Showering Some Love on a Mommy-To-Be

I was honored to be able to organize a baby shower for one of my dearest friends today (with her own mom at my side). I have known this young lady since she was born, and she is my own daughter's most cherished friend. And, like my own daughter who now has a 2-year-old son, this friend is going to be following suit with a son of her own. We could not be more excited.

I designed and printed her invitations myself, and carried the theme to the envelopes as well. (Pertinent information has been changed.)

I had so much fun making decor for the shower. The first thing I'll share is this block tower. I had trouble finding perfectly square boxes, so finally ended up gluing two 10x10x5" cake boxes together. I then covered them with white paper (I got a roll of 18" wide kids easel paper). I decorated them with some silver decorative tape, and I cut out the letters, stars and circles out of silver metallic card stock on my Sizzix Eclips. I know it may look gold, but that's just the reflection of those tones in the room.

This little stork diaper bundle was pretty easy and so fun to make. Used some Honest diapers, so she can give them a try. I hear that diapers fit all kids differently, and what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another. So, this will give her a chance to try at this type.

Made this centerpiece or fireplace mantel  decor using some mason jars painted with acrylic paint. I added jute string and some silver starfish charms, Then, made a mini-banner put onto some painted dowels with Marley's name on the flags. Set it off on the side with photos of the new mommy and daddy when they were little, and both on merry-go-rounds.

I made some onesies to hang on a clothesline off of the fireplace. The mommy-to-be specifically requested the designs.

I made this cupcake box that I used to box four of the onesies. I customized the top with the baby's name. Also, inserted a sock in each "cupcake" to represent a cherry on top. The basic cupcake box came from SVG Cuts' 3D Numbers Party SVG Kit.

And, a 3D M from SVG Cuts' 3D Letters SVG Kit. These letters are about 6.5" tall. I added some rocks inside to weigh it down.

 

These little gift card boxes were made from SVG Cuts' My Day With Dad SVG Kit. Acetate was used for the clear window. Easy, fun little box to make. The main box is one piece, and then there's an insert inside to hold a gift card.

This is probably not too post worthy, but I really love this gift bag made from SVG Cuts' Acorn Autumn SVG Kit. I made it at 80% of the original size. And, I think the reason I like it so much is that I designed and printed the arrow cardstock myself.

I think my favorite piece for the shower decor is this rustic wall hanging. I got the branch from our front yard (we're not great gardeners, but when we need something like this it rocks!). I tied the jute twine along the top, and attached the dried flowers where I felt they worked. I draped open some of the center tendrils so that I could put the frame on the wall.

 

The party favor design came from Simply Simple Stamping's blog, where she called it Be Mine Hershey kisses Window Box. So easy. I took the manual cut and score info and made a svg file, so I can cut the entire thing with scoring in one fell swoop, four at a time. I'm way too lazy to cut and score each one by hand. I initially made these as Valentines treats for my bunco group. They were so cute I redesigned them and made them for this shower.

 

Here's the entrance table. We had the party favors, then a sweet children's book that was given to the Mommy-to-be, and was used as a guest "book." Also, the mom of the mommy-to-be got some blank note cards, and each person addressed an envelope to themselves to make it easier for her to send out thank you cards.

 

And, now just a bit of the food table. Here's the cake. Isn't it adorable?! It turned out just as we had hoped. That little surfboard is a real handcrafted custom surfboard made by baby-to-be's uncle. It's a beautiful board.

 

I made sugar cookies and tried my hand at decorating for the very first time. It's pretty obvious that I could use A LOT of practice. My sis-in-law came and spent the day with me decorating too. It was pretty comical. We had no idea what we were doing. I was almost going to toss them all and forget about it, but after walking away from them for a while and then coming back, I decided they weren't too horrible, just pretty amateur. Not sure I'm up to trying it again, but I know I'd do better next time.

 

Here are a couple more photos of the food table. Love the flower arrangement that another friend brought for the table. It was glorious. 

 

Well, there you have it. The shower was such fun. Two more showers the next two Saturdays, but I get to just be a guest! Now, that will be nice too!

Spreading Baby Love!