried and true formula, I put it together in about five minutes.

I used:
-one sheet of metallic silver
-one sheet of metallic gold
-one sheet of metallic dark silver
-one page of cream/black font
-one page of black/white cursive
I bought all these at Hobby Lobby, paper is 50% off this week so my grand total (5x $0.59 x .5= $1.48)
-my own book pages (free!)
-part of a spool of black satin ribbon from the Dollar Store (we will say $0.25)
-staples, use what you have! Mine are purple, but you can't really tell.:) (free!)
-scalloped heart punch, I have this one from Micheal's and I use it *all* the time. I am not including it in the cost because it is like scissors in my mind, you use it constantly! If you buy it, be sure to use a coupon.

Grand total: less than $2

 I didn't include a picture of punching out the hearts, I have enough of those! I cut out four hearts out of each of my 6 papers. I left a little space between each one, and I alternated placing them right side up and upside down. I just laid the heart on top of the ribbon and punched right through both! Easy peasy, as my kids would say. In a little less than five minutes I had over six feet of garland, including the ribbon I left hanging on both ends.

I battle my perfectionism by refusing to measure spaces or use a pattern. It is good for me to be a little less obsessive, and I am always happy with how it turns out. I love how the heart shape is so Valentine but the colors are decidedly less so. It makes for a good combination.

The only other thing I did was to whip up this little printable in Word. I used "Traveling Typewriter" from dafonts.com and wrote "Oh how He loves us all" in all caps justified to the left. I printed it on cream cardstock (I keep white and cream cardstock on hand all the time) and checked "two pages to a sheet" in the printing instructions box. That made it the perfect size to cut out for a 5x7 frame. I love how simple but powerful it is. In my mind, Valentine's Day, being about love, is not completely about romance, but about the One who is Love. Maybe *that's* why it is my favorite!

Anyway, I dragged out items from around the house, I didn't purchase anything new for this. That is the best way to decorate! Whatever your color scheme is, ask yourself: "What do I already have that matches?" It doesn't have to be "holiday"- the only things I have that says Valentine's day in this display are hearts and the printable- they are both easily switched out and cost almost nothing. Look at your things through fresh eyes and borrow from other rooms to decorate. I love to "steal" my own stuff, it makes it feel brand new!

The old-fashioned school bell was a gift from my mom, she had one I coveted, so she bought me one so I wouldn't steal her's! I had a Glade candle that I dressed up with a little washi tape, and I added the little wooden "Trust in the Lord" (also a gift from my mom!). On the other side, I used a copy of "Pride and Prejudice" and a leather bound journal I use to write my husband love letters in- a little nod to romance (you have to have a little!) topped with a mirrored frame (Target clearance) holding one of my favorite pictures of my honey and me. It was taken by the talented Beverly Bender! The "lion dog" as my kids refer to it, is a little ceramic statue from Target that is just the kind of whimsical, eccentric decor I love.

And I couldn't forget the gorgeous shelf! It was handmade by my aunt and uncle, and it works perfectly as a faux mantle. 

And, of course, because I am famous for re-using, I ripped the watches off my New Year's wreath and added three paper hearts. I couldn't resist, it was perfect for this color scheme!

The whole set-up is right above my desk, and I am loving it. It looks fresh and festive and it didn't cost much. It reminds me of things I love, and that is just right for Valentine's Day, isn't it?

"Mustache Bash" Bachelorette Party!

I can't even begin to tell you how delighted I was to be in my sister's wedding. There is an age difference of 10 years between us, but I absolutely love her, and for her to let me be a part of her special day that way was truly an honor. It was a little daunting to be the only 30-something amid a bunch of 18-22 year olds, but I think I managed. 

Part of proving my worth was helping to plan the bachelorette party. I did not have one, my own wedding was very small, and basically, my dearest friends went out to dinner before we went back to my apartment to throw together last-minute wedding details. I was very happy with that. But kids these days! They expect a little more. 

The maid of honor (another of my younger sisters) and I managed to put together a really fun day, though. We started it off with a breakfast and because the bride is a teensy bit obsessed with the current mustache trend (even though the groom has no facial hair!) it made for the perfect starting point. 

 I have never done a breakfast party, and just let me say-I would definitely do another! My mom has the most perfect porch at her house and also tons of fun furniture that made putting together this little party a snap. We set the food up in one of her vintage crates on a low table. We did easy breakfast foods-no extensive prep. Costco muffins, mini quiches, fruit salad, ham and cheese and of course, cookies and chocolate!

 The "Wet Your Whiskers!" sign was Lisa Dawn's idea (the MOH). We used a lot of supplies that I picked up for a $0.50 each that Walmart was clearing out last year! We used mustache shaped sticky notes under clear packing tape to gussy up the water bottles. We also served mini bottles of sparking peach cider-the bride's favorite flavor! The neon green plates and napkins (I should have gotten better photos of those, they had cute sayings on them."I "mustache" for another piece" is what the plates said.) are from Walmart this current year.

 We served iced coffee in a cute carafe (my mom has some of the best party things!) alongside plastic champagne glasses-since we were outside. The cute stickers on the bottom of the glasses are from Hobby Lobby and the adorable confetti 'staches are from Walmart this year.

 We even arranged the muffins in a semblance of a mustache!

 We used more sticky notes to label the food. And we used mustache scrapbook paper to set the serving dishes on.

 The cute magnetic board is my mom's, and another one of my talented sisters whipped up the little "Keep Calm and Stache On" sign. The mini dry erase board and all the magnets are from Walmart last year.

 The 'staches on sticks made for cute and functional decor. They were fuzzy! They are from the Dollar Tree and I simply stuck them to wooden skewers. The finger tattoo mustaches (behind the stickers) are also from there. The stickers are from Hobby Lobby. The bins were Walmart finds!

 I used a magnetic frame set in a photo stand and some more favors to add a little color-all this stuff was part of my Walmart haul!

 Lisa Dawn made the banner-scrapbook paper and ribbon from Hobby Lobby. She printed the letter "I" and then heart and mustache symbols on colored cardstock and then cut them into pennant shapes. It looked really professional!

 The bride! If you look closely, you can see the cute 'stache drink identifier that my mom bought for all the drinks. They were each a different shape!

 My two cutie co-planners! It was early, so please forgive everyone's sleepy eyes and bad hair!

Everyone loved the fuzzy 'staches! It was definitely a fun, easy to put together party. It made for a great start to our day, which included canoeing/kayaking, lunch at the bride's favorite restaurant, and ended with mani/pedis. The bride was very happy and isn't that all that matters?

Linking up to "Thrifty Thursday" at Living Well, Spending Less! 
"The Weekly Creative Thursday"  at Reasons to Skip Housework

Butterfly Baby Shower

This shower theme was chosen by the mom-to-be, really by way of her nursery choice. All Sarah and I had to go on was "purple butterflies" (we were trying to surprise the guest of honor with the theme!) and it ended up working out that we chose the exact colors she was using for the baby's room! That is always fun, because we make lots of things that transition to perfect nursery decor. It was really providential.

Pinterest provided a lot of inspiration as usual. (Also a couple of flops- I tried this butterfly kissing ball-it was *not* easy or cute! I will have to figure out what I did wrong.) The lighting at the church was abysmal, so please excuse my less-than-stellar photos. Oh florescent lights, how you plague me!

I wrapped the vases with two strips of scrapbook paper-and simply used my butterfly punch (Martha Stewart Monarch Butterfly from Michael's) to cut an outline. Sarah decorated branches from her yard with butterfly punch-outs, (she had a smaller plain butterfly design, from Hobby Lobby) and they turned out *so* cute! This was definitely a good time and money investment versus return project. It took the place of much more expensive fresh flowers, but didn't look any less pretty.

Sarah had these moss balls on hand, and she used a white tray (I think it is an olive dish?) and once she put the butterfly punches on the balls, they were adorable! We covered the table with a "runner" of wrapping paper from the dollar store, over a purple tablecloth, also the from the dollar store!

Sarah made this "specimen" art with more punches and used glue dots to stick them on a burlap covered canvas. She tied it off with tulle and used scrapbook stickers to spell out the baby's name.

I made the pennant banner from scrapbook paper and stickers. I embellished it with rhinestones to make it even more girly. We used the wrapping paper as a runner on this table, too.

This was my "piece de resistance" so to speak. I modeled it from an idea I saw on Pinterest. This girl is selling her's for $60- and they are worth it! I worked long and hard on that thing-would you believe there are almost 100 butterflies on there? And transporting it was beastly! I used sewing thread to hang the butterflies (I am guessing the Etsy seller used more "quality" supplies!). But the guest of honor loved it, and that made it all worthwhile. I glued two butterflies back to back on each thread and then folded the wings to make them 3D. I used an embroidery hoop as the base, and painted it then covered the outside with ribbon.

 I bought the nets at the Dollar Store (love that place!) and glued some punches in them to make them more festive. I stuck them in a vase, and was pretty happy with how they added height to this particular area.

I used the baby's name to make an acrostic, and the smaller frame holds the verses from Philippians 4:8. The acrostic is two separate printings that I glued together, I used printed paper for the name, to make it "pop". I used more punches to add some interest. The verses ended up being so perfect.

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Philippians 4:8

I did a devotional at the shower based on it, and it was straight from the Lord. It was a stressful pregnancy for the mom, full of worry, and I just felt like He was telling me to use this verse as a starting point to cover most of that chapter in Philippians, which is chock full of good advice for how to turn our burdens over to the Lord, and receive His peace!

I used a Dollar Store foam wreath and covered it with ribbon and used this free printable template to make the butterflies. I stuck them on with some straight pins-so easy!

I used this tutorial to make the flower on my present-I always wrap my gifts to match the decor. It is so much more fun that way! I also usually use actual wrapping paper. I'm so over bags-it is so much more fun to rip into paper!;)

My friend Christy made the cupcakes. I purchased the frosting dye at Hobby Lobby (so cheap-$0.70 with a coupon) and that stuff is wonderful! It works so much better than regular food coloring.The toppers: my fave trick of punches glued to toothpicks. A sweet friend threw these together while we were putting up the decorations!

Sarah made this framed decoration. It was one of my favorite things. She glued the punches to the front of the glass with worked out really nicely, I think they showed up better that way.

All in all, it was one of the less expensive showers we've done, but I think the creativity and effort we put into it more than made up for that. It was a pleasure to bless the mom, she was so sweet and grateful. She gave me a hostess gift, which made me cry! Very few people do that anymore, and it wasn't the gift so much as the thoughtfulness behind it. As much as I stress over these parties, I absolutely love the opportunity to flex my creative muscles! I think with each one Sarah and I become an even better team. And sometimes the financial limitations lead to better, more creative solutions. Although, I would love to see what we could do with a bigger budget...;)

My Pinterest Inspiration Board: Bump Bashes